If you “want to make money” – you have to invest it. Investing obviously carries with it – some risk. It always has.
K-Mart
JC Penney
Sears – are probably “not the wisest of investments” at this particular point and time. But then – what do I know?
Some investing is riskier than others… Some investing is safer than others…
“Buy low, sell high,” they say…
“Let it ride they say…”
You need to be in it for the long haul…”
Legendary investor Warren Buffett defines “investing” as “… the process of laying out money now – to receive more money in the future.”
The goal of investing is to “put your money to work” in one or more types of “investment vehicles” in the hopes of growing your money “slowly over time.”
Investing is “a tool” for building wealth. There are no magic secrets.
What differentiates “investing” from “gambling” – is that it takes “time”— “investing” is not a “get-rich-quick-scheme.”
I don’t know about you – but when I hear terms like: stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etfs (exchange-traded funds) and real estate…my head doesn’t know what to do with those words. I understand that they are investment “tools.” When it comes to “compound interest,” my head explodes.
Remember I am the guy who has never looked at a bank statement or a check register.
Sometimes burying the money in the backyard sounds like a “safer bet,” but with my luck, I might not remember where I buried it…and then living in a downtown condo, I don’t have a yard!
Well, the gospel story before us today is a story about “investments”…some “wise”…and some “not so wise…”
It is also a story of two differing world views: scarcity or abundance, half full or half empty? Faith or no faith?
As is always the case – the context is important! In Matthew’s timeline it is Holy Week. Jesus has already entered Jerusalem in triumph and is moving toward a final encounter with the authorities. Jesus has been challenging the crowds to make choices – “the kingdom of God – or the kingdom of Caesar.” You choose! The choice is yours! Decide today. Decide now.
Where will the crowds invest their lives?
There is also another context: that being Matthew’s church…the recipients of this Gospel. They continue to wait for the return of Jesus. The King of Kings has gone away and left his realm in the hands of his “faithful servants.” When the king returns-what will he find?
Will people be found “faithful” or “fearful?” Again, how and in what ways will the crowds invest their lives?
How many times does the Scriptures say, “Fear not!” … “Don’t be afraid?”
And in another sense, it is all about “accountability.” It is about being held responsible and accountable for what we do – here and now. Or what we do not do!
Just so you know, there is a delightful ambiguity with using the word “talent”…in the Greek, a “talent” is simply a word for “money.” It has nothing whatsoever to do with “innate abilities.” But people still hear “the all inclusive trilogy” of “time, talents and money.” That too, is a part of the context.
The Hebrew Talmud – the body of “Jewish civil and ceremonial law and legend” actually teaches: “When a master leaves a subordinate, the Talmud advises that a subordinate take no risks. Bury the cash in the ground.”
Well that is obviously what one man did! He acted out of fear. He was afraid of his master. He knew the master would be coming back and could or would not invest somebody else’s money, because you could risk it all. Everything! Gone!
By burying it – his master would have his original amount back – safe and sound. He would be happy, very happy.
It was after all what the Talmud suggested! Play it safe! Nor was he originally told “what to do” with his master’s money.
He thought he was doing what was best.
You have to be “accountable” for your work – and he preserved his master’s money. Every red cent of it! And he was proud, very proud…he had preserved what had been entrusted to him! He did everything he could to protect his masters talent. That is, until his master returned.
Then he was shocked and hurt, appalled and horrified, upset and disturbed, and astonished that his master would ultimately be “upset with him.”
Far from lazy, far from wicked, far from worthless he thought he did well.
Perhaps he should have “invested” and “stepped out in faith,” but he allowed fear to stand in his way! So he buried it. And, more importantly he found it again! Never did he expect what happened next. He was thrown out into the outer darkness.
“I guess I could have done more, he said!” And now he lived with regret!