Several years ago, my father’s oldest brother passed away and I was asked to conduct his funeral. I gladly agreed and spent a couple of days in Michigan with my Gilbert relatives. This was a bit awkward. Although we had a fairly close relationship with my Uncle Wayne, the rest of the extended family were not very close. In fact, I had to be introduced to some of my adult cousins.
After the funeral, one of my dad’s older sisters whom I did not know well, came to me, and asked to meet with me privately. We walked outside and she pulled a cloth bag from her purse and handed it to me. She explained that in the bag were two pocket watches that had belonged to my Grandpa Gilbert. Since he and my grandmother had died several years before I was born, I had no real connection to them other than the stories my dad would tell.
When she gave me the watches, she explained that since my uncle, who had been the oldest, had died, she was next in line to receive these family treasures. However, she felt that if they stayed in her family, her children would probably sell them for their own profit. She believed this was true of my other cousins as well. Even though dad was next to the youngest child, and I was the youngest of my siblings, she deemed me to be the most trustworthy to care for these “family treasures”.
I do not know if these watches have any monetary value. However, I have locked them in a very secure place and will keep them protected. This is not because of their value to me, but because of the level of confidence shown in me by my aunt when she entrusted them to my care.
Jesus gives us a similar challenge in one of his most familiar parables. In Matthew 25, Jesus is in the final week of his life and in verses 14-30, emphasizes the extreme value of what he is about to entrust into our care. There was a man going on a journey who left his servants in charge of his wealth while he is away. He gave different amounts to different servants. Two of the servants used what they were given in a manner that allowed what was given to them to double. The third buried his and gained nothing. When the master returned, he rewarded those who had used his gifts wisely, but banished the one who did not.
In this parable, Jesus is the master, and we are the servants. The journey of the master represents Jesus returning to heaven and leaving us with the task of investing his message of salvation to bear fruit.
There are several important observations to be made from this parable. The first is the obvious trust the man had in leaving such an important task to his servants. As with my relationship with my aunt, it was not the amount of the gift, but the trust offered by the giver that is the motivation to do well. Also, we should notice that he gave to each servant according to his ability. (vs. 15) We are not expected to have equal results for the Kingdom, but equal effort. God will worry about the results.
A final thought comes from the master’s response to what had been accomplished in his absence. He praised his servants for the good work they did according to what they had been trusted with. The one who did nothing was cast out of the master’s presence.
The God of creation has entrusted us with the most precious gift imaginable, the message of salvation, and has asked us to multiply that according to our ability. He is also the one who empowers our abilities. The only variable that will determine a positive outcome is what we choose to do with what we have been given. We must remember the value of the gift but honor the master who has given it.