Parable of theTalents - Part 2

                         Matthew 25:14-30

"What have you done with what I gave you?"

By Iverna Tompkins
Transcribed by Jane Vaughn

Gifts – Wisdom – Grace – Protection – Guidance.  It all comes from our God – from the One who is the Guide – the Governor – the Giver – of all good things.  I love the way James encapsulates this whole concept.  James says, “Every good and perfect gift cometh down from above from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness and no shadow of turning,” and He isn’t going to change His mind!  Hallelujah!  Everything good in your life comes from God.  Period. (Jas.1:17).

In your minds, you are probably saying, “Amen” to James’ statement.  That’s easy – “everything good.”  What about the things that are difficult, hurtful, or ugly?  Can you say “Amen” to those, believing that God still is, and always has been, in control?  The difference is He will work out something good in your life through the negatives – if you let Him.  I used to believe if you had enough faith, you didn’t have to go through any troubles.  I was told that as a young believer – by people I held in high esteem.  And so I tried to have more faith so that I would never have difficulties – and I ended up with Pride!  It was cloaked like this.  I would critically think, “I never had to go through that ordeal.  Well, there must be something missing or wrong in her life to open her up to that!  Hmmmmm.”  Come on, church, He is working an “eternal weight of glory” in us, in every one of us (2Cor.4:17).

His gifts – they are wonderful and we are all recipients of them.  He just doles out gifts – faith assignments.  We need to look with His eyes to see all He provides.  It is God who gives faith and assignments.  Ephesians 2:8-10 reads, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith.  This is not from yourself.  It is the gift of God, not by works – nothing you’ve done – so that no one can boast, for we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us.” (paraphrased, ital. added)

We are all servants – under – under submission to another’s authority.  I know scores of people today, who, in times past have been in the ministry (professional clergy and others) and are extremely anointed capable people, but they never have accepted their 2 talents.  They want to be the 5.  What wisdom if we can hear this:  A number 2 person in a number 1 position always fails.  It does not matter how many gimmicks or natural abilities one may have, we are talking about divine talents – God’s placements.  If God didn’t call you to be a number 1, then you need to be happy and productive being a number 2.

There is a danger in simply sitting in the pew, waiting for the Master to return (with more “goodies”).  We keep eating at the table provided for us, good spiritual food.  But we don’t need anymore food, we’re fat now!  What we need is a little exercise – a little walking – a little talking – a little witnessing – a little sharing with others about the goodness of God.  “Oh, but you see, sister, you don’t understand.  I have the gift of prophecy, and they don’t give me a place in the church service.”  Well, it probably isn’t needed there.  How many “thus saith the Lords” do you need?  Outside the doors of the church, the people don’t know the Lord “hath doth said!” :-)  Your co-workers would be startled if you boldly said, “I was praying for you this week, and God gave me something for you.”  “Oh!  God told you to tell me something?”  “Yes, He did.”  People are receptive to that kind of witness, even if they do not plan to do anything with it, they are curious.  “What did He say?”

Others may say, “Well, I’m just waiting on the Lord.”  Really?  “Yes, I’ve been studying and making notes and I have a whole manual prepared – as soon as I’m appointed…”  Read it again, Ephesians 2:10b: “…which God prepared in advance…”  We must see that waiting on the Lord is not a quiescent marking of time until God somehow discovers us with our gifts.  “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it!” (Eccl.9:10; Col.3:17, 23).  “Well, I just don’t know enough Scriptures to witness…”  Do you know one?  How about, “God so loved the world that He gave…”? (Jn.3:16). 

You don’t have to be a preacher to witness.  In fact, most people don’t want to hear from the clergy.  They expect that kind of conversation from us.  They don’t expect it from you.  Your boss or co-workers do not expect you to say, “You have seen some good things that I do here – a positive work ethic and honesty in all things; I come on time and do not abuse the system.  You see that I give my all to the projects.  I want to tell you why.  I met the Master and I belong to Him.  He has made these changes in me.”

God has a place for your life, not just a plan (Jer. 29:11).  As long as you think of it as a “plan,” you will just sit and call it “waiting.”  But when you see it as a “place,” you will understand that God has set you there – in that job, or in a specific church, or with certain family members. 

