The Five Talents

" Jesus told His disciples this parable:
'A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one, he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one -- to each according to his ability. Then he went away. Immediately, the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the ones who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money. After a long time, the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. [The master said to the first two], 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small maters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'
[But the one who had received one talent buried it in the ground out of fear.] His master said to him, 'You wicked, lazy servant! Should you not have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now, then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside.' " --[Matthew 25: 14-30].


In this parable, a Master entrusts all that he has with his servants. He goes away, having to trust and believe that the servants will wisely manage the wealth which he has given them.

The Master in this Scripture passage is God. And WE are His servants, the recipients of many gifts and talents.

In our earthly world, we measure each other by how gifted we are. We seem to give greater value to whoever has more talents. But here, God simply gives to each, according to his ability. He treats each servant the same way, expecting them each to do his best with what he has.

And, we seem to believe in this world that we can be or do anything we want to. Many ignore the fact that our gifts come, not from ourselves, but from God.

When I observe someone with many talents, I praise -- not HIM, but God.

Then I ask, How is that person using her gifts?

I know that members of my family used their talents to make as much money as they could. Then, they were not very generous with sharing that plenitude with others. They criticized others who were not as talented, blaming them for being losers and takers.

But God the Master says, everyone must put whatever talents they possess to work. God also says, To everyone who utilizes his God-given talents, He will give more responsibility.

And yet, my family resented those with fewer talents, saying, 'WHY should I help them? They should help themselves.'

As a little girl, I was bullied for being so smart. This made me become very quiet. I did not want to make others feel bad if they were not quite as smart. I didn't want to be criticized for something that I could not help, which were the gifts given to me by God.

I wanted to bury my talents. But the person I should have been worried about was NOT my classmate or my peers. The Person I needed to please was only God.

Some may say, 'But, I have such small talents!'

To that I say, I am smart and educated. But I am only a housewife.  And yet, I knit hats and scarves for the homeless. I write inspiring words. With my rich vocabulary, I encourage and uplift others. I bake some extra bread or cookies which I share with neighbors who do not cook. I tend my flower garden and give bright flowers to neighbors who need some cheer. I bake for bake sales.

I realize that when I was trying to bury my talents, I was really being rude and ungrateful to the God who gave me such beautiful gifts.

I realize that if I am jealous that my gifts are not like others' gifts, that I am really questioning God's wisdom.

I realize that if I praise another human being for being responsible alone for his breathtaking talents, then I am really giving God no credit at all.

I realize that if someone uses their talents for Evil, then that is an ugly distortion of God's Will for us -- His Will for us to use our talents for Good in this world.

And when I resent that I have so very much responsibility, I try to remember that God gives more talents and more responsibility to those whom He can trust in smaller matters.

So, when God trusts me with much, I say, "God? With Your help, I've GOT this!"

[Related Posting: "Burying My Talents", 11/13/11; "Talents from God", 11/19/14].