A Generous Life Part 1: Talent, Treasure, Potential
A Generous Life :Talent, Treasure, Potential (Part 1)
Key Verse: 2 Cor 9:8-9, 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ESV
I’m beginning a series on the subject of “A Generous Life”…
We are currently living in a cultural climate where hopelessness is in vogue…as believers this should not be the case…
- Peace should be our portion…Peace is not a feeling, peace is a person who steps into your situation…
- For many today Hopelessness is not a feeling…it is a demonic spirit…
- Today is a day of Breakthrough…
- What we tolerate will dominate in our lives…So my prayer is that Peace Dominates and Hopelessness is Broken off your minds and thoughts right Now…
LET’S PRAY!
I came across something the other day I found to be interesting…according to Linkedin, “Jesus discussed money and possessions in about 15% of his teachings, which included 11 of the 39 Parables and about one in ten verses in the Gospels. This is more than he spoke about Heaven and Hell combined.”
The ironic thing is Jesus addresses money also more than He did faith and prayer combined.
So today I want to begin a series on Generosity…but it is really a series about Lordship!
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “What Lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”
For years I have been able to see Potential, Possibility and Greatness in People and places…often times leading me to frustration.
But I have come to realize that: “Opportunities and Potential fall wasted if not met with determination, initiative and drive.”
Matt 25:14-30, 14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent 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 the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. 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 the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; 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 the one talent 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 talent 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 “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. NIV
As You may or may not Know this Parable is about the Kingdom of God in operation on the earth…this is not about Heaven.
Work
- This passage isn’t even about Salvation…because we know we can’t earn or work for our salvation…
- But this is where it gets a bit confusing for some when it comes to the Kingdom of God…you can’t earn salvation, but when you are saved and brought into the Kingdom…there is work to be done.
- Matter of fact, the book of James says in essence…show off your faith by the work you do, but the works you do, do not save you…
- Too often folks think Work isn’t involved in God’s Kingdom…But God created you and I for “Good Works.”
The Whole story is about a man on a journey who entrusts his servants with his stuff….
Talents
- Is a Measure of money…
- The equivalent of $1.8 million. So if you ever thought you were a 1-talent person…that is a lot…$1.8 million dollars.
- The guy in the story who was entrusted with the least amount was entrusted with almost $2million.
- Around the Middle Ages the word talent became a skill, a genius, a giftedness, intelligence or ability.
- So, if someone is really talented…they are worth a lot.
Don’t ever say, I’m a one talented person as if that’d be a bad thing.
Entrusts
- The word entrusts is mentioned several times in this parable and is one of the over arching key thoughts of the story….
- The economy of God moves on the rails of TRUST!
- When we are immature in our faith, we are all about asking “Can God be Trusted…”
- When we become mature it is all about God asking “Can We be Trusted…”
- The question isn’t, can God be trusted…the cross is proof to us all that God can be trusted….
- But God is looking for men and woman whom He can Trust….
- The Response of the Master
- “Well done good and faithful servant…” Come and share your masters happiness…
- What Makes you Good or Faithful is you can be Trusted…
- Trusted to do that which is in alignment with the character and intention of our Master….
- Notice He didn’t say, “Well done faithful servant….” No, he said they were Good….
- Now nowhere in the story does the master tell them specifically what to do with what he has entrusted them with…
- The faithful servants were ready to embrace – Responsibility!
- The Master was giving them responsibility…
- I think the talent was incredible the real gift was responsibility…
- We want the talents of God, but do we meet that with responsibility…
- They knew however their Master was Good, so we must do Good with what Trust we have been Given…
- I think we hide behind this thing called “the will of God…” instead of finding good we could do and do it.
- The Master is on a long journey…he doesn’t micro-manage what he has entrusted…and this is a huge sum of money…$14.4million…
- We won’t give our kids $20 and not ask for the change and question them as to what do you need it for…
- Where are you going and what are you going to be doing…
- We micro-manage what we give, and we think that is who God is…that He is a micro-manager of His resources…but he isn’t like us…He is not a micro-manager.
Projection and Account
25:24, 24 “Then the man who had received the one talent 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 talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ NIV”
- Seems to me we are talking about two different Masters here….
- The guys with 5 and 2 talents didn’t give us a description of the Master…
- We know he had to be generous because he gave them all these talents and He was a Wise Master…
- The Scripture said…”he gave them according to their ability…”
- It’s funny because we want to live in a culture and society where everyone is the same…but we see right in scripture that God distributes based on Capacity…and then we have a responsibility to maximize that capacity.
- Now what I find funny is…the amount of people who will complain that this is unfair…but I find Freedom in this…because I can stop measuring myself against other people…
- From my perspective this seems like a very good, kind, generous and wise Master.
- The servant with One Talent projected onto the Master…who the servant was, not who the Master was…
- I knew you were a hard man…no he wasn’t…the servant was….
- What we believe about God opens the economy of God…When we know that God is good, we’ll see Good and do good every chance we are given…
- When we believe God is generous…we will be generous…
- When we believe God is a yes God instead of a NO God…we will go until we get a No.
- Sometimes following “the will of God” is simply going till you hear a stop or don’t.
- I grew up with the “No God…”
- Serving God was like serving an OCD micro-manager…
- Then I got saved and delivered…then began to discover a God that was adventurous, fun, generous. A God who wanted more for me than I ever wanted for myself…
- Where Jeremiah 28:11 became real instead of a plague sold at Hobby Lobby for my home.
- “you wicked and lazy servant…”
- I always thought this was a harsh response….
- The servant says, “here is what is yours…”
- What the servant didn’t recognize was…the Potential in that talent belonged to the Master as well….
- The person with 5 had maximized the potential and doubled it…so did the guy with 2 talents.
- He was called lazy because he buried his talent….
- He was identified as Wicked because the potential of that talent to be used for Good belonged to God… and because he buried his talent the Potential was never realized.
Close: The full Potential in the room belongs to God…
- If you are under the sound of my voice this morning…you have gifts, you have potential, you have stuff, you have capacity…and to say you don’t is denying the generosity of God.
- This church is filled with Incredible Talent…but it will still take Hard Work, to Actualize that talent…
- I hope this Church decides to live a life of
- Passion
- Commitment
- Intentionality
- If you have been living with this little voice in your head telling you that it is wrong to succeed, it’s wrong to achieve, it’s wrong to aspire to greatness, it’s wrong to live up to your full potential…what Jesus says, It is evil when you don’t.
- By the way…the guy who had:
- One talent went from $1.8 million to $0
- Two talent went from $3.6 million to $7.2 million
- Five talents went from $9million to $19.8 million
- I want to pray for those who are ready to take responsibility for all God has created you to become…but it first requires giving our lives to Christ.