Readings – 1 Thessalonians 5: 1 – 11; Matthew 25: 14 – 30
‘What you see is what you get’. I don’t know whether, like me, you’ve been watching the latest series of ‘The Apprentice’. Well, ‘What you see is what you get’ just happens to be the title of Lord Sugar’s autobiography. I haven’t yet read it.
At first sight the parable of the talents is quite straightforward. And just the sort of thing Lord Sugar would approve. Work hard, make the best use of everything you’ve been given – and all will go well for you. Bury your talents, and you have only yourself to blame. Bad things will happen. And to a large extent, this is common sense. So if Georgina, who’s to be baptised today, is musical, her parents will probably be hoping very much that she will do the long hours of practice that are necessary to become truly skilled in playing or singing.
But Jesus was a consummate storyteller. His parables are disturbing as well as memorable, and they have a habit of going on resonating in the mind. Of yielding up more than one possible meaning. Is it really as simple as that? Do we work our way into God’s good graces? Is life a kind of hamster wheel where we just have to keep on running until it stops? And is God really like the master in the story? A kind of magnified Lord Sugar in the sky? Will we be fired if we’re not up to scratch in the final boardroom of life? Is that what’s in store for all of us?
Perhaps putting the story in context will help to tease out the meaning some more. When Matthew was writing his Gospel the great Temple of the Jews had probably already been destroyed; Christianity was a small sect in the process of separating itself from mainstream Judaism. There was political unrest; life was difficult for many. Jesus had been raised from the dead, and Matthew looks forward to the final fulfilment of all things in Christ, but in the meanwhile his followers have to face hardship and the possibility of persecution. How are Christian believers to behave in these times? Jesus often uses hyperbole in his parables. The amounts of money – and it is money we are talking about – are enormous. It would take a day labourer 20 years to earn one talent. And then there are the rewards and the punishments. They too seem out of proportion. A rather stark version of the moment towards the end of ‘The Apprentice’ when the winning team go off to enjoy their treat while one of the losers is fired.
One of the disturbing features of the story is the fate of the man who buried his money to keep it safe. Here ‘What you see is what you get’ takes on a new meaning. If the master does in some ways represent God, perhaps this man’s greatest problem is that his vision is defective. He sees the master as a harsh man, taking profits without doing the work. Extremely demanding and scary – even more so than Lord Sugar. This is what paralyses him and prevents him from doing anything with his money, and thus determines his fate. He isn’t grateful for the gift he’s been given – even one talent was a lot of money – and the trust that’s been bestowed on him. It’s all too much; so he can’t take the risk of doing anything at all.
It may be fruitful for us to reflect from time to time on what is God is like for us. We may not be aware of it, but an understanding or a warped image of God from way back in our childhood can affect our whole outlook on life and faith. Do we see God as a harsh taskmaster or as our generous and loving Lord?
We hope and we pray that as Georgina grows up, with the help and support of her parents and godparents, her understanding of God will also grow. Our baptism service tells us a great deal about what God is like. Georgina is called to new birth, she’s to be renewed in the image of God and clothed with Christ so that she can live his risen life. We shall pray for her that she will ‘fight valiantly as a disciple of Christ’ and ‘remain faithful to Christ to the end of her life’. We might also pray for her and for ourselves too, that God would give to us all the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation which were mentioned in our first reading. There’s nothing in the Baptism service about Georgina working her way to Heaven like a slave. Or about being fired by God if she doesn’t come up to the mark. Baptism is an invitation from God to life in all its fullness. We trust and pray that this will include developing all her God-given gifts, musical or otherwise and using them for His glory. And as we rejoice with Georgina’s family and their friends we too are invited to share in that fullness of life.
What you see is what you get.
Amen