The money, possessions, and resources that we have are not our own. God entrusts us with his blessings and desires us to do something with them. Wisely and conscientiously steward what God gives you. (Matthew 25:14-30)

Transcript

I’ve always had a hard time letting others borrow my things. I love the idea of sharing, but I get concerned that the borrower would return my things damaged or broken. My belongings cost me something, so it had value. And if I’m honest, it might’ve been an obsession that something I owned would be valuable one day, so I wanted to keep it in good condition. I might’ve spent a little too much time on eBay looking at silly things like Hot Cheetos resembling real-life things and the potential profit it could make. The internet can lead you to some weird things.

It was hard entrusting others with my belongings, but I’m learning. While it’s been hard for me to share, I have friends who don’t hesitate to borrow any of their belongings to others, so I use and break their stuff. Just kidding. For them, their belongings were replaceable, they were supposed to be used, and they knew that stuff broke so it wasn’t an issue. There was one situation where I went to pick up a friend and I saw a car he recently acquired. It was an older car, but it worked fine and when I pulled up to his driveway, I was horrified. The windshield had multiple softball-sized cracks on the windshields, front and back. It looked like someone took a baseball bat to the car. As I stood there and gasped in disbelief of what happened, he laughed it off cracking a joke that he’d miss driving it because it had air conditioning. This was the very reason why I was hesitant to borrow to others. I don’t think I would’ve reacted the same way if I borrowed and entrusted others with my belongings and it came back like that. I’d expect that the borrower would take care of my things like how I would take care of them.

This concept of borrowing and entrusting it with others is something that we also see in the passage Grace just read. It’s probably a passage many of us have heard or are familiar with if we’ve been around church. It’s a passage that is commonly preached when Christians talk about money, specifically how we are responsible with the money and resources God blesses us with. So we thought it would be a good fit to include it in our series, Jesus Talks Money. Let me quickly recap the passage to see what it has to say. 

PARABLE OF THE TALENTS

The parable beings in verse 14 with “Again,” and this is important because it tells us that it is connected to something else. Matthew 25 is connected to the chapters before and after it and these chapters are often referred to as the Olivet Discourse. It’s named the Olivet Discourse because Jesus taught on the Mount of Olives. It’s about the end of the times when he returns.

The parable of the talents is sandwiched between 3 other parables describing what believers should do in preparation for Jesus’ return and they include:

• The parable of the faithful and unfaithful servants.

• The parable of the 10 virgins.

• The parable of the talents, which we’ll talk about today.

• And the parable of the sheep and goats.

And to remind us all, a parable is a story that uses everyday situations to illustrate a profound spiritual truth. In this Parable of the Talents, we’re told that a master is going on a journey. He entrusts three servants with his money and divides 8 talents among the 3 of them based on their abilities with the expectation that they would do something productive with his money.

A talent was a unit of weight for money, and it ranged from 60-70 pounds. A talent was worth the equivalent of 20 years of work. In our modern-day equivalency, the average salary is $60,000/year so that multiplied by 20 years is a little over a million. A talent was a lot of money.

The master gives the first servant 5 talents, the second gets 2 talents, the last gets 1, then he leaves for his journey. Immediately, the 2 servants who received more went to invest their money while the servant who received one talent dug a hole and hid his money. The master returns and asks them how they had used his money. The two servants who received more doubled what they were given. The master responds to their success by saying the same thing to both of them. He says,

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

One thing we can learn from this is that the master isn’t concerned with the amount each servant made. Both servants received the same praise even though they were given different amounts. The master was pleased that they were faithful and responsible. They maximized the opportunity the master gave them. But the servant who received one admitted to digging a hole in the ground to hide it. He justifies his actions by saying,

“I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground.”

I must admit, this part of the parable got me feeling a bit uneasy. It sounds like the master is a hard person to work with. And if I was entrusted with a huge sum of money that belonged to a mean manager, I’d be hesitant too. What makes matters worst is that in verse 26 it sounds like the master admits to this. The master says,

“So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.”

The master isn’t agreeing with the servant that he’s a hard man. Instead, he’s asking the servant,

“if you perceived me to be a hard man, shouldn’t that cause the servant to work harder?”

Minimally, he could’ve at least earned some interest. Instead, the servant finds an excuse and the master reveals the reality that he is wicked, lazy, and worthless. And as a consequence, he gets banished. What we can learn from the parable is this. The context of this parable is that it’s sandwiched in between Jesus’ teaching about the end of times. The master is Jesus, and his journey represents him going to heaven. The servants are Jesus’ disciples who are blessed with abilities and resources to do Jesus’ work while they wait for his return. And the profound spiritual truth from this parable is this:

Use your God-given abilities and resources to their fullest potential. Use your God-given abilities and resources to their fullest potential. 

Now before I move on any further, I want to remind us that the things we do for God come from our faith in God. So, I hope that you don’t hear this today and tell yourself if I do more with the abilities and resources God has given me, I am good. That’s not quite the case.  Our understanding of Christianity focuses on our faith in Jesus Christ. We believe in who Jesus is, what he says about himself, and what he has done for you and me. Our belief in Jesus should lead us to experience transformation. Transformation changes our thoughts and desires, so we begin to think and desire like Jesus. And when this happens, it leads us to act. Using your God-given abilities and resources to their fullest potential isn’t just going through the motions. When we go through the motion, we simply do something because we think it is expected of us, but we are not interested, enthusiastic, or sympathetic about it. Jesus desires for us to use our God-given abilities and resources because we are interested, enthusiastic, and sympathetic. So, we must first trust Jesus and that drives our doing.

APPLICATION

For some of us who are familiar with church, we can relate to this. We’re so used to doing. But be reminded that we start with believing in Jesus. Consider what does it mean for you to trust Jesus and not yourself. Believe in who he is, what he says, and what he’s done for you. Our doing for Jesus comes from our believing in Jesus. Next, be responsible for what God’s blessed you with. Be aware of the skills, abilities, and resources that you have and contribute. Have the self-awareness to know in what you’re good at.

But sometimes an unhealthy version of self-awareness if insecurity. Insecurity causes you to hide your abilities and resources because you think you’re not good enough. The issue of insecurity is that it leads you to believe something that isn’t real. You believe in a lie. I wonder if that’s what the servant with one talent struggled with. Because he received less, he felt less than. But that wasn’t true for the servant who received 2 talents. He didn’t have an issue. He received fewer talents than the servant who received 5, but he was confident in his ability. And he was able to multiply his 2 talents.

You have something to offer. You are blessed by God who gives you good gifts. We all may not be able to produce the same amount of work, but it’s not a matter of quantity. It’s a matter of being faithful. Don’t let insecurity rob you from using your God-given abilities and resources to their fullest potential. Or maybe we struggle with passivity. I think this can be a common issue in our ethnic context. We might be passive because we don’t want to show off or boast. If you act out of your transformation, you know it’s not about you, but it’s a response to God. Be willing to take initiative and take a risk. God desires us to be active with our abilities and resources. If we don’t do something, we’ll never know its impact. Seek opportunities to step into something God is inviting you to. Don’t expect perfection. Don’t compare. Growth and development are a part of our spiritual journey. And growth and development show us that we are reaching for our potential. In all this, God rewards us for our faithfulness. We’re invited be responsible over more things when we step into being faithful.And most importantly, God is happy when you are faithful and desires for you to experience that happiness with him.