We need to be very careful with what He has given to each of us – gifts, assignments, responsibilities.  The Master trusts you to do what the pastor cannot, or the elder cannot, or the deaconess cannot, or I cannot.  You have a place and no one can do for God in that place as successfully as you can yourself.  You are the minister He needs and He has set a great task before you.  He trusts you to be faithful in fulfilling your spot.  “Well, I have no talent.”  That is not the truth!  The Bible says you do.  Read Ephesians 2:10 again – “…created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance…”

Perhaps it is simply your smile.  Your smile could be more of a ministry to someone than any 50-minute sermon.  Maybe it’s your honesty at work, your diligence for details.  Perhaps it is something else, but that something else is uniquely you.  There is something in you, specially put there by God to carry out His purposes.  Hear the words of this older chorus, “There’s something within me that holdeth the rain.  There’s something within me, I cannot explain.”  There definitely is something within you.  It has been there since the time you became His; something valuable that He placed within you – God-given abilities – for things that you haven’t even tapped into yet.  You have great potential and He knows that.  He put those talents in you – the weight of His expectations.  They are valuable to Him.

It is important for every individual believer in any given church to grow into the mature Christian God has in mind.  Individually, our lack of growth can hinder the forward progress of the whole church.  It is vital that we learn that we are the ministers, the servants, and then to rise to God’s level of expectations for us.  He has provided the enabling power of His Holy Spirit so that we never have to “perform” on our own steam.  We simply learn to yield to the power of God within, working through us.  What a gift!  What a God!

In this parable, the master gives 5, 2, and 1.  Let’s look at these men.  We’ll refer to them by the number of talents they each received.  The master looked at them and assessed, “You can handle 1; you can handle 2; and you can handle 5.”  And then he left.  He gave them opportunity to do whatever they would with the talents.  But, he does not stay away forever.  In time, he returns.  Let’s remember that the talents are weighty to God.  All He asks is an exercise of what He has given – an investment of the talent. 

What the man given 1 talent did was to begin digging a hole to protect what he had.  I watch people do this.  I see them – they’re saved.  They’ve said, “I’m the sinner, You’re the Savior.  I believe You are the only begotten Son of God, You died for my sins, and rose again by the power of the Father.”  If you have come to this attestation, you are saved.  The question becomes, “what are you doing with your salvation?  “I’m protecting it.  I don’t eat with sinners, I don’t fellowship with unbelievers.  I keep myself from contamination.”  You are also keeping yourself from illumination!

How shall we understand "digging a hole?"   Perhaps it is like rehearsing the past – the negatives, the hurts, the pain, the regrets.  “I’m not going to do anything with this.  I’ve tried this before, years ago….  Yeah, I know I have 1 talent, but I remember before how the people…”  People – “they” are always the problem!  We escape responsibility when we can blame “it” on “them.”  They hurt me.  They let me down.  And we dig this hole because we’ve got this one precious thing God spoke to us and we’re not going to lose it this time!  We’re not going to let others take it away from us.  Digging a hole – it is like looking at all the past failures, anger, hurts and disappointments and saying, “I’m not getting out of the boat again!”  This is self-protection and it makes a person useless in the Kingdom.

Number 1 possesses this valuable something but his mind goes back to how terribly hurt he was – in the church.  So he digs.  “I’m not going to church.  I can be a good Christian without going to church.  Church is where you get hurt.”  And the unforgiveness continues festering as he digs some more.  He has buried it deeply.  He’s still saved, but the resentments based in the past go on.  It’s easy to bury, and it’s easy to dig them up again – the enemy will help you!  Incidents from long years before can paralyze us today when we do not deal with them as God intends.

The truth is, no matter how small or large your portion is, you can learn to minister in the pew or in the foyer.  In the parking lot is another good place to minister.  We’ve all been given assignments – “faith assignments.”  That’s what these talents are.   They’re things yet to be developed.  If you know the Lord, the gift can be developed.  A smile is worth a million dollars to some people!  You can break the power of hell with a smile.  You really can. 

Isn’t it time for us to be accountable?  When He asks what we did with it - and you can count on Him asking! - we need to be able to say, “Lord, I know exactly where it is.  I didn’t bury it or lose it.  I doubled it.”  And what we accomplished with our talents this year should be doubled again next year.  That is not really amazing to God.  He didn’t come on the scene and say, “WOW!  You doubled it?”  He says, “What’d you do with what I gave you?”

One will say, “Oh, man.  I knew You were a hard Judge so I hid mine. I played it safe.  But I stayed saved.”  Another one says, “I doubled it.  I invested and doubled it.”  The Master will say, “Good.  Well done.”  And may I add something here that fits?  “…which is your reasonable service” (Rom.12:1).  We think if we double something, it’s noteworthy, or unreasonable.”  “I beseech thee, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice – holy and acceptable.”  That’s "your reasonable service."  Come on, church, isn’t it time for us to recognize, “all that I am and all that I have and all I shall ever be is Yours Lord, so help me to use it wisely.  Help me know where to invest.  Don’t let me cast my pearls before swine (Mt.7:6), but don’t let me miss an opportunity either.”  Where do you get the wisdom to know the difference?  Well, “If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not” (Jas.1:5).  It’s time for the church to recognize the Word of God is true (Ps.119:160)!  Every verse, every promise, every provision.

