Those additional five coins are worth ten or more in the sight of God

If we ask someone to name three most common negative emotions or feelings in our day-to-day life, he or she would answer: jealousy, envy and indifference. Not many are aware of the difference between ‘jealousy’ and ‘envy’. All our relationships in life one way or other include shades of jealousy or envy. Jealousy and envy are the negative emotions resulting from relationships with people. Jealousy is a resentful suspicion that someone else has what rightfully belongs to the jealous person. Envy is the desire for something that someone else has or a feeling of ill will over another person’s advantages.

Today’s gospel is Luke’s version of the ‘Parable of the Talents’. Last Sunday we read Matthew’s version. In Matthew’s version, the talents were given to the servants according to each one’s ability: five, two and one. In Luke all the servants get one talent each. Everyone is going to trade with the same amount of resources. Though ten servants were given one coin each, the parable has accounts of only three servants.

One of the interesting points in this gospel is the mindset or the attitude of the person who earned five additional ones. The pain and struggle he had to go through in earning those five additional ones. We live in a very highly competitive world. People out there are highly motivated, skilled, trained and stand before us even before we could think. Very often these highly charged people have influence over our lives: most often negative influences. We are frustrated so often we want to give up. This man is a great model for us, that he was not jealous, nor envious, rather put his heart and mind in earning whatever he could. Those five additional ones are actually ten or more in the sight of God.

Jealousy and envy leads us to indifference at times where we lose our very selves. We don’t care anymore about our lives. God calls us to a meaningful Christian living. He wants us to see meaning in life. He wants us to use our lives wisely and responsibly so that we may be aware all our lives that our lives come from God. Am I aware that my life comes from God? Amen.