Talents

Proverbs 18: 15-16

1 Peter 4: 8-11

Matthew 25:14-30

Talents

Starting is the first step to succeeding. We cannot be afraid of failure. I grew up in Northwest Ohio. I  played baseball, and at one time I was quite a fan. A fan of the Pittsburg Pirates.  Yes, not Cleveland or Cincinnati, but the Pirates.  And I liked the stories of the players of the game long before there were steroids and players who go from team to team about as fast as base runners at times, depending on the dollar sign interests of the  managers and team owners and the interests of their own salaries. So here is a little baseball story for you. In 1915 Ty Cobb set the single season record for stolen bases, 96. Seven years later, Max Carey of the Pittsburgh Pirates became second best with 51 stolen bases. Does this mean that Cobb was twice as good as Carey, his closest rival?

Look at the facts: Cobb made 134 attempts, Carey, 53. Cobb failed 38 times; Carey only failed twice. Cobb succeeded 96 times, Carey only 51 times. Cobb's average was only 71 percent. Carey's average was 96 percent. Carey's average was much better than Cobb's, but Cobb tried 81 more times than Carey. Here what is most important about Cobb’s record: His 81 additional tries produced 44 more stolen bases. Cobb risked failure 81 more times in one season than his closest rival and as a result Cobb goes down in history as the greatest base runner of all time. Why? Because he tried. He was willing to fail.

Before we go too far, it is important to understand the word talent used here by Jesus. Talent here is a sum of money.  Jesus is using it as a metaphor, however. He is using it to mean the gift for service, the spiritual gift that God gives each and every one of us.  Here too we have to understand the difference between talent and spiritual gift. Ty Cobb and Max Carey had talent. They were outstanding baseball players. But that does not mean their baseball prowess was also their spiritual gift. Talent is something very human, depending largely upon our genetic makeup. Spiritual gifts are God given. Sometimes we can combine the two, as the young woman who leads the Harlem Ambassadors basketball team. She, and the team she assembles and coaches, uses their basketball talent as a way of gaining opportunity to use their God given gift of speaking and ministering to spread Jesus’ message, especially to youth.

Jesus told this story of a wealthy landowner who was preparing for a long journey. He called his three servants—not slaves but employees-- and divided his money between them. To one servant he gave five talents, meaning in that situation a sum of money, to a second two, and to a third one. He entrusted his wealth to them. We read about what each did with his talents. Some think that the landowner was too harsh on the one who was very conservative and protected what had been entrusted to him. And we wonder what would have happened if the others who took risks had lost the landowner’s money?

 We are all equal in the eyes of God. God loves each and every one of us, each and every person born on earth, equally. But when it comes to our abilities, we are as different as different can be. God simply did not make us all the same. There are some people who can handle five talents, spiritual gifts; there are some who can handle only one. There are some persons who have great intellectual capabilities, and some who do not. Not everyone is an Einstein or Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison. There are some who have the ability to project and articulate their thoughts, and there are some who cannot. Not everyone can compose music like Mozart or write poetry like Robert Frost. But, despite what each of us cannot do, each one of us does have a God given gift that he expects us to use to our fullest in bringing his kingdom forward.

The important thing to remember is that each servant was given something. No one was left to be idle. You may not be a five-talent person, but you have some talent. We all do. And you know something? I think that there are a whole lot more one and two talent people in this world than there are five talent people. Oh, there are some people who seem to have it all. I won't deny that. But most of us are just one or two talent servants.

The landowner now went on his journey. When he returned he called together his three servants and asked them to give an account. It seems that the five talent man had invested his talent and was able to return an additional five talents, a 100% return. So, too the two talent man doubles his money. Well, done good and faithful servant." But what about the one talent man? He stepped forward and said: Sir, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow. So he returned that which he had originally been given him. The landowner, incensed, uses words such as "slothful" and "wicked." Angrily he took the talent back and gave it to the servant who now had ten. Seems rather harsh at first. 

What is the message Jesus is trying to give us? God expects a return. We had better not simply bury that which has been given us and return it when he comes. We may fail when we invest our spiritual gift in God’s work, but we must at least try. And we have Jesus’ promise, that if we do use our God given gifts in his service, instead of burying the Holy Spirit will be with us and we be rewarded for our efforts.

Why didn’t the one talent man do something with the talent he was given? Perhaps it was fear of failure. Why not be safe and take no risks? At least it would seem he had lost nothing. If you take risks you do stand a chance of failing, losing. Ty Cobb took a lot of risks. He was willing to fail in order to succeed. Max Carey played it a lot safer.

Another reason he might chosen not to do anything was he didn’t know how. To do something of value that gains a return on our efforts we must learn and practice. That means lots of time, studying, trying, failing.  It’s an oft-quoted truism in books on learning and productivity that it takes 10,000 hours to achieve true mastery in any skill, from composing symphonies to playing tennis.

Is it true? I have absolutely no idea. It’s probably close to accurate, although for some it might take more, and for some less. I think of a child learning to walk and talk. They practice for hours to develop their motor skills and language skills. So maybe it is not an unreasonable number.  We’re used to thinking of genius as an elusive, magical thing that springs fully formed. Boiling down Mozart’s greatness to a regime of dozens of hours a week at the piano until he’d hit the 10,000-hour mark (before his voice changed) makes the idea of learning to play the piano seem more approachable, though certainly not easy. It gives you a sense of the distance between point A and point B.

But just as a baby learns in stages so must we. Especially in terms of living and expressing our faith, using the talents and gifts God has given us. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect immediately. When we start, we may never reach total mastery, but the more we practice, the better we get.  The point again is, we must try. God expects a return on his investment in us. We must begin. And we must keep on trying.

How much time does God expect us to spend practicing and living our faith in his service? Would two or three hours a week be enough?  I think part of what Jesus is telling us in this parable is, God wants us to invest it all. We are called to give ourselves fully, to discern the special gift God has given each of us, and then use it to the maximum. Jesus gave everything for us. God expects us to give ourselves freely in return.

There is another reason so many people do not give to God the return on his investment that he expects: Apathy.. Apathy is a state of indifference, a lack of concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has little interest in or concern about much of the wider world around them. They are self centered, and lack the God-given sense of purpose or meaning in their life. They have no interest in trying to use God’s gifts, or even learning what those gifts might be. They bury them, as did the one talent servant.

Apathy is the opposite of faith: In his book, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis tells how a devil briefs his demon nephew, Wormwood, in a series of letters, on the subtleties and techniques of tempting people. In his writings, the devil says that the objective is not to make people wicked but to make them indifferent. This higher devil cautions Wormwood that he must keep the patient comfortable at all costs. If he should start thinking about anything of importance, encourage him to think about his luncheon plans and not to worry so much because it could cause indigestion. And then the devil gives this instruction to his nephew: "I, the devil, will always see to it that there are bad people. Your job, my dear Wormwood, is to provide me with people who do not care."