But the one who had received one talent went away, dug in the ground, and buried his lord’s silver.
This saying describes the image of idleness and a cowardly faith. The servant who received one talent did not lose his gift; he simply did not use it. He buried it, thinking that in this way he would preserve what had been entrusted to him by the master, but in reality it was a sign of unfaithfulness. The ground symbolizes worldly concerns and material life, where God’s gifts are buried when a person avoids putting them to work. This servant represents the person who has a grace, but fears responsibility or seeks security instead of serving. In this way Jesus shows that idleness is also a loss: when a person does not use what God has given, as we will see next, he inevitably loses even that.