"What is a Talent?" perhaps some one asks.
A Talent in our Lord's time was a piece of money of great value, of
about £342, and in the story which Jesus told the disciples, a Talent
was described as something precious which was given to the servants of
a great lord, to trade with, while he was on a long journey.
To one servant this lord gave ten Talents to trade with; to another,
five; to another, two; according to their several ability; and to
another, one.
And what do you think the servant who had only one did with his Talent?
He went away and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money!
Then the lord of those servants took his journey.
At length the time came for his return, and he called his servants and
reckoned with them.
The one who had traded with ten Talents brought ten Talents more to his
lord; and the man with five brought five more; and the man with two
brought two more. And the lord was very pleased with these faithful
servants, and said, "Well done!" to each of them, and gave them great
rewards.
But at last there came the man who had only received one Talent; and as
he spread the one Talent out before him, he said, "I knew that you were
a hard master, so I was afraid, and went and hid your Talent in the
earth. Lo! Then, you have what is yours!"
And the great lord was very grieved and angry with that wicked and idle
servant, and he took the Talent from him and gave it to the one who had
ten; and the faithless servant was cast out, and in the darkness he
wept despairingly that he could never enter, as the others did, "into
the joy of their lord."
And now I am going to tell you a true story to try and explain to you
the meaning of these Talents in our present-day life.
I told you that to us, the Talent that Jesus spoke of is not money, but
something more precious still, which we are given by God to trade with.
"Trade with?" you ask. Yes—that is the idea.
If we are God's servants, if we have taken Jesus Christ as our own
Blessed Saviour, God expects us to try to get others to trust Him too,
and so to multiply the Talents which He has given into our charge.
You will understand this a little better when you have read the true
story I am going to tell you.
There was a lady taking a Journey a few years ago, and she had to pass
through London and go to another terminus on her way.
She had one of God's "Talents" in her heart. She knew that Jesus Christ
was a great and precious Saviour; and before she started on her journey
she prayed:
"Make me a blessing to somebody as I travel!"
Well, by the time she had reached London, she was tired, and when she
got to the other terminus, as she went along the platform she saw a man
sitting in a carriage alone. But she passed on; she thought she was too
tired to speak to that man.
So she hid her Lord's money!
But her heart smote her; and after a moment she got out, and entered
the carriage where the man, who appeared to be a foreman in some works,
sat in the farthest corner.
They were soon off, and though she felt very nervous, she moved nearer
to him, and made a remark on the beautiful sunset!
He seemed surprised.