The parable of the talents is a dramatic lesson on the subject of Christian stewardship --- one of the most important and yet most neglected principles of the Christian life. The concept of stewardship includes the following basic ideas:
1) God is the Creator and Sovereign Owner of all things and all people
2) As an expression of his love, God has given us various talents, abilities and opportunities
3) We are merely tenants, holding in trust what belongs to God, managing it as efficiently as we can and using it for his glory and for the good of our fellowman
4) One day we shall have to give an account to God as to how we have used the talents, gifts, and opportunities he has given us
People are not equal in talent or opportunity. Some have five talents, some two, others only one. But it is not the kind or the number of our talents which matters: it is how we use what God has given us. God does not expect or demand from us abilities we do not have, but God does expect us to use to the fullest the abilities we have.
In this parable of the talents, the temptation of the man with one talent was to feel that his place in life wwas obscure and his possibility to serve the Lord was so insignificant that he failed to use the one ability he had. But all that God expected and wanted from him was that he use the one talent he had --- to the fullest.
Two important lessons of life stand out in the parable of the talents. First, the one who uses what he/she has been given by God will receive more. The second lesson is that the one who does not use what God has given him/her will be deprived of what has been given. The only way to keep the gifts, talents, skills and opportunities God has given us is to use them in service to God and to our fellowman. Amen.
1) God is the Creator and Sovereign Owner of all things and all people
2) As an expression of his love, God has given us various talents, abilities and opportunities
3) We are merely tenants, holding in trust what belongs to God, managing it as efficiently as we can and using it for his glory and for the good of our fellowman
4) One day we shall have to give an account to God as to how we have used the talents, gifts, and opportunities he has given us
People are not equal in talent or opportunity. Some have five talents, some two, others only one. But it is not the kind or the number of our talents which matters: it is how we use what God has given us. God does not expect or demand from us abilities we do not have, but God does expect us to use to the fullest the abilities we have.
In this parable of the talents, the temptation of the man with one talent was to feel that his place in life wwas obscure and his possibility to serve the Lord was so insignificant that he failed to use the one ability he had. But all that God expected and wanted from him was that he use the one talent he had --- to the fullest.
Two important lessons of life stand out in the parable of the talents. First, the one who uses what he/she has been given by God will receive more. The second lesson is that the one who does not use what God has given him/her will be deprived of what has been given. The only way to keep the gifts, talents, skills and opportunities God has given us is to use them in service to God and to our fellowman. Amen.
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