TEXT: Matthew 25:14-30
TITLE: HAVE I DONE MY VERY BEST?
After reading verse 18 make the following comment: The tragedy of the man with the one talent is not that he had only one talent but he didn’t use the one talent he had.
How many of you know what it is like to feel inadequate. I do. I know what it is to feel like I could never do enough.
But, the question before us tonight is: Have I, have you, done the very best you know how to do?
When you stand before God He isn’t going to ask you how you did compared to the person in the pew next to you. He isn’t going to ask you how you did in comparison to the people in the church down the street or in the next town. However, He is going to say: DID YOU DO THE VERY BEST YOU COULD WITH WHAT I GAVE YOU TO DO IT WITH WHERE YOU WERE?
If you can not say you did your very best; if He cannot say to you “Well done my good and faithful servant” it doesn’t really matter what people thought about what you did.
His message to us tonight is one of challenge and comfort.
His challenge is for you and me to make sure we have done our very best and it will be good enough for Him.
There are 2 things I want to bring to your attention:
1. Your best is good enough no matter how poor it is.
2. Less than your best is not good enough no matter how good it is
FIRST, YOUR BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH NO MATTER HOW POOR IT IS.
Jesus is telling us that God has given to every person certain talents – at least one, some more according to his or her ability, not according to equality but to his or her ability.
Some believe that all men are created equal, but that’s not true, that’s what the American bill of Rights says. The Bible says the opposite. There are no two human beings that have ever been created equal in the human race.
Take for example your fingerprints. Yours is different from anyone’s. No two fingerprints are exactly the same. God has never made two people exactly alike, God loves variety.
To prove His point He gives us this illustration of these three men. He gave one man 5 talents, one man 2 and one man 1. No equality there. When the returns came in the same – one brought back 5 more and one brought back 2 – no equality.
Notice: the percentages were the same; the amount was not the same. However, when it came time for rewards the identical thing is said to the man with 5 talents as with the 2 talents.
“Well done good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things and now I am going to make you ruler over many.”
The Lord didn’t get one ounce more pleasure out of the 5-talent man than He did over the 2-talent man.
The lesson is this, while we are not created equal we are created uniquely for a specific purpose of God’s divine choosing.
What He has chosen you to do I can’t do and what He has chosen me to do you can’t do. While there may be no equality in our creation or what God has called us to do, when it comes time for rewards God will reward us equally if we have sincerely done the very best we could with what God gave us to do.
So, God is trying to tell us, do the very best that you can and your best will be good enough to please me no matter how poor it may look to you or how poor it may look to other people. The question is: HAVE I DONE MY VERY BEST?
One day God spoke to Moses on the backside of the dessert and told him to go lead His people out of Egypt. Moses felt his total inadequacy. We all know how he felt. He felt he couldn’t do it; he felt he didn’t have the ability to do what God wanted him to do. You’ve felt that way haven’t you? Moses said, “I can’t talk good.” He said, “my brother Aaron, he’s a good speaker but I don’t think I’m the man for this job.” Let me pause here – What is your excuse for not doing what God wants you to do?
The Lord said to Moses: “I know you can’t talk good but who made man’s mouth, have not I the Lord? But this is something I want you to do – I know your heart. You go down there and you do your best and it will be good enough.”
I wonder if there is anybody here who could stand and tell me that Moses’ best wasn’t good enough to please God.
Sometimes we look around at what others are doing and wonder if what we are doing is worth anything at all. But the Lord is saying to you and me tonight, when you get to heaven I’m not going to ask you how well you did compared to these people, but I’m going to ask you if you did the very best you could. If you did then He will tell you, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
YOUR BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH NO MATTER HOW POOR IT MAY SEEM TO OTHER PEOPLE.
One day Jesus was at the temple with his disciples. They were highly impressed with how all these rich people came by and put so much in the offering. One probably whispered, “did you see what that guy just put in there?”
All of a sudden, this widow comes by and she throws in two mites. That’s a penny and ½. Maybe one of the disciples looked around and said, “I wish she would get out of the way, I want to see what the guy with the gold necklace is going to put in.”
Jesus said, “hold it, you missed something. You see that little woman, she put in more than these men you are impressed with.
“But Lord, they put in great amounts.”
That’s true, but what they put in was only a portion of what they could have put in, but what she put in represented her best, it was all she had.”
God was impressed with a penny and ½, the disciples were impressed with the big bucks.
You best is good enough no matter how poor it may appear to you or other people. The question is – Have I done my very best? That’s what God is looking for.
Let’s not forget the SECOND POINT: LESS THAN YOUR BEST IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH NO MATTER HOW GOOD IT IS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH IT IMPRESSES PEOPLE.
Let me repeat – the tragedy of the man with the one talent is not that he only had one talent but he didn’t use the talent that he had.
The lesson is: it doesn’t matter what it is, if its less than what God gave you to do, it want be good enough no matter how much others may be impressed.
That was the case with Saul. One day Samuel said to Saul – “God’s got something He wants you to do. He wants you to go down and kill all of the Amalekites. Don’t let anything be left breathing. Kill them all – all the people and all the animals. Don’t let anything be left breathing, including King Agag.”
So they went down that day. They won the battle and had a great victory and when Samuel came they were having a party and everyone was celebrating. All of Israel was proud of their king, they were impressed. “Our king is the greatest of the nations.” But neither Samuel nor God were impressed.
Samuel said, “Have you done what God asked you to do?” Saul answered, “Oh yea, I’ve obeyed.”
About that time, Samuel heard a cow make a sound and said, “Now wait a minute, if you’ve obeyed God, where did that cow come from?”
Then a sheep made a sound, “wait a minute Saul, if you’ve obeyed where did that sheep come from.”
Then king Agag came out and Samuel said, “hold on a minute, what’s old king Agag doing here if you obeyed.”
Saul said, “oh, but I thought” – there it is – God tells us to do something and we think we know something better.
“I thought we would save the best for sacrifices.” You know the answer – “to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
“Because you have done less than your best your kingdom is taken from you. No matter how impressed your soldiers and people are today God isn’t impressed because it’s less than your best.”
Let me ask you a question: Have you done your best at being a Sunday School teacher, a deacon, a Sunday School superintendent, a missions director, a church cleaner, a youth worker, etc.? Less than you best isn’t good enough.
Have you done your best to win that loved one, that friend, that pupil, that co-worker, that neighbor? Less than your best isn’t good enough.
God told Cain and Able to never come before Him without blood because the blood represents the very best.
They came before God and Able came with his blood offering and God accepted it. Cain came and had a pretty good crop that year so he said, “I think God might be more impressed with some onions and garlic and vegetables. This is prettier than blood.”
So he came with an offering from the ground and God said NO!
“I told you, don’t ever try to come before me without an offering of blood…”
Cain got mad. God told him, “don’t get mad, if you’ll go get a blood offering I’ll still accept you.”
You know the story. Cain killed Able and was rejected by God because it represented less than his best.
God is telling us: Less than our best is not good enough no matter how good it may seem.
