Theme: WWCD
Text: I Peter 4:10
Place: Riverside Church of Christ
Date: August 30, 2020
Intro:
People in our society today love signs just to make the word simplified and to catch attentions. Especially when you’re promoting a product or something… Signs like; RCOC, BIR, SEC, RIP, IBM. Our message today is about WWCD if God gave us talents.
WHAT WOULD CHRISTIAN DO
1 Peter 4:10 International Children’s Bible (ICB)
10 Each of you received a spiritual gift. God has shown you his grace in giving you different gifts. And you are like servants who are responsible for using God’s gifts. So be good servants and use your gifts to serve each other.
Story Background – Parable of the Servants (Matthew 25:14-28)
Let me condense it to just a few sentences. Jesus said that a master was getting ready to take a long journey. So he called in his servants & distributed his wealth among them. Then he left. And then he came back. And when he came back he called for an accounting, & those who had invested wisely, he rewarded. And the one who did not invest is condemned. That’s the parable.
It is practical. It applies to our lives because it shows how God treats us, how He reacts to us, & how we oftentimes treat His blessings.
Focus: WWCD in our Talents
illus: My first car was a 1963 Starchief Pontiac that sold for $500 and I talked my mother into signing a note for me so I could work and pay it off. For $500 you don’t get many five year, 60,000 mile warranties. You can imagine my excitement that turned to disappointment when I drove the car home and the next morning got ready to drive to school only to realize my first car didn’t have a reverse! That car looked great; had a huge engine, nice interior, power windows, the whole nine yards…That car had great potential, it had real promise to be a sweet drive but was useless without a reverse.
Sometimes Christian are LIKE 63 STARCHIEF PONTIAC…you look good, people talk about your potential but you never get out of neutral and let me share this with you.
GOD NEVER INTENDED FOR YOU TO BE STUCK IN NEUTRAL FOR YOUR ENTIRE LIFE - HAVING PEOPLE TALK ABOUT YOUR POTENTIAL BUT YOU NEVER REALIZING YOUR PROMISE AND YOU NEVER BECOME PRODUCTIVE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST.
I. We must define that talent is a potential
Webster defines ‘potential’ as, “something that has the promise to develop and become real!” undeveloped, expressing possibility. That means, that God gave us potentials and he’s expecting us to develop that potentials.
Today, I want you to imagine your potential, your personal responsibility in serving in His church and allowing the promise within you to develop and become real.
II. We must understand that it is God who gave us the talent.
He is expecting us to use that talent. Why does God have the right to expect you to use the talent He has entrusted to your care? Because…
a. It is His gift to you.
Remember that it is God, our Master, Our Savior who entrusted us this talent. We are not deserved, but because of His faithfulness. We are enjoying the fruit of His faithfulness.
One of the alarming parts of the story is that He didn’t give the servants the same amount. He gave 5 to one & 2 to another & 1 to another. We say that is not fair. But then we realize that this master knows His servants.
So He gives to each of them, vs. 15 says, "according to his ability."
If He had given only 1 talent to the 5-talent man, it would not have been good use of his abilities. If He had given 5 talents to the 1 talent man, the 1 talent man would never have been able to handle them. But because the master knew His servants, He gave each one what He knew that one could handle, & then He left.
That’s the way God works, isn’t it? God gives, & then He leaves us alone. He doesn’t look over our shoulders. He gives, & then He leaves it in our hands.
He does open doors of opportunity. He gives us visions & dreams. He allows us to see just a little bit of what might be. But then He waits for us to use what He has given, & to see if we will be faithful with it.
b. It is His power working through you (acts 1:8) •
God has given the believer the power to serve and be productive not boast of their talent.
Acts 1:8 International Children’s Bible (ICB)
8 But the Holy Spirit will come to you. Then you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.”
III. We must develop our own Talent.
1 Peter 4:10 International Children’s Bible (ICB)
10 Each of you received a spiritual gift. God has shown you his grace in giving you different gifts. And you are like servants who are responsible for using God’s gifts. So be good servants and use your gifts to serve each other.
