Click HERE to view Rev. Stacy Macris Ros’ guided meditation during the service.
So, how many people have an area in your life where you know you have not done as much as you could do to be successful in it? Anybody have one of those? And how many people have ever avoided facing a challenge, or procrastinated on starting a goal, because you knew it was going to be hard? Anybody avoid hard? And how many people know that your life would get better if you were just a little bit more disciplined and consistent in the things that you did?
So, we are in Week #2 of our three-week series on the parables from Jesus’ Sermon by the Sea. And this is the first time that Jesus changed his teaching style from direct instruction with concise statements like, “You are the light of the world,” “No one can serve two masters,” and “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
And he changed to stories — telling stories — because he knew If you told a story that people could relate to, their defenses would come down and their hearts and minds would open, and would be more likely to take in and understand a deeper spiritual meaning of the story.
Jesus’ parables began, “The kingdom of heaven is like …” His very first parable was the one we did last week, which was the Parable of the Sower: seeds on different soils, showing the quality of the soil is the thing that most affects the seed’s potential for growth and having a good harvest. And a deeper insight to that parable shows that it is our mindset that is the most powerful for taking ideas in and how successful those ideas and the quality of our lives will be. The mind is the kingdom and we are the rulers.
Today, we’re going to look at the Parable of the Talents. Now, a talent is a large sum of money. They don’t quantify how much it is, but it is a large amount of money. Because when you think of it, you think it’s like a talent — like a skill. But it’s actually money.
And we’re going to read it. And actually, in some versions, it’s actually called the Parable of the Bags of Gold So, this is talking about money. And so, we’ll read it first, and we’ll look at the spiritual teachings that it has for us. Starting in Matthew 25:14:
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country who called his own servants. And to one gave five talents, to another gave two, and to another gave one, according to his own ability, and immediately went on a journey.
Then the one who received five traded and made another five talents. And likewise, the one who had two made another two. But the one who received one dug a hole in the ground and hid the lord’s money.
After a long time, the lord came back to his servants to settle accounts with them. So, the one who received five talents said, “I have gained five more talents.” And the lord said to him, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. I will make you roll over many things and you will enter into my joy.”
The one who also received two talents said that he had gained two more. And the lord said to him, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have done well with what I’ve given you. Now you can enter into your master’s joy.”
Then the one that received one came to the master and said, “Lord, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid. And I went and I hid the talent in the ground. So, there it is. This is what is yours.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You wicked and lazy servant. You knew that I reap where I do not sow and gather where I have not scattered seed. So, you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I would have received back my money with interest. So, take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. For to he who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance. But to he who has not, even that which he has will be taken away. Cast the unprofitable servant into the darkness, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
So, we’re going to look at… Well, it wasn’t meant to be funny, but I like that you were optimistic. Literally, we’re going to look at it, and we’re also going to look at it spiritually and metaphysically, as well.
So, this wealthy guy goes away and entrusts his servants with a whole lot of money. First, my thing is: man, that’s a lot of trust. And then the first two servants — what they do is they invest this money wisely. They put a lot of thought, a lot of work, a lot of care and effort into using this money in such a way that it not only grows, but it doubles. And that happens to the one with the five and the one with the two.
But the third one was afraid of losing the money. And so, he buries it. He let his fear and maybe his laziness cause him to really basically do nothing … not just play it safe; not play at all! And so, he hid the money and didn’t invest it. He did nothing with it.
When the master returns, the first two get praised and they get rewarded: “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Now you’ve done well with this. I’ll give you even more.” And then, the third one gets not only criticized, he gets punished — for not doing it; for letting fear guide him — that he had it taken away and he was thrown into the darkness.
And so, this parable is about money, the medium of exchange. This is how our world works. You know, it is important. And so, it’s saying here how well we invest financially — how well we take care of our money, how well we plan and share and give and spend — all these aspects of caring for our money financially will determine if it grows or if it does not.
And the deeper principle behind it is that: when we have whatever we have, that we must invest ourselves in it. We must have it grow and increased, and then we will attract even more. And the flip side is if we do nothing, and if we just live in fear, that we will lose even what we have, including our joy.
And so, let’s look at it. So, literally, you could tell it’s pretty face-value stuff. So, let’s look at it metaphysically. And when we look at a story metaphysically in Unity, we take every single character, every aspect, and know that it’s a part of our own consciousness.
And so, the master or the wealthy man really represents the Spirit of God or that divine essence in us that is the Source of everything. We are told that the master gave, you know, the talents. And this is saying that the master is the one that gives all good; that everything that we have, everything that is possible comes from the invisible Source of Spirit that is within us.
