Five Talents
This Sunday we have in the Gospels the parable of the Five Talents. A tough and absent master leaves his servants with varying amounts of money, 5 talents, 2 talents and 1 talent, to steward while he is gone. As I am sure you remember, the one with 5 made 5 more, the one with 2 made 2 more, and the one with 1, buried it because they were scared of losing it.
The master's response is predictable. rewarding those who made money, and punishing the one who was too fearful.
Too often we live in fear of losing what little we have. We bury it, hide it, scurry it away, so that no one comes to take it from us.
This comes to our time, our talent, and our treasure. Have you ever hidden a dream? a passion? a desire from the world because you were afraid of what people would say?
Within the Anglican Communion we have an organization - Five Talents International - that helps to empower people to overcome these fears and to go after those dreams and passions. www.fivetalents.org is a Christian Microfinance organization that builds off the parable of the Five Talents to teach practical, relational and spiritual skills to small business owners around the world. I have taught with them in Uganda, Rwanda and Honduras, and continue to be impressed and inspired by the work of this organization that helps to empower men and women to achieve economic independence and deeper connection to their communities and to Jesus.
One of the most memorable learnings I took away from these sessions was that in business and in life the most important thing is to put God first. When we let our greed or our fears dominate - we end up in a bad place, but if we put God first - we are able to evaluate our personal and financial decisions considering how this builds Faith, Hope and Love.
This week you all should have received a stewardship package from Memorial (including a great puzzle!) inviting you to 'be a part of our puzzle.' As you ponder whether and how to pledge this year - I hope you will consider putting God first in this too. Has Memorial added to your faith? Your hope? Your love in 2020? If so I hope you will pledge so that we can continue to offer this to others in 2021.
And if you would like to learn more about Five Talents, click on the link above or send me a note!
For more on stewardship click here: https://www.memorialboltonhill.org/stewardship
