Children’s Sermon

Matthew 25:14-30

Share Your Talent

By Lois Parker Edstrom

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY: Read an Emily Dickinson poem to the children. See Dickinson poem at end of sermon.

Emily Dickinson is a famous American poet who lived a rather unusual life. As an adult she rarely left her home and during the time that she lived “hidden away” she preferred wearing white dresses. She wrote nearly two thousand poems, but she hid most of her poems away as well. Only five of her poems were published during her lifetime. After she died her sister found her poems and they were published into books of poetry.

How fortunate for the world that her poems were found and that others valued them enough to see that they were published. All of the poems of Emily Dickinson have now been published and thousands of readers take pleasure in the beauty and rhythm of her words.

Jesus tells a story, which is recorded in the Bible, about the problem of hiding your talents. In Biblical times a talent was a type of money. The story Jesus told is this: A man called his servants and gave his property to them. “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one; to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey” (25:15).

After a long time he came back and found that the servant who had been given five talents put the money to good use and made five more talents. The servant who had been given two talents did the same thing and made two more talents. The servant who had been given one talent was afraid, dug a hole in the ground and hid his talent. His talent (money) did not increase.

God gives each person gifts “according to his ability.” These gifts, or what we now think of as talents, are entrusted to us. That means we are trusted by God to take care of these talents and put them to good use so others can benefit from our gifts. Find your talent, don’t hide it; share it with the world.

Scripture quotations from the World English Bible

Copyright 2007, Richard Niell Donovan