The Talented Mr. Ripley, Matthew 25:14-30
Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ
January 5, 2003
“Novelist H.G. Wells said that wealth, notoriety, place, and power are no measures of success whatsoever. The only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have been and what we have become. In other words, success comes as the result of growing to our potential.”
John Maxwell, The Success Journey, p. 14
Reaching your potential is part of the secret of success. God has invested substantially into your life. Whether or not you bring a return is dependent on growing in your potential.
Bernard Shaw shortly before he died was asked by a reporter "Mr. Shaw," "if you could live your life over and be anybody you’ve know, or any person from history, who would you be?" "I would choose," replied Shaw "to be the man George Bernard Shaw could have been, but never was."
Please don’t misunderstand me. You will never arrive at a place where you’ve reached your fullest potential. It’s more of a journey than a final destination. What were going to look at this morning are some steps for reaching your potential on a daily, ongoing basis.
HOW TO PURSUE YOUR POTENTIAL
If you missed last week’s message, I encourage you to go get a copy from the bookstore. You can only reach your potential when you’ve determined the specific direction that you life will take. The first step in pursuing your potential is …
1. Know your life’s purpose.
We’re going to follow one of Jesus’ parables to figure out how to pursue out potential. On this occasion Jesus was teaching his followers about how the nation of Israel had dropped the ball in reaching its potential. God called that nation to greatness. They were to be a light to the world. They had the potential to influence other nations and lead them out of false religion to the true God. Israel was unsuccessful. Although God had clearly communicated his purpose for them, the Jewish people never reached their potential. Because of Israel’s failure, God was about to hand the task over to a new group of people who would accomplish this purpose. To illustrate Israel’s failure and his new community how to reach its potential, Jesus told this parable.
Matthew 25:14 "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.”
A successful CEO was leaving for a very important business tirp overseas. He arranged for his brother to watch his cat. He was very fond of the cat and couldn’t bear to leave it at the vet while he was gone.
An hour before the meeting, he called his brother to check in on his beloved pet.
"How is my cat?" he asked his brother.
His brother replied "It’s dead".
Angry at his brother, he yelled over the phone.
"How could you break the news to me like that. I am going to one of the most important meetings in my career and I can’t even concentrate.
His brother asked "Well, how should I have told you?"
The businessman replied "You could have broken the news to me gently. First you could have said "The cat’s on the roof, and we can’t get it down." Then you could have said "It fell off the roof, we are on standby at the vet", and "The cat’s condition is pretty grim". Finally, you could have said "The cat died peacefully in my arms".
The businessman took a deep breath, trying to control his anger and asked, "By the way, how’s Mom?"
"She’s on the roof and we can’t get her down."
God has entrusted everyone here with some kind of talent.
The practice Jesus described here was common in the ancient world. Typically, wealthy landowners would entrust their brightest slaves with oversight of their finances. That’s the case in this story. It would have been crystal clear to the slaves that their task was to be good stewards of their master’s money. They were expected to bring a return on what had been handed over to them.
The same is true with all of us. God has invested large amounts of talents, abilities, time, experiences and resources in our lives. He wants to see a return on his investment. That means that we pursue the potential he’s already placed within us. We do that when we understand our unique purpose for being on this earth.
In this story, the slaves knew their purpose: bring back the best return possible on their master’s money. I want you to notice, however, that he wasn’t asking for perfection. He distributed the gold according to ability. Greater responsibility was given to the slave with the greatest ability. We can assume that he’d already proved himself a good financial manager.
Here’s the point. Reaching your potential, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the best at something. It means you’ll use what God has invested in your life to the best of your ability. It’s not about perfection. It’s about excellence.
“Brian Harbour picks up on this theme in Rising above the Crowd: ‘Success means being the best. Excellence means being your best. Success, to many, means being better than everyone else. Excellence means being better tomorrow than you were yesterday. Success means exceeding the achievements of other people. Excellence means matching your practice with your potential.’”
Leading the Way by Paul Borthwick, Navpress, 1989, Page 64.
“Edwin Bliss once said, ‘The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time.’”
Eating Problems for Breakfast by Tim Hansel, Word Publishing, 1988, p.39
Going after your potential is not going to drive you nuts. It will actually bring you a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. You’re on the road to pursuing your potential when you find and commit to your life’s purpose. Once you know what God has created to you to do and be then you can move on to actually using what God Gave you.
In this text we see the downfall of one servant. He kept himself just as busy as the others, but he did not focus on his objective.
“The servant who received the five bags of gold began immediately to invest the money and soon doubled it. The servant with two bags of gold also went right to work and doubled the money. But the servant who received the one bag of gold dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money for safekeeping.” Matthew 25:16-18 (NLT)
When you know your purpose, you’ve got to focus on it to reach your potential. You spend the majority of your time, energy and resources on that one thing. This doesn’t mean you neglect important things and people in your life, but it does help you to prioritize your time.
Two of the servants focused on one main objective. They wanted to please their master and bring a return on his investment. The servant with the single bag of gold certainly understood the objective, but he decided to spend his time in other ways. After all, he didn’t just dig a hole and stand there. He probably was a busy man. I’m sure he had many irons in the fire and he intended to one day get around to making his maters some money. That day never came. As well see shortly, he squandered his time and energy. His mind was unfocused. His master’s investment never saw a return. The servant never even began to pursue his potential.
