Maximize Your Talents

It's great to be able to worship with you all. Thanks for joining us. Please open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 25. If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a copy that you can have, use while you're here, and you can take it home with you. Matthew chapter 25, we're in verses 14 to 30.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word. Heavenly Father, we humble our hearts before you and incline our ears to your word once again because your word is truth, and your word is life to us.

You are our Lord, our King, our Master. You have the words of eternal life. To whom else can we turn? We look to you as a maid servant looks to the hands of a maid.

We long to be fed from your word. So teach us, address us. Teach us what faithfulness looks like.

Teach us the meaning of stewardship and enthrall our hearts with the joy you have set before us and the great rewards and commendation that you promised us that we might run this race with endurance.

All to your glory, Lord. So meet with us, speak to us now. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please stand, if you are able, for the reading of God's word so we can honor God as we read from his word.

Matthew chapter 25, verses 14 to 30. For it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.

But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you deliver to me five talents. Here, I have made five talents more.

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward, saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here, I have made two talents more.

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.

Enter into the joy of your master. He also, who had received the one talent, came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.

So I was afraid. And I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours. But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant.

You knew that I'd reap where I have not sown and gather where I've scattered no seed. Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest.

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, will more will be given, and he will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

This is God's holy and authoritative word. Please be seated. I'm sure all of you have heard of America's Got Talent, which I have never seen.

I've seen some YouTube clips. It's a summer reality TV show that features various contestants, musicians, dancers, comedians, magicians, and all showcasing their talents in front of celebrity judges.

The show boasts 5.9 million viewers weekly, and some of the more viral clips have surpassed 400 million views. And if you analyze the clips that get the most views, the ones that tend to go viral are the ones where the contestants shock the judges with their unexpected talent.

The crowds love the idea of discovering hidden talent. You are way too talented to be languishing in obscurity.

Here, come to this big stage, and under the bright lights, we'll make your talents shine the way they're supposed to. It's like a reality TV version of Proverbs 22.29.

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before obscure men. We often think of our own talent in similar terms.

Many of us are ambitious and talented. There is a reason we live in a global city like Boston and Cambridge. Intelligence, innovation, power, money, opportunity converge in global cities.

It's in cities that people try to make a name for themselves, as they once did at Babel. Many of us have been told, you have formidable gifts and formidable talents.

You must not waste them. You must maximize them. And this is the Bible passage that most people point to in order to justify that kind of thinking.

This is where the English word talent actually comes from. But what if that's not what maximizing our talents looks like?

What if, by talent, Jesus is not speaking of our abilities and aptitudes at all? In this passage, Jesus teaches us to make the most of what God has entrusted to us, looking forward to the commendation and reward that we'll receive from him.

We're going to first talk about the master's money, the master's return, the master's joy, and finally, the master's character. First, let's talk about the master's money.

Jesus says in verse 14, for it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. The conjunction for in verse 14 connects it to the preceding passage.

What exactly will be like a man going on a journey? Look back at verse 1. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.

Jesus is still answering that same question of what the kingdom of heaven will be like. This is another illustration to teach us what the kingdom of heaven will be like.

And the kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. During the period of time while he is away, the master entrusts to his servants his property.

And what exactly is the master's property? It says in verse 15, to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.

Then he went away. A talent in Greek, the Greek word literally means a weight. And it refers in this context to a weight of precious metal that served as currency.

And since it's currency, it's called the master's money, it most likely refers to a weight of silver, a talent of silver. And one talent of silver was, in this time, reckoned to be about 6,000 denarii.

And if you remember from our previous parables, one denarius is worth a day's wage of a common laborer. So a living wage in the Boston-Cambridge area is estimated to be $32.46 an hour.

That's the minimum hourly pay that a full-time worker needs in order to cover his family's basic needs. So if we account for an eight-hour common workday, that's $260 per day.

That's the day's wage of a common laborer. So if $260 is about the equivalent of one denarius, 6,000 denarii would be $1 million, $560,000, $1,560,000.

That's one talent. It's not a small amount of money. It's about what people will make in maybe half their lifetime or so. Five talents is $7.8 million.

Extraordinary large sum of money. Even one talent is a fortune. The master in this parable is clearly very wealthy, and each servant, from the least to the greatest, from the one talent servant to the five talent servant, are entrusted with a consequential sum of money.

But what exactly does the master's money and property represent? The word talent, through the centuries of allegorical sermons based on this passage, have come to mean, in our culture and context, a person's ability or aptitude, their natural aptitude, ability, gifts.

