马太福音25:24-30：永恒的投资
24“那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛。25我就害怕，去把你的一千银子埋藏在地里。请看，你的原银子在这里。’26主人回答说：“你这又恶又懒的仆人，你既知道我没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛，27就当把我的银子放给兑换银钱的人，到我来的时候，可以连本带利收回。28夺过他这一千来，给那有一万的。29因为凡有的，还要加给他，叫他有余；没有的，连他所有的也要夺过来。30把这无用的仆人丢在外面黑暗里，在那里必要哀哭切齿了。’”
在这个比喻里，主人和他的仆人算账，看看他们是如何明智地投资他的钱财的。耶稣讲这个比喻给我们，是因为他希望我们在主再来之前应该把自己的账算好。虽然他用了商人及其仆人的画面，但这个比喻讲的不仅是钱财，而是生命本身。
你如何对待自己的生命？你是否为自己的生命也算了一笔账？你的时间都花到哪里了？有多少时间被浪费在看电视上，而你本来可以去探望一位年长的邻居？你是否通过教导上帝话语的方式来大规模投资在你孩子的属灵生命上？关于向那些失丧灵魂传讲福音，你都做了什么？
我最近读了一本好书，讲述的是如何真正怜悯和关心你周围的人。作者指出，很多基督徒认为在奉献盘子里放上几个美元就是遵从上帝的话语了。与此同时，对于那些吸毒的人，无家可归的人，或是灵魂失丧的人，我们就像“好撒玛利亚人”故事中的祭司和利未人，我们却从另一边过去了。我们没有时间，我们也不想介入其中，因为照顾那些有麻烦的人真得很棘手。
耶稣教导我们不一样的经济观。你在自己身上的花费是会失去的，你在别人身上的花费才是永恒的投资。
Matthew 25:24-30: 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
In this parable, the master made an accounting of his servants to see how wisely they had invested his money. Jesus is telling us this parable, because he wants us to do the accounting ourselves, before our Master returns. While he is using the picture of a businessman with his servants, the parable is not just about money. It’s about life itself.
What are you doing with your life? Have you made an accounting of your life? Where are you spending your time? How much of it is wasted watching television, when you might be visiting an elderly neighbor? Have you invested heavily in your children’s spiritual lives by teaching them the Word of God? What are you doing to proclaim the gospel to the lost?
I read a good book lately about showing mercy and really caring for the people around you. The author made the point that a lot of Christians think that dropping a few dollars in the offering plate is doing the Lord’s Word. At the same time, we look at the people on drugs, or the homeless, or the spiritually lost, and we pass by on the other side, like the priest and Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan. We don’t have time. We don’t want to get involved, because caring for people with issues is messy work.
Jesus teaches us a different economy. What you spend on yourself is lost. What you spend on others is invested for eternity.