The Parable of the Talents
This homily was given by Dn. Jerome Atherholt on Sunday, August 8, 2010, based on the Gospel of Matthew 18:23-35.
At first glance, the parable in today’s Gospel seems pretty easy to understand and is almost self explanatory. If you are shown mercy, the least you can do is show the same mercy and kindness to others. It’s sort of a, do-unto-others kind of thing. An illustration of the, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” theme. And certainly it is. But on closer examination there appears a rather important nuance involving the proportion of debt.
I don’t know about many of you but I don’t know the first thing about weights
and measurements or currency in the Bible; cubits, measures, spans, drachmas,
dinarius, talents don’t really ring any familiar bells with me; there’s no real
concrete sense of worth or quantity. So when I read “ten thousand talents” as
opposed to “one hundred denarii” I basically respond…”Uh huh; ok, one’s big and
the other is not so big.”
But when I dug a little more in preparation for today’s sermon, I
found that, even if I assume that the talent is a larger denomination than the
denarius, I’m still not getting the full impact of the story.
Here's the calculation:
1 talent = 60 minas
1 mina = 3 month's wages
60 x (3 months' wages) = 180 months' wages
180 months' wages divided by
12 months in a year = 15 years' wages.
So, 1 talent = 15 years' wages
since the servant owed 10,000 talents he owed 150,000 years' wages.
So, putting this into our own monetary language, assuming a yearly wage is,
say, $15,000 (about 40hrs/week at min wage ($8/hr), the servant owed his master
Two Billion, Two Hundred Fifty Million US dollars!
Now, perhaps by the US Government’s standard of debt, this amounts to mere
chump change; but for one man, a servant no less, to owe this much is absolutely
unimaginable!
I may be wrong but it seems highly unlikely that this was even possible.
Instead I believe our Lord threw in this astronomical amount on purpose as an
illustrative device. One can almost imagine every listener going wide eyed,
their jaws dropping simultaneously.
This adds the important nuance that I mentioned earlier.
Because the servant wasn’t simply responsible for a large debt, he
was responsible for an extraordinarily impossible debt; a debt so incredibly
huge that he, by his own power and despite his best efforts, could NEVER, EVER
repay it. This man was clearly in deep, deep trouble. His fate seemed
sealed.
This puts into perspective the other events in the story, sharply contrasting
them and making them equally as “jaw dropping”. The idea of the king’s merciful
act of completely forgiving that huge debt, no doubt astounded the crowd. And
the violent and callous lack of mercy immediately shown by that servant toward
his fellow servant could only have scandalized the listeners; moving them to
total disdain. That debt owed by the fellow servant, by the way, totaled only
one hundred days pay, some five thousand plus dollars. No small amount, but
certainly nothing in comparison to the debt forgiven by the king.
In addition, the crowd would certainly have felt that the king’s anger and
final punishment pronounced upon the servant was more than justified.
Now, regarding the Kingdom of God; this is not about any amount or kind of
monetary debt between us and our Heavenly King but it is about sin. And when we
consider the rift that existed between us and God because of our sin, we find
that it is not a debt at all, large or small; but it was, in an eternal sense,
about a great separation. An unfathomable gulf fixed between us and the God who
desires, more than anything, to be eternally united with us.
And that gulf, that rift, could in no wise be repaired by mankind. All our
power or any effort that we could bring to bear, no matter how grand or well
intended, would prove wholly insufficient. We were clearly in deep, deep trouble
and our fate seemed sealed.
But of course, like the king in the parable, God our heavenly King heard our
plea and showed unto us a great mercy. He has relieved us of the burden of our
sin, restoring that unity, healing the rift, bridging that eternal gulf.
Considering the total depth and eternal weight of God’s mercy and the benefit
toward us, is any transgression against us so great that it does not merit mercy
and forgiveness? Don’t we, in refusing to forgive our fellow man, show a greater
callousness and indifference than what the servant showed his king, let alone
his fellow servant? And, therefore, wouldn’t we deserve a greater judgment?
Indeed we would. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
We gather here this morning, “in remembrance”, recalling that great mercy
shown us by our Savior so that we may keep before our eyes and in our minds and
hearts the sacrifice of God on our behalf; His great, life giving answer to our
pitiful cry.
And in so doing we’ll take away hearts filled with His love, His Mercy and
life; a well of living water, so that we might draw from it in those times when
our fellow man, falling short of God’s glory, does us a wrong and comes begging
for forgiveness.
Only then can we truly appreciate the depth of the unseen God’s love towards
us; when we share it by forgiving, from our hearts, those whom we see, letting
our light shine before men.
Eyes may go wide and jaws drop and our heavenly King will be glorified.
