I’d like to read directly from scripture the verses which will serve as the theme or backbone to the message today.
Mathew 25:14-30
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
How many here know of this parable?
So here, we have another parable or analogy that Jesus spoke in relation to the kingdom of heaven.
More specifically dealing with how we should administrate what we have received from God – our gifts and talents.
This statement alone is important for us to understand!
Know that you’ve all received many gifts from God. I want you to think about all the things God has put in your hands, things that God has entrusted you with…
For some its,
Money or a Job – maybe God has been blessing you a lot financially.
Maybe its intellect or wisdom – some people have the gift of brain power; some people are distinctively very smart/wise.
Maybe its talents/abilities – Musical talents, cooking, hospitality, preaching, serving and so on…
And even gifts of the spirit – speaking in tongues, discernment, word of wisdom, prophecy and the list goes on.
Whatever it maybe, you and I have received many things from God, distinct things over course.
God is intentional, so intentional in fact that he gives each one of us different abilities so that all these abilities, talents or resource together can cooperate for His glory.
Never, ever compare yourself with someone else, you are uniquely made for a purpose in the kingdom of God.
God wouldn’t have it any other way! Maybe from your point of view your abilities may not be as flashy or as noteworthy as your brothers.
But I assure God does not see it this way, He has entrusted you with something and before Him, you and I have a responsibility to cooperate with Him.
This is what we just read.
That is why the title of today’s message is: MORE THAN A GIFT.
And to start of us off we need to recognise that we have:
First Point: RESPONSIBILITY TO DO SOMETHING WITH WHAT GOD HAS ENTRUSTED IN OUR HANDS.
This is a very important point, for two reasons:
- Some people believe that they don’t have gift/abilities from God or that their gift is not important enough to matter – From reading this parable we know that is not the case.
Romans 12: 6
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us…
God has given each one of you something (Gift or Ability). The problem with the one who was given 1x bag of gold, wasn’t that it was only one.
God did not condemn the servant for having less. He condemned him for doing nothing with what he had.
- The second reason is that some think and behave as if it’s a free for all, think that they are masters of their own destiny and can do whatever they want with their gifts/abilities. – That is not entirely the case, know that there will be a settlement of accounts!
Romans 14:12 – Albeit not directly speaking about gifts & talents. The principle applies.
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Romans 14:12
We see this in Esther’s Life.
Mordecai speaking to his niece in Esther 4:14, says:
…And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
In other words, what you’ve accomplished, what has been given to you is not merely for you to enjoy a life of comfort, it is worth mentioning that it is not wrong to enjoy, but it also has a much greater purpose in the kingdom of heaven.
It’s a different way of saying; you have responsibility here and you must act!
THE GIFTS & ABILITIES GOD HAS GIVEN YOU IS MEANT FOR A GREATER PURPOSE IN HIS KINGDOM!
We see the opposite situation in the life of Moses.
Moses is called by God to set the Israelites free and while he was dressed in the mantle of prince of Egypt, he was willing to take on the role.
So much so that he takes matters into his own hands and kills an Egyptian he saw mistreating a fellow Jew.
But that wasn’t the way God wanted to do things, Moses then flees the desert.
And what happens there, the earthly status is removed, Moses goes from prince to shepherded.
And when God calls again, what does he do? he starts tripping!
And like many of us he starts giving excuses to God!
Exodus 3:11 – Moses first excuse
…Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?
Then in,
Exodus 3:13 – Moses Second Excuse
13Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
And again in,
Exodus 4:1 – Third Excuse
…“What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
I think you get the picture. The whole time Moses is putting into question God’s plan. God you chose the wrong guy, God, who in their right mind is going to believe I’m meant to do this, what is to say this isn’t a hallucination! a figure of my imagination…
I’m paraphrasing but that is exactly what Moses was doing.
If this has been you until today, I’d like to invite to change your mind set and awaken to the calling of the Lord in your life.
Much like with Moses, God is telling you today
- I am with you
- He is saying: I AM WHO I AM, tell them the I AM has sent you
- He is saying: I will anoint you, and perform signs and wonders through you! And they will know that I sent!
God has entrusted you and me with gifts and ability. And they are not merely for show, they serve a purpose in His kingdom!
So, the first thing we need to understand is:
We have a Responsibility to do something with what God has giving to us!
Stop giving excuses to God
Second point: WE NEED TO APPLY OUR GIFT OR PUT IT TO WORK
Looking back at the parable the one who had 5 bags of gold, understood that he had to do something, went and applied the gift.
The one with two bags of gold also understood the mission and applied the money in a similar fashion.
But the with one bag of Gold, took a different view and buried His Gift.
But interestingly the master while rebuking the servant that buried the bag of gold, in vs 27, says the following thing.
Matthew 25:27
27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest.
And here I’d like to make a distinction.
Looking at the one with 5 & 2 bags of gold, scripture tells us in vs 16,
Matthew 25:16
16 …went at once and put his money to work..
The original word in Greek here is – ērgasato
Meaning to work, labour, engage in activity, carry out work, do business, produce through work.
The verse is not literally speaking about investing money the way you and I understand it to be.
It’s more accurately stating:
That they went and worked with what they had.
Its labour intensive, its gonna make you sweat, it will take you out of your comfort zone.
Bringing this practically to our Christian life, this is when you and I beloved understand that God has gifted us with something.
And we set out; we take initiative and start using that gift for His glory. We are not sitting on it waiting for an invitation from heaven.
We are active and loud, and proud to represent Him with our gifts.
2 Timothy 1:6 – States
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
In order words, go out and do something with what God has given you, work with it, fan into flames.
