Introduction:
Martha Berry was a lady with a vision to help children. She began a school for poor children. She had no books, no building and no money. But she had a dream. She went to Henry Ford to ask for a donation. Mr. Ford reached into his pocket gave Martha Berry a dime. Most people would have been insulted, here he is a multi-millionaire and all he could give was a dime. But Martha took that dime and bought a packet of seeds and planted a garden, raised a crop, sold it and bought more seeds. After three or four harvest she had enough money to purchase and old building for the children. She returned to Mr. Ford and said, “Look what your dime has done.” The man was so impressed that he donated a million dollars to Berry School.
The question that underlies the message that I am bringing this morning is: “what will you do with what God has given you?”
I hope that we all can realize that we each can make a difference in the world and in eternity. The things that we do in on earth matter and make a huge difference, but before we can choose to impact the world, we must first choose to implement what God has given us.
I have always heard that within the church 20% of the people does 80% of the work. It is a noble thing that some people are willing to invest so much time into the Lord’s service, but the truth is the Lord has given each of us talents to use in the service of the Kingdom. I sometimes wonder what would the church be like if every servant used their talents to serve the Lord. Sometimes we are so focused on ourselves that we do not have time to focus on using our gifts to serve the Lord and some times we love the status quo so much that we do not want to do anything, or just want to do enough to get by.
We can learn so much from the parables of Jesus. Jesus gives these earthly stories to express heavenly truths. Much of Jesus’ teachings came through parables. I love the Parable of the Talents. In this story we hear of a master who went away and gave three servants different talents according to their ability. The master expected those servants to do something with those things they have been entrusted with.
Jesus has left us with talents and abilities that he expects us to do something with. He expects us to use those gifts to:
1) Multiply the Kingdom
2) Edify our brothers and Sisters
3) Grow Individually
One great thing about our God are that he has not left us here on Earth helpless. Jesus did not leave us with the Great Commission helpless to carry it out. He has gives us talents, he has given us gifts that we can use to accomplish the task we have been commanded to do. It is my suggestion today that we move beyond the status quo, that we leave behind our laziness and complacency, that we use what the Lord has given us. So often we view doing work for the Kingdom as an option, but the truth is it is not an option if we want the rewards of salvation.
Christianity is not a religion where you simply join and stay a part of, Christianity is not a spectator religion, but it is a religion that every true member must equally participate in. What gifts has God given you? Are you using those gifts appropriately?
Text: Matthew 25:14-30
I. We have all been given gifts
As we see in the Parable of the Talents, three men were given talents. The master left different talents to each of his servants. I am a firm believer that we as Christians have been given special gifts from God that we can use to help build up the kingdom and fulfill the great commission. The question for you this morning is what gifts has the Lord given you? It is difficult sometimes to determine the areas in which we are gifted. The truth is many of us may be gifted in more than one way, but we all are gifted differently. I believe that we can determine how we are gifted and we have no excuse for not using our gifts. It is not an excuse to say, “I have no gifts” because God has given each person a gift. It is not an excuse to say, “I don’t know how to use my gifts”, because there are always opportunities to use your gifts. Your gift may not be preaching, but it may be serving. You can not use the excuse “I don’t know how to tell what my gifts are” if it is not clear to us we must make an effort to figure out our areas of giftedness. I have learned that giftedness can be determined by:
1) A desire- If God has given you a gift you will enjoy doing what that gift is. For example I believe that God has given me a gift to preach, because there is nothing I love doing more.
2) A special ability or what you are good at. Sometimes, however, we have to work at something to improve our gifts. We are not all the time miraculously given gifts that we are great at. I have to practice preaching to become better at it.
a. Our Gifts are not our own
It is important to remember that the gifts God ahs given us are not necessarily our gifts; He has given them to us. It is the same in the Parable that we read, the master left and entrusted his servants with talents, and expected them to multiply. Since God has given us talents to use, we do not have the option not to use them. We need to serve the Lord and use those gifts he has given us, because he has given them to us because he trusts each of us to do the work of the kingdom. If we do not do it who will? We must take initiative and use the gifts God has given us. We are not our own even; we were bought at a price. We have a duty to serve the Lord and use what he has given us. When we give someone a gift we usually gift with the expectation that they will us that gift. God has given us gifts with the expectation that we will use them for His work that he has entrusted to men.
b. We all have different gifts
1. Because of Grace—Romans 12:6
God has chosen in some cases to give different gifts to different people. God can choose to give whatever gifts he want to whoever he wants. It is simply by His grace that he gives some people certain gifts, but one thing that can be assured is that we all have gifts.
2. Because of Talents—II Corinthians 8:12, Matt 25:15
It is clear that God distributes certain gifts based on people’s natural talents. The master distributed the talents based on the servant’s talents and God gives us gifts based on our talents. We have no right to sit and complain about what God ahs given us, we simply must put into use what God has given us. God knows us well, He knows us better that we know ourselves, and He knows what gifts we can use well and gives us the gifts accordingly.
