My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
GOD GIVEN TALENTS (GIFTS) TO HIS STEWARDS (Matthew 25:14-30)
"It is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants,
and handed over to them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents,
to another two, and to another one; to each one according to his one
strength; and straightway took his journey. Then he that received the
five talents went and traded with the same, and made them another five
talents. And likewise he that had received one went and dug in the earth,
and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants
cometh, and reckoneth with them,"
How many of us contemplate on the use of the God-given gifts that He has bestowed upon us? Do we know that we have been endowed by one or more priceless gifts entrusted to us by our Heavenly Father to invest them and multiply them before He returns? We are directly accountable to Him and responsible to make sure that His gifts to us are invested wisely "For every good gift comes from above," and our Merciful Lord gives us this special "good gift," using each for our own and our neighbor’s salvation. "But he who buries the talent is he who cares only for his own benefit and not for that of others, and he is condemned. But if you should see an intelligent and skilled man misusing his intelligence in various pursuits, in deceithful, and in earthly affairs, you may say that such a man has buried his talent in the earth, that is, in earthly matters, wirtes Saint Theophylact. He comes and demands accountability from those who received it.
Saint Theophylact in his commentary in the gospel according to Saint Matthew 25:14-30 states: "Both of those who has worked and traded with the talents given to them are praised equally by the Master, each one hearing, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." "Good" we understand here to mean "loving all mankind" and "without spite," he who imparts his own goodness to his neighbors. Those who have shown themselves to be faithful over a few things are made rulers over many things. But even if we are deemed worthy of gifts in this life, that is nothing in comparison to the good things that are to come. "The joy of the Lord" is the unending gladness which God has, rejoicing in His works, as David says. With such joy did the Saints also rejoice in their works, just as the sinners grieve over their own deeds and regret them. The Saints have the Lord AS THEIR WEALTH and they rejoice in Him…For each one, according to what he has received, is seen to be perfect to the degree that he accomplishes what he has been given to do. Such are the good servants; but the wicked and slothful servant justifies himself differently, in a manner befitting to him. For he calls his Master "hard", as many today call their teachers "hard" or "exacting".
"…So God takes the gift away from that wicked and slothful servant. He who has received a gift by which to benefit others, and does NOT so use it, FORFEITS THE GIFT ITSELF. Do you see that he who applies the greater diligence draws to himself the greater gift? To him who has the greater diligence, MORE GRACE WILL BE GIVEN AND IN ABUNDANCE. But from him who is NOT diligent, EVEN THE GIFT WHICH HE THINKS HE HAS WILL BE TAKEN AWAY. FOR HE WHO IS NOT DILIGENT AND DOES NOT WORK AND TRADE WITH WHAT HE HAS RECEIVED, DOES NOT HAVE THE GIFT, BUT ONLY APPEARS TO HAVE IT. FOR HE HAS BLOTTED IT OUT BY HIS NEGLECT."
Since the faithful are stewards of God’s gifts, each of us will give account of how we used the "abundance." Jesus speaking to His disciples said, "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does NOT have even what he has will be taken away from him" (Matthew 13:12). When one has zeal, he "will be given" more from God. But if he does not use what he has and fails to participate in the life of the Kingdom, God’s gifts "will be taken away."
There are still some, who have not understood, that we, as servants of God, have a divine purpose in life. Our principle purpose is to do God’s will, to be His instruments of love on earth, to act as His agents, His ministers (diakonoi) and to use His divine gifts to bring hope, comfort, peace, kingness, goodness, to His children who are suffering, the poor, the neglected, the abused, and the exploited by the wicked of this world. Let us recall the Divine words of our Lord Who said, "Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me" (Matthew 25:40). According to Saint Theophylact, By "the least brethren" He means all the poor. For every poor man is Christ’s brother for the very reason that Christ, too, spent His life in poverty."
There is nothing more tragic than to fall into slothfulness, indifference, and apathy. To waste God’s gift of life and His talents. Not to be willing to contribute anything to anyone but be absorbed by one’s pride, ego, and selfishness. This kind of attitude indicates how ungrateful and negligent a person can be. Why would such a person ever expect God’s blessings and rewards? Saint Isaac the Syrian says, "Ease and idleness are the destruction of the soul, and they can injure…more than demons." Also, in Proverbs it says, "And the soul of the idle man will be hungry" (Proverbs 19:15). When a person chooses to be idle, he is too lazy to seek wisdom and God’s virtues. Thus, his soul starves because the natural virtues are unable to grow and develop in him through Wisdom. The faithful man looks for opportunities to serve His God and his fellow man. Time, for a devout Christian, is of the utmost importance and does not squander God’s treasure. Even ONE talent was a great deal of money; here it represent the goodness God has bestowed on each person. The amount each receives is based on the person’s abilities (Romans 12:4-7). God does NOT SHOW PARTIALITY IN THE ULTIMATE REWARD, FOR ALL ARE INVITED TO SHARE THE SAME JOY.
The "wicked and LAZY SERVANT" could NOT evade responsibility FOR IGNORING HIS TALENT, because IDLENESS IS AS MUCH A REJECTION OF GOD AS OUTRIGHT WICKEDNESS. Burying the talent "in the ground" is an illustration OF USING ONE’S GOD-GIVEN GIFTS FOR EARTHLY PURSUITS. The "bankers" represent other faithful people to whom the man could have turned to help him use his talents wisely. Since help was available to him in the Church, the man has no excuse. Therefore, his Master’s decision is, "Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 25:30).
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 