A modern parable of the talents

On a much duller November morning than this was in late October we took a look at what the parable of the talents (Matthew 25.14-30) might look like in a modern business setting.

 It was Friday afternoon and things in the office were beginning to quieten down. Marco, who was head of a large department with responsibility for international marketing, was cautiously sipping a cup of over-hot coffee and once again trying to work out the best way to sit on the bar stools at the narrow round table in front of him. Why, he wondered, and again not for the first time, did this perching have to be so difficult? Did the top management want to make sure that employees did not take over-long coffee breaks?

Very soon he was joined by Sophie, who managed a smaller group based at their site. They developed the products which Marco’s people sold. Over recent months both teams had come together and worked very effectively with each other and the results of both had exceeded expectations.

After a few moments in which both adjusted their posture, Marco still unable to find a place for his long legs and Sophie realising that she had not dressed quite appropriately for this seating, they began to look forward to the next week. ‘Are you ready for George’s visitation on Monday?’ Sophie asked.  George was their boss. He was based at a different site and would visit occasionally. He carried the inflated title of Vice President and was known for not holding back his views when he was not satisfied with performance. On the other hand, he was quick to reward success. ‘I think so,’ Marco replied. ‘Things have gone really well recently and I need to tell George that with the output from your people we can do even more. We’ll need to increase the headcount above my present 50 though.’

Sophie looked pleased. As a relatively new department head she had been very nervous about the responsibility, but her team of 20 had got together and lined up several products almost ready for marketing. ‘Thanks, Marco,’ she said, ‘we’ve certainly been very successful in identifying future growth potential with substantial long term upside implications.’ Marco smiled back. She didn’t really need to attempt this elaborated business jargon.

At that point another department head joined them. It was Simon. He’d been in his role for a long time. With his 10 staff he had the responsibility of providing support for all the office functions so that people like Marco and Sophie could develop the business. Simon looked depressed. He was not looking forward to Monday. He didn’t understand how to talk to George; in fact he was frightened of him. Sophie and Marco looked at each other recognising what was on Simon’s mind and a silence fell round the table. Simon did not seem to notice the awkward seating and he burnt his tongue on the hot coffee.

Simon started in mid-thought. ‘It isn’t as if we haven’t kept things going. There has been no down time of any kind and no incidents that needed fire-fighting. But I’m uncomfortable. George always seems to demand more from the same resources. My people do their job and then go home, and I think that’s all I can ask.’

Once again Marco and Sophie looked at each other with the same thought. Simon had  stated his problem clearly. He was stuck with the idea that all he had to do with his 10 staff was to cover all the basic objectives and that would be acceptable. He had not realised, or did not want to recognise, that things in business were not like that any more. Senior management looked for innovation in the use of resources. They expected department heads and their teams to find ways of delivering more. Sophie and Marco had understood this, but Simon …

Monday, and George had arrived earlier than anyone expected. People were still arriving at their desks. It did not seem like a good start. George went round the department heads’ offices. Marco showed him the outstanding results and George, who was under similar pressure from his bosses, was quick to see the potential benefit to the company, to Marco and not least to himself. He promised to see if he could find more resources for Marco.

Sophie had a similar experience. Through her business linguistic fog George saw real long-term potential that needed support. He planned to phone head office at lunchtime to see if he could get increased headcount for them both right away. So George was in a buoyant mood when he called on Simon …

At the end of the day, drained but elated, Sophie and Marco were comparing notes. It seemed that Marco’s 50 staff would be increased to 100 and that more territories would be included in his operation. Sophie’s team would also be doubled. They were both aware that more resources would lead to greater expectations of results. But that was the deal you signed up for when you took on responsibility. Then Marco looked around. ‘What’s happened to Simon?’ he asked. Sophie continued to stare down at her coffee. ‘I thought you knew,’ she said. ‘One of my people overheard George talking to HR on the phone. Simon’s been fired.’

We don’t know about business management in first century times, but things like this do happen today. Those who are successful get more resources and those who just do the basics fall away.

Simon just did the minimum to keep the operation going. He did not see the need for any ambition. Sophie and Marco accepted the challenge of responsibility and by working together with their staff they achieved a lot and opened up an even greater potential. This is the challenge for every church community.

A view of the challenges of the business

This was one of the last sermons I preached at St John's, Digswell and Digswell Village Church before we moved to Fraserburgh in late October. An encouragement to the church communities to continue to seek their way forward by prayer and worship together.

 It’s required quite a lot of piecing together of evidence from many different sources to be able to tell this story. It’s a story of a multinational business which by now has quite a long history. It was founded many years ago, but after a relatively short period of time during which the charismatic founder defined the aims, objectives and core values of the organisation leading by example, he left and continued in communication with the executives and workers in the organisation somewhat indirectly. One of the unusual aspects of the organisation was that, in principle at least, there was no emphasis on management hierarchy. All were known as partners, whatever their role, age or experience.

In its early phase the demand for the products of the business was high. New partners were continually identified and the business aims were pursued enthusiastically and with energy. But this was not without some disagreement. It took a long time to get formal common consent on the key values and aims of the business. This was not made any easier by linguistic and cultural barriers that became apparent with the growth of the organisation into different countries. Partners kept in touch with the founder according to their needs and abilities: perhaps daily or weekly, and they were especially encouraged to focus on this alignment at certain times of the year.

Over the years groups of partners set up independent organisations following policy disagreements and under the influence of contemporary cultural and emerging national and political situations. Whilst they all tried to keep in touch with the founder and his immediate colleagues, for many years these different groups hardly communicated with each other and, worse still, they operated in open and hostile competition.  For a time the business continued to expand but in due course this competition became understood to be seriously counter-productive. In some parts of the world the products of the organisation were no longer in demand and many of them were popularly regarded as obsolete. In parallel with this and partly in response to it, many of the branches put all their energy into maintenance of their plant. Others tried newer and contemporary forms of marketing, but these could seem embarrassingly derivative and outdated and only had limited impact. 

So by the time we get to the present in some parts of the global operation the products are in great demand, but in others turnover is just a trickle of what it was a few decades ago. In these areas the central organisations of the different branches continually try to find ways to motivate the partners and to stimulate demand. Sometimes this seems to have an impact. Sometimes, in contrast, the resources and energy do not seem to be available. On problem is that many of the most experienced partners have decided, with rather closed minds, that they know best what the business should do and how it should respond to the challenges.

Then a very small branch called its partners together and they agreed to hire a small and not very well known consultant group in to help them look to the future. This consultant was operating as the KaiRow group, although it also had other business names in other markets. The consultancy turned out to be a long and continuing process and not really what the branch partners had expected. Explicit solutions were not offered. The current trends in management strategies were explicitly ignored. Questions were asked and then left open. After some time to allow the partners to get to grips with the questions, to understand them as far as they could and to act on them, KaiRow made a return visit and asked more questions.  As they thought about them, the partners realised that these were the same questions as before, but expressed in different ways. And so the process continued over many years, continuing to address the same questions with the aim of getting closer to the aims and core values of the central parent organisation.

 

Simeon has a visitor - Candlemas.

 A dialogue preached at St John's Church (and at other places before) on Candlemas.

We are in a dimly lit room. There is a bed in a corner on which an old man is half-lying. A jar of wine lies on a low stool by his side. The door opens casting a brighter shaft of daylight onto the man's face, which, although old, is peaceful and bright.

The visitor greets him.

 

Josiah: Good morning, Simeon. I haven't seen you for a few weeks so I came to see how you are getting on. I had heard that you've been in bed for several weeks.

Simeon: Josiah, how good to see you. Thank you for coming. Yes, I have not been very active over the past few weeks. I do seem to be getting weaker, and I think I may not have many days left.

J: I would not have thought that, looking at you. Your face is so bright - almost serene.

S: Yes, it’s funny that I do feel particularly good, even though it’s hard to move, even for a cup of wine. (he stretches up) Perhaps you'd be good enough to refill my jar from the jug in the corner, whilst I think of it!

Whilst Josiah fills the jug, Simeon continues:

Yes, it really goes back to that coincidence in the temple.

J: What do you mean? I heard of nothing unusual in the temple recently, and with all the gossip in Jerusalem, I normally don't miss a thing.

S: No, no. Hardly anyone knows about it. Four people at the most. I think God arranged for the coincidence. It's the kind that only people involved know about.

J: Oh, you mean like Abraham finding a ram trapped by its horns just as he was about to sacrifice Isaac?

S: Perhaps something like that. You see, I'd begun to feel quite weak in the mornings and I was wondering if I would be able to get to the temple every day, as I had in the past. Most days over the past few months something had got me going as the day warmed up, but that day I had decided that I would give it a miss. So instead of getting up, I tried to doze off. But I couldn't

J: So you managed to get up, then?

S: I don't know how. I didn't really think I had the strength. But I did get up and, almost in a dream, I found myself in the temple.

J: I suppose that that is remarkable. I know God can call us to worship and prayer when we feel least like it.

S: Yes indeed, but there was much more to this. That is when the coincidence happened.

Simeon's eyes brightened further as he continued.

I had not been there long when a young mother and her husband appeared. They had brought their tiny baby with them. I seemed to catch their attention. They came up and asked me to bless the baby. You know, parents have asked me to do that many times as I've got older, but it was immediately clear to me that this occasion was quite different and important.

J: And you nearly missed it by staying in bed! Go on .. How do you know it was different?

S: I don't know ..  and yet I do know, very clearly. Something struck me. A clear word from God, not precise, but compelling, confirming what he had told me before. I prophesied. I felt just as Isaiah must have felt.

J: What did you say?

S: I realised that God had led me into the temple despite my weakness just at the right moment to meet this young mother and her baby, and that the blessing would be the last thing that God would ask me to do. So I said:

Lord, now I can die content! For I have seen him as you promised me I would. I have seen the saviour you have given to the world. He is the light that will shine upon the nations and he will be the glory of your people Israel.

It's funny finding yourself speaking in verse, like King David in the psalms, you know.

J: And what did the parents say to your prophesy?

S: Funny. Not much really. They were surprised, and yet it seemed to fit with their expectations.

J: What do you think the prophesy meant?

S: You can't be precise in this sort of thing. I think that this is a very special baby who is going to do something wonderful for God's chosen people.

J: But what about the light and the nations? That's very like Isaiah you know.

S: Yes, and that's a bit of a puzzle. I believe that this baby is something very special for everyone in the world. And there was more too. I saw that there would be great suffering for the mother. That felt so sad, because she looked so gentle and beautiful.

J: You seem very confident about the importance of this meeting. But you said four people know about it. Who was the fourth?

S: Ah yes, that was Anna. You know her?

J: Yes, of course. Everyone does. She's been praying in the temple for years, - ever since her husband died, I believe. I wish I had her faith.

S: Each of us has our own life to offer to God, Josiah, and at the moment you are doing that by visiting me. I'm most grateful.

J: So what happened with Anna?

S: She came up quite suddenly and praised God for the baby in a most unusual way. And then there was silence. We all looked at each other. The whole group seemed to glow with peace. No-one said anything more. After a moment the mother and father looked at each other, gently smiled to each other and then she took the baby from me. They bowed slightly and left. Anna continued her prayer walk around the Court of Women.

J: What did you do then?

S: I just stood there. I have never felt like that before, and the feeling won't go away.

J: What feeling? What's it like?

S: I can't really say. It's as if as I held the child I saw right through to God in heaven. It was just like the prophets write about.

J: How can you be certain?

S: It depends what you mean by certain. I'm certain that you are here with me. I'm certain that if the Roman Governor decrees another tax we shall have to pay. But this is a totally different kind of certainty. I don't see it with my eyes, as I see you. I don't know it with my head, as I know the regulations of the occupying Romans. No, I know it, I'm certain about the meaning of the coincidence and the prophecy in a much deeper way that I cannot put into words. It goes deep into me and has a resonance that does not fade. If I let my thoughts go, I think I actually held God and saw in this child a new way to heaven for all the world. A bit blasphemous for an old Jew? But in my moment of prophecy, and in my present weakness I can be excused, eh?

J: Simeon, this is most amazing. But I think I may understand your certainty. What are you going to do about it?

S: Me? Nothing. It's not up to me. Anyway, not much can happen for a few years. Jerusalem has not seen the last of the baby, I think. See what happens when he comes of age and when he is fully grown up. But we won't see it, Josiah. That will be in 20 or 30 years' time.

But here's another idea. You've livened me up and I feel stronger. Will you help me to the temple so that I can praise God again for that wonderful experience? It might be for the last time.

J: Come on, Simeon. There's still more life left in you. Don't give up!

S: Oh, I haven't given up. I think I'm exactly where God wants me to be, and going where he want me to go. That child has brought me unbelievable peace. Now pass me my cloak and stick, whilst I sit up and put my sandals on. Then we'll be on our way.