Time, Talents, Treasures

Are you a grateful person? The answer isn't hard to discover. Just look at how you spend your time, talents, and treasures. You'll have your answer.

"Time, Talents, and Treasures." I've heard this phrase so many times, and it usually refers to a stewardship message for the support of the Church.

The problem comes when we tie these ideas to supporting the Church with our giving and forget that stewardship is simply being a Normal Orthodox Christian.

That flows from understanding that stewardship is taking seriously how our Faith is supposed to shape our priorities, choices, and decisions. When my Orthodox Faith is more than a mere cultural decoration or a low-grade “habit,” then my Faith informal how I spend my time, how I use my gifts, and how I budget my money. All of these choices reveal how seriously I take my Faith and how I am allowing the Holy Spirit to form me for eternity and train me to escape the prison of the temporary.

Look at our Gospel lesson in Luke 19:12-28:

The Lord said this parable, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds, and said to them, ‘Trade with these till I come.’ But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ When he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made five pounds.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’ He said to him, ‘I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?’ And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.’ (And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds!’) ‘I tell you, that to everyone who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'” And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

This powerful parable of the “pounds” is like the parable of the “talents” in another place. It reflects the reality of the gifts, privileges, and abilities given to each of us in our time, talents, and treasures.

It challenges us to take stock of how we have invested our lives and used our gifts. Have we squandered our time, talents, and treasures, or have we allowed our fear to steal our best from our lives? Have we been awake to the temporariness of our lives here, and has that reality spurred us toward making the most of our time here? Do we know why we are here?

Struggling with these questions is impossible without first embracing the defining reality of God coming to us in the flesh to exalt our creation to what it was meant to be.

When I come to grips with the truth that God has become enfleshed so that I may, by grace, become “engodded” then, and only then, will I realize just why my time, talents, and treasures are so valuable in the first place and how to use them for eternal return.

I will go further and say it is precisely when we live our daily lives as if there is no God that we become intoxicated with the temporariness of our priorities and misuse the time, talents, and treasures God has blessed us with in the first place. This is why the central act of worship in Historic Christianity is the Eucharist.

The word itself means “Thankful” or “Grateful,” it points me to the foundational reality of what a true human is: a being capable of being humble enough to be grateful. It is from gratitude that I will always use my time, talents, and treasures well.

In the third century, a woman named Cecelia was born in Rome to wealthy parents. Her parents were idolaters, but Cecelia heard the Gospel being preached, and she believed. Against her wishes, she was promised in marriage to a nobleman named Valerian. Cecelia’s virtue and piety caused her betrothed to turn to Christ, and Valerian’s brother Tiburtius came to Christ through the witness of Valerian. All of the wealth of these three were divided among the poor, and they so witnessed to Christ that many pagans converted to the Faith. This eventually so infuriated the pagans that these three were tortured and martyred for the Faith. They each valued their Faith so much that their talents, treasures, and time were seen as treasures to be offered to God rather than spent pampering temporary comforts.

Today, this life is given to you to learn to properly value God's gift of life. Every test, trial, and challenge is an invitation to reevaluate how you use the time, talents, and treasures God has given you. In this Nativity Fast, we are invited to wake up to proper priorities and learn to live a Normal Orthodox Life!

P.S. In godly wise let us, the hosts of the faithful, sing hymns to her wedded to Christ of her own will, Cecilia, whose pure heart with virtues was adorned; for she wholly put to shame the conceit of Almacius, and she shone bright as the sun amidst them that pursued her and then appeared to those upon the earth as a divine staff that strengthened the holy Faith.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV