To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
We are all called to be stewards of the gifts God has given (see First Corinthians 4:1). The trouble comes when we begin to believe that these are our own, to do with what we will. We begin to squander them, not using them as the master intended.
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The Lord reminds us that we will all have to give an account of our stewardship.
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God (see Romans 14:12).
He reminds us that we will have to give an account of ourselves not to scare us, but so that we take stock of what we have down with our stewardship. It isn't too late to put our gifts to better use.
Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.’
Our gifts are from the master. We can be reckless in the ways in which we lavish them on others. The only thing he insists on is that we not horde them for ourselves. When we serve others with the masters gifts we ourselves benefit as they reciprocate our generosity. The master himself is satisfied to see that our eyes have moved off of ourselves, even if it began as a matter of self-preservation. Even such a beginning, as long as it leads away from ourselves, can lead to eternal habitations.
Their minds are occupied with earthly things.
But our citizenship is in heaven,
and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The call to give an account reminds us not to let the selfish hoarding of earthly things dominate our attention. When we remember that our citizenship is in heaven we are not afraid to put the gifts, all of which are from the Lord of heaven, at the service of others. We do not fear having too little, our the failure of the things of this world.
He will change our lowly body
to conform with his glorified Body
by the power that enables him also
to bring all things into subjection to himself.
Let us learn to see our citizenship in heaven as primary and all that we have here on earth as gifts that we cannot hold forever. Let us put our entire being at the service of the coming Kingdom, to ensure everlasting habitations for ourselves and for all.
I rejoiced because they said to me,
“We will go up to the house of the LORD.”
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