Gospel of Matthew

¹¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.^[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Game show host, Bill Cullen, is the first host of “The Price is Right” for nine years. However, there’s only just one teeny-weeny, little hiccup. Due to childhood polio he could only walk a few steps. The studio built him a nice podium to stand behind the entire show. He went on to host twenty-two other game shows.

You initially suspect, then begin to dream, then test and retest again and again and again.

It’s the birth of a talent, whether it’s five or one, living and slowly simmering within you that, well, wants to let itself grow and mature. A “talent,” as Jesus calls us it in the gospel but we believe it to be gift, a divine gift.

To bury the talent, for safe keeping as though it has no expiration date, as the sorry, last fellow did to protect himself and not lose himself to the glory and honor of God.

Talents require training and lots of practice but that suspicion and that dream, and those tests, multiple tests, only earns us those Christ-like dividends that have absolutely nothing to do with money but yields the worth and worthiness of our lives.

Aspiring talent? Third grade and the nun calls on the young boy and asks him to say his name. He stutters away and the class bursts out in laughter.

“Bury it,” he must’ve thought to himself walking home. His family only chimed in with the classmates’ laughter.

“Just get on with your life and bury it, It’s only a possible talent, who will ever even notice?”

Country singer Mel Tillis stutters away his interview with Johnny Carson. The interview ends by Mel singing a flawless country ballad. One talent – UNburied – unveiled – unfolded and UNfolding.

But back to that young kid. After taking care of grandmother’s lawn duties and enjoying her treat of braunschweiger, on rye with onions, she takes her afternoon nap. Her second empty bedroom became his invisible stage to perform as a gameshow host. Holding her spatula as his microphone, he dreamed away. He became Bill Cullen. It was glorious afternoons spent totally in his mind with an imaginary audience applauding until 3:00 pm. He then needed to replace her spatula before she woke up.

Growing up he listened to Chicago’s WLS and WCFL disc jockeys talk away and into the beginning of a rock song. He stutteringly suspected…dreamed…and tested that talent. However, there’s only just one teeny-weeny, little hiccup. Over thirty years on the radio and over forty years as a priestly preacher.

What talent has strengthened your relationship with God and then expressed and shared in and through others? You don’t need five of them…you only need one. Even the difficult one.

The last servant sadly says to his Lord, “I hid and buried your one talent Lord [given to me] only to give it back to you [unused] fearing you [or, really, fearing myself] what you would have done to me. [And, what I could have done with it.] I’m sorry.”