Empowering vs Incapacitating Fear

Hello jellobeans,

How have you been doing? It's been a fun month with a lot of events, and I can't believe how quickly the month flew by.

Something that has come up on my mind a lot is the thought of time and how quickly it passes us by as we grow older. I remember when a year seemed like such a long time - it went from 31,536,000 seconds to 525,600 minutes to 8,760 hours to 365 days... and now looking back, a year is only 12 months long - and some day, a decade will only be 10 years.

What are the things I want to be remembered for in the decades that I have lived and will live? What will be my legacy? I've been thinking a lot about the parable of the talents lately:

For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

-Matthew 25:14-30

Talents in this passage refer to money - and a lot of the exchanges in this parable is actually quite similar to the idea of "making money with money". It seems like such a secular topic for Jesus to even broach. Also, why are all the servants were given different amounts? Are some of us unworthy of being given as much "talents" by God?

We can take the text very literally and think of it as about money - why are some people able to live a life of luxury, while some are unable to even have a roof over their heads? I have definitely had a lot of money troubles - and it has been a struggle for years. I've seen friends and acquaintances move up and ahead in so many ways - have a wedding, buy a home, start their family, and more. Meanwhile, I've just signed papers in a court and my husband and I are pinching pennies at the end of the month to make rent and can't even begin to make wedding plans or try and buy a home. Are my husband and I sinful for not having been able to double our money based on our circumstances? Was there a reason why we were worthy of less money than others in our lives?

I don't think that Jesus meant for us to take the literal interpretation of talents as money, but rather to anything that God has given us - whether it's spiritual gifting, opportunities, wealth, health, testimony, and more. We can utilize everything that God has given us for His Kingdom - if it's a struggle, let it multiply as empathy, and if it's a blessing, let it multiply so others can see the God's goodness. I think it's important to also note that the master in the Scripture was fair; he held each to the standard of what they were given. The servant who made 2 more talents out of 2 talents received the same as the one who made 5 out of 5: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." God isn't just looking at a number score at the end of the day; he is a fair judge based off of what has been provided.

As I think about the servant who was given 1 talent, why was he called wicked and slothful? I don't think the most damning thing about this servant was his thought of burying the money and not being smart enough to at least get interest on it from a banker, but his excuse: "Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours." The servant is telling the master that he finds him to be a dishonest man who never worked, but in his fear, he has just kept the money the master gave him buried underground to avoid risk of losing anything. This fear didn't only keep him from taking any risks, but it also kept him from at least making the logical choice of gaining interest from a bank.

I think if I am being honest, it can be hard to always believe that God is by our side, walking with us through the tough times, and that God is still a good God despite injustice. This is why I feel that this parable is so powerful. It's showing that there is a clear sense of worldly unfairness when it comes to the distribution of talents, but that God is still a just God in how He weighs the outcomes. As I continue to meditate on this Scripture, I can't help but ask, what are my talents? And how can I use them to multiply in God's Kingdom? Does my fear of God empower me to use what He's given us to grow, or does my fear of God incapacitate me?