Monthly Archives: April 2026
Talents, Then & Now
Around April, we all tend to think about money, and taxes, and rendering unto Ceasar. I’ve been working with my investment advisor to decide which stocks and bonds to invest it. Some investments can be very risky – a huge reward is possible, but so is gong broke.Jesus tells of a master who is going on a journey. Before he leaves, he entrusts his servants with his wealth:
• To one, he gives five talents
• To another, two
• To another, one
Each servant according to their ability.
The first servant looks around for an investment with a high return, and he’s lucky – he doubles the money.
The second servant is more risk adverse, so he loans some money to trusted friends, and makes a modest return
The third servant knows that his master is old, and this money is to keep him alive when he is too old to work. So he buries the money, secretly, for safekeeping.
The master praises the first two servants, equally, but is rather harsh with the third. Personally, I think he was a bit too harsh – the third servant wasn’t lazy or careless; he just didn’t understand the assignment.
Now when I first read this, I saw the first two servants as riverboat gamblers who got lucky. I figured I’d hire the third one, because he kept the money safe. Wouldn’t you do something similar?
The word ’talent’ here is used to mean a sum of money, in particular gold. Google says one talent is about 75 pounds, worth roughly $5 million.
But nowadays the word talent means something closer to skill, or artistic mastery. I find this ironic, in light of what Jesus evidently meant by this parable. The servants who use their talents to spread the Word of God and the teaching of Jesus are doing the right thing. The third servant is wasting what we can take to represent his God-given talent, not merely money.
OK, I mis-understood this parable. But there is a connection: the use of the word “talent” to mean “gift or skill” in English and other languages originated from an interpretation of this parable, sometime in the 1200s AD, or thereabouts,
Besides the etymology of the word Talent, what can we learn fro this parable?
The question is not, “What do I have?” The question is, “What am I doing with what I have?”
Notice something important: the servant with two talents received the same praise as the one with five. Jesus is telling us to use the talents we have to create goodness in the world. Maybe you don’t create as much as some other person, but Jesus is telling us that it doesn’t matter.
Teddy Roosevelt understood this. He said “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Personally, I think Teddy’s version avoids the confusion over mere money, but that’s just me.
The Christian life is not about preservation—it is about multiplication. About increasing the amount of love and kindness in the world.
Where Your Treasure Is
This is the fiftieth anniversary of the movie about Watergate, “All the President’s Men”. You remember, the one where a source on background kept meeting one of the reporters in a parking garage. He was nick-named “Deep Throat”, and his most useful tip was “Follow the Money.”
Apparently Jesus saw the previews, because he says: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This simple sentence cuts straight to the center of our lives.
We spend so much time chasing things—money, success, recognition, comfort. None of these are evil in themselves. But Jesus is warning us: whatever you value most will shape your heart.
In this author’s experience, it is excellent advice in general Want to know why some corporation has what appears to be a silly rule? Follow the money. It’s not always bad to follow the money, at least in business. It explains a lot about business behavior.
But if your treasure is wealth, your heart will live in fear of losing it.
Or if your treasure is status, your heart will constantly compare yourself to others, and like as not come up short.
If your treasure is comfort, your heart will avoid sacrifice.
On the other hand,if your treasure is God—if your treasure is love and truth, then your heart becomes steady, generous, and full of peace.
Jesus isn’t just telling us to feel differently. He’s telling us to invest differently.
Think about it this way:
• What do you think about the most?
• What do you protect the most?
• What do you pursue when no one is watching?
That is your treasure.
And here’s the hope in Jesus’ teaching:
You can move your treasure, and when you do, your heart will follow.
When you give instead of hoard, your heart grows generous.
When you serve instead of seek attention, your heart grows humble.
When you trust God instead of clinging to control, your heart grows peaceful.
Jesus is inviting us to a better kind of wealth—one that cannot rust, fade, or be taken away.
So today, take a moment and ask yourself, Where is my treasure?
Because wherever it is… that’s where your heart is living.
Who Is My Neighbor?
A man once asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”
It’s a question we still ask today—sometimes out loud, sometimes in how we live.
Jesus answered not with a definition, but with a story.
A man from Galilee’s was beaten, robbed, and left for dead on a road. He cried out for help, but two respected, religious men saw him and passed by. A squad of soldiers came by, and vowed to hunt down the robbers and smite them with the Lord’d Vengeance.
Then a man from Samaria came by. The victim was saddened, because Samaritans and Galileans don’t always get along. But the Samaritan stopped and bandaged the man’s wounds, then helped him to his feet. Together they managed to limp into the nearest village.
Jesus asked his questioner, Which one was the neighbor?
The answer is clear: the one who showed mercy.
The lesson is just as clear—and just as challenging.
Being a neighbor isn’t about proximity. It’s not about who is like us, agrees with us, or belongs to our group. It’s about how we respond when we see someone in need.
We live in a world full of reasons to pass by:
- “I’m too busy.”
- “Someone else will help.”
- “They don’t deserve it.”
But Jesus calls us to something higher.
He calls us to see people.
To stop even when it’s inconvenient. Maybe even especially then.
To help even when there might be some risk or danger.
To love without conditions.
Because real love isn’t theoretical—it’s practical. It shows up. It gets its hands dirty. It crosses boundaries.
So today, ask yourself:
Who is lying on the road in your life?
Who have you been walking past?
They may not be near by. They may be in Ukraine, or Sudan. Or they may be sleeping under a bridge just down the street from you.
And then hear Jesus’ final words in that story:
“Go and do likewise.” So, like, do it already!
Wednesday Night Church of Jesus 