Bellarmine University
“Talented”
Rev. Ronald Knott
November 16, 2014
To one he gave five talents, to another two; to
and third, one – to each according to his ability.
Then he went away. Matthew 25: 15
I spent 12 years of my life in a two seminaries. We were sent there to be “trained.” (Sounds like something you do to dogs doesn’t it?) Seminary is not just a matter of passing courses in theology and going to chapel several times a day, it was also about changing yourself for the better in four areas. There was academic formation, of course, but there is also spiritual formation, human formation and professional formation. Each seminary had completely different tacks on how to accomplish those goals.
During the first six years, they approached us with the assumption that we had faults, sins and defects that needed to be identified and eradicated. I learned a lot about myself, but I did not grow at my potential under that philosophy. It left me with self-doubt and low self-esteem. During my last six years, thanks to Vatican II, they approached us with the assumption that we had gifts and talents that needed to be identified and encouraged. It was a time of great personal and spiritual growth and creative possibilities. I thrived under this philosophy. My confidence level and ability rose significantly during those years.
Parenting went through a similar transformation. Some of you were no doubt raised in an environment where your every flaw was consistently pointed out to you and focused on, while some of you were raised in an environment where your gift and talents were identified and celebrated! For some of you, your glass was always half empty, while for some of you, your glass was always half full!
Now you need to know what God thinks! In the story of creation, on the very first page of the bible, we are told that when God had finished creating human beings, he stood back and declared that what he had created was “very good.” Over the centuries, even when human kind turned against God, God has never given up on our basic goodness. In the Old Testament, God is sometimes pictured as a punishing God, but even more importantly he is often pictured as a love-sick husband, always forgiving his beloved wife who is constantly whoring around on him, even a love-sick teenager lusting for his beloved. They say love is blind, that it doesn’t see limitations and failings, but only the good stuff. That is so true of God! He chooses to overlook our sins and focus on our basic goodness. “Even while we were sinners, he died for us!” The lost sheep is joyfully carried home. The prodigal son is welcomed with robes and rings and receptions. All the workers are paid a full days wages. All are entrusted with some of the master’s gifts and talents.
The message of Jesus is simple, but seldom heard clearly. It is often hidden under layers and layers of “ifs” and “yes, buts.” The reason so many young people avoid organized religion is that it tends to focus on their sins and failings, rather than their talents and possibilities. The fact of the matter is, Jesus focused on the basic goodness of the rejects of church and society, while the religious authorities of his day focused on their sins. While Jesus encouraged and forgave, they condemned and withheld forgiveness.
Jesus came with “good news” and the “good news” is this: we are loved without condition, no matter what we have done or failed to do. From there, we are called to grow ourselves, to invest our talents and to become all we were created to be! Knowing that we have a basic goodness that can built on is essential to personal and spiritual growth. People who believe they are worthless, talentless and bad, see no point in trying. As Marriane Williamson said, “It is our light, not our darkness, that most scares us.”
God allows for mistakes, and because of that, he wants us to take some risks and be pro-active with the gifts we have, as the parable tells us. The man who buried his talents, did not really know his master, he was scared of life, a coward when it came to taking risks. He is called a “lazy lout” in most translations. A “lout” is a stupid person, an oaf, a dunce, a fool, an airhead, a moron, an idiot, an ass. A “lazy lout” blows every chance he or she has to “make something” of himself or herself even when he or she is given every chance to do so.
You, my friends, are gifted and talented or else you would not have been accepted as a student here. God has brought you here so that you can “invest” those talents and see what you can do with them. Don’t blow the stake God has in you! Talents must be developed and used. Calvin Coolidge once said, “Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.”
You are in the right place. I looked up Bellarmine’s mission statement. It says that Bellamine’s mission is to “provide an educational environment of academic excellence and respect for the intrinsic value and dignity of each person. Bellarmine seeks to be a place where talented, diverse persons of all faith and many ages, nations and cultures develop the intellectual, moral and professional competencies for lifelong learning, leadership, service to others, careers, and responsible, values-based, caring lives.”
In other words, Bellarmine begins by accepting your basic goodness and dignity as a talented person and then gives you an environment to work from there in creating a happy and effective life. Belarmine helps you take what God gave you and encourages you to see how far you can take it.
Bellarmine cannot give you talents. God does that! Bellarmine cannot make you use them. You have to do that! But Bellarmine does offer you a great place to invest those talents! Be that “good and faithful servant who doubled God’s investment, not the idiot who buried them because he was scared, lazy and stupid. As William James put it, “He who refuses to embrace a unique opportunity loses the prize as surely as if he had tried and failed.”
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