He called ten of his servants and gave them ten gold coins
and told them, ‘Engage in trade with these until I return.
We don't have coins of our own. Jesus entrusts to us the only resources we have. Because of this it isn't up to us whether we use them or not. We are called to be stewards of the gifts we are given. But there is a hitch.
His fellow citizens, however, despised him
and sent a delegation after him to announce,
‘We do not want this man to be our king.
Our fellow citizens may not be big fans of the nobleman who gives us our coins. Yet even in this climate we still find return on investments which we are willing to make.
‘Sir, your gold coin has earned ten additional ones.’
The gold coins our master gives us can generate a virtually unlimited return on investment if we are just willing to put them to use. The only real risk is putting our light under a bushel basket. If we have gifts from the LORD we must use them!
If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully (cf. Rom 12:6-8).
It is possible to quench the Spirit (cf. 1 The. 5:19). It is possible to hide our lights.
‘Sir, here is your gold coin;
I kept it stored away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man;
you take up what you did not lay down
and you harvest what you did not plant.’
We need to understand that our master can take up what he does not lay down and harvest what he does not plant. But this needn't threaten us. He can even do this through us if we let him. This refers not to how demanding he is but rather that there are no limits upon him. It means his investments in us can have miraculous returns as long as we don't bury them.
Ultimately, this is how the mother of the seven sons is able to cope in our first reading today. She realizes that she has her sons from God and that only by entrusting them back to him can any of them truly fulfill their purpose and live as they are meant to live. She does is able to invest the gifts she has from God even in the most hostile of climates. Her own investment feeds forward, enabling all of her sons to lay down their lives manfully for the king. They see how certain she is in her own trust in God and are empowered to invest the coin of their own lives.
I do not know how you came into existence in my womb;
it was not I who gave you the breath of life,
nor was it I who set in order
the elements of which each of you is composed.
Therefore, since it is the Creator of the universe
who shapes each man’s beginning,
as he brings about the origin of everything,
he, in his mercy,
will give you back both breath and life,
because you now disregard yourselves for the sake of his law.
Our own faithful stewardship does more than simply preserve our own souls. Through it, God is able to save others as well.
She had scarcely finished speaking when the youth said:
“What are you waiting for?
I will not obey the king’s command.
I obey the command of the law given to our fathers through Moses.
This is all because we trust in the nobleman even while he is on a journey. Even while the climate is hostile to the king we remain faithful. We know that the resources he gives us are enough for the task at hand. And we know that he will return with the kingship and slay his enemies before him.
Lord, when your glory appears, my joy will be full.
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