In our first reading today in 1 Thessalonians 4:11 “aspire to live a tranquil life, to mind your own affairs, and to work with your [own] hands, as we instructed you”.
Not sure about you but there are rare moments in my life that are tranquil. Seems like there is always something to do. Busy people are happy but not always tranquil.The formula for that tranquility might be in the Gospel reading for today. The master left on a journey and gave a task to three servants. Two of the three took what the master gave them and doubled the masters money. The third buried the money in the ground and sat on it so to speak. A”talent” was a measure of gold or silver that weighted about 75 pounds each. When you consider 10, 5 or 1 talent, you are not in my mind talking about small responsibilities.
When it came to a time of accounting, the first two were rewarded but the person who did nothing received nothing. Now, I think it is obvious that Christ was not talking about money but the talents and gifts you received from Him when your soul was created. Notice all of them had a different number of talents but the masters expectations were the same for each of them. He expected a return on his investment. God expects a return from us. Not in monetary terms but the fruits from the talents or gifts he has given us. It is interesting that the Hebrew “talent” and the English talent sound the same and have both meanings in this scripture.
Years ago, I had a friend by the name of Ron. He will not be upset when I say this but he was not a handsome man. He would admit this himself but the thing that made him remarkable was his intelligence and spirit. Ron had Cerebral Palsy and had a speech impediment. Nonetheless, he was a great story-teller and loved to tell corny jokes. It was his delivery. He would start out with a joke you had heard a thousand times before and speak about 2 lines, cough and laugh with this huge belly laugh then continue with the joke. Anyone else telling the same joke would take 2-3 minutes but Ron would take 5-10. All this time everyone is hanging on every word and laughing with him. Again his delivery was everything.
Ron graduated with a degree in History and Journalism in 1953 before Citizens with Disabilities was even thought of existing. He retired after 25 years as editor of a monthly construction magazine. He wrote a weekly article for his church bulletin.
Ron and I would attend a church diner twice yearly. The place that the event took place was a run down children’s camp. The community would have to bring in bottled water since the sulphur-water was undrinkable. There was a further complication because there was no place to sit down at table when we ate. Because we were very good friends, I volunteered to feed Ron by hand. He was wheelchair bound and could not hold the paper plate, so I fed him and tried to feed myself at the same time. Everyone else in the room loved this scene and so did Ron. It wasn’t that enjoyable for me as any mother or father feeding a baby and trying to eat themselves would agree. Still everyone looked forward to the event. Years later that old camp is a housing development and we now hold the same event in a much more modern facility where Ron could feed himself. People will still come up to me and say how much they enjoyed me feeding Ron. I miss it myself.
The master said to the useless servant in Matthew 25:27-30 ” Should you not then have put my money ( talent ) in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten.For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
God gives each of us certain gifts. It is all too obvious that some people have more gifts than others, but Jesus is not telling us that we are good servants by the number of gifts we have. No, no! He is telling us to use the gifts we have to further the Kingdom of God here on earth. We can take what God gives us and bury those gifts or use them for the common good. Remember this world is not about you or me, but it is about us and God’s agenda for us on earth as a people of faith . If we bury those gifts we are like the useless servant.
This brings to mind the people of Texas who are at this very moment doing things to help their neighbors devastated by hurricanes and flooding. My heart goes out to them, but I am humbled by the spirit of community and love and even those who have lost everything are still going forward helping others. They are definitely using their talents.
Mother Teresa has a quote.” We can do no great things – only small things with great love.” The tranquil life from our first reading comes from using the gifts that God has given us in small or large ways and in using those gifts. The other two servants made their master happy in Matthew 25:23 ” Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities Come share in your masters joy.”
We make God happy and joyful when we use our gifts to produce good fruit.It may take all your life to find out what those gifts are and we could have different gifts at various times in our life. It could be as simple as telling a corny joke or as major as helping out in a flood, but God gives us all gifts to use and produce fruit. The tranquility we all seek will come when use our gifts for the Masters purpose. Amen!
God Bless
Bob Burford
Readings: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11; Psalm 98: 1, 7-8, 9; Matthew 25:14-30
