A lot of people don’t really like to read the Bible much, since it’s so old, and maybe it seems out of date. I am kind of weird, because there are things that I really like about the Bible. I like the history, and I like the stories. I really love the parables, because parables are stories that have a lot of relevance to our lives today. The parables are great stories that show us how real people really behave. They are stories that Jesus told to his disciples, I think, so that the disciples would see themselves within the stories.
One of my favorite parables in the Bible is one that is called the Parable of the Talents, and it’s found in the Gospel of Matthew. Basically, the parable goes like this:
There was a wealthy landowner who was going on a journey and called in three workers, entrusting some funds to them. The first was given 5 talents, the second was given 2 talents, and the third was given 1 talent, according to each one’s ability. A talent was a unit of money back in the day.
Then the landowner went away. The worker who was given the 5 talents went and invested them, and made another five. In the same way, the second worker who was given 2 talents doubled that figure. But the worker who received 1 talent dug a hole in the ground and buried the talent.
After a long absence, the landowner returned home and settled accounts with them. The one who had received the five talents came forward bringing the additional five saying, “You entrusted me with five talents; here are five more.”
The landowner said, “Well done, my good and faithful worker! Since you were dependable in a small matter, I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come share my joy.”
The second worker stepped forward and did the same thing: “You entrusted me with two talents; here are two more.”
The landowner said, “You too are a good and faithful worker. Since you were dependable in a small matter, I will put you in charge of larger affairs. Come share my joy.”
Finally, the one who had received one talent stepped forward and said, “I went and buried the talent in the ground. Here is your talent back.”
The landowner was furious. He called the third worker lazy and worthless, and ordered him to give his one talent to the man with ten.
Now if we look at this as a story about financial investment, I always thought that the third guy got a raw deal — he kept the money safe — didn’t spend it — and he returned it when his boss returned.
But compared to the other two workers, he did not invest and multiply what was given to him. He didn’t use the money. He just buried it.
I like to look at this parable though, focusing on the word talent as we think of talents today.
We know that all of us are born with innate talents. Our talents, just like our interests, are very different. Some of us are gifted musically, or we love to cook, or we are talented hairstylists or gardeners. In addition to the talents we were lucky to be born with, there are skills and talents that just seem to flourish in our families. I also happen to believe that God gives each of us spiritual gifts as well. Some of us have the gift of leadership, others have the gift of wisdom, or discernment. Some of us have the gift of hospitality, others of us have the gift of mercy or helping.
This list deserves its own separate service, but take a moment and look over this list. I believe that everyone in this room possesses at least one of those gifts. And those gifts become a talent that improves the world, makes a difference to other people. When we use these gifts and the talents we have, we have invested our gifts, our talents into other people, like the first two workers. The key part of this parable is the difference between the first two workers and the third worker. We shouldn’t bury our talents. We should use them.
The Bible reinforces that point in this verse in I Peter:
“As generous distributors of God’s manifold grace, put your gifts at the service of one another, each in the measure you have received.” — I Peter 4:1
Once upon a time there was a ballerina, who was the most elegant of the dancers in the whole village, but she had no shoes. She had rough leather sandals that she wore as she did her daily chores. But by night she would tiptoe out on the grass and dance elegantly under the stars in the clearing by the woods where she lived.
One day an old cobbler was making his way home through the woods near where the ballerina lived. Quite by accident - some would say it was by a higher design - he came upon the clearing at the very time the ballerina was dancing. The Old Cobbler had once lived in Moscow and had been to the ballet and enjoyed some of the worlds best.
But when he came to the clearing he stood entranced. He watched the ballerina in her peasant clothes, dance across the stage of grass and clover. Never in his whole life had the Cobbler seen such natural grace and elegance.
When the ballerina finished dancing, she bowed to her silent audience of woodland creatures. Imagine her surprise when she heard the applause of the calloused wrinkled hands of the old Cobbler.
"Bravo - Bravo" he shouted. She tiptoed over to the cobbler, bowed to him and her face smilingly inquired just as to who he was.
"Why I am the cobbler - I mend shoes - make shoes - fix heels and restore sandals so that they are like new. That is my art," said the cobbler. "But you, young lady, have a far greater art. I have seen the greatest dance, but compared to you, they are like clumsy cobblers plodding through the forest. You must dance in the great ballets of the world. You have a talent far greater than the best the world has seen."
The ballerina blushed "Why thank you kind sir - I was taught what little I know by my Grandmother who, even as we talk, has soup warming for my dinner. Will you not join us?"
The cobbler agreed and over tea there was much happy talk with the ballerina’s woodsman grandfather and her kind old grandmother.
The cobbler told them of the great ballets he had seen in Moscow and how the Ballerina was better than any he had seen. He told them how he knew a great Ballet Master in Moscow - he immediately produced a piece of paper and wrote a letter of introduction for the ballerina to the great master - and then after the family had retired - the old cobbler worked all night by the light of the flickering oil lantern.
As the sun rose the next morning, the ballerina tiptoed into the kitchen and discovered the most beautiful pair of dancing shoes imaginable, sitting next to the letter the Cobbler wrote to the Ballet master. The cobbler had left an incredible gift, and then went on his way.
The story has a happy ending, of course. The ballerina became a great dancer in Moscow. But the important point of this story is that all of the people in it — the ballerina, her grandparents, and the cobbler all used their talents. For others. Amen.
Motivational speaker, Tom Krause has often said, “Your purpose in life is to use your gifts and talents to help other people. Your journey in life teaches you how to do that.” — Tom Krause
May we all keep that in mind as we think about the gifts and talents we each possess. We don’t have them just for ourselves. We have them to help other people.
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