Gebr Her: the parable of the talents

April 11, 2016
By Tsegaye Girma 
Our Lord Jesus Christ often used parables to illustrate and simplify his teachings so that His audience understood His message simply. The people whom He taught easily related to His sermons because the stories He used to illustrate and compare His ideas are drawn from their everyday lives. The parable of the three talents is one of the stories Our Lord Jesus Christ used to teach His followers about the need to use talents and gifts faithfully.

The Ge’ez phrase ገብር ኄር (Gebr Her) is used to refer to the sixth Sunday of the great lent when the parable of the three talents mentioned in Mathew 25 is read and recited in the Church. ‘Gebr Her’ literally means ‘Good Servant’ and highlights the good deeds of the servants who have been rewarded for their faithfulness and hard work. (Mt 25:14-30) Readings and chants of St Yared related to the story are recited throughout the week.  

This parable has been seen as an exhortation to Jesus’ disciples to use their God-given gifts in the service of God, and to take risks for the sake of the Kingdom of God. These gifts have been seen to include personal abilities ("talents" in the everyday sense), as well as personal wealth. Failure to use one’s gifts, the parable suggests, will result in judgment.

Based on Mathew 25:14-30, the parable that deals with wisdom in an eschatological context is recounted briefly as follows;
A rich man delegates the management of his wealth to his servants. He gives five talents (a large unit of money) to the first servant, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third.After being gone a long time, the master returns to settle up with his slaves. At that moment, two of the servants earn 100 percent returns by trading with the funds so that they seem eager to show their master what they have accomplished in his absence. The first presents his master with ten talents. He doubled the money His master entrusted to him. The second servant presents his master with four talents. He, too, doubled the money his master left in his care.

Both of these faithful slaves are rewarded well for their faithful service because:
First, they receive their master’s commendation, “Well done, good and faithful slave”. Second, because they have proven themselves to be faithful with the few things entrusted to them, they are now given even greater responsibilities by their master. Third, they are invited to “enter into the joy of your master.” But the third servant is severely rebuked and punished for burying the money instead of investing it.   

The meaning of the parable extends far beyond financial investments. God has given each person a wide variety of gifts, and He expects us to employ those gifts in His service. It is not acceptable merely to put those gifts on a closet shelf and ignore them. Like the three servants, we do not have gifts of the same degree. The return God expects of us is corresponding with the gifts we have been given.

The servant who received one talent was not condemned for failing to reach the five-talent goal; he was condemned because he did nothing with what he was given. The gifts we receive from God include skills, abilities, family connections, social positions, education, experiences, and more. The point of the parable is that we are to use whatever we have been given for God’s purposes. The severe consequences to the unproductive servant, far beyond anything triggered by mere business mediocrity, tell us that we are to invest our lives, not waste them.

What has the Lord given us to invest? We shall discover and utilize our gifts to be profitable and enjoy heavenly life.

Source: Holy Bible: King James Version.