To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one–
to each according to his ability.
He gave them these talents in order to equip them to do something good with them. He prepared good works and thus made it possible for them to walk in them. They were given talents that they were to use according to their ability. This may have meant that the one given the most had the most potential, as all seemed to infer. But it may have meant that the one given the least actually needed to least to produce results. Had he not interpreted receiving only one talent as a negative judgement on himself he might have managed to do more with it. Even if he did receive less because he possessed less ability, what of it? Why not be grateful that the master only asked of him what he knew he could deliver? Why not celebrate the fact that he was given, not just any gift, but one that was personalized for him as an individual? We ourselves may fall in various places on the scale of ability. But do we really envy what is asked of those who are given the most? Would we really want to trade places with Mary at the foot of her Son's cross?
His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Since you were faithful in small matters,
I will give you great responsibilities.
The servants who produced a return on investment for the master were, according to the master, faithful only in small matters, even including the one who made five talents with the five he was given. Even the biggest return on the biggest investment was still not itself the point to the master. What he actually wanted to see was fidelity. The matters themselves were small. Thus, the one given a single talent could have equally proven himself to be good and faithful had he simply made an effort, any effort at all.
'Master, I knew you were a demanding person,
harvesting where you did not plant
and gathering where you did not scatter;
so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground.
Here it is back.'
The servant who received only one talent could have been motivated by his fear to actually attempt something with the gift he had received. Instead, his fear only paralyzed him and prevented him from taking anything he perceived to be a risk.
His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant!
So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant
and gather where I did not scatter?
The servant may have been somewhat disingenuous in trying to blame the master's reputation for his lack of effort, especially since, seriously considered, that reputation would incite not less but more effort. It was probably at least partially an excuse for his laziness in the absence of the master, for the fact that he must have been indulging other interests in lieu of being faithful to his charge.
Should you not then have put my money in the bank
so that I could have got it back with interest on my return?
If what we receive from the master is a portion of the mystery of the Kingdom then every little effort will yield outsized dividends, like a mustard seed growing into a large tree, or a little yeast leavening a whole batch of dough. But, by contrast, every omission is a failure, not just for ourselves, but for all who stand to benefit. They are a failures, not only of self-confidence, but of faith in the master. If he can harvest where he did not plant and gather where he did not scatter imagine what he can do with our efforts, however small. However much or little we appear to have been given is not a judgment against us, but rather a promise that the master believes that we too can act as good and faithful servants. And if we do hold him in fear let us do so rightly, with holy fear that motivates us rather than incapacitates us. As long as we respond to what we have received we too "will grow rich". Only when we force ourselves to rely only on what we have apart from the master will we find ourselves to be those who have not from whom even what we do have will be taken.
Nevertheless we urge you, brothers and sisters, to progress even more,
and to aspire to live a tranquil life,
to mind your own affairs,
and to work with your own hands,
as we instructed you.
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