God,
of mighty power, teach us to see ourselves as part of that power. Give us courage to dare and strength to
last. May all that I say and all that we
share bring more light to the world.
Amen
Seems there were two farmers
standing out at the fence that divided their farms, perhaps chewing on a blade
of wheat. “What,” says Tom, “are ya’
gonna’ plant this year in that field over yonder? Are ya’ gonna’ plant corn?” “Nope,” says Jake, “’fraid of the corn bugs.” “Gonna’ plant taters?” asked Tom. “Nope,” says Jake, “’too much chance of them
‘tater worms.” “Well, whatcha’ gonna’
plant?” asked Tom. “Nothin’,” says
Jake. “I’m playin’ it safe this
year.” We may laugh at Jake, but we may
also realize that we may be a little too much like Jake a little or a lot of
the time. Tom and Jake may remind us
just a bit of the three workers in today’s parable.
Let’s briefly review the story. A rich man or woman is going away on an
extended vacation. Worker 1 is given
five talents. Worker 2 is given two
talents; and, worker 3 is given one talent.
The only rational that is given for the different amounts is that they
are given according to each one’s ability.
After a very long time, the rich man or woman returns from the
vacation. The three workers come in. Worker 1 tells the rich owner that he has
invested in a great deal and has doubled his five talents and now has ten. “Woo-hoo!” says the owner, “way to go!” I will give you a lot to be in charge
off. Worker 2 also doubled her
investment and she tells the owner that she now has four talents. “You go, girl! That’s what I’m talking about! You’ll be up at the top of my list for more
responsibility as well”. The final
worker, a shy, timid young man, comes to the owner and says, “you know that you
are very demanding and I was afraid of your response if I didn’t do well. So, I did the best thing—I buried the talent
in the ground where nothing could touch it; so, here it is—exactly like you
gave it to me.” What comes next is so
surprising that the worker is knocked off his feet in disbelief. “You lazy, lazy man,” says the owner, “You
could have at least put it in a bank where it would have earned the pitiful
amount that savings earn these days. You
didn’t even do that. Your talent will be
taken away from you and given to my Ten-Talent Man. Out with you!” Well, I have to admit that the first time I
read this parable, I didn’t see that ending coming. You’ve got to sort of like our
scared-to-make-a-mistake guy. We’ve
probably all been there. Playing it safe
instead of stepping out to take a risk.
Now, talents in this story has two meanings: a ‘talent’ was a measure of money in those
days, but talent also means ‘gift’, ‘special aptitude’, or ‘exceptional
skill’. Though the story seems to
indicate that, for practical and didactic purposes, Jesus is talking about
money, that isn’t necessarily so. For
our purposes here today, the second meaning or that of ‘gift’ is the more
important. Some talents are easier to
identify than others. We may listen to
Barb sing and say, “God gave her a great voice” or we may look at Ar’s banners
and say, “she has a creative talent.” We
may look at David’s cakes and say, “that really takes talent”; or, look at Genette’s
treasurer’s report and note how good she is with keeping records. We may listen to Paul read the Gospel and
reflect on his ability to read with great emotion; or be impressed with Karen
not only because of her ability to read and write braille, but also because of her
ability to inspire others to get involved in things. These are all talents. Every one of us has talents. Though some might try to argue with me, I
believe that there is no one who has not been given at least one talent. So we are all a part of this week’s story.
I look at the comparison like this—God is not only the
source of all our talents, but gives the ownership of the talents or gifts to
the Universe to hold for the common good of all that is. We come along and are loaned talents and
gifts to use for that same common good.
Once we have been given gifts, it becomes our responsibility to discover
and utilize these gifts so that when this life is over and the Universe holds
them again for the next recipient, we return more than we were given; in other
words, we will be in a place of “no regrets”.
We have no regrets for not using all our talents and God has no regrets
for giving talents to someone who failed to use them to make this earth and the
whole of creation a better, more whole, healthier place.
Let’s think about this in the context of the
church. As you know, we are in that
annual time we call by various names with the same end result—our Fall
Stewardship Campaign. Today, we will
hand out Estimated Giving Cards for you to take home and reflect and pray
over. You will notice that these sheets
are not just about money. They also
include time and talent. The purpose for
your completion of these ‘estimates’ of time, talent, and treasure enable me,
the Board of Directors, and Team Leaders to responsibly plan for the year to
come. Today, we are specifically talking
about talents. So, let me tell you how
your estimate of the talents you will share with the church helps us. Right now, we are sorely in need of people to
step up and fill leadership positions.
One of the by-products of rapid growth is that the demand for leaders
often exceeds the number of people who step forward to lead. And all of our ministries, from the worship
team to the choir to hospitality need additional people willing to serve at
some level or another. Our care team
needs more people who feel that one of their talents is caring and ministering
to those who need our care. In order for
all the current leaders to know if their ministries can grow, we must know how
many of you will decide that this is the year you have decided to give more
than just money to this community, you also want to give talents and time. Just as we want to be financially
responsible, we also want to be responsibility with our ministries. We want to be able to plan with full
knowledge of who can be counted on next year.
Back to our
parable—we may want to feel sorry for our third worker. Not only is he given only one talent; he is
severely reprimanded when he fails to meet the owner’s expectation that he be
responsible to make something of that talent.
But, we are not to feel sorry for him or to make excuses for him. Each of the workers was given talents
according to their ability—right then and there, our excuses seem to
vanish. The closer I get to the end of
my life on this earth, the more I learn about life itself. And one thing is certain—I do not want to be
left with any “if only’s” at the end of my life. “If only I had done this,” or “if only I had
used this talent for the good of the world”.
I hope to come to the end of my life with my talents fully used up and
having left the world a better place.
There is a prayer I have adopted as a daily prayer. It is inspired by a very famous quote from
Marianne Williamson. It seems to be one
of the guiding principles of the last half of my life. This is what I try to pray every morning when
I arise. “God, let this be a day when I
am not afraid to play large for all to see.
Let me be used to cause an impact on the world greater than anything I
have ever expected. Use the gifts which you
have loaned to me to bring more light to all who need it in this church and
anywhere it is needed.” Now, praying
this prayer does not, of course, guarantee that I am going to be able to be
used in this way each day. Things, no, I
get in the way, and I take my day back, sometimes almost before it has gotten
started. But, I must be clear about this
one thing—I am taking back the talents for that day—I am burying them in the
dirt, so they will be there for me to pull out the next day and start
again. I know, that more than anything,
God desires that we stop taking our talents and hiding them again and
again. God desires that we play large,
take risks, be all that God created us to be.
When we share who we are and the gifts we have, when we are willing to risk making mistakes
or be seen as foolish by some, or step out into places we have never been, we,
like the first two workers, are honoring our God in whom we live and move and
have our being. We breathe in courage
and we breathe out all that we are for all who need what God has entrusted to us. And, together we say, “no regrets, use me,
use me, use me.” Amen and amen.
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