When you know your purpose and commit to it you’ll find quickly that to reach your potential you have to cut many things out.
Luciano Pavarotti said “‘When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song,’. ‘He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, “Shall I be a teacher or a singer?” “Luciano,” my father replied, “if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.” ‘I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, or writing a book—whatever we choose—we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.’”
There are lots of good things you could do. There are many noble causes you could take up. You cannot attempt to do them all and expect to be effective. You can spread yourself 5 miles wide and you’ll be an inch thick. You’ll only reach your potential if you narrow the field of objectives.
The time of acountability arrived for the slaves. Here’s what happened with two of them.
“After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used the money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of gold said, ‘Sir, you gave me five bags of gold to invest, and I have doubled the amount.’ The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
“Next came the servant who had received the two bags of gold, with the report, ‘Sir, you gave me two bags of gold to invest, and I have doubled the amount.’ The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’” Matthew 25:19-23 (NLT)
Note the progress these servants were making. Because they were striving for continual improvement they were entrusted with more responsibility. They were growing in their potential. With the additional amounts of gold they were expected to invest and bring their master an even greater return.
Pursuing our potential has this progressive character. The more we move forward the better we get.
“It’s said that when Spanish composer-cellist Pablo Casals was in the final years of his life, a young reporter asked him, ‘Mr. Casals, you are ninety-five years old and the greatest cellist that ever lived. Why do you still practice six hour a day?’
“What was Casal’s answer? ‘Because I think I’m making progress.’”
Now the servant with one bag of gold faces his master.
“Then the servant with the one bag of gold came and said, ‘Sir, I know you are a hard man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth and here it is.’” Matthew 25:24-25 (NLT)
All this servant had to offer when all was said and done was excuses. Indirectly he blamed his master. He lied and said that his master expected something for nothing. It wasn’t true. The master had given him the means to make money. He knew this servant had the ability. This was just a lame excuse.
The servant said he just knew his master was a hard man and he was afraid of him. If he were so afraid and understood his master expected a return on his investment, why didn’t he do something? He wasn’t really afraid of his master, not yet anyway. He had his own agenda. That’s a fairly dangerous attitude for a slave.
Don’t let excuses stop you from reaching your fullest potential. If you don’t pursue your life’s purpose, you’ll have no one to blame but yourself. Excuses won’t hold water when you stand before God one day and he calls you to account for your gifts
“Deion ‘Prime Time’ Sanders, outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, is then only athlete to have hit a Major League home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week.
“Sanders grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would-be athletes spurred him to make a success of himself. He explains: ‘I call them Idas. “If I’da done this, I’d b making three million today. If I’da practiced a little harder, I’d be a superstar.” They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners. When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn’t went straight to the streets and never left.’”
Don’t be an “Ida.” No matter what your life situation or the people your in relationships with or your upbringing, you can pursue your potential. Success can be yours as long as you don’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself.
Here comes the point of the parable and it’s sad outcome.
“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! You think I’m a hard man, do you, harvesting crops I didn’t plant and gathering crops I didn’t cultivate? Well, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. Take the money from this servant and give it to the one with the ten bags of gold. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Matthew 25:26-30 (NLT)
The overriding problem of the servant was that he didn’t know his master. He wasn’t rightly related to him. He never brought a return on the money because he didn’t love his master. The other two servants were devoted to him, but this one was only dedicated to self-interest. As a result, he lost the entire investment and was kicked out of the master’s home. He lost it all.
The same thing happened to the Nation of Israel. Because she failed at to achieve her purpose and never reached her potential, God took is investment away and gave it to people who would give him a return. Now the Christian Church has the purpose of being a light to the nations. Our responsibility is to reach the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are to call people out of their sin and false religion into a living relationship with the true God of the universe.
That’s the big picture of this story, but we can apply the principle individually. We will only reach our potential when we know our Investor. We can’t possibly know our purpose if we don’t know God’s purpose. We’ll never commit to reaching our God-given potential unless we have a committed, love relationship with the God who invested so much in us. Left on our own we pursue selfish ends and squander the investment of our lives.
“It’s been said that our potential is God’s gift to us, and what we do with it is our gift to him.”
You’ll only experience the joy of reaching your potential when you know your Investor. So you see, real success begins with God. He’s so generous. He’s equipped you with abilities and possibilities that you’ve probably never dared to dream. The investment has been made. It’s all there. You just have to activate it through faith.
You can reach your potential day by day. You can find your purpose in life if you first start with God. Understand his infinite love for you. He desired a relationship with you so much that he went to the cross for you. In the person of Jesus Christ, God bought you. You could never pay the sin debt that’s on your account. No good deeds would ever suffice to erase the selfishness or the lust or the lies or whatever you’ve done over a lifetime. Jesus paid the penalty you and I owe when he was gave his life.
Our rottenness for his righteousness. Love motivated him to do it. When we accept what he’s done for us we begin to love him in return. Once we know our Investor, truly know him, we quite naturally begin pursuing our potential for his sake.
