Luke 19:20-24: a reflection

20Another came, saying, ‘Lord, behold, your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, 21for I feared you, because you are an exacting man. You take up that which you didn’t lay down, and reap that which you didn’t sow.’ 22“He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I didn’t lay down and reaping that which I didn’t sow. 23Then why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank, and at my coming, I might have earned interest on it?’ 24He said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to him who has the ten minas.’

In the parable of the minas, a nobleman entrusts money to his servants to put to work while he is away. Most do so; but one does nothing. He comes and says, Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief, for I was afraid of you. He had hidden what he was given, done nothing with it, and his excuse was fear. And his master condemns him, not for losing the money, but for doing nothing with it: You could at least have put it in the bank.

Notice why this servant failed: he buried what he was given out of fear. He did not squander the mina or lose it; he simply did nothing with it, wrapping it up and hiding it away, paralyzed by fear of his master. And this fearful inaction, this burying of what he had been given, was itself the failure for which he was condemned. He was called to use what he was given, and out of fear he used it not at all.

That is a warning against a fear that leads to doing nothing. God entrusts each of us with gifts, opportunities, resources, abilities, and he means for us to use them, to put them to work, even at the risk of failing. But fear can paralyze us, tempting us to bury what we are given rather than risk using it, to play it safe by doing nothing. Do not let fear make you bury what God has entrusted to you. The gifts and opportunities you have been given are meant to be used, invested, put to work, not hidden away out of fear of failing. Take the risk of using what God has given you; do not, like this servant, wrap it in a cloth and do nothing. Fearful inaction is itself a failure; put what you have been given to work.

Lord, in the parable, the servant who buried his mina out of fear and did nothing with it was condemned, not for losing it, but for failing to use it. Warn me by his example. You entrust each of us with gifts, opportunities, resources, and abilities, and you mean for us to use them, to put them to work, even at the risk of failing. But fear can paralyze me, tempting me to bury what I am given rather than risk using it, to play it safe by doing nothing. Keep me from letting fear make me bury what you have entrusted to me. The gifts and opportunities you have given me are meant to be used, invested, put to work, not hidden away out of fear of failing. Help me take the risk of using what you have given, and not, like this servant, wrap it up and do nothing. Fearful inaction is itself a failure; help me put what you have given me to work for you.