Twenty-Sixth Pentecost, Proper 28, 2005:

As strange as it may sound, a fellow had taught his dog to talk.  He brought the dog to a talent agent to see about marketing this very unique talent.      

“This dog can speak English,” the man said to the talent agent.

“Well, let’s hear something,” the talent agent said.

“Okay, sport,” the owner said to the dog, “what’s on top of a house?”

“Roof,” the dog said.

The talent agent said, “All dogs go ‘roof.’”

“No, wait,” the guy said.  He asked the dog, “What does sandpaper feel like?”

“Rough,” the dog said.

The talent agent gave a rather condescending blank stare.  He was just about to lose his patience.

“No, hang on,” the dog’s owner said, “This one will amaze you.”  He turned to the dog and said, “Who, in your opinion, was the greatest baseball player to ever play for the New York Yankees?”

“Ruth!” the dog said.
    

The talent scout had seen enough.  He booted both of them out the door.

The dog turned to his owner and said, “I should have said DiMaggio!”

Talent agents are not always the most objective people in the world.  Talent is very often judged on the basis of popular opinion.  Much of what passes as talent on primetime TV, in my opinion, is not.  But, that’s just my opinion and I don’t have to watch any of that or either of The Apprentice shows.  The “Donald” could use a hair transplant; Martha might be due a new heart.  That either is an icon of American free enterprise is an indictment on us all.  But, that’s just my opinion, too.

The Gospel from Matthew has Jesus continuing his teaching to the inner circle of followers.  He is using parables to tell them about the Second Coming.  The Parables about the Wedding Banquet, the Fig Tree, the Wise and Foolish Virgins, and today’s story about the talents are intended to bring about a degree of preparedness in those who would be his followers. 

The Parable of the Talents speaks not so much about financial management but about a final accounting that is based upon the awareness that our spiritual lives are to be adventures and not static, never changing endurance tests based upon law.  It is a parable that tells those who will listen that God can find little use with the closed mind or hard heart.

I want to suggest that at least three things are in this parable for us to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest, in the words from the Collect of the Day.  The first is that differences are a part of life.  People are not the same.  It is a fact that we should celebrate and not use as a means to rank ourselves over against others.  Those who would place degrees of full humanity on those differences have some spiritual work to do.  Accepting or rejecting another human being on the basis of something they can not help leads to difficulties.  We have differing abilities.  It is not our abilities that matter but what we do with them, how we use them.  We need always ask ourselves who is glorified by the abilities we have been given.  God does not ask us for things we don’t have, but God does ask that that we use the things we have to the fullest to bring attention to God’s claim upon each of our lives.  We are not the same in abilities, but God expects us to be the same in effort.  At least one of the meanings of this parable is that whatever abilities and gifts we have, whether great or small, should be used according to God’s will and purpose and in God’s service.  Celebrating differences is a good stewardship decision.

The second thing about this parable is that rewards increase with the proper use of the abilities and talents.  Those who were faithful in the giving of their abilities and talents and whose gifts increased were not told to set back and relax and bask in past glories.  They were given even greater tasks to perform.  The reward for a job well done is still more work to do.  That applies to individuals and churches.  In the giving of ourselves, in the exercising of our gifts we become more skilled and then can be entrusted with greater responsibilities.  None of that is done for personal gain or recognition, but for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.  It is true that those increasing responsibilities may not be in an arena where people will notice.  It may mean that we are given the unsung tasks that God knows we can do well and without the need for accolades or public notice.  That is also true for churches.  The mission of the church is never to draw attention to itself, but to the God who founded it.  The mission of the church is not something that was done in the past, but what needs done this day and the day after.

Finally, the Parable of the Talents indicates that punishment comes to those who will not even try.  The person who was given the one talent did not lose it; he simply hid it.  He returned to the owner what he had been given.  The loss was due to inactivity.  That happens in the spiritual realm of life as well as the physical.  Not exercising regularly leads to a kind of atrophy.  Sitting in front of the tube, listening to drivel, watching people air their dirty laundry, and participating vicariously in technologically enabled voyeurism stunts ones physical and emotional growth.  Sleeping late, sitting at home reading the Sunday paper, working the crossword, emailing friends and family instead of joining with others in corporate worship leads to a kind of spiritual atrophy and stunted spiritual growth.  Those talents, those God-given abilities to pray, sing, worship, and join in doing the liturgy (“the work of the people”) will get stronger the more we use them.  Communal worship can become as much a positive habit as personal exercise.  Worship, prayer, meditation, serving on a committee, volunteering to give a few hours a week in a community or parish ministry, and asking what one can do to help out will add bulk and tone to our spiritual muscles.

There is perhaps no more pitiful sight in this world than one whose spiritual muscle has atrophied.  Usually hardness of heart, closing of the mind, and sharpness of the tongue follow that process of atrophy.  The person who has turned inward begins to decay.  Anything that is decaying has an offensive odor about it.

The reality from what Jesus said in the parable is that not trying means what one has will be taken away from them.  It is not meant to be a harsh thing, but simply states the need to be in compliance with the laws of nature and nature’s God.

So, the Parable of the Talents can be a powerful teaching moment for all of us.  We can learn that we are different and the differences can be celebrated and that it is what we do with what we have been given that matters, not what we have been given.

We can learn that in God’s economy there is an increasing accountability for all we have been given.  The faithful fulfillment of each task, not whether it was done perfectly, leads to being given greater and greater responsibilities.

We can learn that if we do not use what we have been given we run the risk of losing it.  It is far better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all. 

A wise person once said that there are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree.  We may climb limb by limb, or we can sit on an acorn.  The Parable of the Talents reminds us that the way of God and the mind of Christ would have us keep climbing.  Amen.