For this reason, many Christians automatically assume that this passage is teaching us to maximize our talents in that similar sense of America's Got Talents. Use your God-given talents to serve Him and make a difference.

However, I don't think the talents refer to our natural abilities and aptitudes. Why? Because of verse 15. It says, to one, he gave five talents, to another, two, to another, one, to each according to his ability.

In other words, God dispenses the talents according to our respective abilities. The talents are not the abilities themselves. So, yes, God does take into account our capacity to make use of the talents that He entrusts to us, but the talents themselves do not refer to our capacities or capabilities.

Also, if we interpret the talents to mean our natural abilities, what becomes of God's desire that we multiply the talents? Produce five more talents out of the five that we've been given?

Two more talents out of the two more that we've been given? That reduces this parable to a shallow lesson on self-improvement. Here's your five talents. Improve on your talents.

Make it even better. I've been wrestling with this text and asking God what this passage means, and that's one thing I'm fairly certain the talent is not. What then is it?

The Bible connects this idea of God's riches or God's wealth often to His grace and mercy. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Paul says in Ephesians 3a, to me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

What is God rich in? What does He have a lot of? What does His wealth consist of? His mercy, His grace. God, because He's rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, He made us alive together with Christ.

The talents that God entrusts to us then are His, they're not our natural talents, no, they're His grace gifts. His gospel entrustments.

Luke, in the parallel, parable of this, in parable of the minas in Luke 19, makes this point more obvious by telling us that the master gave all ten of His servants exactly the same amount, one mina each.

We have all heard the same gospel, we have all received the same grace of God. However, in Matthew's parable of the talents, the servants received differing amounts of talents.

Because Matthew is trying to highlight another important aspect of God's entrustments to us. Yes, God gives us of the same grace to each of us, but He does not apportion to us all the exactly same amount of grace.

So Romans 12, 3-5 says, For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each accord according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Let us use them. Similarly, Ephesians 4-7 says, Grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.

Each of us receives a different measure of Christ's gift. 1 Peter 4-10 says, As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace.

The grace that God dispenses among us is varied. The fact that our talents are not our own abilities and aptitudes, but differing measures of God's grace is healthful for us.

It's helpful for us. It's good for our spiritual health. First, it takes our focus off of ourselves and our own capabilities and puts the focus on God and on His generosity.

Notice the verbs in verses 14-18. It's the master who entrusts and gives. It's the servants who receive. We are not the owners of the grace gifts that God has given us.

We are merely stewards. We are entrusted with God's money. And because it's not ours to begin with, we have no grounds at all for boasting.

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Yes, the talents we receive are given according to our abilities in verse 15.

But even that, I don't think, is our natural abilities and aptitudes like being smart or athletic or handy or musical articulate, although all those things come from God too. The literal Greek word here for ability means power or capacity.

And it's speaking of our capacity to receive God's grace with eager acceptance and obedience. In a parallel passage in Mark 4, 21-25, Jesus says that this measure is based on our ability to pay attention to what we hear.

focusing on our own abilities and aptitudes promotes pride and boasting. Focusing on the grace gifts that we have received promotes humility.

Because of our sinful pride and vanity, we humans tend to have an exaggerated sense of our own abilities. And if we focus on maximizing our abilities, we're never content with the lot that God's given us and the station that He has placed us in.

We're always seeking more leverage and trying to enlarge our own platforms. We focus more on what success looks like to the eyes of the world rather than being faithful in the eyes of God with what He has given to us.

So if the talents are various measures of God's grace at work in our lives, what does it mean that we ought to steward, invest, and multiply these talents?

It says in verses 16 to 18, He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more.

But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. The grace of God that goes in always comes out and bears fruit within us and among those around us.

Paul loved to use the phrase grace given to me because he was aware of the fact that everything that he did, all his hard work and amazing accomplishments in sharing the gospel and proclaiming the gospel among the Gentiles, it all flowed from the grace that God had given him.

1 Corinthians 3.10, according to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder, I laid a foundation. 1 Corinthians 15.10, but by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace toward me was not in vain.

On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them. Though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. That fits well with the sowing and reaping imagery that the wicked, slothful servant uses in verse 6.26, doesn't it?

In the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, the seed, right, that we sow is the word of the kingdom, the gospel of Jesus Christ. The word of God that comes from his mouth shall not return to God empty, but it shall accomplish that which he purposed.

