XXXII The Parable of the Talents
“What is a Talent?” perhaps some one asks.
A Talent in our Lord’s time was a piece of money of great value, of about £342, and in the story which Jesus told the disciples, a Talent was described as something precious which was given to the servants of a great lord, to trade with, while he was on a long journey.
To one servant this lord gave ten Talents to trade with; to another, five; to another, two; according to their several ability; and to another, one.
And what do you think the servant who had only one did with his Talent? He went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money!
Then the lord of those servants took his journey.
At length the time came for his return, and he called his servants and reckoned with them.
The one who had traded with ten Talents brought ten Talents more to his lord; and the man with five brought five more; and the man with two brought two more. And the lord was very pleased with these faithful servants, and said, “Well done!” to each of them, and gave them great rewards.
But at last there came the man who had only received one Talent; and as he spread the one Talent out before him, he said, “I knew that you were a hard master, so I was afraid, and went and hid your Talent in the earth. Lo! Then, you have what is yours!”
And the great lord was very grieved and angry with that wicked and idle servant, and he took the Talent from him and gave it to the one who had ten; and the faithless servant was cast out, and in the darkness he wept despairingly that he could never enter, as the others did, “into the joy of their lord.”
And now I am going to tell you a true story to try and explain to you the meaning of these Talents in our present-day life.
I told you that to us, the Talent that Jesus spoke of is not money, but something more precious still, which we are given by God to trade with.
“Trade with?” you ask. Yes—that is the idea.
If we are God’s servants, if we have taken Jesus Christ as our own Blessed Saviour, God expects us to try to get others to trust Him too, and so to multiply the Talents which He has given into our charge.
You will understand this a little better when you have read the true story I am going to tell you.
There was a lady taking a Journey a few years ago, and she had to pass through London and go to another terminus on her way.
She had one of God’s “Talents” in her heart. She knew that Jesus Christ was a great and precious Saviour; and before she started on her journey she prayed:
“Make me a blessing to somebody as I travel!”
Well, by the time she had reached London, she was tired, and when she got to the other terminus, as she went along the platform she saw a man sitting in a carriage alone. But she passed on; she thought she was too tired to speak to that man.
So she hid her Lord’s money!
But her heart smote her; and after a moment she got out, and entered the carriage where the man, who appeared to be a foreman in some works, sat in the farthest corner.
They were soon off, and though she felt very nervous, she moved nearer to him, and made a remark on the beautiful sunset!
He seemed surprised.
And when, further, she said, “How it reminded her of God’s love.”
He answered: “Oh, I do not think of those things! I leave that to my wife and daughters! I and my sons read different things from that! We do very well with our lives, and leave them to theirs!”
The lady hardly knew what to answer. She felt she was not “up” in all these unbelieving questions of the day.
But then she bethought herself: “I wish I could think of some word of God that would suit his case! For the Word of God is living and powerful.”
And like a flash, she remembered the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, and she said, “Did you ever hear this?” And found herself able to repeat it to him word for word:
“Two men went up into the Temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a Publican.
“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are...
“And the Publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.”
HE SPREAD THE ONE TALENT OUT BEFORE HIM.
As the lady finished that parable, which God had so wonderfully helped her to repeat, the train began to slow down at the next station. The man gathered up his things, came to her side and shook her hand warmly.
“Thank you very much,” he said earnestly, “for what you have said!”
And then he jumped out, and the train took the lady on to her destination.
All of us are given Talents, according to our several abilities.
Whatever it is—let each one of us do what we can to tell others of God’s love in giving us a Saviour; and if we do, surely—yes, surely—God will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Lord!”