Message: Reading through the parable of the
talents in Luke 19 was very familiar until I noticed something different
mentioned In Luke that I have not seen in the same story told in Matthew. In
Luke there is a back story set before the talents are even issued to the servants.
In verse 12 it says that the man was a nobleman who was called away to a
distant empire was going to be crowned king and then he would return. Before he
left he handed out the talents to his servants to invest, but verse 14 says
that his people hated him and didn’t want him to be their king. So much so that
they sent a delegate after him to tell him so. After he was crowned king he
came back to ask them what they did with his money. What really caught my
attention about these details is the attitude they had toward the man. They hated
him so they weren’t loyal or devoted to him at all. In spite of that, one
servant thrived, the second one did pretty well but the third one made excuses
and blamed the man for his failure to even do anything. I believe the fact that
these servants hated him had a lot to do with how they each responded. This is
just speculation, but I can’t help but wonder if the first man was motivated by
his hatred to prove himself, the second did what was needed to get by and the
third was completely withdrawn from his hatred and it made him unproductive and
full of excuses. Again, my thoughts about this are purely speculation on a
fictional story that Jesus told, but I can’t help but recognize some really
common human behavior.
Command: Everything we do deserves our best
work ethic
Promise: God is the rewarder.
Warning: If we allow our attitude toward
people to influence our work ethic, we will be inconsistent and at times,
completely unproductive!
Application: As I mentioned before, my interpretation is purely
speculation, but I recognize some familiar tendencies both in myself and in others.
I have seen my own attitude towards work change based on the way I feel about
the management. To clarify, I love the people I work for, but I often get
frustrated with the management and I have to become intentionally aware of how
this affects my work. It should NOT change my work ethic, but unfortunately, I
have to keep checking myself here. I can only imagine how it would be if I
actually hated my employer. To remind myself, I have the scripture from
Colossians 3:23 reminding myself that I am working for the Lord in all that I
do. This way I don’t get distracted by the things I dislike.