The grace of God toward us is not in vain, but spurs us to loving service and good works, to sharing the gospel of the riches of God's grace with those around us.

God is looking for gospel fruit in our lives and in the lives of those around us whose lives we touch. I'm sure you've heard this illustration before.

Why is the dead sea between the Jordan and Israel dead? Because the Jordan River flows into it, but no water ever flows out of it.

And so the only water that ever disappears or goes out of that sea is the water that evaporates in the hot desert sun. So all the minerals and salt just collect and accumulate and concentrate in that sea so that it is not inhabitable for any plant or fish.

The dead sea has no outlet. The grace of God that flows into our lives are meant to flow out. They're meant to give grace to others in our speech and in our deeds and in our service and in our love and in our proclamation of the gospel.

And the people of God are the most proper object of our grace outlet. In the parable of the vineyard laborers in Matthew 20 and the parable of the tenants in Matthew 21, the master entrusts the care of his vineyard to his servants or tenants and in both parables the vineyard represents the people of God because a vineyard is a prominent and repeated symbol and imagery for the people of God throughout the Old Testament.

So then where does God expect us to invest our talents of his grace? Where does God expect us to sow seeds of the gospel? In his vineyard of course among his people and I think that includes the people who are not yet saved but yet are chosen by God.

As Jesus says in John 10 15 to 16 I lay down my life for the sheep and I have other sheep that are not of this fold I must bring them also. The grace we have received from God we impart to those around us.

The good news we have heard from God we share with those around us until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood to what?

To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. We all receive a measure and then we all build each other up together until we attain to that stature of the measure of the fullness of Christ.

Is the grace of God within you flowing out to those around you? How about to your own family members? To your husband wife brother sister father mother children?

How about to your own neighbors? Do your neighbors know that you are Christian? Do they know that the reason why you have joy and reason why you have hope and reason why you have peace is because of the good news of Jesus Christ in your life?

What about your coworkers? Do your words give grace to those who hear? Do you have the aroma of Christ wafting about you wherever you are attracting and drawing to God those who are destined for life?

and none of us can say well I'm not very gifted so I'm not going to do anything. Have you received the grace of God?

Yes you have. Every Christian has. We have freely received and we have to freely give. Remember what we learned earlier one talent is 1.5 million dollars.

Some receive more some receive less but all receive much and Jesus says in Matthew 13 45 isn't one pearl of great value worth selling everything we have to acquire an ounce of the grace of God that we received is worth more than all the riches of this world all the pleasures of this world none of us have any excuse to be complacent or lazy with that precious grace we have received none of us have the excuse to bury that in the ground hidden from all those around us this is all the more urgent because of the inevitable and imminent return of the master Jesus says in verse 19 now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them so the master it says he goes away on a long journey in a parallel version of this passage in

Luke 19 Jesus tells this parable to people who supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately so he speaks of a noble man who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return Jesus is issuing a similar caution here to his disciples his return as Jesus said repeatedly throughout chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew is imminent he can return any day and he will come when he is unexpected like a thief in the night however Jesus cautions his disciples here by telling them that while his return is imminent is not immediate remember Jesus prophesied earlier of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple as well as of the proclamation of the gospel among all the nations these things don't happen until later in that first century it has been 2,000 years since Jesus has said this it has been a long time but any day now

Jesus says he can return and the master of the servants will come and settle accounts with them God is not an inept manager who doesn't know and or doesn't care what his subordinates are doing he cares because he has entrusted to us something very very precious he's going to come back and he will examine the books I tell you on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak a single idle word careless word Jesus says will be held to account we are not bosses unaccountable to anyone we are servants accountable to our master we are not owners of our own money we are managers of

God's money we are stewards of God's money and the performance review is coming don't be like the people that 2 Peter 3 warns about the scoffers who follow their own sinful desires saying to themselves where is the promise of his coming for ever since the fathers fell asleep all things are continuing as they were sun up sun down sun up it's the same every single day nothing different not expecting the sudden return of Christ the day of judgment is coming and we must not forget this grand reality lest we become lazy and complacent this reality of his return should instill holy fear in us but it should not fill us as Christians with dread or despair rather it should fill us with eager anticipation because the promise for those who faithfully endure till the end as witnesses of Jesus Christ is that we get to partake in the master's joy

