The parable told in our gospel lesson this morning is one that Jesus uses to illustrate the kingdom of heaven. It is a story about a shrewd businessman who rewards the slaves that double his money and punishes the worker who faithfully returns what the master had entrusted to him. This image of the kingdom of God may be quite different from what we would expect to read in the scriptures. When Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God we don't expect him to talk about a crafty investor. We don't think of God as a harsh man who reaps where he does not sow and gathers where he does not scatter seed. When we visualize our Father in heaven we don't see one who gives more and more to those who already have a lot and takes away from those who have little. When Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God,…