Daily Lesson for July 15, 2014

Today's Daily Lesson is from Matthew chapter 25, the Parable of the Talents:

 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 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.’ 21 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.’ 22 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.’ 23 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.’ 24 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, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothfulness servant!’ 

I have read this parable on many occasions and have over the years developed a kind of sympathy for the man who was given the one talent.  My sympathy comes not because he was given only one talent - for a single talent was a huge sum, equivalent to tens or perhaps hundreds of thousands of today's dollars.  Instead, my sympathy for the man is is because he appears to have such a dim and fearful view of his master.  I mean is there anything in he parable to suggest the master, who goes around rewarding his servants with talents, really is a  "a hard man, gathering where he does not scatter and reaping where he does not sow"?  Not at all.  Yet the servants words suggest he is afraid of his master because he perceives him to be harsh and unkind.  I have a sympathy for him because this is a parable of the kingdom of God and I know many people who are afraid of God because they see him as harsh and demanding just like the servant says he sees his master.  If only he didn't see Him that way, I think, then he would have risked more; his fear of the master paralyzed him.  If only he had known not to be afraid.

But on closer reading, I wonder if the master sees something I don't.  The master calls the servant "slothful" which is sometimes translated "lazy".  And it makes me wonder, maybe it's not so much that the servant's fear has paralyzed him into inaction, but rather that a deformity in his character - sloth - has found a way to draw sympathy from me and probably a lot of others.  But the master sees through this ruse and calls a spade a spade: the servant is just plain old lazy.  In that sense, the parable really isn't about developing a healthy perspective on the master, but rather the master's refusal to listen to excuses designed to play on his own insecurities.  The master is generous, and with that generosity comes the wisdom and security to know when somebody is trying to manipulate him.  The servant wants somebody to feel sorry for him.  I fell for it; the master didn't.

There's an old proverb that says, "The sluggard says, ‘There are lions outside.’"  You can spend ten talents sending a sluggard to therapy to help him get over his irrational fear of lions; but after the money is spent he will still be a sluggard.