In a previous post, I shared my take on the “Parable of the Talents” in Matthew 25:14-30.
I wish that Jesus would have had one of the guys invest and lose all of the talents he’d been given. How would the master respond that?
If I were telling the story, here’s how I think the scene would play out.
The servant who was given two talents says to his master, “I’m sorry. I invested both talents in what I thought was a can’t-miss business venture. The guy turned out to be scheister. He skipped town with all of your money.”
The master grabs the servant and puts him in headlock and then gives him a noogie.
The he says, “You knucklehead! What were you thinking? I know, I know, you weren’t thinking. Well, did you learn anything? Hope so. I just spent a lot of money on your education. Come on inside. Drinks are on me. I guess they have to be since you’re broke.”
The scene ends with the master and the servant discussing how big the servant’s bonus will be after the government bail out.
Maybe there’s a reason Jesus doesn’t include such a scene.
When we invest the good news of the kingdom of God into the world, it always multiplies. There is nothing more profitable than investing in others the same love, grace, and mercy that God has invested in us.
In one sense it’s risky to give grace, show mercy, pursue peace, and work for justice. We will be opposed by some and taken advantage of by others. When we explain to God what we did with what he gave us, we learn that there are no “losses” in the Kingdom economy. What may seem like the biggest risk in the world—loving others the way God has loved us—is actually, because of the goodness of God, no risk at all.
I’m not saying that Jesus won’t give us a noogie. I’m just saying that it won’t hurt very much or for very long.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
Just the thought of Jesus giving a “noogie” brings up a picture of him that many people have never seen.
When I was a kid, my favorite uncle Glen used to do us kids that way. Sure it hurt some, but we all knew that it was his way of picking at us. It was a form of love.
To portray Jesus as anything other that a spoil-sport in the eyes of the world is foreign. When we are the kingdom in the world and we portray Jesus as a real person who cares (by our actions and words), we let them see a glimpse into a person and not a religion. Thanks for this word picture. For me, it makes the Jesus we serve more real.