“Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant” (Matthew 25:23)
Father Jim Kordaris
Saint Matthew’s gospel, comprises Parable of the Talents, in which a man leaving on a long journey called three of his servants and entrusted to each a certain sum of money measured in talents. To one he gave five, to another he gave two and to the third, he gave one talent.
Upon his return, the man called his servants to give account for the money with which he had entrusted them. The first two, by wise use of the money had doubled the amount they had received. To these he praised with the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
The third servant, who had received one talent, out of fear, had buried the talent in the ground. Upon the man’s return, this servant returned to him only the one talent. In anger, the man called him a “wicked and lazy servant,” and taking away the one talent, he gave it to the servant who had ten.
Lord Jesus Christ gave us this parable for us to consider the gifts that God has given us. Although we all receive different gifts, there is no difference in God’s reward for what we accomplish with them. If you want to be a faithful servant, then take whatever you have and offer it faithfully to the Lord. It is not about how much ability you have, it is what you do with it.
The gifts we receive are to be multiplied. They are not to be buried in the ground. About this, Saint Gregory the Great wrote that hiding our talent in the earth, is to use our gifts only for earthly things.
In the time of Lord Jesus, a talent referred to substantial amount of money. The message to us today is that God gives each of us something of considerable value and expects good stewardship and a return on what He has given. Although Jesus speaks to us about money in the Parable of the Talents, He is really talking about something far more important.
Whatever blessings we receive; we are to multiply them. We were given our church, our local parish built by our ancestors and all who have gone before us. We are to grow it, to multiply it by adding to the number of faithful and growing her ministries. In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy (16:17), we read, “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which He hath given thee.”
When we cling tightly to our wealth, we are like the man, when forced to swim from a sinking ship, couldn’t bear to leave his money behind. He strapped his gold to his body, but as he swam toward shore, the weight of the gold pulled him under and he drowned. Do we own our money or does our money own us?
God gave us His love; do we multiply it or do we keep it for ourselves?
God gave us the Gospel; do we multiply it or do we keep it for ourselves?
God gave us the Church; do we multiply it or do we keep it for ourselves?
Our gift to God and His Church is a sacred act, a form of worship, and a response to all His blessings in our life, our bodies, our family, the environment, our time, our faith, our neighbor,
Stewardship is our spirituality in action, our faith in action, our theology in action.
Stewardship is personal between Jesus and us; an expression of love and commitment. A response to all that he has given us.
Some day we will stand before God and show Him what we did with all that He entrusted to us. If we have been faithful stewards of our gifts, He will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
May God’ mercy be upon us; Amen!
Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America