How to Profit from your Gifts and Talents. (Matthew 25:14-30)

Sometime getting what you want in life can be detrimental to your overall well-being. I am sure most of us would rather sit in a comfy chair all day then do hard physical manual labour. But if sitting in the chair became your lifestyle according to medical experts that would be detrimental to your health. Similar could be said about our spiritual life, if we just sit in an overstuffed spiritual chair, so to speak, and not spiritually grow like the Lord intended for us to do, that could have detrimental consequences in our spiritual life and beyond. Jesus told a parable about such things, and it is that I want us to look at today. In my Bible it’s called.

The Parable of the Talents

14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. 18 But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ 21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 22 He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘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.’

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.

29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

So, what is the Lord telling us. Well, the story begins with telling us an obviously wealthy man called in three of his servants and gave them some money and responsibility. I want us to begin by looking at what he gave to them. 

Talent in English it sounds like he is talking about some natural ability like musical ability, but although that a useful coincidence for us who are studying the Bible in its English translation that’s not primarily what this passage is talking about. The Greek word that’s translated talent here is actually a reference to money, a talent was a denomination of money, actually it was a very large amount of money. Each talent was the equivalent of a ordinary labourers wage for nearly 20 years, so this is a large sum of money. Why was he giving them this money, so that they could go enjoy life andput their feet up. the answer is no, He is giving it to them for his use and that becomes apparent when you look at the rest of the passage. For example, in verse 18, the man with one talent is said to have hidden his Lord’s money, not his money, the Lord’s money. But the real clincher is because in verse 19 it says after a long-time master came to their houses to settled accounts with them.

It is apparent from this story that this wealthy man has given large sums of money to three servants he wants them to invest that money and he’s going to come back and see how much they have earned. Obviously, this is teaching a spiritual truth and this man represents the Lord, and he is leaving, and he’s coming back, but in the meantime, he’s given us resources that he wants us to invest and he wants a return on his investment. It’s not too much to say that this might refer to something like our spiritual gifts, in that, we’ve each been given a spiritual gift and maybe more than one,  for which with which we can serve the Lord. On a spiritual level it’s talking about opportunities that come our way, but be all that as it may, the Lord has given to some more than others various abilities and  talents. Resources, abilities, opportunities, and responsibility to serve him and he wants to see fruit from that which he has given to us.

I think the temptation is to say, well I’m just the guy with one talent, you know, I just got one talent, I’m not like these guys that have 10 talents, and let’s assume that’s true, well that’s neither here nor there as far as this story is concerned that has nothing to do with the amount it’s what you do with it. Even if you’ve got just one talent, you’re still valuable because there is no such thing as a little talent and a big talent in that sense of the term when it comes to serving the Lord.

Years ago, there was a Bible teacher named doctor names Dr. Mike De Han, he started out as a medical doctor and became a terrific Bible teacher. Back in the early 90’s this church had 100’s of his tapes in the tape library and I spent hours listening to them as I drove around perusing my career as a financial advisor at that time. At one point I heard him speaking at a rather large conference in Chicago, mainly church leaders and Pastors were there. On one of the tapes, he talked about how the previous day and one delegates came up to meet him because he heard him on the radio and he wanted to meet him and this is how he introduced himself. He said, hello, I have a small ministry, and then quoting the town he came from, somewhere in rural Tennessee, if my memory serves me right. Quick as a flash Dr De Han looked at him and said, young man no ministry or Jesus Christ, is a small ministry, you may think of yourself as having one little talent well that’s one thing is still extremely valuable in the kingdom of God. Somebody may have more talents than you but yours is still worth am infinite unmeasurable amount in eternity. 

Somebody has said and I quote, “It’s amazing to see what good has been accomplished by those who were short-changed in their natural abilities when they faced limited circumstances”. Maybe this describes you, maybe you feel the reasons you’re not more productive spiritually in your own life or sowing into the life of others is because you’ve only got a tiny little talent and you got all these ither things to deal with in your life. This one little talent, and I got all these things to deal with. It amazing to me how when some people who come up with limiting circumstances, they can still produce a masterpiece in their own given area of Christian spiritually.

Jon Milton – Paradise lost, who’s insight into the fall of Satan contained within his poetic masterpiece, “Paradise Lost”. Written in 1652 wrote and written within a few years of him losing his eyesight.

Isaac Watts, probably only maybe surpassed by Charles Wesley as the greatest hymn writer in the history of the Christian church. He had a severe physical deformity yet though he was weak and ill throughout most of his life, yet he wrote over 600 sacred songs, as well as several books of poetry and many influential doctrinal discourses. Many people with good reason to be discouraged at their potential still diligently employed their gifts and accomplished great things for the Lord.

The head of the house, in this parable goes off on a long journey and then we are told what these three servants did with their responsibility and the resources they had been gifted with. We soon see how they got on. The who had received five talents went traded with them and made another five talents. Doubled his money, not bad.

