Assumptions | crustybread

“…the one who received the one talent came forward saying; Master, I knew that you were a harsh man…I was afraid and I hid your talent in the ground. ” Matthew 25:4-30 The very first time I read this (more that 45 years ago) I assumed that the “Master” in the story was in fact a harsh man who took what didn’t belong to him. Why would anybody want to be in service to someone who is constantly taking things away from them? The story actually tells of a Master who is giving something of value to his servants and when the those servants who worked hard increased that value, the Master gave them more! I think I can understand the servant who was afraid. Perhaps he just wanted to make sure that he didn’t screw up the one talent that was given to him. However we learn from this parable that allowing fear to hinder us won’t move us in the direction that God wants us to go, nor will we fully experience any of God’s rewards. We should never be afraid to use the “talents” God has given us.

‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we (Pharisees) know? John 6:41-51 Just the other day I said after introducing myself I said to someone that they probably wouldn’t remember my name. She responded, “I’ll remember, I have a best friend by that name.” Today’s reading caused me to realize we often make assumptions about one another based on what we see and what we perceive to know. Admittedly, I am the one who forgets names. Oddly enough, I won’t forget her name because of the same reason. I too have a best friend (since middle school) that has her name. A relationship with God transcends what we think we know of one another because only God fully knows each of us. It is much easier to accept what you perceive to know than to seek out what you don’t know. However, if we accept that nothing is fully known except by God then we should never stop seeking to know one another rather than simply accepting what we think we know or that other people will accept what we perceive to know.