In Deuteronomy, it says, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember, the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” So, all that we have really comes to us and through us from that one Source of Spirit that is within us.
And then the talents really represent all the gifts of Spirit: all the different ways our lives are blessed or enriched. And it could be love. It could be our health. It could be our creativity, our vision, our musical talent or ability. It could be all of these various ways that we are blessed and enriched by Spirit. It is the invisible Source of God that makes all of the good in our lives possible.
And the big one is what the servants represent. They really represent our own consciousness: the various consciousness that we can have in life.
And the one with five, clearly this is a consciousness of abundance — a consciousness of prosperity; a consciousness that is willing to invest itself fully in all that it does. And the one with two is similar, but to a lesser degree.
But the third one — the one that buries — really represents the consciousness in us that it can be a consciousness of fear; a consciousness of lack and limitation; a consciousness of inaction that would rather hide and play things safe than risk and move forward and take greater actions.
And so, an important question for all of us to ask ourselves is: How fully are you investing yourself in your life? What are the areas that you aren’t fully giving yourself to taking care of, like your health, your relationship, you know, your dreams, you know, your career, your spiritual life? What are the abilities that you have hidden? What are the things that you have buried that you are not giving full life and attention to? Where in your life is it time to take a risk, take a chance, and invest yourself fully in the thing that you desire to grow and increase?
Paramahansa Yogananda does a really good job of taking this parable and taking it up a notch or two. He literally says that it’s not just about money; it’s not just about these spiritual qualities in our lives. But the parable of the talents is 100% about your spiritual life — about your spiritual practice, about your spiritual discipline and the consistency of you using this great gift of the Spirit in us. And so let me read you his version:
A master who has a hermitage has to go away and says to his three disciples, “I want you to keep following the spiritual practices and disciplines. Follow the moral code and commandments to keep your consciousness engaged with the holy vibration of peace throughout the hermitage. Invest your consciousness and spiritual practice daily with all your heart.”
So this master is saying, “Hey, I’m counting on the three of you to continue your spiritual practice and raising your vibration and consciousness while I’m gone. I am putting it on you: that responsibility of maintaining your practice, your discipline, and your spiritual vibration.”
So, the master goes away and comes back to check on the spiritual status and well-being of his servants. And the first two, he finds, have made great spiritual progress; that they have a greater peace about them, a greater awareness, a greater presence. And he says, “Well done. You have advanced spiritually, and you will have even more divine power.” And to the second, he said they had also developed spiritual stature and had gained more spiritual power.
Now, the third disciple made no spiritual progress and said this to the master: “I didn’t forget the disciplines and practices of meditation you left me, but I kept them unused, secure within me. I was afraid I could never be as austere and as strict as you. I thought I could never reach your high state of spiritual eminence.”
Now, for a moment, you ever had a time where you thought, “I’m never going to achieve the Christ consciousness”? You ever thought, “I’m never going to unify my mind fully with the mind of God? Who am I kidding? Me, reach enlightenment”?
I think that third person represents some of that doubt that we have in ourselves of our own spiritual potential. And we’ll believe that the Pope or the Dalai Lama or whoever else can achieve it, but not always believe that we can.
Here’s what the master says: “You didn’t use them, but I gave you my gifts. My methods of discipline, though difficult, would have brought you great results if you had followed them. Even if you had mechanically practiced them at first, they would have circulated deep in the bank of your subconscious and increased your spiritual experience.
“This disciple, by not doing his practice, did not stimulate his own spiritual ability and therefore lost them because he gave more strength and more practice to his bad habits, where the good habits of the other disciples brought them more spiritual power and spiritual wealth.”
Luke 12:48 said, “To whom much has been given, much will be expected.” And the truth is: that’s the truth for all of us. Much has been given to us: the Christ potential, that divine essence in us has been given to us. The question is: What are we doing with our practice, with our discipline, and consciously trying to raise our consciousness to the Christ consciousness? To unify our minds with the mind of God?
Here are four bonus lessons from this wonderful parable.
Number one is: to accept and use your talents. Anybody ever wish that you were dealt a different hand? Anybody wish you were born into a different family or a different body? Wish you were a little taller or cuter or smarter?
