“For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.”
Matthew 25: 14-30
The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) finds its way into Prayer Team messages frequently. It is the passage of Scripture that has made the greatest impact on my life. And there are several lessons that merit reinforcement that come from these words of Christ.
First, everyone in the parable received something. One received five talents, one two, and the other one talent. At the time of Christ, a talent represented the amount of money one could hope to earn in ten years. Let’s be conservative and say the average salary is $50K per year. For many of us, it is much more than that. So, one person would have received $500K, another $100K and another $50K. Those amounts of money, even the least amount, are not nothing. A person can do a decent amount of good with $50K. No one received nothing. For our purposes today, we might say that a talent is something we are good at, or an opportunity. Each of us has the ability to do something good for the world. Each of us has the ability to be an example of what it means to be a Christian. Each of us has a divine imprint on our souls that is unique to us. Each person in the parable received something different. In the parable it was a different amount of money. For us today, each of us is entrusted with a different set of skills. Each of us is unique, each person is blessed with a unique set of skills as well as opportunities.
The talents in the parable were not given, but rather “entrusted.” This means that there was an expectation from the master that he was going to receive something back. A “trust” is like a loan. And loans are generally paid back with interest. What is entrusted is returned with greater value. Each of us has been entrusted with a finite amount of life, and a finite amount of time in our life’s circumstances. I will be a priest on earth for a finite amount of time, I will have a finite amount of time with my family, I will have a finite amount of time in the parish I serve, etc. At some point all of that will come to an end, and I will stand before God, as we all will, and answer for what I did with what I was given—my talents, my opportunities, my relationships, and most especially my faith. At some point, all of us will stand before our master, the Lord, at His awesome judgment seat and account for what we did with what He has given us.
In his evaluation of his servants, the master was equally pleased with the man who had ten talents as he was with the man who had four. Why is that? Isn’t ten greater than four? Should he not have been more pleased with the man who had more? In the eyes of God, each doubled what had been entrusted to him. The master was not concerned with their outcome, but rather their effort. And this is the same way that God will be with each of us. God expects an effort from us as we utilize what we have been given. To the one who has been entrusted more, more will be expected. God doesn’t give us equal blessings, or equal outcomes, but expects equal effort, which is to do the best we can with what we have been entrusted.
God expects a return on His investment in us. The man who received the one talent but buried it in the ground angered his master, who had expected some return on the talent he had entrusted the man. Likewise, God will not be pleased with us if we do not do something with what He has given us.
Fear is not an excuse to not use what we have been entrusted. The man who had received the one talent buried it in the ground, and when asked to account for what he did, he said that he was afraid of the master. While we should have some “fear” in the sense of awe of God, we should not be afraid to use what God has entrusted us. As I get older, I have become even more firm in my belief that God rewards effort, not outcome, that He is concerned more with our effort than our success. Sometimes success eludes us because of forces outside of our control, like the weather. However, God sees everything, and He knows the intentions behind what we do. When we do something with good intentions, even if the outcome doesn’t show the success we wanted, God will reward the endeavor.
What are God’s expectations of us, based on this parable? To do the best we can with what we’ve been given, whether that is a talent, a relationship, or an opportunity. And on an even small level, to do the best we can with the DAY we’ve been blessed with. Make the most of today.
Should we have expectations of God? Why or why not? And what should those expectations be? I suppose that God’s patience and mercy is a realistic expectation. That God will be patient as we develop our talents, and merciful in the times we don’t use them as we should. As for expectations of ourselves, our goal should be to give the best effort possible, to put the best foot forward each day, to be a good steward, a good caretaker, or the talents, the people and the experiences that God blesses us to have.
Lord, thank You for the talents (list them), people (list them) and opportunities (list them) that You have entrusted me. Help me to be a good steward with this day, and with all that I have been blessed with. Help me to focus on effort and not on outcome. Help me to remember that You value me, and that I show Your value to me when I used what You have given me. May I honor You today and always. Amen.
We venerate icons in the Orthodox Church because we honor the person represented in them. When God looks at you, He sees His own image. He looks at you with that same deep, reverent love. Your value isn’t based on your grades, or your popularity, or your bank account or how perfect you are. Your value is fixed because you belong to Him. Don’t bury your talent in the dirt of insecurity. Let the world see the icon God made you to be.
