What we want to know this morning is how God has uniquely made us so we don’t waste our lives. One of the main ideas from the series we went through is that if you do something meaningful with your life, you will be a minority. Most people just go through life trying to survive. They go through a daily routine of getting up, getting dressed, going to school or work, going home, eating, watching some TV, spending some time with friends and family, then going to bed only to start the cycle back up the next morning. But sometimes that turns into us just surviving, not really living.
This morning, we’re looking at our abilities. But this message probably isn’t going to be what you’re expecting.
Before we dive into this, let me start off by saying when we talk about abilities this morning, we’re not going to be talking about the things you are good at. Hopefully you know your abilities and skills, and if not, they’re not too hard to figure out. It certainly isn’t going to help you much for me to stand up here and talk about what you may or may not be good at.
So instead, we’re going to talk about the Biblical idea of abilities. Now certainly in the Bible there were people who were better at certain things than others. They had certain gifts and natural abilities to do specific tasks. But more often, there were people in the Bible that did not have natural abilities to do great things that did them anyway because they allowed God to help them do it. God made a bunch of men who had the ability to fish into the greatest teachers and evangelists ever. But if you would have asked these guys to do some public teaching before they met Christ, I doubt they would have told you that they could.
Don’t get me wrong, I think that God has given us things that we are naturally good at, but if we limit ourselves to just those things, we are missing the point. And too often, we focus on abilities that don’t really make a difference in the long run. Like the ability to shoot a ball through a ten foot basketball hoop. Or the things that Napoleon mentioned: Nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, or computer hacking skills- I’m not sure those are exactly what God had in mind.
Outline:
Meaning of Ability
So let’s take a minute to look at a couple of passages from the Bible that talk about ability. Both of them have to do with money, which may seem irrelevant at first, but there’s a point here.
Acts 11:29
The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. This they did, sending their gifts to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Ezra 2:68-69
When they arrived at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. According to their ability they gave to the treasury for this work…
Now hold on for a second because this is very deep. I studied for hours and this is what I realized. When these verses talk about “ability”, they’re talking about what they were able to do. In this case, they were giving what they were able to give. I mean, let’s not make this harder than it is, abilities are simply things we are able to do. Sometimes we think about abilities and try to figure out what we’re good at that few other people are good at or things we are good at that makes us stand out from everyone else, but that’s not what abilities are—the word abilities comes from the word able- obviously—what we are able to do.
These people were giving what they were able. They weren’t giving because their spiritual gift was giving money, they were giving because they could. The only difference was the amount they were able to give.
The reason we started with those examples is to lay some foundation on what we mean by abilities this morning. We are not talking about your special skills, we are talking about what you are able to do. And what you are able to do is extremely important in how you live for God and make a difference in this world, and what God expects of you.
So the more important question now is: “What does God expect we are able to do? How does He expect us to live based on our abilities?”
Jesus addressed this very issue by telling two similar stories. We’re going to look at both stories and see what Jesus is trying to teach us, but before we do that, let’s pray.
Before we look at these two stories that Jesus told, there’s an important detail that we need to know about why Jesus was telling these stories. In both instances, Jesus is trying to teach his audience how to live after he goes away. There was a misunderstanding that when Jesus got to Jerusalem, he was going to take over and bring the kingdom of God to power right then. What they didn’t understand was that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to die, and that he would be gone for a long time and then come back and set up God’s kingdom. And that’s what we are still waiting for. So as he’s teaching here, his point is to tell them how they are to live while he’s gone and as they’re waiting for him to come back.
This is why it’s so relevant to us, because we’re in the same boat. We’re also inbetween that time of Jesus’ ascension into heaven after he rose from the dead and the time when he will come back as King. So let’s see what Jesus says about how we are to live while he is gone.
Two Parables of Jesus:
Matthew 25:14-30 (Message)
So we’ve got obviously a very rich man going on a trip. He’s calling his servants in and giving them different amounts of money “depending on their abilities.” Now, the story is unclear about what that means. Maybe the man felt some of his servants were just plain wiser than the others. Or maybe their abilities had to do with their circumstances—maybe the man knew that some of his servants based on who they knew or their different situations would just be able to do more with the money. The story doesn’t tell us. But as we find out, the amount of the money wasn’t really the point. The point was what they did with the money.
