Betting Big with Someone Else's Money

     Gambling with someone else's money is very nerve-wracking. One time I went to casino with some of my friends and had the misfortune of forgetting to put extra money in my wallet. All I had was three one dollar bills! I was all prepared to spend the evening as a spectator and cheerleader for the rest of our group, but one of my friends, perhaps tired of my peering over his shoulder as he played, pulled $20 out of his pocket and told me to go win some money and give him back his investment when the night was over. Easier said then done!

     I barely played at all that evening, for fear of losing what my friend had loaned me. I played more cautiously than usual and by the end of the night, I had a mere $8 to return to my friend. Of course, I returned the rest to him the next time I saw him. But the point is, I feared losing that night because the money was not mine, and I lost in large part due to my trepidation.

      My experience reminds me, albeit imperfectly, to the Lord's "Parable of the Talents". (Mt 25:14-29) To briefly summarize, a master lends talents (units of Roman currency) to three servants. To one he gives 5, to another 2, and to the last just 1. While the master is away, the servants with 5 and 2 talents each traded with others and were able to secure double their original amounts. Upon returning, the master is well pleased with these two for their shrewd investments. When he confronts the one to which he had given one, however, he is dismayed and angered to find that the servant, out of fear, had chosen to simply bury the talent and wait to return it to his master. He takes the talent back and sends the servant away in disgrace.

      Today, we all have our share of "talents" or abilities. If we believe in God, then we ought to realize that none of these are of our own merit, but rather gifts given for us to cultivate. For reasons known only to God, not all have equal talents. Yet we all have been loaned at least something with which to "gamble" in this life. During my time here in Costa Rica, I've had the pleasure of getting to know a great group of students who have tremendous abilities, tremendous gifts. Some have a passion for social justice, others for the environment and its safe-keeping for future generations to enjoy. Some our eloquent speakers, others powerful writers. Some are amazingly honest and forthright, others jovial and abundantly kind-hearted. All of us have some quality which God has never given to anyone else in the history of creation. As He spoke to the prophet Jeremiah, I know the plans I have for you...plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jer 29:11) These plans will not go unfulfilled, unless we choose not to invest our talents wisely, to gamble with them on the faith that belief in God's revealed Word entails.

      There is a temptation always to hold back and save something of what we have been given for later. There is a desire to use our abilities to benefits ourselves and not others. But this is not God's will. As the record-breaking runner Steve Prefontaine said, to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. As we see in the parable, the person who gives less than his or her best is liable to lose what he or she does have, like a mother who does not care for the child placed under her care is liable to have that child taken away. The Lord does not keep the pearls of His goodness amongst the swine of the Earth, so to speak.

     Jesus asks us to trust Him when He tells us to "bet big" with the gift His Father has rendered to us. To our jaded sensibilities, this seems extremely foolish. What if we are wrong? What if we end up losing? Yet we are called to go beyond our mere reason and have faith in what we cannot see clearly. If we do so, we will come to find that the game is fixed for our benefit. God who loaned us the money has an inside man, His Son Jesus, who has been counting the cards and knows we are due for a blackjack. The old gambler's adage has never been truer than it is when betting on God: It ain't gamblin' if you know you're gonna win!