This parable is about security and risk. It’s about how we use what God has given us, and it confronts me as I read it. It is about fear and how we let it control our lives – or not.
God is a great risk-taker. He gave himself to this world in the form of Jesus and shared himself with humanity as he became one of us. Jesus showed us how to live a life of love in a self-centred and power-seeking world, and he was willing to die on a cross so that we could know how much he loves us, forgives us and understands our suffering. He came back again to reassure us that death is not the end and that he is still with us always and forever.
This parable speaks to us about where we invest – or bury – our energy, our talents, our wealth, our health, our love, our faith and all that God has given us in this one life we have on earth. Do we, motivated by the fear of loss, bury our treasure to protect it and ourselves? Or do we take the risk of owning it and sharing it, humbly and appropriately and with the love of God? We cannot learn to love without taking risks and becoming vulnerable. We are not alone. God’s love can cast out our fear as we learn to trust him more – the task of a lifetime!
Rev Adelene Mills