The Parable of the Talents – 11 February 2010

You can read this parable in Matthew 25.  I have known it since I was a small boy.  I have always known that you don’t want to be like the lazy servant who simply buries his treasure in the ground and waits for his master to return.  No, we need to be like the good servants who invest their treasure on their master’s behalf and produce more for him.  He is pleased by their efforts and rewards them.  Fairly straight forward stuff, isn’t it?

Adrian Plass defines parables as ‘stories that entertain you at the front door while the truth slips in through a side window and sandbags you from behind.’

Incidentally, I once had an experience very much like this with an aggressive Jack Russell when I was working as a butcher’s delivery boy.  Anyway, back to the parable.  I will explain how my understanding of this parable has recently grown.

I own a flat in Hinckley.  To be more honest, I pay the mortgage on a flat in Hinckley. I don’t live there anymore, and have therefore been preparing to rent it out.  It has been a horrendous experience.  Like standing under a cold shower ripping up twenty pound notes.  In this game, you even have to pay to ask the building society questions.  Several times I have been at “giving up” point.  Several times I have thought I will never finish the bathroom or the kitchen, and even if I do, what if the wiring fails it’s safety test?  How much would it cost to put right?  What if nobody wants to rent it etc, etc.  I have been close to cutting off the gas, draining the central heating, disconnecting the electricity and closing the door.  I have been very close to burying the whole project in the ground and leaving it.  However, I want to be a good and faithful servant.  I want to produce the most from what I have been made steward of.