You know, the master didn’t give each servant the same amount. We are all given different talents, different challenges, different life circumstances, different areas of strength. Some of us are good at and have talent in music and some in teaching and some in compassion and leadership. You know, some of us start out poor. Some start out wealthy. Some have a college degree. Some didn’t finish high school. Some get A’s. Some failed out. Some never got married. Some got married three times or two times. Some of us come from a close family. Some come from a dysfunctional family.
I mean, there are all kinds of different situations that we all start our life with. But we all have one responsibility: to use what we have before us and invest ourselves fully in developing ourselves and especially our consciousness, and to express them through our life situations.
We’re all here to run our own race and to live the life that we have been blessed to give. And the most important is how much of your spirit — how much of your spiritual practice and discipline — are you infusing to raise your consciousness to live this life that you have been given to the best of your ability?
I love that none of the servants compared. None of them complained. They just started right where they were. They bloomed right where they were planted, and they used what they had in their lives to invest themselves fully, to multiply and increase right where they were at.
The second thing is what is considered the number one thing as the foundation of success, and the greatest and the most important element for achieving goals. Anybody want to know what it is? Okay; I’ll tell you. The number one thing for achieving your goals is believing in yourself. The number one foundation of success is believing in yourself.
So, my question is: How much do you believe in yourself? On a scale of 1 to 10 — 10 being the highest — how much do you believe in yourself? How much would you like to believe in yourself?
We don’t know a lot about these two servants, but one thing I think is that they must have believed in themselves to have been given this huge amount of wealth and money and the responsibility to invest it and double it. They did not spend time in self-doubt. They didn’t spend time freaking out or worrying or negative thinking. They went after it: seeking, asking, knocking, trying, thinking of creative ideas. They felt capable. Even though they hadn’t had it before — that amount of wealth — they felt they could handle it. That even if they didn’t know the answers, they would go find the answers because they believed in themselves.
You know, when we believe in ourselves, we tend to set more ambitious goals. We tend to think that we really can do it; that we persevere through our failures. We turn doubts into action. And we tend to be more positive, more optimistic, more enthusiastic, and hardworking. When we believe in ourselves, it plays a huge role in what we do with our gifts; how we live our lives; the things we do and achieve and create.
Sometimes when we don’t believe in ourselves, we say things like, “I’m just not good enough. I’m never going to do this. You know, somebody else has got more talent than I do. You know, what if I fail? What if I embarrass myself?” And then we are less likely to achieve and succeed.
When we believe in ourselves, we say things like, “I’m capable. I’m confident. I can handle this. I can do this.”
I love what 2 Timothy Chapter 1, Verse 7 says. It says, “God has not given you a spirit of fear and timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.”
“I am a powerful spiritual being.”
Together: [with congregants] “I am a powerful spiritual being.”
Repeat after me” “I am capable.”
[Congregants:] “I am capable.”
“I am confident.”
[Congregants:] “I am confident.”
“I can handle this.”
[Congregants:] “I can handle this.”
“I can do this.”
[Congregants:] “I can do this.”
“I have a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.”
[Congregants:] “I have a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.”
I am a powerful spiritual being.
Together: [with congregants:] “I am a powerful spiritual being.”
Turn to someone on your left and right and say, “You are a powerful spiritual being.”
[Congregants:” “You are a powerful spiritual being.”
All right. So, the third thing is — and the most important one is — develop a disciplined spiritual practice. Or develop disciplined spiritual habits. There is nothing more important if we want our lives to improve than to develop a consistent personal prayer practice. Tapping in on a consistent regular base to the Source that makes all things possible — to that Spirit within us — is the most important thing. And here are the ways to do it.
Number one is intention. Paul put it this way. He said, “Let the same mind that was in Christ Jesus be in you.” Let’s say that’s your intention. Call it enlightenment, Christ consciousness or the same mind as God. Know that every time you pray, that’s your intention. No matter what you’re praying for, that is the intention behind all prayers. It gives a sense of momentum to all of our prayers when we know that our ultimate goal is to achieve our oneness with God.
Second one is sincerity. Jeremiah … in the Book of Jeremiah, it says, “If you seek me, you will find me if you seek me with all your heart.” Intention is one thing; the level of sincerity of when we pray — to open our hearts just to feel the presence of God, to feel the love of God in our hearts — that is a powerful thing.
And then the next one is: develop a prayer plan. And, particularly, structure: create some structure in when you pray, how frequently you pray. This is an important thing. You know, sometimes we get so busy in life … you know, we develop our consistency — it’s like we have workout plans and we have plans for all kinds of things in our life. Develop a spiritual prayer plan, you know. And maybe get a prayer partner. Create some accountability for yourself. Maybe meeting by phone or in person once a week and just checking in with each other. Maybe you can pray with each other as well, but sometimes just checking in with some accountability to support each other in staying with your prayer practice.
