In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Why, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do others have better abilities than I do? It seems unfair—a capricious God who bestows much on one while another receives little. If God had given me much, I would have used it for his glory, I would have passed on blessings, I would do things in a good way.
But the facts of my life tell a different story. I have heard the Gospel, I have been offered union with God, I have been freed from captivity to sin and death, and I have buried it all in the earth for fear of losing it. And on the Last Day the Master will say to me,
You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? … cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
We use certain words, my brothers and sisters, so often that we are in danger of losing their meaning; “the servant of God,” or “the handmaid of God,” and we think these mean “chosen by God” or “blessed by God.” But these are not memberships in a club, honorific titles: servants and handmaids are those who work for their Master. The three in today’s Gospel reading were not family, were not friends, were not people at large, they were servants. Theirs was to do their Master’s will and his to reward them for it. And what a reward he offered to each,
Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.
And if we read the parable carefully, we see it is not the worldly results which justify the first two servants, it was their faithfulness and fidelity to their Master’s will. This is why they are each received by the Lord with the same words—it was their faithfulness which saved them, not the results.
And here, in these islands on the edge of Europe, we have been given meagre talents from the Lord. Will I leave them buried in the earth, a treasure only for myself, or will I dig them up and make use of them? Will I be faithless or faithful? Will I be a servant of the Devil or of God? What will your response be?
Let us then, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, resolve to be true servants and handmaids, seeking the Master’s will and doing it. Let us work together, trading what talents we have—even if it is only one—that we may be faithful to the Lord, even over a little, and so enter into the joy of our Master.
Let us be faithful, let us serve, let us be Christians.
To our incarnate, crucified and risen Saviour Jesus Christ be all glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, working together with him, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in any one’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
— Second Corinthians 6:1–10
The Lord said this parable: “A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” As he said these things he cried out: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
— Matthew 25:14–30, Luke 8:8