Graduation Day
This week is graduation for many students and it calls to mind one of Jesus’ most famous parables (Matt. 25: 14-20). He describes a man who before going away on a long journey “hands over” his possessions to his servants and tells them to trade with them until he returns. To underscore this divine trust, Jesus tells us that to one he gives five talents, to another two, and to another one. Now a Greek talenton was equivalent to about 10,000 days of work, a massive sum, meaning that even one single talent was equivalent to a lifetime of wages!
Consider how much confidence the Lord has in us, that he would give each of us at least one talent! For those students who are culminating or graduating this month and beginning a new chapter, may I remind you that God has confidence in you; and that he has entrusted each of you with tremendous talents which he intends for you to use for his glory and the good of humankind. If you question whether or not you have any talents, remember that the talenton refers to everything that is unique about you…your spirit, your mind, your body, the 24 hours you are allotted each day, the right management of your wealth, your unique gifts, and your circle of relationships.
In Jesus’ parable it is the one talent servant who foolishly buries his master’s resources in the ground out of fear. He is chastised not because he invested and lost his master’s money, but because he feared to do anything with it. What often keeps us from doing something bold, adventurous, and new is the fear of failure. What we need to remember is that making mistakes is simply the inevitable consequence of doing something new and is one of the most important ways that we learn and grow.
King Jesus, as students in your School of Kingdom Living, help us to step into the unknown future knowing this one thing: that your grace is enough, and our faith in you, to sustain us. And may we fear nothing but the mistake of burying our talents in the ground for we long to hear You say on that great Graduation Day, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”