The Matthew parable talks of the fearful slave who hid his talent and was punished for it by the master. The implication being that God will punish us if we do not use our talents in service to God. It is important to explore the broken spirit of the slave. It was fear that caused the slave to hide his talent.
Jesus understands our fear and brokenness. He himself on the cross prayed to God to take the cup of pain and death away from him. God did not answer His human prayer in the way He had hoped for. Jesus died in pain on the cross!
We know that God's love overcame the death. We too are called to trust in a God of love and realize that even in His brokenness, Jesus trusted in God. When we receive our bread at communion, we receive a broken bread, symbolic of Jesus and our own brokenness, in service with God who loves us in any way, even in our broken state.
When we read the Bible, it is always important to remember that we need to filter the stories through the lens of our understanding of God. Is God a 'loving God' or an 'angry God'? New Testament Christians center their lives on a "Loving God". People who have lost the spirit of the New Testament, focus on rules, judgment and revenge-an "Angry God"! In this state we have forgotten the 'midrash' or interpretation of scripture that scholars have given us. This process is true for all faiths based in the walk with Abraham, Jews, Christians and Muslims. The scripture is not a literal history but a metaphor-a telling of deeper truth pointing out the 'word of God" being not the bible but Jesus.
We are not alone, even when broken, we are always loved by God, the source of our being.
