To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Required

Speaker: Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines

November 22, 2023

in Spritual Growth

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November 19, 2023

Readings: Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
Matthew 25:14-15, 19-29

25th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2023

Today, Christ teaches again by parables. His compassion and love for us are so strong because He wants to lead us and guide us. Today’s parable tells us of the Kingdom and how God provides everything we need. It talks about a master of the vineyard who was leaving on a long journey. He calls his servants and to each He gave them talents and the authority to be in charge of the vineyard. And when it came time for him to return, the servants were supposed to give him an accounting of what they had done. To the one who was given five talents, he was able to increase it to ten. To the one who was given two talents, he was able to increase it to four. The master was pleased with the two of them. The last one however, who was given one talent, did nothing with it but buried it under the ground. His excuse was that he was afraid to use it because he said that his master was a hard man. The master replied, “you lazy and wicked servant, even what you have will be taken away from you.”

Literally, this is telling us that when Christ left to return to His Father, we were each given gifts to build His Kingdom. He left all of His possessions to us, we were granted everything pertaining to life and godliness, lacking in no good thing. In Zephaniah 1:12 It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and I will punish the men who like old wine are stagnant in spirit who say in their hearts, “The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.” This is secularism. When we do not give credit to God for what He has done but instead attribute success to ourselves. God is the Source of all and we must be thanking Him even for the smallest things. The three servants were each given talents that were in accordance to their potentials, according to how they were evaluated. We were created to be like Him and have been empowered to do His work. If we do not use our gifts, we are lazy and wicked. We are a royal priesthood and should proclaim the excellencies of God. But what do we do instead? Complain and murmur because we have been indoctrinated by the world system that we have to have or acquire certain things in order to succeed. And when we don’t or can’t, then we become frustrated, desperate and hopeless. In reality, we each have a gift or talent and should not bury it underground and do nothing. We each have different ministries to fulfill. 2 Timothy 1:14, 16 “Guard the treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us… But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness.” Do we value and treasure the gifts to build His Kingdom? We have the task in recreating the world, to prepare the Kingdom. No one is lacking a gift. Everyone has the responsibility to use the gift. To His disciples, He gave them the responsibility to go out into the world to preach the Gospel, minister to the needy, heal the sick. Thomas for instance went all the way to Southern India on foot to establish God’s church there and to this day, it still exists.

The world is teaching us false knowledge. But God gave us abilities according to our capabilities. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. All the promises, all the truths and the Holy Spirit has been given to us. God is a great God. He is not angry with us. He loves us. We are here to proclaim His excellencies. When we wake up in the morning, we should express our thanksgiving to Him. There are many who have been given more than enough, but they have kept their riches to themselves and have not shared it with others. The servant who buried his talent could have at least tried to do something useful with it but he did nothing. Let us not have stagnant spirits but put our trust and confidence in God.