16th Sunday of Luke - Talents in the balance
The word talent comes from a Greek word, as you would imagine, τάλαντον, meaning a certain weight to be used in the balance. It was used as a measuring unit in the times of Christ. A talent of gold is the equivalent of 200 pound or 91 kilos of Gold; We understand now the generosity of the master leaving the first servant with 5 the second with two and the third with one. Even one talent is a major sum of money to be gifted: 91 kilos of gold. At the current market price this would be about 2.7 million dollars. This example is meant to illustrate the wealth of gifts that God is giving to all of us.
The word talent in the contemporary understanding is used to describe a feature that someone has received from God. Sometimes we even call it a gift. Some one ss talented or gifted.
Some people can sing beautifully. We have a beautiful choir in this parish. Others can cook. I love Greek food, tea pastries and the gyros and spanakopita. I don't wanna talk about it right now. Others know hoe to get organized. I wish we had more of these... Other can teach kudos to our Church school. And we can go on and on. We are blessed with so many talents in this parish; we could sit here all day and count them.
The Church in its wisdom saw this and said let's get organized let's find what people are willing to do, let them organize each other and use their talents to help their communities; so each of the groups have their talents, their gifts. Philoptochos, Youth Ministries, Choir, Parish council, Planning Committee, Bookstore etc. All play an important role in the life of the parish and try to do something with their talents. Some do more, some do less. Some are organized others are not. Some give more and others give less.
But how is God regarding all this? Let's take a look at today's parable. Here comes the one entrusted with 5 talents and multiplied them. You gave me 5 I made five more. "You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things." Then comes the one with two. You gave me two I made another two. And He awaits the word of His Master. Surprisingly He says the same thing "You have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things." Why is He saying that? Did He not see that the one with 5 talents did more than the other one with two? 5 is more than 2, right?
This is not the first time that this happens. Christ did the same things with the workers of his vineyard when he paid the same amount to those that worked the whole day and to those that only worked one hour. Is God unfair?
The Blesses Paisios the Great saw once a brother that after to days of fasting was so weak that he couldn't lift himself of the ground. The saint was surprised because he was fasting himself for 60 days without eating anything and his powers were intact. Then the Lord appeared to him and said: "Don't think in this way; you have fasted using my grace, but this one here has fasted using his own power with great difficulty". "And what kind of reward we'll he get?" asked the Father. "Same as yours!" said the Lord.
Dear Beloved, God is good and loving but He is also just. He doesn't make mistakes. So why does He do this? First is to show that He loves everyone equally. Second to show that salvation comes not through the works of the people but through His grace that He freely offers to everyone. He does not make a difference between the ones that work 5 talents and the one that work 2 talents, because in His wisdom He gave more to the ones that can do more and less to the one that cannot work that much.
The only thing He doesn't like is when he gives something that is not used, something that is buried and forgotten. Like one that knows how to sing and never uses his/her voice, or one that can teach and does not teach others, one that has money and does not help the poor and so on. God is a great ecologist. He does not like to waste His gifts. He wants His gifts to be productive and make us stimulate each other to multiply the talents. I'm not saying the one with 5 talents should mess with the one with two, but they can certainly learn from each other in brotherly love.
The one with 5 talents should thank God for what he received according to his capacity to make something out of them; and so should the one with two and the one with one. But all should always remember that they do not own the money. They are just temporarily borrowing the money to multiply them. To make others see them using their gifts so they can start doing the same. Is not the quantity, is not the quality, is the work itself that maters here.
All of us have the same importance in front of God and He loves all of us, despite our shortcomings, and we certainly have plenty of those. I for one know I have plenty. But if we understand that using our talents in everything we do is to use what He has given us freely, out of love for mankind, we are on the right path. This means that we understand that we work for a purpose; we are not multiplying the talents for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the Master. WE ALL WORK FOR THE SAME MASTER, NOT FOR OURSELVES. And the Master wants us to share, to cooperate, to look at each other with love, to support each other in this mission. The talents we give Him are the talents that come back to us through His love and grace. Unity around Christ, our Master is what we have to seek. The enemy wants us divided, wants us to fight each other. Divide and conquer he says! But if we follow this strategy all we'll get will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." But Christ says come to me and inherit the Kingdom, all of you! No one is left out, unless willingly on refuses to enter.
Dear Beloved,
We ourselves are talents sent into this New World with a purpose, to multiply the inestimable talent we have: the Orthodox Faith. We are sent in this world to spread the Word, The Word fresh and unattained as was given down to us through generations of Orthodox Bishops and priests and deacons along with the faithful. Don't let this go to waste. Use the talent or, if you happen to have buried it under the material things of this world, dig it out and make it shine in the light of the Spirit. Come and participate in the life of our community of faith so together we can thank our Master for the gifts He so graciously has given us. Show the world what you are made of: love, kindness, compassion, brotherly communion and right worship. This are the tools made to conquer the world.
We only have a life, a short one, but one in which we have the chance to gain the eternity. Let's use the few things that we were given here wisely so we can rule over the many things prepared for us in the eternal life with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amin!