Matt 25: 14-30

This passage has an ‘end times’ feel to it, like all of chapter 25 in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus is approaching Jerusalem and his death and resurrection. While the focus of the passage is money, it can be seen as a metaphor for our God-given talents. What do I do with my gifts? Do I keep them to myself? Do I use them to make a living? Do I use them to build community?

The parable is reminding us that our talents aren’t ours – they are from God – and they are meant to be used. Whether it is with two or three others or a larger group, when we each use our talents for the group there is a multiplier effect in action. My efforts mesh with the efforts of others and we achieve more as a whole. Importantly there is also the happiness or good will created by working together. There is a ‘community spirit’ or ‘good vibe’.

The key to this passage is grace – God’s unearned gift. In our society so focused on merit, on earning what we have, grace is not only scandalous, it is also unthinkable. That is why society refers to some people as ‘the undeserving poor’. Rather we must latch on to the truth of the Gospel that all that we are and all that we have is gift from a God who loves each one of us unconditionally. So, like God, everything we have is meant to be given away, freely, in love. 

(For more on this, read these reflections on grace from the Centre for Action and Contemplation.) 

I can do this some of the time with people I love. My challenge, if I am to more fully follow Jesus, is to steer away from thinking about myself or others being deserving and instead live a grace-filled love that is ‘pressed down, shaken together, running over’ (Luke 6:38).