Parables of the Talents and Minas

This post is about two parables, and a vision of the future that goes with one of them.

In the parable of the talents, and the parable of the minas, someone in charge goes on a journey, entrusting his concerns to servants. They are given amounts of money to take care of. Two people in each parable make more money with the money they have been given. One person in each parable is afraid of the person in charge, and doesn't use the money to make more money. The person in charge, in the end, is happy with the two who work, and unhappy with the one who is afraid.

Is the one who is afraid of the master humble? Are the other servants humble for working diligently? Maybe there are good humilities, and bad humilities.

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Parable of the Minas:

Luke 19:

11 As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that God's Kingdom would be revealed immediately. 12 He said therefore, "A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 He called ten servants of his and gave them ten mina coins, and told them, 'Conduct business until I come.' 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, 'We don't want this man to reign over us.'

15 "When he had come back again, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by conducting business. 16 The first came before him, saying, 'Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.'

17 "He said to him, 'Well done, you good servant! Because you were found faithful with very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.'

18 "The second came, saying, 'Your mina, Lord, has made five minas.'

19 "So he said to him, 'And you are to be over five cities.'

20 Another came, saying, 'Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, 21 for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn't lay down, and reap that which you didn't sow.'

22 "He said to him, 'Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn't lay down and reaping that which I didn't sow. 23 Then why didn't you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?' 24 He said to those who stood by, 'Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.'

25 "They said to him, 'Lord, he has ten minas!' 26 'For I tell you that to everyone who has, will more be given; but from him who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken away from him. 27 But bring those enemies of mine who didn't want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.'" 28 Having said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

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Parable of the Talents:

(To understand the following best, think of "talent" as "a large quantity of money", its original meaning.)

Matthew 25:

14 "For it is like a man going into another country, who called his own servants and entrusted his goods to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. 18 But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord's money.

19 "Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them. 20 He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.'

21 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

22 "He also who got the two talents came and said, 'Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.'

23 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'

24 “He also who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn't sow, and gathering where you didn't scatter. 25 I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.'

26 "But his lord answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant. You knew that I reap where I didn't sow, and gather where I didn't scatter. 27 You ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest. 28 Take away therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken away. 30 Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Immediately after, in Matthew 25:

31 But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will tell those on his right hand, 'Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. 36 I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? 38 When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you?'

40 "The King will answer them, 'Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you didn't give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'

44 "Then they will also answer, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn't help you?'

45 "Then he will answer them, saying, 'Most certainly I tell you, because you didn't do it to one of the least of these, you didn't do it to me.' 46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

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These might sound like fanciful stories meant to get us to say "Helping people is good. Not helping people is bad." We have a hard time bearing to think that some people will be sent to a place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth" for not working when they could have. Perhaps we think that that place of weeping is hell. In the above, it may be that the "outer darkness" where the unprofitable servant goes is not hell, but that the "goats" found in the vision of the future, and the enemies of the nobleman found at the end of the parable of the minas, do go to hell, and ultimately it is their enmity with Jesus which makes them destined for that fate.

Among the "sheep" in the vision of the future are people who didn't take every opportunity to help Jesus whenever he was really present in a needy person's suffering. Yet they are righteous -- they are no longer the people who ignored the suffering of others. But those who are enemies of Jesus do not have his help in really getting past that, because enmity with Jesus involves rejecting his help -- perhaps in most or all cases, enmity with Jesus and rejecting his help are identical -- and they must face punishment without his help. Jesus can be angry at people who are ultimately going to be saved, requiring them to mature in the environment that they need to be in for a time: outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. (We may be familiar with an experience of darkness like this from our own lives.)

With that in mind, maybe then we can bear to take the parables or visions of the future literally. We can take Jesus' anger seriously, the anger of someone who has the right to be angry, angry at us for not seeing a world of suffering as a field of ample opportunity.

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Now, is it really the case that anybody thinks "God is a hard master, so I will do nothing for him, and only return my talent to him unused"? I don't hear people saying that.

But maybe it's still applicable. There is such a thing as "hard, exacting master" mentality. Because God is thought to be a "hard, exacting master", we think in terms of "Am I saved? Or am I lost?" rather than "How is God doing? How are people doing?" If we ask the latter set of questions, then we tend to work. But if we ask the former set of questions, then in order to see ourselves as saved, we stop paying attention to how God wants us to work. Out of our image of God as hard and exacting, we create a defense mechanism ("salvation") which prevents us from working.

Unfortunately, asking and therefore promoting the question "are you saved?" is meant to be the way in which people perform the ultimate good deed, to save someone from hell. We raise that question to get people to see the value of following Jesus, following in some minimal way. So the person hearing "are you saved?" is taught from the beginning of their religious walk to think that salvation is the point. They may or may not ever figure out on their own that they're supposed to love God, and that that love ought to involve their whole being. And that in order to love God, part of that involves serving him and other people -- work.

In reality, if we do not love God, we are not ready for eternal life. At best, we may be on the right track. So evangelists might ask "Do you love God? Are you sure?"

The language of "are you saved?" makes a lot of sense if it is assumed that time is precious, and the mouth of hell waits for far too many people. This is one evangelical view. So we have to strip down the Christian religion to "a faith that is barely capable of saving", but therefore quick and easy to transmit. Churches are incentivized to come up with gospels that work, ones which are popular. But now churches lament the lack of spiritual maturity in their midst. In some churches, the leaders get burned out, while many followers seemingly do nothing. Maybe the leaders are "shepherds" and the followers are "sheep" -- implying, perhaps, that like literal shepherds and sheep, the latter never become the former. But then, we are all just human beings, so one might think that at least some sheep can become shepherds. But why would they? They're saved, right?

In some cases, perhaps people are immature and value their own salvation more than they value anything else. So God is a giant salvation machine, to them. But in other cases, people are busy and demotivated. What kind of incentive do they have for fighting against inertia and fatigue, to go do some laudable but supererogatory thing? We can love our friends and family quite naturally -- this is a "gravity" thing. But anybody else, we have to go out of our way to help. And we're saved, so we don't have to do anything. Salvation gives us the assurance that we can live our everyday lives.

The MSLN view is that we are not fully saved until we are fully in tune with God. To be in tune with God requires that we love him, and if we love him, we will come into tune with him. Does God put his own salvation first? We wouldn't be here if he did. So we must become like him, and come to not put our own salvation first. And if we are concerned about salvation and want to know what it is, it is identical with loving God. (We love other people and ourselves as part of loving God, and less than we love God.)

Do we really love God? Do we take for granted the people we really love? So we should not be complacent. But as Jesus warns us above, thinking that God is hard and exacting is a way to bring out his hard and exacting side. So we should never despair that God won't offer salvation to us if we seek him.