The second guy, likewise he who had received two, gained two more, he did the same thing he put it to work and even though he only had two he also doubled it to four. not bad.

Then there is the one who had received just one and he went one dug a hole in the ground and hid the Lord’s money. This third guy, for whatever reason hid the money in the ground he buried his treasure and came up with the same amount at the end that he started with. He didn’t even make 1% he didn’t make one penny profit he just buried it.  But this fella, for whatever reason got discouraged and decided he couldn’t use his one talent and he buried it in the ground. 

The meaning of the parable is to tell us that the Lord’s going to come back and ask for an accounting for what you did with what he gave you. But it also tells us that after that happens, we see his response to what they have done, and we see that he actually hands out rewards. The Lord’s response to those who have used their talents wisely is to say, firstly, well don, enter into the joy of the Lord, but the thing I want you to notice is he said you’ve been faithful over a little and I’m going to make you ruler over a bigger thing. The reward again for doing a good job was not retirement, it was promotion.

Apparently, there are levels of responsibility in the Kingdom. When the Lord comes back and some are going to rule over 10 cities, to use one of the Lord’s other parables, and some are going to rule over five cities, so if you have been faithful with whatever talent God has given you will be high in his administration of the coming kingdom. The issue in this parable is not how much you have got it’s whether or not you were faithful. The clear point is this has nothing to do with production and has everything to do with faithfulness. This it's not how much you produce, but whether or not you have been faithful with the abilities he has given us.

But what about this guy with one talent, he came and said Lord I knew you were a tough master reaping what you had not sown and gathering where you had not scattered seed, I was afraid and went and hid the talent in the ground , I have what’s yours I didn’t lose it, take it back. The Lord’s response is , “You wicked and lazy servant You out to have at least deposited my money with the bankers and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

The next thing that happens is after we’ve looked at their individual giftings and the responsibility that arose out of that, was their response when we see the Lord comes back and calls them to account and then hands out blessings and rewards. What I want you to notice is he said even if you’ve been faithful over a little, I’m going to make you ruler over a lot.  The reward for doing a good job was not retirement it was not promotion. Apparently, there are levels of responsibility in the Kingdom of God, when the Lord comes back, it says elsewhere some are going to rule over 10 cities to use one of the Lord’s other parables and some  over five cities. Therefore,if you have been faithful with whatever talent God has given you will be high in his administration, you will be a ruler and you will enter into the joy of the Lord.

Maybe you think but I’m just the guy with one talent remember. Well use it wisely and you too will hear “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”. The issue in this parable is not how much it’s whether or not you were faithful with what you had, no matter how small. The clear point is this has nothing to do with production and has everything to do with being faithful. I's not how much we produce but whether or not we've been faithful with the abilities he has given us.

We have one servant who had received one talent came and said Lord I knew you were a hard man reaping what you had not shown and gathering where you had not scattered seed and I was afraid and went and hid the talent in the ground. I have what’s yours, I didn’t lose it, take it back.

Why is the Lord’s response so strong. “You wicked and lazy servant, you ought to have at least deposited my money with the bankers and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Jesus not only says he was lazy, but he also says, “you were wicked”. I mean all he did was bury the talent, is that wicked. But he also said he was afraid of the Lord. 

Interesting, lazy versus afraid, let me ask you a question are there any Christians that aren’t productive because they’re afraid and the answer is yes particularly when it comes to evangelism. I concluded years ago there are two reasons why Christians don’t evangelize, number one is they don’t know how to, but that’s not the end of it, there is often another answer, it is that people are afraid. In fact, in the gospel of John it clearly says some didn’t confess, Christ they didn’t talk about the Lord because they were afraid of the Jews, meaning the Jewish leadership of their days. I think this is a part of the explanation some are just afraid to serve the lord why else would you bury money in the backyard and not take it to the bank and get interest. Experts in finance will tell you the whole economic system and the stock market has always been driven by two things, greed, and fear. The even came up with a term for it, a bull and a bear market. But having said all that, the point here is God is not going to trust you with greater spiritual matters if you haven’t utilised the spiritual gifts, he has already given you. Why didn’t this guy produce, was it just because he was afraid, no it was also because he did not believe what God told, and bottom line is he didn’t know, or trust God’s character. The other two men got the message and believed God and acted on it. Doubled their investment. 

God takes the talent from him and give it to him who has 10 talents,  more abundant blessing for those who have used their talents well. The clear warning here is if you don’t use what God has given you then you are in danger of losing what you got. Use it or lose it. That’s a general principle of life, it’s true in running, it’s true when it comes to playing golf playing, it rues when it comes to playing a musical instrument or even any other artistic or creative endeavour. Even at the end of this passage buttresses this as a sort of principle where everyone who has more will be given more and to those who has wasted their talent, it shall ultimately be taken away from them.

Spiritually when it comes to the judgment seat of Christ, and that is what is being talked about here. Those who were given talents and didn’t use them, what they had is going to be taken away. The blessing that might have enjoyed in this life will gradually be eroded and in when it comes to the life to come there will be little left for God to reward.