And when we stand before Him we will rejoice to hear Him say, “Well
done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
At first glance, the parable in today’s Gospel seems pretty easy to understand and is almost self explanatory. If you are shown mercy, the least you can do is show the same mercy and kindness to others. It’s sort of a, do-unto-others kind of thing. An illustration of the, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” theme. And certainly it is. But on closer examination there appears a rather important nuance involving the proportion of debt.
I don’t know about many of you but I don’t know the first thing about weights
and measurements or currency in the Bible; cubits, measures, spans, drachmas,
dinarius, talents don’t really ring any familiar bells with me; there’s no real
concrete sense of worth or quantity. So when I read “ten thousand talents” as
opposed to “one hundred denarii” I basically respond…”Uh huh; ok, one’s big and
the other is not so big.”
But when I dug a little more in preparation for today’s sermon, I
found that, even if I assume that the talent is a larger denomination than the
denarius, I’m still not getting the full impact of the story.
Here's the calculation:
1 talent = 60 minas
1 mina = 3 month's wages
60 x (3 months' wages) = 180 months' wages
180 months' wages divided by
12 months in a year = 15 years' wages.
So, 1 talent = 15 years' wages
since the servant owed 10,000 talents he owed 150,000 years' wages.
So, putting this into our own monetary language, assuming a yearly wage is,
say, $15,000 (about 40hrs/week at min wage ($8/hr), the servant owed his master
Two Billion, Two Hundred Fifty Million US dollars!
Now, perhaps by the US Government’s standard of debt, this amounts to mere
chump change; but for one man, a servant no less, to owe this much is absolutely
unimaginable!
I may be wrong but it seems highly unlikely that this was even possible.
Instead I believe our Lord threw in this astronomical amount on purpose as an
illustrative device. One can almost imagine every listener going wide eyed,
their jaws dropping simultaneously.
This adds the important nuance that I mentioned earlier.
Because the servant wasn’t simply responsible for a large debt, he
was responsible for an extraordinarily impossible debt; a debt so incredibly
huge that he, by his own power and despite his best efforts, could NEVER, EVER
repay it. This man was clearly in deep, deep trouble. His fate seemed
sealed.
This puts into perspective the other events in the story, sharply contrasting
them and making them equally as “jaw dropping”. The idea of the king’s merciful
act of completely forgiving that huge debt, no doubt astounded the crowd. And
the violent and callous lack of mercy immediately shown by that servant toward
his fellow servant could only have scandalized the listeners; moving them to
total disdain. That debt owed by the fellow servant, by the way, totaled only
one hundred days pay, some five thousand plus dollars. No small amount, but
certainly nothing in comparison to the debt forgiven by the king.
In addition, the crowd would certainly have felt that the king’s anger and
final punishment pronounced upon the servant was more than justified.
Now, regarding the Kingdom of God; this is not about any amount or kind of
monetary debt between us and our Heavenly King but it is about sin. And when we
consider the rift that existed between us and God because of our sin, we find
that it is not a debt at all, large or small; but it was, in an eternal sense,
about a great separation. An unfathomable gulf fixed between us and the God who
desires, more than anything, to be eternally united with us.
And that gulf, that rift, could in no wise be repaired by mankind. All our
power or any effort that we could bring to bear, no matter how grand or well
intended, would prove wholly insufficient. We were clearly in deep, deep trouble
and our fate seemed sealed.
But of course, like the king in the parable, God our heavenly King heard our
plea and showed unto us a great mercy. He has relieved us of the burden of our
sin, restoring that unity, healing the rift, bridging that eternal gulf.
Considering the total depth and eternal weight of God’s mercy and the benefit
toward us, is any transgression against us so great that it does not merit mercy
and forgiveness? Don’t we, in refusing to forgive our fellow man, show a greater
callousness and indifference than what the servant showed his king, let alone
his fellow servant? And, therefore, wouldn’t we deserve a greater judgment?
Indeed we would. “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
We gather here this morning, “in remembrance”, recalling that great mercy
shown us by our Savior so that we may keep before our eyes and in our minds and
hearts the sacrifice of God on our behalf; His great, life giving answer to our
pitiful cry.
And in so doing we’ll take away hearts filled with His love, His Mercy and
life; a well of living water, so that we might draw from it in those times when
our fellow man, falling short of God’s glory, does us a wrong and comes begging
for forgiveness.
Only then can we truly appreciate the depth of the unseen God’s love towards
us; when we share it by forgiving, from our hearts, those whom we see, letting
our light shine before men.
Eyes may go wide and jaws drop and our heavenly King will be glorified.
And when we stand before Him we will rejoice to hear Him say, “Well
done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”