The gifts we've been given
Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
— Matthew 25:23 (The Parable of the Talents)
In the Biblical Parable of the Talents, a master entrusts his servants with a certain number of “talents” before he embarks on a journey, each according to his ability.
The first receives five talents, the second is given two, and the last, just one.
The word talent in the parable was intended to connote a certain weight of silver, with each representing approximately 20 years worth of labour.
This is tremendous wealth, so you can imagine the level of fear and responsibility felt by each of the servants.
Upon the master’s return, the first two servants return to him double what they were originally given, receiving from him the blessing that opens this piece.
The third, however, was afraid of his master, and rather than risk the loss of that single talent, he buries it, and returns only what he had been given. The master becomes angry, and demands that the single talent be taken from that man and given to the first servant. “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.”
One of the things I always found most striking was the inequality of the distribution of talents to the servants. No explanation was given for this.
But an important clue is given at the beginning of the story. If the talents were distributed to each “according to their abilities,” it tells us that to the extent that we have been blessed with gifts, be they material or immaterial - we are expected to work to multiply them - not to bury them for our own benefit.
Basically, it doesn’t matter what you have, or what you are given. What matters is what you do with it.
Each of us is granted a set of gifts, and has a lifetime to put them to productive use. And ultimately, whatever we have worked for doesn’t belong to us - it’s returned to our master.
This parable resonates with me because my career has given me the opportunity to help other people with the stewardship of their own gifts.
Done well, this work can have a powerful multiplier effect. Over years and decades, it can leave families more secure, charities on firmer footing, and the community and world I live in a little better off.
I feel like I’ve only just begun this work, and hope to pass the torch when the day comes that I’m no longer able. It’s part of the reason I wrote Low Risk Rules, and the reason I continue to write here.
My belief is that our job here on Earth is to make the most of our “talents,” in service to others. Whether unique skills, financial wealth, or both… on the last day, we will be called to account for what we’ve done with the gifts we’ve been given.
Into the vessel I offer to God, He places His gift to me. If it is a small vessel, a small gift; if it is a large vessel, a larger gift. For whether a man be gifted in speech, wealth, the authority of kingship, or any other power or skill, if he desires to benefit not only himself but others as well, he doubles what has been given to him. But he who buries the talent is he who cares only for his own benefit and not for that others, and he is condemned.
- St. Theophylact
Blessed Pascha to all who celebrate the feast.