Jesus says in verses 22 to 23 and you had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more saying master you delivered to me five talents here I have made five talents more his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little I will set you over much enter into the joy of your master and he also who had the two talents came forward saying master you delivered to me two talents here I have made two talents more and his master said to him well done good and faithful servant you have been faithful over a little I will set you!

over much enter into the talent servant each respectively produced two talents and five talents 100% yield and they received the exact same commendation from God isn't that wonderful God doesn't say to the two talent servants well that's it that's it just two no the exact same commendation remember it's the master who sovereignly and freely gave two talents to one and five talents to the other and the servant who had 7.8 million to invest versus 3 million to invest they're rightly going to be expected to yield different interests so Jesus says in Luke 12 48 everyone to whom much was given of him much will be required and from him to whom they entrusted much they will demand the more and this should prevent any unhealthy ungodly comparison among ourselves in whatever situation whatever station

God has placed us whatever measure of grace God has entrusted to us and poured out to us what is expected of us is faithfulness with what we have been given I might only have a teacup with which to receive from the ocean of God's grace but if I'm faithful with that teacup and I pour out the grace of God again and again to all the people that I see and all the people I meet then I will one day approach the throne of God and hear him say to me well done my good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master imagine hearing that from our Lord that one word from him will repay repay more pay back more way more than any suffering and hardship we experience in this life would it not well done that one word would fill my heart to burst was

I Lord you really think I was faithful did I please you in the little service I rendered did I do a good job isn't that what every children want just to please their dad to please our heavenly father Hebrews 12 1 to 2 says we ought to run with endurance the race that is set before us looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God how did Jesus endure the cross how did Jesus endure all that shame and trouble and pain how did Jesus do it he says he looked forward to the joy that was set before him and that's how we're supposed to do it too master says enter into the joy of your master that's what awaits all of his faithful servants we long for that that day of

Christ return when will come with robes of white when our eyes will be transfixed upon him and we will rise with the saints and praise his glorious name and don't ever despise the day of small beginnings what we are entrusted with in this life might not seem like that much maybe we're not very influential maybe we don't know many people maybe we don't have many opportunities to make much of Christ and speak of his grace with others like some people do but the master says to faithful servants you have been faithful over a little I will set you over much isn't that amazing don't ever think that if you had been given more grace God I mean what is this that you've given me what is this small thing you've given me what is this small church you've given me what is this thing you've given me if we think that way it's something a little more influential oh then

I would have been really diligent and faithful then I would have really given my all absolutely not it's a delusion to think that lazy people will all of a sudden become diligent when they're entrusted with more important tasks people who cut corners in small matters will cut corners in big matters it's the people who are faithful with the small things bigger things so focus on being faithful with the little with which you have been entrusted your little family your little church your little classroom your little children's ministry class your little ministry team your little work it is required of stewards that they be found faithful moreover whether we have two talents or five talents in this life whatever

God has entrusted to us in this life is tiny compared to what we will have in eternity so have a longer view of life this life is not all there is there's more to come our temporal earthly stewardship is merely the training ground and the testing ground of our eternal heavenly stewardship trust me brothers and sisters trust God's infallible word rather we have an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for us all the wealth of heaven ours as heirs of Christ all the riches of God's mercy and grace that we today can only appreciate in part we will in eternity appreciate in full for now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face now

I know in part that I shall know fully even as I have been fully known can you imagine that that sweet that sweetest grace that is poured into my teacup my cup will be submerged in the ocean of unending grace and there will be new entrustments and new responsibilities as well in a new heaven and a new earth we will get to worship and serve our gracious Lord for all eternity in a world where there is no more toil and no more tears enveloped and carried forth by the love of God and the love of one another in Christ we will always go further up and further in but how how can we persevere till the end what helps us to be faithful servants until the end that brings me to my final point the master's character look closely at the words of the one talent servant in verses 24 to 25 he also who had received the one talent came forward saying master

I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seeds so I was afraid and I went and hid your talent in the ground here you have what is yours this his response raises so many questions for me and one question that I have is what in the world was he doing while he was gone like it doesn't take any effort to bury the talent in the ground right what was he doing maybe he's busying himself with his own ventures rather than investing his master's money that was entrusted to him I think of someone like Elon Musk who have founded I don't have anything against Elon Musk he's founded seven major companies zip to paypal spacex open ai neural link the boring company xai he owns six major companies including

