November Trinity
Matthew 25, 14 – 30
“Again, it [the kingdom of the heavens] will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with two talents gained two more. But the man who had received one went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s silver.
“After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“Then the man who had received one came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your money in the earth. See, here you have back again what belongs to you.’
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| Burnand |
“His master replied, ‘You bad and idle servant! You claim to know that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not distribute? Well then, should you not all the more have put my money on deposit with the money changers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. To him who has shall be given, and he shall have in abundance. To him who has not, even what he has shall be taken. Cast the worthless servant out, into the darkness of external existence, where there is only wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
5th Nov Trinity
Nov 25, 2018
Mathew 25: 14-30
This gospel reading seems perhaps to be strangely materialistic and somewhat severe in tone. But like all the parables, it is a metaphor.
When we are born, we are each given a certain amount of inner riches, according to our karma. These riches are entrusted to us as talents, as opportunities that come our way, perhaps even as burdens. In the parable, the man going on the journey, who entrusted his wealth, is gone for a long time. This is perhaps an image of our experience of God, who leaves us space, withdraws from our awareness, so that we can concentrate on working with and turning to the good what he has entrusted to us. For it is our task to work with these gifts, these opportunities and burdens, to make the most of them. At the end of our lives, we want to be able to give a positive accounting of what we have done with what we were given.
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| Tissot |
It is interesting that the single gift of the one who had acted out of fear, disrespect, and perhaps even laziness, is taken from him and given to the one who already has the most. This seems perhaps unfair until one realizes that the one who receives even more is, at the same time, tasked with an even greater responsibility in the future. For our inner riches are not our possessions. They do not belong to us. They belong to the human race in general and are distributed to those who can best bring the whole of humanity forward. Perhaps my apparent enrichment stands on the shoulders of another’s failure and impoverishment.
On this last Sunday of the liturgical year, we would do well to recall the words of our funeral service: We are beholden to the spirit for all that we do, all that we think, all that we say. In the words of the poet Scott Cairns:
To behold the sublime, one must first
accede that one is also held, beheld,
beholden to. One must first agree.
To behold the sublime, one must first
forgo all hope of standing clear,
of standing far apart. One must see.
To behold the sublime, one must first
suspend long habits of self-
sufficiency,….*
* Scott Cairns “Anaphora on Orcas Island”
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