Zephaniah 1:7,12-18
1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
Matthew 25:14-15,19-29
Psalm 90 or 90:1-8,12
They were two brothers-just 3 years apart in age from one another. They came from a poor family-their Dad was a laborer of some kind for a construction company on Fishers Island in the Long Island Sound. Their mother did laundry and housework for the "summer people" who came to the Island for rest and relaxation.
The older boy's name was Dante and the younger Richard. I taught them both in high school and because of the high school's size, I got to know them very, very well.
Dante was called "Danny" and Richard was nicknamed, "Dicky." Danny was about 5'10" - 5'11" and Dicky was shorter-5'7" - 5'8".
They were different in more ways than just size. Danny had to study and work hard for his grades whereas Dicky was very bright and he didn't need to work hard at all. Studies and good grades came very
easily to him. Danny had to work his rear end off just to pass and do fairly decently. Danny had difficulty writing and expressing his ideas whereas Dicky was a fairly good writer. Danny, on the other hand, was an outstanding athlete being the star of the Varsity basketball team. Dicky played basketball but he wasn't the star that his brother was especially in his senior year and the Fishers Island Vikings' best season yet in which Danny scored the second highest number of points in the school's history.
Perhaps you and your brother and sister were very different like Danny and Dicky or you had children who were like "night and day" from one another.
Unlike the servants who were given five talents and two talents, Dicky never really fully utilized his talents to the best of his abilities. He was lazy and lacked initiative. It's the reverse of the Gospel story.
Danny, on the other hand, who was given one talent, didn't bury it. He used the little he was given to the best of his abilities. He studied and worked hard to capitalize on the talent that he was given by God. Again, a reverse of the Gospel story but a story of two brothers who chose two very different paths of what to do with their God given intellectual talents.
Of course, Jesus is not only talking to us in this story about intellectual talents. He's talking to us about or own spiritual life and faith in Him. If we are children of light and of the day, we will dare to risk. We will be action oriented and move forward with purpose and courage. Like the first two servants, children of the light confidently invest the talents that have been given them.
We all face our lives with a variety of skills and limitations. The question is will we make the most of that which we have been given, offering a return to God by living our lives in accordance with God's purpose for them? I think that those who do so discover a Lord ready to share the delight of his presence and participation in his mission.
We are called to be risk takers. We really can't practice Christianity and the Christian faith without loving, hoping, trusting and caring-these are certainly huge risks to take and live out in this post-Christian society. We say we are people of faith, so we must be willing to risk. Are you willing to take risks by talking about your faith and the Episcopal Church to others?
We are called to be courageous and that means being willing to move our of our comfort zone in response to God's call for our lives. You know we can't always be comfortable being called upon to do many different things for God. (Total Ministry)
We are called to invest the gifts that we have been given. What are your gifts and have you invested them wisely? And, I don't care if you're 40, 70 or 80-you have gifts. If you're good at meeting and speaking with people, have you told them about St. Stephen's (and Good Samaritan) and invited them to come with you to church?
If you're good at organizing, have you helped set up a special outreach program to reach others outside our doors? (You are to be commended at St. Stephen's for you took the risk of a Homecoming Sunday.)
If you're good at writing, have you written an article or a letter to the editor about our Episcopal church and what it has to offer people?
And, you don't do this all in a vacuum-you do it in community with all of us helping and supporting each other to be courageous and do things we would never imagine we could or would do even in our wildest dreams. (Pause)
Danny went on to college and is a psychologist living somewhere in the Midwest. Dicky wandered aimlessly for a number of years after high school even returning to the Island doing menial jobs. I don't believe he has ever settled down or devoted himself to the pursuit of a job, degree or family. Everyone has just lost track of him!
Jesus is calling you and me to be like Danny-to make use of the talents and skills he has given us-to reach out to the disenfranchised, the poor, the sick and the abandoned, to be a good neighbor, to talk to young people and to be forgiving! Jesus is calling us too to be responsible stewards of the gifts and talents he has given you and me and to use them with others so that the light shining in us may cause light to shine on all whom we meet.
What will it be-a shovel to bury our talents or a light to let His love be seen and known with all whom we come in contact with everyday? Which one will you choose?
Amen.