1. Before his journey to Heaven, Christ gave us the gift of himself (talent) and He expects us to be accountable to Him on his return. What is this talent? Talent is a natural aptitude or skill that we received from God. It is also a weight and unit of currency, used especially by the ancient Romans and Greeks. Hence a talent was the Roman denomination of the highest amount possible. Two drachmas were a day’s wage for a laborer, and a talent was worth 6,000 drachmas, or 8 years pay for a worker. So, you can imagine the enormous amount of money given to these men to trade with while waiting for the return of the master.
2. The master did not just give his servants money, no, he gave them his property: “It will be as when a man who was going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.” The master gave away all his property, he gave them everything. On his return he had nothing left therefore, he depended on his servants and what they had done with his property. If the servants were accountable, responsible and invested his money prudently, the master will reap a bountiful harvest on his return.
3. This parable is about the generosity of God and how extravagant God is with us. God gives us everything freely and generously, he holds nothing back from us. He gives each one of us according to our ability. He doesn’t expect us to give him what we do not have, but only what we have. God gave us his very self by dying on the cross and he expects us to reciprocate his love and give of ourselves to others. What we have is God’s gift to us but what we do with it is our gift to God.
4. Do we always invest our gifts, no matter what they may be, for the glory of God? Many times, we behave like the third servant, who buried his master’s money in the ground, refusing to use it to enrich others. Yet, St. Paul clearly reminds us “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8). In exercising our gifts, we build up the body of Christ the Church.
5. We are invited to participate in ministries in the church. When we sing, we praise God and minister to his people. When we read as lectors, or participate in various other ministries, we are accountable to God for his gifts. If we don’t do anything in church, we are indirectly burying our gifts refusing to minister to the people of God. The third servant was punished for refusing to try, he did not lose his talent; he simply did nothing with it. It is wrong to think that my talent or gift is so small that I can do nothing with it. We must use what we have to better our lives and the lives of people around us.
6. Finally, we should not fear that the reward of the work well done is more work. If we have talents and use them according to our ability, we will perfect them and gain more. 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 about playing golf, playing piano, singing, writing, carving wood or thinking out ideas; it is the lesson of life that the only way to keep a gift is to use it in the service of God and others.
7. It is by using our gifts to build up the kingdom of God that we will hear those beautiful words from the mouth of our master: “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master’s joy.” May God bless and keep us now and always. Amen.
Rev. Augustine Etemma Inwang, MSP
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