The Parable of the Joyful Man (The Parable of the Talents)

It’s so easy to hold on to what’s been given to you, but passing it on opens the door to joy. The Parable of the Joyful Man (Parable of the Talents)

Did you ever play that children’s party game – Pass the parcel?

The children sit in a circle, and a parcel is passed around the group.

Under multiple layers of wrapping is hidden a gift.

While the parcel is passed from one child to the next, some music is being played.

When the music stops, the child holding the parcel gets to unwrap a layer of wrapping paper to see if he or she has won the gift.

Round and around the parcel goes.

You receive the gift with open hands and then you pass it on to another.

But for the briefest of moments, it’s yours.

You want the music to stop, but with some reluctance and hesitation, you are forced by the rules of the game to pass it on.

You risk the pass. The music could stop any second, it could be yours, but then you have to let it go. You wait eagerly for it to make it around the circle again.

Then one child holds on to it for a bit too long. In fact, they stuff it under their shirt and run off with it.

The game finishes with quite a bit of anger and frustration.

Ok, the last part may not happen. Generally, the birthday girl or boy gets the gift because the music player has the control.

What’s it like to be given something totally unexpected?
What do you do with it?
Is there a kind of hesitation or reluctance to pass it on?

What if you were suddenly given 100 years’ worth of wages?

What would you do? Would you immediately pass it on to the next person in the party circle?
How much hesitation is there in you now?

Jesus tells another living right side up in an upside-down world parable.

It’s normally called the Parable of the Talents, but I’m calling it the Parable of Joyful Man

The Parable of the Joyful Man (The Parable of the Talents)

The P.U.V. (Pearman Unauthorised Version) of Matthew 25:14-30

There once was a wealthy man who decided to take a very long journey.

He was full of joy. His lifestyle pattern was to give his wealth away and see it return with interest.

This filled him with joy. He would do this over and over again, seemingly forever.

He had some servants. All with different abilities to handle wealth.

Some had watched him and how he invested by divestment.

Others had quite a different understanding of his investment style. They, for some strange reason, thought the man had stolen the money, that he was some kind of con -man swindler. ‘How could he be that good and generous?’

But the man was full of grace and decided to take a risk with his servants.

He called one of his servants over and said to him. ‘I am going on a long trip and I want you to look after some of my wealth for me’. He then handed him 100 years’ worth of the man’s wages.*note below

Another servant was called over, and he in the same manner was given 50 years’ worth of his wages.

The third servant, the one with some warped beliefs about the nature and kindness of the man, was given just 20 years of the worth of the man’s wages. $733,000 to invest.

Immediately both the first and second servants, following their master’s style of investment generosity, went and passed the money on. Quickly, it came back with a 100% return rate. The first servant now had 7.2 million dollars, and he was full of joy. The second servant now had 3 million dollars. He discovered joy in the divestment investment strategy.

The third servant, the one who didn’t really know the man, went and dug a hole and buried it. The fortune was safe and secure.

It was all about the servants’ security. No looking outward, no thought for others, it was all about holding it in.

No generous joy flowed in, through and out. He was tightfisted and lived in fear. The passing of the parcel had stopped.

The wealthy man, full of joy, returned from his journey (which seemed like an eternity) and called his servants over to hear what they had done. Had they found the levels of joy and freedom he had eternally danced within?

The first and second servants came and presented the return on their modeling of the man’s generosity.

The man was thrilled by what the servant had done. The servants had discovered the route to joy was through risk-taking generosity. Of giving grace, and wondering where and how it would be returned.

The third servant was called to show what he had done. He went off and dug up the gift from where it had been hidden. He brushed off the dirt and handed it back. Nice, safe, secure, but soiled by fear.

The joyful man was now furious.

He said to the risk-averse servant.

‘What got into you thinking I was like a conman? That I was harsh? I wasn’t trying to play a trick. Haven’t you noticed I live a lifestyle of generosity? I give and give, and it always comes back to me in some way. You could have invested it with a bank and gotten 3% interest, but instead you did nothing with it’

He was so disappointed that he gave the man’s soiled money to the other two.

He then threw the man out of his presence. He was now in a place without joy.

*Note: A ‘Talent’ in Jesus day was considered as twenty years’ wages for a laborer

Based on the minimum wage in New Zealand for a forty-hour week, this would equate to a yearly income of $48880 NZD

5 talents = 100 years’ worth of labourers’ wages (4.8 million NZD, 2.9 million USD)
2 talents = 40 years’ worth of labourers’ wages (1.9 million NZD, 1.15 million USD)
1 talent = 20 years’ worth of labourers’ wages (0.97 million NZD .58 million USD)

It’s all about grace

Whenever I read a parable of Jesus, I always ask two questions.

Who was the first person mentioned in the parable?
What is the most important relationship lesson to be learned here?

The first person in this parable is the man going on a long journey, who is incredibly wealthy and incredibly joyful. This man takes risks. Enormous risks and knows people’s abilities to handle what is given to them.

He knows that some people can’t handle too much but still wants them to learn.

I like this quote from John Flavell

Small boats have but narrow sails. John Flavell

Some people are like small boats; they cant carry much. They have small sails and so can only catch a small amount of the wind of providence.

