Dearest e-votees-
This Sunday’s appointed gospel text is one of those that it is hard to follow with an earnest “The gospel of our Lord.” The word “gospel” literally means “good news” and this text has a rather harsh edge to it.
If you want to check out the parallel version in Luke, direct your eyes to Luke 19:11-27. You might find it helpful for comparison purposes to know that a mina is a weight of about 1.25 pounds. A talent is a weight of about 60 minas (therefore 75 pounds). (courtesy of study helps of NIV Archaeological Bible) A talent is a lot of money. The NIV study notes say it is worth more than $1,000 by modern comparison.
The fact that Luke and Matthew both have a parallel story that Mark doesn’t suggests to some that they were working from a common oral or written source to which Mark was not privy. That source has been called “Q” by scholars which is the abbreviation of the “Quelle” which is the German word for source.
May your week be blessed as you serve and keep your talents above ground.
Peace,
Karl
----------------
“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
This Sunday’s appointed gospel text is one of those that it is hard to follow with an earnest “The gospel of our Lord.” The word “gospel” literally means “good news” and this text has a rather harsh edge to it.
If you want to check out the parallel version in Luke, direct your eyes to Luke 19:11-27. You might find it helpful for comparison purposes to know that a mina is a weight of about 1.25 pounds. A talent is a weight of about 60 minas (therefore 75 pounds). (courtesy of study helps of NIV Archaeological Bible) A talent is a lot of money. The NIV study notes say it is worth more than $1,000 by modern comparison.
The fact that Luke and Matthew both have a parallel story that Mark doesn’t suggests to some that they were working from a common oral or written source to which Mark was not privy. That source has been called “Q” by scholars which is the abbreviation of the “Quelle” which is the German word for source.
May your week be blessed as you serve and keep your talents above ground.
Peace,
Karl
----------------
“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.
The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
This text follows last week’s that had foolish virgins getting locked outside of the party with the bridegroom. Next week’s text is the sorting of the sheep and the goats with the goats heading towards eternal fire. Lots of judgment to be had in this portion of Matthew.
First and foremost: the judgment that we justly deserved has been endured and removed from us by the righteous and innocent sufferings of our Lord Jesus on the cross. We don’t need to fixate on locked doors, weeping and gnashing of teeth in the darkness and eternal fires. Jesus is the door and gateway who is open to all. Jesus wipes away all of our tears. Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus has extinguished the fires of hell. Jesus has done what we cannot, endured what we deserved and reliably saved us. Thanks be to God.
That said, how will we keep our lamps trimmed and burning? How will we put talents (in all the forms that the word “talents” takes linguistically—money, abilities, resources, etc.) that God has loaned us to good use above ground? How will we see Jesus in the thirsty, hungry, sick, naked, imprisoned and cut off folks that we will certainly encounter?
Surely we need the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us. On our own we snuff the lamps that God has ignited in our lives. On our own we run for the tool shed and bury our talents deep. On our own we can’t see past our own selfish desires let alone see the face of Christ in the needy one striving to make eye contact.
Holy Spirit, blaze in us that we might know the sure and certain hope of freedom from judgment in Christ Jesus. Help us wait with lamps ready, serve with talents invested for Jesus’ sake and with hearts and eyes tuned to helping even (perhaps especially) the least of these. You have set us free in Christ. Help us to freely serve in thanksgiving. Amen.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment