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Crossing the Finish Line: “I Have Finished the Race”
Perched on the top of the pyramid of success, you will find the CEO, the King of the castle, the president, or the boss. You will find the worker bees at the bottom of the pyramid of success. Here is how the pyramid of success works. The worker bees at the bottom of the pyramid work very hard to ensure that the person on the top is as happy and successful as possible. Perhaps some of that happiness and success will trickle down through the pyramid to the bottom like crumbs that fall from the rich man’s table.
I mention this because once Jesus gave a parable about a king who gave his worker bee five talents, telling him to make some money with it. Know this. Five talents is an enormous amount of cash. It is equivalent to the total amount of salary you can earn in seventy-five years. When the king returned from his trip, the worker bee handed the king the five talents back, and then he handed him an additional five talents from his hard work. The king is delighted and says to the worker bee: “You are a good and faithful servant. Come share your master’s joy.” As I heard this parable, I thought to myself, “I wonder how much joy the master will share. Maybe a pat on the back, a free lunch, and half a shekel. I am shocked that the king returns everything to the worker bee. He gives back his ten talents and then another one. What? Eleven? I want a boss like that.
That is exactly what the parable is about. Jesus just turned the pyramid of success upside down. Now the king is at the bottom of the pyramid. And now, it is the king’s job to do everything possible to help the worker bee to be as successful and happy as possible. Jesus is at the bottom, He is the one Who dies on the cross, and He is the servant Who makes sure we have everything we need to be successful and happy.
One time I was watching the end of a golf tournament with dad. Phil Michelson was examining his ball on the eighteenth hole. He walked back and forth, studying the undulating green between his ball and the hole. He was taking his time because, if the ball rolled in the hole, he would win the tournament. If he missed, he would die suddenly with another player. He tapped the ball, and it dropped in. Loud cheers were heard, and Phil raised his hands over his head in triumph. Needless to say, he was very happy. At that point, I turned to my father and asked him, “Dad, I can understand why Phil is happy. But why is his caddie so happy?” “Because,” he replied, “when the ball went into the hole, and he won, the caddie’s pay was just doubled.” That is what happens when you caddie for the best golfer in the world–the boss can double all your efforts.
Remember the servant with the eleven talents? I am sure he is saying, “I really like my boss; I love my job.” That is us on the Feast of Christ the King. We love our king and job because Jesus gives us everything we need to succeed and fulfill. The next time you hear that Jesus is king, just remember the upside-down pyramid.
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