Whereas some people have grown and expanded themselves into large boats with large sails and are able to catch large amounts of providence wind.

I want to be constantly building out my boat to carry more. To have wider and larger sails to catch the unseen winds of providence.

The relationship lesson.

Pass it on, quickly.

The first reading of this parable speaks to me about grace. Undeserved kindness. The servants did nothing to deserve these over the top outlandish gifts.

I think the best definition of grace can be found in contrasting it with its cousins.

Justice is getting what we deserve
Mercy is not getting what we deserve
Grace is getting what we don’t deserve.

I pass on the grace quickly.

I give it away so quickly that my left hand doesn’t know what my right is doing. Matthew 6:3.

In one hand, through to the next hand, gone to the next child in the game. Quick, without hesitation.

If I hold on to it, if I dig a hole and hide it, then it loses its glorious potency to do something powerful in the world.

Perhaps it’s a gift of grace you need to give to others.

Perhaps you need to give it to yourself.

There is providential plenty where that came from.

You’ve been wounded

You’ve been wounded.

Life hasn’t been a Garden of Eden.

You’ve been hurt. You’ve hurt others.

Then God drops in your lap a lifetime’s worth of grace and kindness.

What do you do with this?

Do you say ‘Thank you’ and keep it to yourself?

The joyful God gives you the freedom of choice to risk it all and give it away.

You want justice, lots of it, for those who have stuck a spear in your side.

Compassion lubricates your thinking, and you come to mercy. ‘Forgive them, for they don’t have a clue at what they are doing’

Grace passes on the resurrection hope to others.

You grace them. You grace yourself.

Then grace comes back to. Twice over.

It may come in a uniquely different form, but it smells of Garden of Eden red roses, and deep down you know its providence smiling its joy-filled face at you

Give it away

I found a coin
Totally unplanned
Passed it on to another
Where would this joy land?

I see a sunrise
Providence on display
I want to share it with all
Give it all away

In one hand
Out the other
While the music plays
Give it to another

What a silly game
Could the Kingdom be like that?
Giving it all away
Holding nothing back

I think I will keep some grace
Hide it in a pit
I don’t want to share what I’ve been given
You don’t deserve the least of it

But slowly I’ll grow cold
Indifferent to your call
Hide it in a dark hole
I’m going to keep it all

I pass the parcel on
Open hands they need to be
Letting go and taking a risk
Finding I am free

I find a coin
Totally unplanned for me
I pass it on to another
Two coins worth comes back to me

It may not be in a coin
It may be in another form
But learning to listen this way
Creates for me a new norm

I pass it on
Before it hits the ground
Providential blessing
A glorious joyful sound

Barry Pearman

40 days

Here is the challenge.

For the next 40 days, spend some reflective time, before going to bed, and journal 10 ways in which God has provided for you during the day.

This is not a list of ‘thank you’s’ or a ‘count your blessings’ this is something quite different.

Instead, I want you to fill out this sentence.

I saw how God provided for me in my need for _______ by giving me ________

Here are some recent entries I have made.

I saw how God provided for me in my need for rest by giving me a comfortable seat and some time to be quiet
I saw how God provided for me in my need for fellowship by having a neighbour drop by for a chat
I saw how God provided for me in my need for work by a new client contacting me

Create a list of 10 providences.

To create a list of ten, it will push you to think of the less than obvious, but the still very important.

8. I saw how God provided for me in my need for nutrition by giving me vegetables for dinner
9. I saw how God provided for me in my need for sleep by giving me a comfortable bed
10. I saw how God provided for me in my need for learning by giving me Turning the Page to read 😉

What we are doing through this exercise is building an awareness of the providence of God.

It is training the brain to notice God at work.

Quotes to consider

If God has given you but a small portion of the world, yet if you are godly He has promised never to forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). Providence has ordered that condition for you which is really best for your eternal good. If you had more of the world than you have, your heads and hearts might not be able to manage it to your advantage. A small boat must have but a narrow sail. John Flavel. The Mystery Of Providence
My experience was that the less I spent on myself and the more I gave to others, the fuller of happiness and blessing did my soul become. Hudson Taylor
Grace leads us to an amazing and startling recognition, “My life is not about me.” Richard Rohr -Job and the Mystery of Suffering
Grace is amazing, by disorienting us it properly orients us. Ronald Rolheiser
Grace is always a humiliation for the ego, Richard Rohr. Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps
Grace shows up when logic breaks down. Richard Rohr
Every man loves the mercies of God, but a saint loves the God of his mercies. The mercies of God, as they are the fuel of a wicked man’s lusts, so they are fuel to maintain a good man’s love to God; not that their love to God is grounded upon these external benefits. John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence
That which begins not with prayer, seldom winds up with comfort. John Flavel, The Mystery of Providence

Questions to answer

What’s it like to give something away?
What happens inside you when you hold on to something when you know you need to pass it on? Think Pass the Parcel game.
At the end of the passage, we find the consequence of living a less than generous life. ‘As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’. The complete opposite of joy. Can one return from this place of pain to a place of joy by learning how to be generous?

Formation exercise

For the next 40 days, create a list of 10 providences at the end of each day. What do you notice about your levels of fear and anxiety as you do this exercise?