Attempt at 33rd Sunday 2023
Proverbs 31:10ff; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30
Is that fair? After all, the third servant hasn’t actually done anything wrong. He hasn’t stolen his master’s money, or gambled it away. You might even argue that he has been prudent in keeping it safe, rather than risk losing it by speculating in the financial markets. And yet, he is not merely criticised: he is condemned to be cast out into the darkness. Why? And what are the implications for us?
The issue is that the servants were all given opportunities by the master, and were expected to seize those opportunities. The third servant, whether from timidity or indifference, chose to reject the opportunity he received, to bury his talent, to ignore it, to allow it to go to waste.
A talent, in the ancient world, was a piece of metal representing a large sum of money. To bury it, as the third servant did, was effectively to disdain his master’s generosity, to show contempt for him, to turn his back on him. It was too much trouble to do anything with the talent: better to bury it and forget about it for as long as possible.
Inevitably, I suspect, we view the talents in their modern meaning of abilities. Whether we have few or many of these, we should view them as gifts, and do our best to develop them. To refuse to do so is to insult the giver, who is God.
Does that mean that we are guilty if we do not pursue every talent that we have? That cannot be the case: life is too short and too busy to try to develop every one of our abilities to the full. Take as an example a gifted sportsperson. If s/he is good at one sport, the likelihood is that they will excel at others too. I remember lads at school who shone at football, rugby, cricket, cross country, athletics, everything they turned their hands to. A contemporary of mine told me recently that he was given a hard time by the teacher in charge of cricket, because he opted to play tennis: there simply wasn’t time for both.
Furthermore, as people move into adulthood, other priorities arise, such as earning a living and supporting a family. Not every talent can be developed to the full.
What then does this parable have to say to you and me? It reminds us that all of us have been given gifts by God, some more obvious and some more potentially fruitful than others. There are many people whose greatest talent is to be a loving spouse and, if blessed with children, a good parent. Others may have a great capacity for patience, for bearing with the weaknesses of other people. Every one of us has a duty to work at developing patience, whether it comes easily or not.
For some people, there is a ready discernment of the needs of others, and a capacity to respond. Again, that is something which each and every one of us has a responsibility to develop.
Everyone, unless they are deeply damaged psychologically, has an inbuilt talent for loving. The third servant of the parable is the person who declines to work on that talent, but instead pursues selfishness and a determination to “look after number one”.
You and I have been given the immense gift of knowing God to a greater or lesser degree, of belonging to the Body of Christ which is the Church, of receiving Him in the Eucharist. These are gifts which we must do our best to develop, opening ourselves to God as fully as we are able. It was only a few Sundays ago that we were reminded of the two great commandments of love of God and love of neighbour. If we are truly doing our best to fulfil those commandments, then we shall indeed be making the best use of our talents.