Illus: A biker is riding a new motorcycle on the highway. While passing a car, he
knocks on the window. The driver of the car rolls down the window, "Yes?""Have you ever driven a Honda motorcycle?" "No I haven't," the driver shouts back through the noise of the passing wind. The biker drives on, until he sees the next car. While passing it, he knocks on the window. The driver of the car rolls down the window: "Hello?" "Have you ever driven a Honda motorcycle?" "No," the second driver also shouts back through the noise of the wind. Suddenly a sharp curve appears in the road immediately ahead. The biker, too preoccupied with his efforts to talk with the driver, sees it too late. He crashes off the road into a ditch. A third car stops and a man runs to the injured biker. Covered in blood, and writhing in pain, the biker manages to ask one more time, "Have... you... ever... driven....a Honda... motorcycle?" "Yes I have," the rescuer said, looking puzzled. "I had a Honda bike for 20 years." The injured biker slowly sputters, "Can... you... tell me..., where... are the... brakes?" (copied)
Church, the point is we must develop our own talents that God has entrusted us. Never aspire to have the 5 talents if God entrusted us only one talent. And for those who gave 5 talents, you should develop it with faithfulness in your heart. Everybody has a role to play in God’s Kingdom. Use your talent wisely.
a. Rewards for the Faithful
Everyone does not have the same ability and skills; but when one is faithful with
the skills he has, there will be dividends. The lord of the servants does not criticize those who had less gain than others, but he criticized those who did not do anything with the talent He entrusted to their care.
God knows our situation and looks for faithfulness. Do what you can with what you have and there will be rewards for the faithfulness.
Matthew 25:20 International Standard Version (ISV)
20 The one who had received five talents came up and brought five more talents. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’
Notice also that the faithful acknowledged that the talents they received came from the Master. The rewards for the faithful included not only PRAISE but also PROMOTION! They were entrusted with more because of their faithfulness. They were praised for doing a good job and were also given a good name, “good and faithful servant.”
Matthew 25:21 New Century Version (NCV)
21 The master answered, ‘You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.’
B. Retribution for the unfaithful
It is interesting that the one servant who failed to use his potential also acknowledged that the talent came from the Lord; however, he almost acts as if the talent was resented instead of respected and received. He acts as if it were a burden instead of a blessing. So the servants here making this report had to confess they were disobedient. It is obvious that the servant realized he had failed the master because he began to make an excuse.
Matthew 25:24-28 International Children’s Bible (ICB)
24 “Then the servant who got one bag of money came to the master.
The servant said, ‘Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest
things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed.
25 So I was afraid. I went and hid your money in the ground.
Here is the bag of money you gave me.’ 26 The master answered,
‘You are a bad and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things
I did not plant, and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed?
27 So you should have put my money in the bank. Then, when I came home,
I would get my money back with interest.’
28 “So the master told his other servants, ‘Take the bag of money from
that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of money.
The excuse he offers reveals the disobedience. This is classic shift of blame when a person is confronted with what they have NOT accomplished. The servant goes so far as to even accuse the Master of being cruel. Often when people are confronted for failed expectations, they REACT instead of RESPOND and use the blame game to shift responsibility. IT’S ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE’S FAULT!
Illus: This is a story about four employees named Everybody, Somebody,
Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done
it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was
Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody
realized that everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed
Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. (copied)
The master DENOUNCED the failure of the servant by exposing his true character “wicked and lazy servant.” He also confronted the complaint the servant made regarding “a hard man.” Basically, the master said, “If you really believed I was that hard you would have taken your talents and done everything you could to show its value but you did nothing. Therefore, your complaint is an excuse; it is nothing but a lie attempting to cover up your flawed character. Like the other two servants, the third man also received something from the Master: He received a rebuke and retribution (judgment)
Conclusion:
WWCD?
A. You be faithful in using the talents He has given you, and He will entrust you with more. You bury them, and you will lose even that which you once had.
B. You don’t lose talents by using them. You lose talents by burying them. When you use them for Him, God will always honor the service.
There are thousands of Christians who reached a level of maturity in their Christian faith and then became self-satisfied and complacent. They decided they didn’t need to grow anymore, or pray anymore, or study anymore. And they started dying spiritually because they buried their talents.
The principle never changes. All the way through Scripture Jesus is constantly challenging us to use and reuse again and again in the Kingdom. And He will always honor the service. He will never honor those who are afraid and who bury their talents in the back yard.
The message of the parable has not changed. God is still the master. He is still the giver of all good things. Without His generosity we would have nothing. Where do our talents come from? They came from God. They are His. So He says, "Use what I have given you and see what will happen."
It is not WWCD anymore but WWID. (WHAT WOULD I DO)
Bless you always,
Bro. Butch Magsino
