What did you say is your talent?

Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus said to the people that the kingdom of heaven "is also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. 15 To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. 16 Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. 17 The second did the same. 18 But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money. 19" After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. 20 The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. 21 His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' 22 "The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. 23 His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.' 24" The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. 25 I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.' 26 "The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? 27 The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. 28 29"' Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play- it- safe" who won't go out on a limb. 30 Throw him out into utter darkness. '

Food for thought

In this parable Jesus tells us that there can be no life without adventure, and that God can find no use for the person afraid of adventures. Because he expects you and me to adventure, God gifted us. Some people received five talents, others two, and others one. It is not a man's talent which matters; what matters is how he uses it. God never demands from us abilities which he has not given us; but he does demand that we should use to the full the abilities which we possess. We are not equal in talents; but we can be equal in effort. The parable tells us that whatever talent we have, little or great, we must put to work.

Jesus still teaches us that the reward of work well done is still more work to do. The two servants who had done well are not told to lean back and rest because they have done well. They are given greater tasks and greater responsibilities in the work of the master.

The man who is punished is the man who did not try. Even in real life, the people who are punished by life are the people who do not want to try; people afraid of losing. The man with the one talent did not lose his talent; he simply did nothing with it. Even if he had adventured with it and lost it, it would have been better than doing nothing at all. It is always a temptation for the people with less to do even less, and people with more to even do more, and consequently earn more. This is why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

That is why Jesus says that to him who has more will be given, and he who has not will lose even what he has. The meaning is this. If someone has a talent, a gift, an ability and exercises it, s/he is progressively able to do more with it. But, if s/he has a talent and fails to exercise it, s/he will inevitably lose it.

If we have some proficiency at a game or an art, if we have some gift for doing something, the more we exercise that proficiency and that gift, the harder the work and the bigger the task we will be able to tackle. Whereas, if we fail to use it, we lose it. That is equally true of playing golf or playing the piano, or singing songs or writing sermons, or carving wood or thinking out ideas. It is the lesson of life that the only way to keep a gift is to use the gift; the only way to lose a gift is ignoring it; more breeds more; less breeds less; the rich get richer; the poor get poorer; the good get better; the bad get worse.