19 Nov SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2023
Hypothetically speaking, an affluent man who owns money and slaves is about to leave town. Apparently, he doesn’t have family or business partners to turn to so he summons persons obligated to serve and obey his every word or else face his wrath and suffer whatever punishment the man deems appropriate. To choose or refuse what the man has to say or the task that’s assigned to them is not an option.
By one slave’s estimation, this situation creates a dilemma. Feeling literally put upon, he balks at having the guy who already makes demands, hand over yet another task. Life is challenging enough as it is before God, I mean, the man asks his servant to take on more responsibility.
Could it be that the servant had grown accustomed to a familiar routine and maintaining the status quo? Quite possibly. Suddenly entrusted with a thousand dollars of his master’s money, he may have been thinking, “Are you kidding? You want me to do what I normally do and take on new responsibilities, too?” I can hear myself saying such things; can you?
The other slaves receive two and five thousand dollars respectively, each according to ability assessed by the man, a man who observes them day in and day out. But interestingly enough, by the estimation of these two slaves, this situation is an opportunity, not a burden. Never before in their lives have they been entrusted with much of anything important, let alone, such wealth.
They don’t care that the money doesn’t belong to them. They’ve always dreamt of what they might do one day, if given the chance. If they ever got their hands on a lump sum, they’d know how to turn a profit. They’d prove their own worth, if given the chance. Regardless of who owns the money, those two slaves appreciate being asked to step up and test their mettle.
Now let’s look at this investment scenario from the asset owner’s perspective. Anyone who entrusts another person with what they own, at the outset, is making an investment in them as persons. The owner extends and potentially expends something of value toward them with an expectation of return. By endowing them with trust and responsibility, he hopes to achieve a profit.
The goal is not only profit in terms of money. His actions prior to leaving town were a bonafide investment in those he relied upon daily, those whom he deemed capable in various degrees and knew intimately. In the asset owner’s absence, his servants are given trust and responsibility to act on his behalf and make important decisions regarding his wealth: a return upon his investment upon his return, you might say. Can you see the parallel to how God tries to invest in us by trusting us with added responsibilities? And, like those servants, we may not appreciate or welcome the burden/opportunity.
I wonder why the first guy heard only negative aspects of being asked to step up and take on more. Perhaps he was from a demanding critical family where he was only capable of hearing a parental voice say, “Here. Hold this a while.” He never heard the reason or anything after that. Those didn’t matter. The child already got the gist: serious gravity of being asked/told what to do.
Perhaps an older sibling once said, “Alright. You can hold this, but don’t mess with it. Don’t touch, move, break or lose any of the parts, I’m warning you, ‘cause when I come back, I want it in the exact same condition I gave it to you. Understand? Do you hear me? Look at me when I’m speaking.” Then without any further instruction, the authority figure disappeared.
Perhaps the other two servants were raised in households where confidence was lovingly instilled. They got to hear, “Here, honey. I want you to have this because I know how much you admire it. Can you show me that you understand its worth? You’ve seen how I take care of it, right? So use it wisely.” In this case, the authority figure offers to teach both what can and what ought not to be done. They willingly demonstrate why things are handled this way, not that.
Contrasting these two ways of upbringing reminds me of Carl Snyder saying that his father gave him “a good talking to” before ever allowing him to use a corn picker and how he was told never to operate a tractor when he was extra tired. It reminds me of how I know that you instruct your kids and grandkids how to handle a gun safely, how to use tools that could potentially remove limbs faster than they could cut crops. How women teach children to cook without burning themselves, to can vegetables or safely prepare food.
Making threats is an awful way to teach. It creates anxiety and shuts down cognitive functioning. It reduces creativity, causing confidence to shrink rather than grow. By entrusting a person with little, they only worry about keeping things the same and safe. They don’t dream of possibility. They fixate on fear. We see this when governments create situations of dependency and people do the wrong thing, because they don’t recognize or realize a chance to grow because change itself is awfully scary.
People who are oppressed and afraid believe keeping things the same will probably be best, the same as before for as long as anybody knows, or at least can remember. What they know is that the system is harsh like the master who was a man who always wanted more and seemed never to be satisfied. Afraid, he goes and hides the master’s talent, perhaps even hoping to be praised for returning to the master exactly what was given.
A long time passes. Days and days go by, months perhaps. There’s plenty of time to consider ultimate outcomes, to reflect and think more about what was meant or intended. Individuals always have the option of consulting others or learning on their own. But putting something undesirable out of sight and out of mind is appealing, often quick and easy. We’re so relieved to have the weight gone and the burden lifted, we pretend to have no worries and go back to doing what we’ve always done and already know how to do. I’m not the only one who can relate to this way of being, am I?
And like the harsh master, how often do we express no appreciation to someone for doing what we think they ought to do anyway, for doing what they’re getting paid to do, for what has become part of their job description: to meet the needs we have and to live up to our expectations? Do we thank those who wait upon us and do whatever the minimum is or do we withhold appreciation for only those people who provide us with exceptional service?
Let’s turn one moment more toward the master. What do we know about him? First of all, he owns property in the form of persons and money. He’s wealthy enough to take risks. He doesn’t need interest income or dividends to live; they’re gravy. In much the same respect, the master is like God who God doesn’t need our help to enrich his kingdom, but he would like to allow us to invest his treasure as we see fit.
What God illustrates through the master is his willingness to invest in us, that’s what to entrust means, to invest in another person the responsibility for things of value. That’s what our lives amount to, an investment by God in us. We are responsible for things of value: our bodies, relationships, finances, and other resources. We are not to fear having these things given to us; we are free to dream of what they may become through our efforts.
God, as the master, offers freedom to persons whom he calls his servants. He desires success for them exactly because he wants to entrust them with more and greater things. All along the plan was for us to grow and gain from the opportunity offered, to gain experience and prosper. Yet, like the first servant, we forget that what we are handed is meant for our good. We doubt God’s intention, fear his judgment, and convince ourselves that God is never satisfied with less than perfect results.
You may wonder why I tend to psychologize the parables that Jesus tells. It’s not me, it is Jesus himself who taps into the human psyche. When the master replies, “You wicked lazy slave,” or by contrast, “You good and trustworthy servant,” those words register with all ages. No one wishes to be punished rather than rewarded, cast out rather than welcomed.
What God, as the master does, is provide instruction. He tells the first servant who performs poorly that there was in fact a safe alternative. He could have put the thousand bucks in the bank. Then it would have really been safe and at least earned something.
But that would’ve meant taking on added responsibility: for transporting the money to the bank instead of just digging a hole, for showing ID and signing documents instead of just digging a hole, for holding onto a proof of deposit slip and not losing that, rather than just digging a hole. Besides the fact, he gave his master no credit for all that his master had acquired, and rather accused him of being dishonest or untrustworthy in how he handled everyday matters.
So which is it or should I say, who are we? Do we recognize what God has entrusted to us as an investment in us? Do we understand that the responsibility is ours to inform ourselves of what’s truly possible? It doesn’t matter if we excel equally. We need only to be open to trying and learning what we can. Let us pray.
Thank you Lord, for inviting us to take on responsibilities for our own good, for the sake of personal growth and experience that pays great dividends, that will enlarge our capacity immediately and ultimately enrich us for life in your kingdom. We trust that you know us enough to teach and guide us continually as we are sometimes hard headed and stubborn to maintain the status quo. Open our minds to new possibilities. Open our hearts to trust you more and give you the credit you deserve. In your holy name we pray, Amen.