Tesla and himself runs five of those major companies how in the world does he have the time for all this he boasts of working 80 to 100 hours a week and says that working weekends is his superpower by every worldly measure he is one of the most productive people in the world he has maximized his talents to the tune of a trillion dollars which is his current net worth 700 billion more than the second richest person in the world but Elon Musk has absolutely nothing to show the master of the universe when he returns nothing because he's done nothing with the talent of God's grace someone needs to go and share the gospel with him what about us what are we doing we are servants we are stewards we're managers of

God's money what are you managing are you trying to manage your own money are you trying to manage your own glory your own reputation your own success before the eyes of the world or are you busy managing God's money because that's what you're going to be judged on and look at what he says the audacity you know what master you know what the real problem is it's you you you're a hard man a cutthroat businessman if there ever was one you're always wheeling and dealing and you exploit people in situations by taking what you didn't deposit and reaping what you didn't sow so I had no choice I was afraid I had to keep that talent safe underground instead of risking it by engaging in business isn't that really ironic you think that having this harsh view of

God seeing him as a hard and severe and exacting man would make him work harder it doesn't instead what did Paul say earlier that I read in 1st Corinthians he worked harder than all of them why not because he has such a hard view of God no but because of the grace that was at work within me it's our hard view of God that makes us be lazy servants it's our severe view of God seeing him as a harsh task master rather than a gracious lord that makes us not want to work not want to please him but this goes against everything that we see about the master's character in this passage normally when you hire a money manager you entrust them to your property to them you tell them hey invest it make some money I'll give you a cut of the interest right if you look at some of the most high risk hedge funds usually they employ a 2 and 20 model a 2% flat management fee plus 20% of the profits carried interest but look at how much these guys get paid the 5 talent servant makes 5 talents more and then if you look at verse 28 it says take the talent from him the 1 talent servant and give it to him who has the 10 talents he still has the 10 talents he brought the 5 talents the 10 talents the total to the master saying here master

I've made 5 talents more but who has the talents in the end the servant still has the talents the master didn't take any of it away rather his desire is to give him all of that he has all of his property all of his heavenly riches with his servants that's the master's heart and yet we think of him oh I'm going to lose everything I bring to him this is why he says for to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance it's kind of similar to what American philosopher Albert Hubbard once said he says if you want anything done ask a busy man to do it it's a truism of course not always true but it's generally true and that's because a busy man is busy because he has shown that he can get stuff done a busy man is busy because he is getting stuff done that's why people have continued to give him a lot of things to do the idea is similar to what we find here it's a servant that has proven most faithful that should be entrusted with the most responsibility and instead the person the servant who viewed him as a hard master will be treated the way he expected

Psalm 18 25 to 27 says with the merciful you show yourself merciful with the blameless man you show yourself blameless with the purified you show yourself pure and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous for you save a humble people but the haughty eyes you bring down why does God treat people this way if you expect him to be crooked if you expect him to be hard and severe he will be torturous but if you expect him to be merciful and gracious he will be much much more gracious and merciful than you would ever expect him to be because God saves a humble people and he brings down the haughty you know who the harsh taskmaster is it's not our Lord it's the devil you have any experience serving him I have in the past before I came to know the Lord he is a harsh taskmaster he's always promising and not delivering it's always a bait and switch with him he promises pleasure and gives you an ounce of it and then takes an L and gives you more pain and you serve him longer and longer and longer and you become poorer and poorer and poorer we were so enslaved by this prince of the power of the air the devil we had an insurmountable debt of sin we were carrying we were slaves we'd be slaves forever that's how insurmountable the debt is but God because he is so gracious and merciful

Jesus because he is a merciful and gracious master he says he came Matthew 20 28 even the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many Jesus is the master who became a servant Jesus is the master who saw the heavy yoke of sin that we could not carry and he said you cannot carry that I will carry it I will put it on my shoulders I will put it on my back and I will die for your sins on the cross and I will be raised in power so that you can be free and no longer slaves to sin and death that's the kind of master and lord that we serve there's no master as gracious as he is and it's when we recognize that when we believe that when we humble ourselves before that gospel of grace so counterintuitively it makes us work all the harder it makes us run all the harder because who doesn't love serving a gracious master like that so let's serve him together abide in

Christ remember drink deeply of his grace then you will bear fruit and you will bear witness let's pray together yes father thank you for your grace and mercy lord we are eager to please you will you please help us to will you please enable and empower us to will you please keep us attentive to and focused on your gospel of grace be glorified oh lord in all that we do and oh lord come soon come soon lord we wait for you in

Jesus name we pray amen