II. God will reward those who use them
I love the words of the master to the faithful servants; “you have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” There are the words that we too will hear if we are faithful with what the Lord has given us. For those who are faithful to the Lord it is an exciting thing. If we are faithful to him the return of our master should be an exciting thing, but if we are like the lazy servant we should not look forward to that day.
Not only can we hope and look forward to rewards if we are good stewards of God’s gifts, we can rest assured that God wants to reward those who are faithful.
Revelation, says behold he is coming soon and His reward is with Him.
The question for you then is, will you receive the rewards promised in scripture. In the Bible there are several different rewards promised.
1) For Elders—I Peter 5:2-4
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers--not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
2) For Overcomers—James 1:12
3) For Servants
We will receive these rewards because the God in which we sere is faithful. Isn’t it awesome that the God we serve rewards us for faithful service? We have and can claim so many promises in scripture if we are faithful to the Lord. How great it will be to hear the Lord say to us well done my good and faithful servant!
There is no one greater to serve than Jesus.
Yes, we are commanded to use the gifts God has give us, He expects us to do something with what we have been given, but the promise of the rewards are not based upon success, but rather faithfulness. God does not call us to success, but to faithfulness. We must simply do our best to use what the Lord has given us. If we are faithful we can rest assured that the kingdom will advance and souls will come to know Jesus and that we will receive rewards for our service.
Our master will return and we can look forward to that day if we have been faithful in using what we have been given.
Let us work diligently as the day approaches so that we can spread our talents even further.
III. God will punish those who do not use them
Many years ago as missionaries would travel to other countries and work with the tribal people they would bring and give them sundials. The natives were so fascinated by these sundials that they put a roof over them.
Is their something today blocking what God has given you? He has given us gifts and they have a specific purpose, but if we do not use them they are as useless as a sundial covered by a roof.
Like the car that’s transmission is stuck in neutral; the motor sounds impressive, the lights radio and horn are all in working condition, new tires, but the only problem is that it is not going anywhere.
a. Loose our Gifts –vs. 28
If we do not use our gifts they will be taken from us as the talents were taken from the lazy servant. We cannot expect to sit back and do nothing in the kingdom and still have gifts to bless the kingdom with. We will be ineffective in eternity if we do not use what we have for the Lord
b. Loose His Trust – vs. 29
Again like the lazy servant, we will loose our master’s trust if we are not faithful with what he has given us. How can we expect him to trust us with more, if we can’t do anything with what we have now? Hopefully we all want to be used by God, but we need to stop sitting back and waiting for God to use us, but instead be his servant and go.
c. Loose His Presence – vs. 30
The most severe punishment of no using our gifts for the Lord I loosing His presence. There is no such thing as a Christian who does nothing. Many times I hear people talk like it is alright to do nothing in the church. I have heard people sing that they would be satisfied with just a little cottage in heaven, and they really believe that because they defiantly do not earn the mansions. If we do not use our gifts to serve the Lord and to build up the kingdom, we will be hear the same words as the lazy servant, “through him into the pit where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth”. It is a lot more serious deal to do nothing than we usually admit.
I have heard it said the fastest way to get to Hell is to do nothing, and I believe that is true. So often we are content with our casual Christian lives, and do not want to give. We want to take and receive salvation, but we don’t want to give back work into the kingdom. We want rewards in Heaven, but we do not want to sacrifice time now.
What are you going to do with what God has given you? Are you going to settle for the status quo, or are you going to multiply your gifts so that they affect all eternity.
There are several reason why the lazy servant failed at his task given to him:
1) He had little appreciation for what had been given to him.
2) He had no confidence in himself
3) He had a wrong view of his master, he thought he would be glad that he did not loose what he had been given
4) He was lazy
Remember to him who is entrusted with much, much is required, and we have been given a lot, so what will you do with what you have been given?
Conclusion:
Our master is away, and he is left us with talents. What are you going to do with what you have been given? Are you going to be like the third servant who did not use his talents, but was called by the master lazy? Or are you going to be like the first and second, who was called by the master faithful? Our master will return and I hope he finds our work faithful.
Perhaps as you have listened today you realize you are like the lazy servant. You have done nothing with what God has given you. The good news is the master is still away, you have time to do something with that. The bad news s there will come a day when he will come again, and if those haven’t done anything they will be punished.
Perhaps today you are the second servant, who did good work, and was blessed for it. Perhaps you want to be entrusted with more, so that you can do more for the kingdom.
Perhaps you are the faithful servant, and simply want to recommit to His service.
No matter where you stand, we all have been given talents, we all have gifts and God expects us to do something with them. We al have a decision that we can make. We all can commit to doing more. Hopefully then we all can look forward to being with the Lord forever and enter into His happiness.
