Orthodox Sermons & Articles

 

What is a "talent"? In this parable it’s money. But the parable contains hidden things that have deep meaning beyond the words that are used. The real meaning of "talent" in this parable is our ability to work for our salvation, and our ability to analyze our situation and make proper decisions concerning our salvation. So, God gives us everything we need to increase our ability to make the right decisions for our soul and to multiply our "talents". We just have to look around us, and observe how everything is perfectly made. Each person gets different amounts of talents, but God does not ask from us to do the impossible. But, He wants us to do whatever we can for our salvation. He wants us to learn to manage our talents and use them to obtain our salvation. He wants us not to be lazy but active for the sake of our salvation. He wants us not to hide our talents in the ground in an irresponsible manner, but to show them to the world and make profit of them by using them correctly.

 

For example, if a person has a "talent" to be merciful to others, and he or she decides in their mind not to be compassionate for some reason and goes against their own feelings, then this person not only harms him or herself, but also the person he or she could have been merciful to. But, more importantly their talent has been hidden, as if it where buried in the ground! God will ask that person about this irresponsible decision. If I have a "talent" to help others but willingly resist it and do nothing about it, I not only go against myself, but also against God’s trust in me. So, dearly beloved, let’s discover which "talents" we have! Remember, every person gets at least one "talent". Let’s use the "talent" given to us for our eternal profit not for eternal loss.

 

Are we all able to see our own "talents"? If not, let’s ask our Lord to reveal them to us as quickly as possible so that we will not perish. Doing right is our chief responsibility as Christians. Can we imagine what could happen if Jesus got scared and did not go on the Cross? Mankind would not been saved! In His human nature, He was scared! He asked His Heavenly Father to take away from Him those sufferings He was about to suffer if that was possible. But as the Son of God and true Messiah (Savior), He accepted His role, His "talent" on earth if you will, and suffered a terrible death. So, as true followers of Christ, let’s carry on with our Crosses and our "talents" which are as unique as our personalities but are critical to help us to save our souls.

 

But remember, we have to use our talents not out of fear but out of love for our Master. The parable underlines the fact that the first two servants went and made profit of those talents given to them. There is nothing said about fear towards their master. But when Jesus talked about the third servant He pointed out his fear: "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look there you have what is yours" (Matt. 25, 24-25). So, the third servant was afraid and did nothing with his master’s money. Was he awarded or punished for this? His "talent" was taken away from him and he was cast out "into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 25,30). This can happen to us too. This can happen to anybody who does not love his/her Master. This is why we have to use the "talents" given to us to show our love to God. If we’re afraid of God so much that there is no place for love for Him within our hearts, then we will not bring any profit to Him. When employees are afraid of their boss, they do their job because they feel they HAVE TO do it. But when the same employees love their boss, they do their job because they feel they WANT to do it. Can you see the difference between these two conditions? "HAVE TO" comes out of force, and "WANT TO" comes out of free will. So, my dear brothers and sisters, let’s use our "talents" not for the sake of fear but for the sake of love to our Master.

 

In a similar vein with the "Thanksgiving" day we are about to celebrate, we should give thanks to our Merciful Lord out of Love for Him and not out of fear. We should "WANT" to be thankful, and we should feel thankful for everything, as it will please the Lord. If we do not feel this way then we will seek a quick escape from the church service, think about something else, and rush off to our "Thanksgiving dinner". We cannot do that! We cannot narrow this special day down to just consuming a meal together with the family! We need to feel thankful; otherwise this service will be of no help to us.

 

When giving thanks to our Savior and Lord we are tied to Him in one bond if we’re doing it out of love for Him. If we are not doing this out of love then we are wasting God’s time and our own time! If we thank Him out of our true love to Him, then there is no event in our life we shouldn’t be thankful for. One might ask: "Should we be thankful for the late spring with wind, the dry summer, the short fall, for the hail, for the frost and the early snow?" The answer is YES! God shows us His might and wants to bring us back because when all things go well we become self-reliant and forget about Him. In essence we place ourselves in a far country, and become prodigal sons. We have to accept His Lordship and return back. Our God teaches us a good lesson of dependence upon Him and we should be thankful for this because we can accomplish nothing without Him. As I said above, we have to be thankful not because of fear but because of love. Only then we will be able to be truly thankful for EVERYTHING in our life. Then the Thanksgiving Day will be full of meaning and good lessons. If you in the past have looked at Thanksgiving Day differently, please, try to fill it up with true feelings to our Lord. First offer thanks for His sufferings and death on the Cross, then offer thanks for everything else that that you can recall in your minds, and finally mention to your relatives and friends everything else you have been and are currently thankful for.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, let’s learn to be truly thankful! Let’s learn to use our "talents" in the way they should be used. Let’s exercise true love to God and each other because without it we can do nothing properly! Our salvation depends on this beautiful and sincere feeling of gratitude and love. Let’s give thanks to God for EVERYTHING! Amen.