And then the other one is form. How do you want to pray? You could read “The Daily Word.” You could sit in the silence. You could use a nap. You could do chanting. You could do singing. You could do journaling. You could read spiritual books. What is it that works for you In nurturing and building up your consciousness and conditioning your mind to be more spiritually centered? Number one’s got to be — it’s got to have silence in it. But all of these are some great other ways to support it, as well.
Jesus prayed and meditated throughout the day. Jesus had a disciplined, consistent prayer life — not just when he needed something, but on a consistent basis, he was building his consciousness. And that is our most important work.
The last one is: be patient with the process. Anybody ever try to learn a new skill or do something, and at first you feel clumsy and awkward, and it doesn’t feel very effective before you get good? Sometimes you seem like you’ve got to get worse before you get better. Sometimes you get more uncomfortable before you feel more confident.
I’ve been teaching myself juggling recently. And in the first couple of weeks, these bags are just flying all over the place on the floor. I’m spending more time picking it up than I am juggling. Last night, I did eight juggles. I consider four a cycle. It took me two months just to do that, and I’ve still got a lot of work to do. But I almost gave up a couple of times. I thought, “Come on, man, I guess I don’t have the hand-eye coordination anymore. I don’t have the patience for this. I want to get better fast.”
And what I’m saying is: any area we want to improve or change or transform, there’s going to be a little rough spot. There’s going to be a learning curve. There’s going to be a little bit of change. And we’ll feel a little uncomfortable and uncoordinated. We’ll feel a little weak before strong. But you’ve got to move through those situations.
You know, it’s like the third servant. He didn’t feel … he felt uncomfortable. He felt scared. So, he just buried it. And sometimes we can hit a little bump in the road and things aren’t going as well. We want to give up. Say, “Ah, this isn’t working. This isn’t for me!” No; no! It is! You’ve got to push your way through. That’s the way you reach new heights. That’s the way you level up: you’ve got to push through the discomfort and know that that’s just a part of the process. It’s a part of the process. And it helps build us up to be more resilient. But we’ve got to be more patient before we can be more resilient.
Okay; here’s the punchline of the whole thing. “For to he who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But for he who has not, even that which he has will be taken away.” And this is all … and first of all, you’re thinking, “Man, that sounds like the rich get rich and the poor get poorer. That doesn’t sound fair!”
But what he’s talking about is spiritual law. And what he is saying is: To he who has a consciousness of abundance? To he who has a mindset of prosperity, possibility and positivity — to he who has the faith that he can move mountains — he will be given more. He will have an abundance. But to he who has not — who has a consciousness of lack, a consciousness of fear, a consciousness of negativity and not believing it will work, a consciousness that wants to give up — even that which he has will be taken away. It is the Law of Mind Action. It is the Law of Attraction. It is the Law of Increase.
A new minister was preparing for his first wedding. The senior minister said to him, “Hey, if you ever forget anything in ministry, like the name of somebody in a wedding or a prayer or whatever, just say whatever Scripture comes to you, and it’ll give you a moment to recall what you’re supposed to do, and you’ll get your composure. No one will even miss it, you know, because you know Scripture …”
And so, the next day, this new minister has got his first wedding. And wouldn’t you know it, he forgets the bride and groom’s name. He’s looking at his notes; can’t see it. And then he thinks, “Oh, yeah, the senior minister said, say any line of Scripture.” And so the only thing that came to his head, he said out loud: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” [Congregants laugh] All right.
So, here are the four bonus lessons again from the parable:
Accept and use your talents. Don’t complain. This is where you are meant to be. Just make the very best of it. Invest yourself fully in the life that you’re living.
Number two, believe in yourself. You’re a powerful spiritual being. You can do it!
And number three is develop a disciplined spiritual practice. And that is the most important. A consistent, regular basis of disciplined prayer and opening your heart and mind to Spirit is the most powerful thing you can do to improve your life.
And fourth, is be patient with the process. You can transform. You can change. You can level up. You can create a great life. But you’ve got to have the patience to hang in there, because things aren’t going to go smoothly. Hang in there through the rough times, and your life will be transformed in amazing and wonderful ways.
Whether it is money, spiritual qualities, or your spiritual consciousness, when you invest yourself fully, you will increase the good and abundance in all areas of your life. And that is the message of the Parable of the Talents.
God bless you all!