When the master returned, he looked for each servant to give an accounting of how he had handled the talents entrusted to him.  The man who had 5 doubled his and knew the master had commended the one who had 2 for doubling his.  “Ah.  He said to the man who had 2, ‘Well done.’  I bet he’s going to say to me, ‘Outstanding!  Marvelous!’”  No, he just said the same thing, “Well done.”  Or, “as I expected.”

Some of you have multiple giftings from the Lord.  He expects a multiple return.  He started you out with 1 or 2 – to test you (Deut.8:2; 13:3; Ex.16:4) – to see what you would do with what He gave.  Whatever God has given you is enough.  It’s enough for you to please Him.  You can please Him every bit as much as a highly anointed Pastor can please Him with the multiple giftings he possesses.  Because all God requires from you is a doubling.  And as you double it – “unto whom much is given, much is required” (Lk.12:48) and “unto him that hath not, it shall be taken away” (Mt.13:12; 25:29) because he can’t handle it!  Even what he has shall be taken away and given to the one who has the most (Mt.25:28). 

I used to be so confused with that.  And then I freshly listened to the Lord.  He revealed, “Because the one who has the most has the ability and has the dedication and the commitment to handle more.”  God’s not going to leave you like you are today.  You’re not relegated to being a #1 talent, and you a #5, and you a #10.  That’s not how He does it.  He gives evenly.  He gives you a #1 because you’ve never been tested.  He gives you a 5 because you have been tested on the level of a 1 or 2 and now He’s going to give you 5 and see if you can handle that – without pride.  And then He gives you 10 and you make 10 more and say, “Here it is Lord, I give it back to you.”  He says, “You’ve given Me 10?  That’s twice as much as I gave you.”  “Yes, Lord.  It all belongs to You.”  “Fine.  Give him that extra one over there.  He can handle that now.”  And He adds to us as we are capable and dedicated enough to handle what He gives.

I made a sobering statement that this nation is now vulnerable to judgment.  We actually are set for it.  We deserve it as a nation for rejecting God and continuing in our rebellious paths and evil ways.  If you’re going to pray for this situation, you need to pray for grace and mercy.  “Well, we’re a Christian nation.”  Not really!  We’ve sent missionaries out and done a lot of “religious” things.  And thank God, in our pledge of allegiance, we still say “under God” and we still have on our coins “in God we trust” representing our motto.  Who knows for how much longer?  But I tell you this, it isn’t going to change anything whether they wipe it off or leave it on until the people of God, individually, can say, “In God we trust!  One nation under God, indivisible.”  Certainly, that’s not a reality now.  And we’re not in a political battle.  Do you think we are because of the political scene with elections and all?  This is not a battle of man against man; it has become a spiritual battle!

The minister’s task (that refers to all believers) is to take everything He gives us and make it multiply.  When that happens, present church buildings won’t be able to hold the masses of people.  Whole communities surrounding a church are starving for truth, desperate to find a way out of their dilemmas and problems.  Every social worker you know would tell you that.  Every physician – every….  It doesn’t matter what field you pick – they don’t know what to do.  Human rights?  We don’t even know how to spell it!  We give rights to one and that means we take them away from someone else.  The natural wisdom of man is not cutting it.  Can you understand that?  Then understand this also – in the very near future, we all are going to have the greatest opportunities we’ve ever had in our lives, or I in my 76 years of living – to bring the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ to a thirsty, dying community who is saying, “Who shall save us from these disasters?”

So, what will you do?  Will you cower in fear?  Fear of rejection?  Fear of Man?  Or fear of change?  “Oh, I just don’t want to lose what we have.  Ohhhh, I just…”  I know churches that refuse to grow because they’re afraid things will change if “new people” come.  How sad.  You like your church the way it is.  It’s alive today but in 10 years it’ll be a graveyard unless we add – unless we multiply – unless we reproduce.  We’ll be dead if we don’t give birth!  If we don’t do some new things.  “Oh, I just hate it if some changes take place.  I just hate changes.”  Really.  So, – you wish you were still in diapers? 

Change is growth.  Growth is maturity.  Maturity is usefulness.  Usefulness is what pleases the Master.

We don’t have time to sit around and suck our thumbs!  “Well, I hate it when Pastor goes away.  When he’s here it’s just – it’s so different, and I hate it when different ones are missing.”  Oh, please!  Grow up!!

                                                                                                 Go to Part 3