(Continuing the story from yesterday)

I encourage people often with Paul’s letter to a church where he says, To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. As he worked hard, God gave him strength.

There is a both/and that we read. We respond to God, God gives us the strength to respond.

At the time Jesus told the story, a talent was a unit of measurement or of money. As money, a talent was about what a day laborer could make in 19 years.

He was given what he could make in a lifetime, all at once. What could he do with that?

Because this is a story, Jesus could set the parameters of the economy. During the time the master was gone, you could get a very favorable return. You could double your money. It was possible.

And if this is a story of the kingdom, if you invest in what the kingdom values, there will be a good return.

But here’s what happened.

He worried about the boss. He worried about getting it right. He worried about what would happen if he messed up, if he made the wrong choice. He worried so much about the outcome that he did nothing at all. He buried the money.

If the values of the Kingdom of God are loving your enemies, it means that he didn’t love. If the values of the Kingdom of God are visiting the sick, it means that he didn’t visit. If the values of the Kingdom of God are feeding the hungry and clothing the naked, he didn’t.

So in other words, if we have resources to share, time and money and love and encouragement and attention and peace and grace to pour into people, and we don’t, we are burying the talent.

But if we do, there will be a great return.

Which means that if we are keeping our money all to ourselves, we may be burying our talent. If we are keeping our attention, our time, our health, we are burying our talent.

But, of course, it’s just a story. Not a formula.