Do you ever think about what it would be like to win the lottery? I mean to win so much money that you could kiss your J.O.B. goodbye? I know I have heard horror stories of how lottery winnings have ruined people's lives. Of course, that wouldn't be me. I would be smart. And I would be generous to all my relatives. I have fantasized about how I would spend the money, how I would invest it, would I take the cash payout or the yearly stipend, what kind of car I would drive, where would the summer house be? You know I would buy a modest car and fool everybody. I would invest most of it, so I could live off the gain forever. I have had conversations with people in which we compared what we would do with all the winnings and how much it would take to quit our jobs. In the moments while you are indulging in the fantasy, it feels almost like the money is in the bank. The funny thing is that you can even carry a little hope away from the conversation. It's like you finish talking about it, but you don't finish dreaming about it. You know the odds are so great, that it would have to be a miracle. For me, it would be an even greater miracle, since I don't play the lottery. You can call me foolish, but I would bet money (ha) that you have dreamed the same foolish dreams at least once. I am not going to step on this dream. But I hope to give you a better one.
Take the money and run!
Jesus told a story about a rich guy who went on a long journey (Matt. 25). Before the man left, he called his servants together and gave them bags of gold. If you read the story, you will see the word talent. A talent was a unit of measure that described the full weight of gold that a man could carry, or about 75 pounds. I just checked, and, at the current price of $1073.20 per ounce, that would be well over 1.25 million dollars. I just want to stop here and say that that is a lot of gold. Now there is a catch. He did not just give them the money. It says he entrusted his property to them. So he put it in their care while he was gone. In fact, he gave one servant five bags of gold (that's almost 6.5 million dollars if you are doing the math), one servant two bags of gold, and one servant one bag of gold. He divided up the gold to "each according to his ability." You get the idea that these were servants he felt he could trust. I know if someone gave me that much of their gold to take care of, I would be physically ill. I would be a sweating bundle of nerves until I got it all tucked away into a safe deposit box or someplace even safer. But that is not what the first two servants did. They immediately put the money to work. By the time their master returned, they had each doubled the money they were given. That is ten bags of gold and four bags of gold. Unfortunately, the third servant was just like me. He dug a hole in the ground and hid the bag of gold till his master returned.
Before I finish the story, I want to explain who the characters represent. Jesus is the rich man in the story. The long journey represents the time between when He ascended into heaven and when He will return to earth. And you and I are the servants. So what do the bags of gold represent? It is tempting to think they represent our literal talents, our time, or our treasure. We could say that those things are on loan from God, and we are supposed to invest them in ways that honor Him. We can volunteer for a cause or ministry. We can give money to feed the hungry. We can offer our abilities in medicine, public speaking, music, or building to His kingdom. All those things are good. But they are measured on your scale. The bags of gold represent something that can only be measured on God's scale. They were impossibly out of proportion to the personal resources of the servants. Before I go on I need to explain that a parable should not be thought of as an allegory, where all the details match up exactly to some other reality, but as an illustration meant to teach a main point. And the main point is that we are entrusted with a great treasure, far beyond anything we can account for with our own resources, and we are expected to produce gain with this treasure. I believe Jesus is referring to the presence of God in your life and everything that means. It means the Spirit of God living in your heart, the gifts that He gives, the message of grace, the light of His presence that shines in us and through us. Paul calls this a "treasure in jars of clay (our bodies) to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Cor. 4:7).
When you asked Jesus to be your Savior, His Spirit took up residence in your heart. I am concerned that many people think of this metaphorically. Please think of the Spirit of God as literally living in you. When I began to regard this as reality I gained a supernatural perspective. In other words, it was no longer about what I could do, but about what God could do. Before, I felt powerless and ineffective on my own to effect change in my life or anyone else's. But, God is not just wishing me well. He is living in me, operating through me.
In the story, the master returns, and is so happy with the first two servants, he promotes them, saying, "You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things." But the third servant digs up the gold and gives it back to him, saying, "I knew you were a hard man . . . so I was afraid." The master takes the bag of gold and gives it to the one who has ten, and he throws the third servant out of his presence.
So, what can we learn from this story? First, not only has God given you a great treasure, but He has already commissioned you to produce something of eternal value with it. Second, you are going to have to take risks to make that happen. Third, don't compare yourself with others, but know that what He has given you is great and powerful and unique to your abilities. He will promote you in His kingdom when you are faithful with what He has given you now. And I don't think that promotion is restricted to heaven, only, but it includes an increase in your influence and responsibility on this earth.
The last lesson has to do with what you believe about God. The third servant failed because he feared. He thought his master was "a hard man." Instead, believe in the God who is with you, living in you, and operating through you. Stop fearing what could go wrong. Start believing in the God of possibilities, the God who wants to answer your prayers, because He wants you to believe. Is there treasure involved? The Bible says, "Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Cor. 4:17). That is more than a wish, it is my future destiny!