I will denominate and classify this level of gift application as a level of excellence!
And that is distinctively different to what the master classifies as the bare minimum in vs 27.
Matthew 25:27
…you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers..
Here the original Greek word is – balein
Which means to put, place, throw, cast or deposit something somewhere.
And the word translated as bankers is – trapezitais
Rooted in the word – Trapeza – which means table.
This whole thing loosely translates to:
To put money on the table.. ( or make it available for someone else to work it)
I’d like to make a practical application of this understanding to the Christian life. Not that the verse explicitly says it in this way.
But what is clear is that there is a difference between depositing money in the bank (involves little to no effort) and working with it.
To me practically in the church context, is you should at least put your hand up, make yourself available, so that at least by others initiative you might put your gift to use.
Did you get the point? Can you see the difference.
Level of excellence – you set out, take initiate, you say hey I’m going to do something for God.
Entry level – I can do this, I’m available, use me if needed.
Naturally the question becomes.
What is the right thing to do? The answer is, it depends!
Jesus was once questioned by a rich young man, about what he needed to do to inherit eternal life.
And Jesus’s answer will help us understand this better
Jesus’s first answer was – you need to keep the commandments
The young man says, “I’m already doing that!”, and he follows with, “do I need to do anything else?”
In Matthew 19:21 – Jesus answers
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.
This changes things, the phrase “If you want to be perfect”, is the distinction.
In other words,
Entry Level (at the risk of over simplifying) – go to church, read the bible, pray.
Level of Excellence – Put Me first above everything else!
So, beloved it depends on how thirsty you are for God!
At the beginning Entry level is fine and natural but shouldn’t be the standard forever.
If you want to please God, go deeper in God, receive more from Him, develop more talents and gifts, then you need to operate at the level of excellence.
Colossians 3:23
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters
Third Point: LASTLY IS FRUITFULNESS
Recap – There are 3x important elements to this equation.
- Understanding – happens at the level of the mind – We need to understand that we have received gifts from God and that we have a responsibility to use that for Him.
Romans 11:36
For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things…
- Application – Talks about posture! – How do we tackle the task that is in front us, and if we want to please God, we should do it with Excellence!
Known that the lack of excellence will limit the depth you and I can achieve in God!
Ecclesiastes 9:10
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,…
- Fruitfulness – Talks about the results of our actions.
And fructification beloved, is a must in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Fructification means a few things: Putting into practise, serving, discipling, improving. Naturally, nearly every good thing that comes out of your dealings with others.
The word of God says in Matthew 7:19
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
And that is exactly what happened to the servant who only hid his bag of Gold.
In other words, who ever does not use their gifts or talents for God, puts into question whether they are saved or not!
Maybe you are thinking to yourself, wow that sounds a bit extreme!
And maybe some of you are thinking, no, we are saved by Grace!, nothing that we do, can change that.
And you are not wrong, but you don’t have the full revelation.
The Lord’s Grace is not a cheap Grace, no, it produces something in us!
James 2:14
17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Why is that?
Paul, writing to the Ephesians gives us the answer.
Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
What is the premise?
It is impossible to have the full understanding of what God as done for us and given to us and not be moved to action (to do something for Him).
The bible say that we are created in Christ “For” good works, not “by” good works.
Maybe you are thinking, no that only applies to other areas of the Christian life, some even think that this warning is just for people deep in sin.
I strongly disagree!
The parable in Matthew 25 that we read at the beginning, puts the lazy servant in the same place as the unbeliever, while some may try to debate, the warning still applies.
And we, as a church need to wake up to that truth.
It’s time to wake up!
Conclusion:
This word is not a word of judgment; it is a message of Love. It is a wake-up call to some of you and is a deepening of understanding for others.
God is counting on you and me to use your gifts for His Kingdom, and in doing so bless others and serve others.
God is counting on you!
I would like to finish talking about practical things that we do for God, and how we can 1) start doing that which is the bare minimum, and then 2) move onto Excellence.
If today you are hearing this message and realise you need to start doing something for Jesus.
The starting point must be bare minimum! Because excellence is a process, its not instantaneous. It takes good posture, aptitude and willingness but is progressive.
It improves over time.
First step is you need to identify what your talent or gift is. And for that, you have two fundamentals.
- Often, your gifts will be connected to things you naturally enjoy or are drawn toward—but not always.
- You need to start putting your hand up and volunteering, as somethings requires trial and error.
What do I mean by that, we have many ministries in church, start signing up.
My suggestion is, give everything a go.
You try children’s ministry, see how it goes. If you like it continue, if it’s not for you, try the youth, if you enjoy music try the worship team, if you like to talk with people, we’ve the welcoming team and many others… you get the point?
Once you found your talent then by natural progression, strive for excellence.
Practically aside posture and willingness, it involves:
- Study – You need to improve your knowledge, because you are not born all knowing
- Practise – do the same thing many times over with the hope of mastering or perfecting your gift
- By Dedicated – Love what you do! – do it well as if for the Lord. Don’t be negligent
- Organisation – Manage your time, separate adequate time for Study and Practise, arrive on time to commitments
- Prioritise – If you’ve a commitment or if you’ve signed up to something, avoid unnecessarily breaking your commitments, unless in case of emergency or unforeseen circumstance.
And to finish, I’d like to leave the most important ingredient when striving for excellence, maintain your humility.
Proverbs 3: 34-35
He mocks proud mockers but shows favour to the humble and oppressed. 35 The wise inherit honour, but fools get only shame.
God gave you something. Don’t bury it. Use it. Develop it. Produce Fruit. Do it excellently and stay humble.