Ask any employee in an organization large enough to have them what their least favorite part of the job is and I guarantee you there will be one overwhelming answer – performance reviews.  No matter how well we may be doing our jobs, there is just something profoundly hair-raising about having your work scrutinized.  In fact, the thought of it alone may send some of us into conniptions.  Yes, no one feels comfortable when their supervisors take out that sheet of paper and looks at the objective data from your job performance.  It can be humbling, to be sure.  I’ll never forget one time, feeling like I’d done the best job in the entire world going into a performance review only to discover my employer had a different take on my efforts.  Not that they were disappointed, mind you, just they pointed out several areas for improvement that I hadn’t considered.

  So, like I said, performance reviews are difficult things which is precisely why the 25 chapter of Matthew may not be our most favorite section of scripture.  For within just one chapter, Jesus stacks three parables on top of each other.  Each of which, in its own way, points us towards the reality of judgment, our ultimate performance evaluation.  If the idea of judgment is frightening to you, I completely understand why.  We almost never talk about it, at least not within many Protestant church walls.  Oh, we favor justification by faith talk here far more.  But both are true.  Yes, we believe we are destined for heaven for no other reason that God has blessed us with faith in Jesus Christ.  That’s justification by faith.  Faith alone, sola fide as our spiritual forebears held high.  But there is another side to the coin.  Another statement must be made.  If we truly believe in Jesus Christ, we will be found doing the very things he asks us to.

  That’s why the first of the three parables in Matthew 25 deals with waiting in faith.  Ten Virgins await a bridegroom but only five of them ensure there’s enough oil in their lamps so that when he arrives, they can celebrate.  The other five, well, they’re not quite willing to put in the work.  The parable concludes with five of the women inside and celebrating whilst the other five are left out in the cold, so to speak.

  The next parable Jesus tells is our reading for today and, again, the emphasis falls on doing work.  One day a very rich man summons his servants and tells them he’s going on a trip.  While he’s away, the rich man provides each of the servants with a princely sum, entrusting that wealth to them entirely.  He gives the first man 5 talents, the second man two talents and the third servant just one talent.  Now, lest we think that any of these men was shortchanged, it is helpful to realize that a talent was the highest denomination of money in the ancient Jewish world.  A talent was the equivalent of twenty years of wages for a working man.  Thus, even one talent would be the equivalent of about a million dollars.  One cannot hear the bad outcome of this servant and place the failure at the feet of the master for providing scant funding for any of the men.  The rich man then departs, presumably heading out somewhere to make more money.  Regardless, he leaves, entrusting those large sums to his stewards.  Well, two of the three men begin investing the entrusted money.  The third one chooses to do differently.  Instead of using the money to make more money, the steward buries the money in the backyard, so to speak.  While this would seemingly present an upside of not losing anything, it is clearly not what is in the mind of the master. 

  For when he returns, an accounting must be given.  The first steward, the one who was given 5 talents has done well.  He’s leveraged the money his master has entrusted him with and made 5 more talents.  A double.  A great return.  The second steward has equaled that return, returning back to his master not only the two talents originally given but adding another two of profits.  For this great work, both men are applauded verbally, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”  But the third servant, the one who buried the treasure in the backyard?  Well, he just returns the one talent.  And, in times like we’re in presently, that doesn’t look like too bad a rate a return.  After all, one of the reason people put money into fixed assets like gold is that they are expecting a near-equal return on their money without taking any losses.  In times where the market is hanky like it is now, that may not be a bad monetary strategy.  But, as far as the parable goes, it was a wrong move.  The third servant is chastised, thrown into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of feet.  Consider those two final outcomes and consider which one you desire for yourself.  Hearing the celebratory voice of a well-pleased supervisor or rather hearing weeping and gnashing of teeth?  I know which I prefer.