For a long time I thought this odd parable of judgment was praise of the first two servants and condemnation of the guy who sat on his talent. But is this thinking like a 21st century capitalist, not a 1st century Palestinian? In this contextual view, the master is a thief whose immoral activity the first two servants learned too well. Hence the servant who buried his talent is admirable, not willing to engage in wrongful behavior. Clearly the master's greedy way is so far from the king's concern for the poor in next Sunday's gospel.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sermon in a Bottle
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time - A. "Out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground."
For a long time I thought this odd parable of judgment was praise of the first two servants and condemnation of the guy who sat on his talent. But is this thinking like a 21st century capitalist, not a 1st century Palestinian? In this contextual view, the master is a thief whose immoral activity the first two servants learned too well. Hence the servant who buried his talent is admirable, not willing to engage in wrongful behavior. Clearly the master's greedy way is so far from the king's concern for the poor in next Sunday's gospel.
For a long time I thought this odd parable of judgment was praise of the first two servants and condemnation of the guy who sat on his talent. But is this thinking like a 21st century capitalist, not a 1st century Palestinian? In this contextual view, the master is a thief whose immoral activity the first two servants learned too well. Hence the servant who buried his talent is admirable, not willing to engage in wrongful behavior. Clearly the master's greedy way is so far from the king's concern for the poor in next Sunday's gospel.
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Wow, that's really a new perspective than what I have previously heard. Thinking outside the box? (Or is that outside the bottle?) How did you come to that view point? Obviously I live in this century and not at the time of Christ, but I have to believe that the traditional interpretation (praise of the first two servants) is more in line with living in any “community” and putting ourselves in a position that we will be able to care for those in need. I believe that the parable is telling us not to be afraid to invest what we have been given by God, but to take that which we have been entrusted with and bring it to those in our community to trade, pay for services, share, etc and bring more opportunity. The time that we have in this life shouldn’t be an individual thing. I don’t see anything immoral in what the first two servants did by interacting with others to build upon what had been given to them. There is nothing in that parable to suggest that the master has done anything unlawful. In fact, he actually gave them "opportunity" and when they took advantage of that, he promised them more. Do you believe that God wants us to live in fear of doing more with our “talents?” I have to admit that I can be hesitant or make excuses out of fear; not wanting to get involved. (I even hesitated commenting on here!) Or when I have made attempts to share my talents, I've faced opposition or intimidation and that very well could make me feel as the third servant did. When we become afraid of exposing our talents and we "burying" them and protect them like the third servant, how are we serving God? How can we serve those in need in our community?
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