A homily for the Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 19, 2023
Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31, 1 Thes 5:1-6, Mt 25:14-30
A while ago, I was doing one of my occasional (rare!) sort-out, clean-out, throw-out, organize visits to the basement when I stumbled on a couple of tools I bought back in my college days, way back when I built theatrical sets. I realized I’ve owned this hammer and adjustable wrench for three times as long as I didn’t — the better part of 50 years.
And like their owner, a half-century later, they were rusty.
The wood-handled claw hammer was easy to shine up: A little Brillo for the head and linseed oil for the hardwood, and it was as good as new.
The gear teeth on the wrench, however, had seized, and it took a fortnight’s bath of naval jelly and Liquid Wrench for the jaw to open and close freely again.
Serves me right for burying them away.
Which gets us right into a key message of today’s Gospel passage.
Usually, when we contemplate these words from Jesus via Matthew, we consider the trust factor underlying the relationship between the boss and his employees. The employer believes his first staffer is trustworthy enough and wise enough to care for a large sum of money, and the staff member lives up to the challenge.
To similar but lesser degrees, the boss delegates to the second and third employees the number of so-called talents according to his belief in who they are and what they can do. And No. 2 and No. 3 deliver results pretty much as expected.
According to scholars, in the Holy Land of the first century, a single talent would have paid for 20 years’ labor from a typical man. So these employees were not handling chump change.
Thus, once the big guy returns from his trip, he rewards No. 1 and No. 2 with praise and greater responsibilities, reflecting his deepened trust in them. No. 3 gets a swift kick out the door.
And so, Jesus counsels, we always should live up to — or, better yet, exceed — expectations placed on us by legitimate superiors.
Expectations that also are associated with living a good life.
As we devote time, love and wisdom as parents and caregivers, our children will grow straight and tall. As we excel at our jobs, we’ll get raises. As we share our time and talents with others, we’ll help improve the world.
Hmm…
There’s that “talents” thing again…
Two millennia since Jesus referred to bags of silver as talents, we define talents in other ways.
Cooking skills. Athletic skills. Musical skills. Language skills. Intellectual skills. Interpersonal skills. Etc. skills.
Silver talents can tarnish. Human talents can rust.
Just like my tools, for lack of use. For having been buried away.
Fortunately for us, we don’t need to spray Windex or WD-40 on ourselves to shed any rust our God-given talents may have accumulated.
Maybe it’s been a while since we volunteered even an hour or two to a food drive or a clothing drive or a beach cleanup. We just have to dig ourselves out of any holes we’ve dug ourselves into and get going.
Maybe it’s been a while since we went to cheer on a friend’s kid at a school game. Tickets are cheap enough.
Maybe it’s been a while since we went to see a friend or a friend’s kid perform on stage or in a concert. We can show support and have a fun afternoon or evening out at the same time.
Maybe it’s been a while since we joined in communion and community in God’s house. God’s door is always open. God’s arms are always wide open.
We all should know what our unique God-given talents are, and if we’re not sure, then it’s high time we inventory them. God gave us those talents so we can use them to make the world better, to leave the Earth better than we found it.
Our Creator gave us those talents so we can help our sisters and brothers — all of humankind — to feel the love of God shared through us. We are God’s hands in the world. We are challenged to see Christ in one another, to be Christ for one another.
And so, we thank God for all these amazing gifts by using them, maintaining them, honing them, never letting them rust.
We thank God for these amazing gifts by living up to the Almighty’s trust in us.
