What are you doing with what you were given?

A man goes on a long journey and entrusts his wealth to three servants: five talents to one, two to another, one to a third, each according to ability. A talent was a staggering sum, years of wages. The first two servants put the money to work and double it. The third digs a hole and buries his.

When the master returns, the first two hear the words everyone wants to hear at the end of everything: well done, good and faithful servant. Notice that the two-talent servant hears exactly the same praise as the five-talent one. The scale was never the point. The faithfulness was.

Then the third servant explains himself: I was afraid, so I hid your talent in the ground. Here, take back what is yours. He did not steal it. He did not waste it. He preserved it perfectly and returned it untouched. And the master's verdict is severe: you wicked and lazy servant. The one thing you were not allowed to do with it was nothing.

Fear posing as prudence. That is the third servant's disease, and it is epidemic. The book never written because it might fail. The apology never offered because it might be rejected. The skill never volunteered, the invitation never extended, the faith never mentioned, the gift buried in the yard where it is safe. Jesus' warning is that this safety is an illusion; the buried life does not stay preserved, it just stays buried.

You have been entrusted with something particular: abilities, experiences, relationships, resources, a story. Nobody else got your exact portfolio. The question of this parable is plain: are you investing it or protecting it?

Tomorrow: two men walk into the temple to pray, and only one walks home right with God.