Prompt 2: Feb. 1, 2021
“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
Thanksgiving can be a tough time for me. I over-realize the vastness of common grace that I continuously take for granted. It causes me to contemplate whether I am living out my faith in the small ways that only I can do. If we are honest about the general prosperity in our age, we can connect to Solomon’s ecclesiastical laments; that even in the most decadent society, our greatest treasures amount to a vapor– hebel. I believe (perhaps naively) that all hands dealt in this game of life contain the cosmic code for transcendent and personal fulfillment. I think it is a poor judgement to gauge quality of life as a function of access to power, wealth, knowledge, or even freedom. There is something more innate to our human experience than any pleasures the world offers. Meaning is tied to purpose in some way.
Here are a few descriptions that may help clarify what stewardship could mean: biblical ownership, work as worship, quality rather than quantity, order out of chaos, service, integrity, responsibility, inheritance. Stewardship is the garden given to Adam, the plan and animals given to Noah, it’s the dreams and the bondage given to Joseph, the word given to Moses, the shepherding experience given to David. Jesus’s haunting parable may provide us a litmus test for proper stewardship, you will know a tree by its fruits.
In this exercise, let’s explore stewardship applicably, through personal inventory and soul searching. Meditate on the parable of the talents. Try describing stewardship or defining its inverse. Try to examine its role in relationships, develop formulaic models, or emphasize the joy in good work.
The thread is open. Create boldly, and may the Spirit guide us all.