And we see in the story that the first two servants doubled their money. The reward from the master is huge. They go from being his servants, to his partner. The man who was left $5,000 and the man who was left $2,000 both get the same reward because they took what the owner gave them and doubled it.
But then we have the 3rd servant. Can’t you just see him as the other two are showing the master how they doubled his money just standing there thinking “Oh no!” And so he starts to try and explain himself by saying, “I know you have high standards”—a better translation of the Bible has the 3rd servant saying that he knows the master is a hard man. Basically, this 3rd servant is scared of the master. And so he says, “Look, here’s your money. I took it and buried it, I didn’t want to lose it—here it is- all that you gave me, safe and sound.”
He doesn’t get the kind of reaction he was hoping for. The master is furious. The NIV says that the master called this servant “wicked and lazy.” The master tells him that if he really was so scared of him and he knew that he wanted the best, why did he do nothing? Why wouldn’t you at least invest it with the bankers so I got something back?
And he takes his thousand dollars, gives it to the one who he had already given the most to, and throws the 3rd servant out. The NIV says the master calls him “worthless.”
Not a happy ending. But hold on, the other story that Jesus told was very similar but talks about a master who is even more ruthless.
Luke 19:12-27 (Message) –p.196
This story is a little different. We have a man who is part of a royal family that is in the process of being made King. The citizens where he would be ruling hate him. In fact, as this man is making his journey back to headquarters to become King, the citizens send some representatives with a petition asking that he not be made King.
This story hit close to home to those listening to Jesus. In fact, this very situation had actually happened just 25 years ago. A man by the name of Archelaus succeeded his father, Herod the Great. He wasn’t a very nice man. Shortly after he became the ruler over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea, he killed 3000 of his subjects. But he wanted more power, so he left his place in Jericho and traveled to Rome to request the title of King. The Jews hated him and sent a delegation to plead with Caesar that Archelaus not be made king over them. The Jews won, and Archelaus did not get the title or power.
In this story however, the man does come back as King. And he settles his accounts with his servants much like the master did in the first story. This time as a reward he puts his servants in charge of cities—he gives them much more responsibility. And again, the third servant comes in having hid his master’s money, and his money is given to the man who had doubled his share.
This story ends even worse than the first. This translation puts it nicely. It says that the King kicked his enemies out of his sight. The real translation is that he ordered all of his enemies who opposed his kingship to be brought in and killed in front of him.
Application
So what do these stories have to do with us and our abilities?
First of all, we need to remember that these stories are just that—they are stories. So we have to be careful not to transfer every detail over to reality. Jesus told these stories to make a point, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is saying God is exactly like the master in the story, but he is saying the principle is the same. So what does this story teach us about what makes us ready for the return of our master?
Remember the question I had you discuss with the people around you earlier about how you go about answering “If Jesus were to come back today, would you go to heaven?”
How many of you normally answer that question based on the good things and bad things you are presently doing? I’m guessing a lot of us do. But guess what? That’s the way the 3rd servants looked at things.
Basically in these stories, there are two types of people. There are the master’s servants, and there are his enemies. The first story only is concerned with his servants. The second story talks about both. And we see the King’s response to his enemies when he comes back in power, and it’s not pretty.
The other type of person is the servant. And with the servants, there are two responses. No matter how much money and responsibility they were given, there are only two responses to how they lived.
1) Wise and Ready
The first response is what we’re going to call “wise and ready.” If we want to be ready when Jesus comes back, we need to take notes from how the first two servants responded to the abilities they had. Notice what happens as soon as the master left. It says that right away, both the first and second servants “went to work (Matthew 25:16).” They wasted no time in doing what their master wanted them to do. Notice that the master doesn’t do a step by step run down of how they are to look after his money. He assumes that the servants know what is important to him and therefore will do whatever it takes to please him.
To be wise and ready means we have faithfully done what we are able to do for God’s kingdom. When Jesus comes back again, is he going to find that we have helped build his kingdom? Is he going to come back to find that once we started to follow him, we “went to work”?
2) Foolish and Safe
The second response is being “foolish and safe.” Jesus even called this response “wicked.” As soon as the master left, this servant dug a hole and buried the money.
