9th October 2026

Sometimes I have to admit that God is speaking to me through sermons!

Last Sunday’s message from Sam centred on the parable of the “wicked tenants”, who reject even the owner’s son. He headlined it with the question “what are you holding onto?”

I moved on last Sunday, with that question still rumbling darkly at the back of my mind, to St Peter’s Church, Pilning, where Tina and I sang in their harvest festival choral evensong. I can honestly say that the choir’s singing was not the highlight of the event but rather it was the short, simple message brought by the curate. Her text was the parable of the talents and she breathed new life into the familiar words by attempting to adjust the gold talents of the passage for inflation! It was one of those times when Jesus used almost comical exaggeration; the master was entrusting his servants with the equivalent of millions of pounds. It was the sheer overwhelming extravagance of the image that struck me. It’s rather like the extravagance of creation itself.

She finished by pulling out of her bag, one at a time, sheets of paper with a “talent” written on each. (Hospitality, teaching, caring …) Then finally, a blank sheet of paper on which we could, in our imagination, insert our own talent. Is that the talent that we are holding back? I went away with much to ponder.

Nick Parsons