Sunday 19 November 2017,
33rd (A)
● Proverbs 31:10-13,
19-20, 30-31
● Psalm 128 ● 1
Thessalonians 5:1-6 ●● Matthew
25:14-30 ● ●
Title: “HIDDEN
TALENT”
[__01__] In
school, I recall a classmate who did not want to be in the choir. Intentionally and with great acumen and
poise, he went to the required choir audition and sang all the notes off-key.
He had and – and still has -- perfect
musical singing pitch and is a very talented singer and guitarist.
This is one way to hide your talent.
The parable today is about HIDDEN TALENT, the hiding of one’s talent.
[__02__] On
a recent Sunday, we were reminded about the 2 great commandments: [Love God …. Heart …soul …mind
…strength] and [Love neighbor as yourself.]
And, this love also requires talent
and technique. Sure, you might say that this is not the same talent or agility
that is prized because someone can play a musical instrument, hit a
three-pointer, or speak four languages. But, love is also a talent and
technique.
And, it gets better the more we
practice. This is the message of the parable and the message of our Holy
Communion, that we receive Jesus Christ so that we can not only keep him to
ourselves but also give him away. He is our hidden talent who we share.
[__03__] Louis
[Louie Zamperini] was unbreakable. Louie was unbreakable, tough, strong, a World
War II soldier and hero and the subject of Laura Hillenbrand’s biography and
history: UNBROKEN which also became a film entitled also: UNBROKEN.
I cite Louie as an example of one who
certainly did not hide his talent.
Louie operated the bomb-sight on a
fighter plane/bomber in World War II. On a mission taking from Hawaii in May
1943, Louie’s aircraft went down in the Pacific Ocean.
Louie – with 2 others, "Phil" and "Mac " – survived the crash. Louie would survive on this raft for 47 days, a record. This
was one of Louie’s remarkable feats of endurance which continued after he
became a POW prisoner of war of Japan in World War II for the next two years.
[__04__] Before
the war, Louie was a well-known and successful middle-distance runner who made
the Olympic team in 1936. He was the
youngest runner ever to make the team.
As a boy, his talent for running and
feats of strength had landed him in lots of trouble, his talent in a way turns into a danger and liability, a
childhood and youth – for Louie – of stealing and petty crime.
Louie was on his way to juvenile
delinquency when his elder brother and others try to focus him on running that
involved wearing a uniform and not breaking into houses.
[__05__]
An important message of the parable is that TALENT and using our TALENTS
involves risk, struggle, adventure.
In the Gospel, there is the famous
episode of the brothers James and John who – when asked if they can drink the cup which Jesus is going to drink.
(Matthew 20:22)
They were asked, can you …?
They said, “We can.” (Matthew 20:22)
However, they were saying “we can”
because they were simultaneously negotiating their guaranteed
seats and salvation.
Jesus is asking you and me to use our
talents – to say WE CAN – even when we do not know – when we cannot guarantee
the results.
In the parable, I encounter an
individual with whom I can identify. He wanted guarantees.
Jesus offers us something more than
guarantees, something better. He offers us GIFTS.
[__06__] The invitation to love is not a guarantee. It
is a GIFT.
The invitation to forgive is not a
guarantee it is a GIFT.
Sometimes, these are challenges. For
example, we might say – someone might say – I have been away from church too
long…or from going to confession too long… It seems risky.
Or, we might resist forgiving someone
or admitting a wrongdoing. It seems risky.
True, I cannot guarantee you a particular
experience or emotion or immediate result. God does not make guarantees. He
offers gifts.
Soon, we will celebrate Christmas, the
birth of our Savior. He was not a guarantee. He was even a contradiction, as
the prophecy of Simeon reads. (Luke 2:34)
Nevertheless, Jesus is a gift.
Imitating him, we bring his gift to
others.
[__07__] Louie Zamperini.
Much
was expected of Louie. And, he had great physical strength, intelligence and
vision.
Much was expected of Louie after he
was stranded on the raft on his 47-days of floating in the Pacific. He used
every brain cell and bicep to fight off the sharks, to dodge bullets from
Japanese Zero fighter planes.
But there was one crisis that did not
involve shrapnel or storms or the sharks. It was more internal – inside the
raft. After inflating their raft, Louie
and his comrades found the emergency provisions which were a few squares of
chocolate and few tins of water. They immediately began to ration their nourishment. Inventory
was taken and the rules of daily rationing were established, as Hillenbrand wrote. (Unbroken, page. 129)
These rules of rationing, however, did not remain unbroken. On the second day at sea, Louie woke up to
divide up their ration of chocolate. It was all gone. He turned to look at the
sergeant who was across from him who was at this point doing what is the inclination
of many of us if we were caught in something dishonest and guilty – he was
grinning, smiling.
The discovery of this enraged Louie
and the sergeant noticed the resentment (Unbroken, p. 142).
But, over time, Louie decided to
forgive him, noticing how contrite and hard-working this sergeant was. And, it
was really by that act of forgiveness that the 3 of them were able to pull
together and row and survive.
They dodged the bullets and survived
the 47 days. Louie was unbroken, not because of what he did with his physical
strength, but also with his spiritual reserve.
Louie, the thief, forgave the one who had stolen.
Forgiveness is also our talent, our
strength. We are called to trade and multiply it.
We are all entrusted with much. [__fin__] [Bibliography: Hillenbrand, Laura Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.
New York: Random House, 2010]
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