There is modern a proverb that says, to get something done give it to somebody that’s busy. The final verse causes some people some people difficulty, because it says.

And throw that unprofitable servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

(Matthew 25: 30)

People get to this verse and people say, wait a minute, they’re outer darkness and gnashing of teeth, this must be a reference to Hell, and they say this servant wasn’t saved after all. Simply because it says, “outer darkness”, but I note it doesn’t use the term Hell, or even Gehenna, or the lake of fire, it says “outer darkness”. Was this guy lost completely, or did he make it into heaven? I’ll tell you what I think, but great men and women of God take different perspectives on this, but for what it is worth is how I interpret it, I think he was saved and safe, as far as heaven is concerned.

Be careful if you translation of Vs 30 says this man was “worthless” the correct translation is “unprofitable”. At the end of the day, he was a servant of the Lord, granted he wasn’t doing it well or even at all much, but  back up and look at the first verse, verse 14 again.

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling into a far country who called his own servant(s)”.(Plural)

(Matthew 25: 14)

The master describes him as a servant he gave him a talent, which remember was still a lot of money in its own right. I think there no other way to look at this, this guy is a servant of the Lord, a believer. On the principal of what this parable represents then we can say that God does not delegate his authority to spread the gospel to those who are not his followers. However, I hear some of you say, what about that outer darkness stuff and that gnashing of teeth. That’s more straightforward, that phrase doesn’t necessarily mean hell, it just means this is an expression of deep, deeply felt pain and grief and anguish. These people are weeping because they have lost something, a great opportunity to be blessed and he lost it because he buried his talent in the dirt. 

The word translated for us, outside literally means, in the backyard. That’s an interesting expression, it only occurs three times in all the Bible all three are in the Gospel of Matthew. It appears in Matthew chapter 8, it appears in Matthew chapter 22, and appears here in Matthew chapter 25. I’ve commented on these other two times when we’ve gone through the Gospel of Matthew together, and the image here is of being outside in the dark and there’s a banquet hall and it’s up at night, and just outside there are people who are looking and listening in on the banquet. Of being invited but not being able to get in to enjoy the party. It is at this banquet the rewards are handed out and that those who were faithful received rewards and they were in the banquet hall and those who were unfaithful in doing what God told them to do and using the abilities God gave them, they find themselves on the outside looking in.

In my estimation, this is not hell, the separation and sending to hell, happens for the unsaved at what is called the Great White Throne judgement. This is not hell, or the great white thrown judgement, this is the judgment seat, of Christ were the faithful will be rewarded and celebrated. This is about missing the banquet and being on the outside where there is going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth there.

W. F Warren  a very we’re respected Bible teacher and Methodist theologian of last century said this.

“Some feel that this unprofitable servant was not a true believer, but the outer darkness in verse 30 need not refer to hell even though it is often taken like that by some, it is dangerous to build theology on parables, for parables are meant to illustrate truth in a creative and vivid way. The man dealt with by the Lord, lost his opportunity for service and he gained no praise or reward. To me that is what the outer darkness represents”.

Summary.

The context of this parable and the other during this Olivet Discourse is “Watch and be ready”. The Lord is saying in the overall scheme of things is that in order to be ready for his coming back you need to be smart, you need to be wise, and you need to be faithful. And the faithfulness is described as using whatever ability and talent you’ve got to serve Jesus Christ. That is what he’s teaching here, and if you do that you will be rewarded and if you don’t do that, if you’re foolish, spiritually speaking, you will suffer loss and there will be deep anguish of soul at the judgment seat of Christ.

Therefore, if you are thinking, I’m not very gifted,  just do what you can with what you have got. The man in this story was not at fault for having a little talent, he was at fault for not doing anything with it. If it we’re not for all of the one talent people in the world, very little would get accomplished in the kingdom of God. If you’re a one talent person, use your one talent because if you don’t use it, you’re going to lose it.  The issue you need to be faithful with what God is giving you so that you can serve him in this life, and be rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ.

As a matter of fact, Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your strength with all your mind. So, he’s giving you some abilities, but if you’re just sitting in a comfy spiritual chair soaking up all that stuff and not using your gifts to serve in the world  you are going to miss out. I believe this passage should tell us that your mind your money, your time, and your abilities, small or large, all of that should be seen from an  eternal perspective and used profitably for the Lord. Moreso, if you are faithful and you do that, you’re going to reap the rewarding based on being faithful in this life and the life to come.

I once was at a minister conference and during a time given over to the reporting of how people were doing in the churches, speaker after speaker stood up and talked about all the amazing things, they said that God was doing in their churches. But one guy stood up who had a small church in one of the toughest areas of Liverpool and said, I have no remarkable success to relate, we just continue to labour for Christ in what seem like seemingly small results, but I continue to do so faithfully in the knowledge that when the master comes to reckon with his servants he will not say well done that good and faithful servant.