The fact is, the 3rd servant’s in both stories didn’t get it. Now keep in mind, these weren’t the enemies of the master and the King, these were his servants. Yet they failed to understand the nature of the responsibility they were given. They weren’t so much lazy as they were religious. They played it safe, and they achieved nothing. They were part of a religion concerned only with not doing anything wrong. And I’m guessing we can relate to that. Being ready is not only about keeping our slate clean. It also involves being active and responsible with what we are able to do for God’s kingdom right now.
Application
Look, finding out what you’re good at is easy to do. You may be good at sports, or music, or art, or whatever. That’s not what we’re looking for. I don’t care what natural abilities you have if you’re not doing what you are able to do for God’s kingdom.
If you are a follower of Christ, you are no longer his enemy, you are his servant. But, which kind of servant are you? The first two servants in both stories got it—they did what they were able to do with what they had been given. The third servants blew it. They played it safe. Jesus calls those servants in the story- “Wicked” and “worthless.”
Honestly, I wonder if we as a global church body are sometimes more like the third servant than the first two. Are we sometimes too busy playing it safe to care about the people who are headed on a path to spend eternity away from God?
I mean, we’re good people- but are we sometimes too consumed with church, bible studies, Christian music, Christian books, and every other part of this Christian culture we have created to notice that the world needs our help? Sometimes, we play it safe. Somehow, I think we’ve been deceived into thinking that when we stand before God on Judgment day, we’re going to have to pass a Bible Knowledge Quiz to get into heaven or we’re going to be given a list of issues and we have to write down where we stand on each one and hopefully we were right about how pre-destination and free will go together…
Please understand that I am in no way putting down knowing what’s in the Bible. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that to know God more and fall in love with Him more we need to know His Word. But unless we are into the Word so that we can get to know who God is more and more, we run the risk of using it as a magical tool that makes us a better Christian or a more holy and righteous person which is a lot like what the religious leaders of Jesus’ day had done. And if you’ve read much of the gospels, Jesus didn’t really get along with them at all because they were relying on themselves and what they thought they were good at and pushing other people away.
Mark Driscoll is a pastor out in Seattle and has written a few books. He had a quote in one of his books that I loved.
He said, “Neither the freedom of Christ nor our freedom in Christ is intended to permit us to dance as close to sin as possible without crossing the line. But both are intended to permit us to dance as close to sinners as possible by crossing the lines that unnecessarily separate the people God has found from those He is still seeking.”
At some point, we have to decide if we’re ready to live to make God’s name famous or if we’re going to live to make our name famous. We can’t do both.
If we are living to make our name famous, we live life doing whatever we can as long as we don’t cross the “sin line.” We push the envelope as much as we think we can. We use our freedom in Christ for ourselves.
But if our goal is to make God’s name famous, we live our life for God’s glory with the goal of making God more wealthy in the one area he cares about most—his children’s souls.
Having friends who don’t know Christ is not ok. Having neighbors who don’t know Christ is not ok. Things have to change.
And I hope that this is a challenge for you today. It’s time that we stopped playing it safe. But here’s a warning—when you decide to live solely for God and decide that above all else you want other people to know who he is—things get messy. Life isn’t always easy. It’s much easier to have your church life and your other life. It’s much easier to stay away from people who have different morals than you. It’s much easier for you to hide out at Bible Studies and church.
But God didn’t call us to live the safe and easy life.
He called us to pick up our cross and follow Him.
So today, ask yourself what it is that you are able to do for God’s kingdom. I know the popular view is if you just do enough good things and stay away from bad things- God’s pleased.
But, that’s not the case. Don’t waste your time being safe because the fate of the safe servants in those stories was the same as those who weren’t his servants. The NIV says that the 3rd servant in the first story was thrown out in the darkness where there is “Weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus talks about that kind of a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth elsewhere. He’s referring to Hell.
How we get ready for Jesus’ to return is a matter of life and death.
For those of you who are already believers, the challenge is for you to evaluate your life as a servant today. Does it look more like the first two servants who went to work, or the third servant who dug a hole?
If you are here this morning and have never taken the first step by accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior, I invite you to come forward during this next song and acknowledge that Jesus has made a difference in your life by dying for you, and that you’re ready to start making a difference for Him in this lifetime.
Let’s pray.
