Talents From God

" 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 one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in he ground and buried his master's money.

After a long time, the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them. The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five. Then, the one who had received two talents came forward and said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.' His master said to them, ' Well done, my good and faithful servants. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.' Then, the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, and so out of fear, I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.' His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked and lazy servant! Should you not then have put my money in the bank sot hat I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.' " -- [Matthew 25: 14-30].

In this parable, Jesus is talking about "talents". At that time, "talents" were denarii, or money.  It is perhaps not such a coincidence that today, we recognize talents for the gifts and aptitudes that we are blessed with.

During the 2014 mid-term elections in the U.S., former First Lady and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton famously said, "Don't let anybody tell you that it's corporations and businesses that create jobs."

With all due respect to the former First Lady and Secretary of State, despite all of her protests, she has it all wrong, too!

When I was growing up, I thought that what I was good at -- my gifts and talents -- came from my mother. If I did something she disagreed with, like wearing my hair shoulder length or wearing a color that she did not like, she would say, "I did not raise you this way!"

If I did something that my mother DID like, she would tell me, "You get that from me." Or, "You get that from your father."

My parents stopped taking me to church when I was 14, about a year after my Confirmation. But, I had been in Sunday school long enough to recognize that everything I have comes from God.

As I got older and was trying to figure out who I was, there ensued a bit of a power struggle. This is pretty typical of teens anyway, right? I mean, teens want to think that whatever they choose, it is all their own idea as it is.

But I would also say that, I knew from a young age, that being super talented at what my mother told me to be good at, was simply not going to work. I began to see that I had a set of bad choices:

I could try to be the person that my mother wanted me to be. Or, I could be myself, and be totally unacceptable to her.

And so, I became Nothing. I became a ghost, shutting down. If I could not be my mother and I could not be myself, then WHO could I be?!!

Which leads me right back to Hillary Clinton-- The Christian answer is that our gifts and talents come from God. Corporations can list employment opportunities all they want, but if there is no one with that particular talent available, the employment listing will never become a job.

I wasted a lot of years blaming myself for not being more like my mother, and who she wanted me to be.

In the job she pushed me to accept, with the training in college and graduate school that she required that I obtain, wearing the suit that she bought me, wearing my hair the way she wanted me to --I hated my life!

Every Sunday night, as the day turned to sunset, I would cry because I knew that I would have to go back to the job that I hated.

As I read this parable, I can see that our talents come from God- not from some other human being molding us in their way, and playing God with us!

To some are given more talents and responsibilities, according to ability. But we ALL have talents-- and they come from no human born on this earth.

As a corollary, we are not supposed to bury our God-given talents. If we shut down, and become hollow shells, dormant and useless, then we deny our talents.

Many have been taken-aback by how angry the Master gets when the servant buries his talent. The way I see this, if God gives you a precious gift, why would you not open it and use it? Wouldn't YOU be angry if YOU gave someone a precious gift --- and they buried it?

I also see that, with the talents received from God, we are supposed to serve God! Economic "trickle-down" theory has nothing to do with it.

Sometimes, my son balks at doing his homework.  I tell him, 'How are you going to discover your talents, and utilize them for the glory of God, if you refuse to even do your school work?'

I have spent most of my adult life trying to be less intimidated about my talents. Because I buried my talents, these gifts became a BIG THING that I had to face.

It is truly scary and even spooky to confront our God-given talents. We must open and unmask ourselves. It feels like jumping off a cliff and hoping that a gentle breeze will land you safely where you are meant to be. It feels like staring right in the face of God.

But, just as I begin to pray for a gentle wind to take me where God wants me to go, I can feel His guiding presence. We are never alone when we pray and ask God-- 'Lord, what are my talents?And how do you desire me to use them?'

[Related Posting: "Burying My Talents",  November 13, 2011].

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