Take the Risk | Body Builders, Pt. 2
This is how we build the body of Christ: we learn to take the resources, the talents, God has given us and creatively invest them in his Kingdom work. - Pastor Charlie Dates
Matthew 25:14-30
“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole 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. The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
“Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more talents.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’
“And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
“But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
“For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless servant into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This text is about a master who entrusts his possessions to his servants and goes away. Upon his return, he expects his servants to have done something meaningful with what they've been given.
Two servants actually went to work with what God gave them, and the other wasn't willing to do anything with it. He wasn't willing to take a risk.
If you want to grow, it requires risk. If you're going to mature in following Jesus, it involves risk.
The moment you stop taking risks is the moment you stagnate and die. If you're preoccupied with your own security, you'll never experience the adventure that is walking with God.
Matthew 25 describes a story Jesus told. Jesus told stories called parables so people could visualize His teaching. The parable in this text shows that Jesus has an issue with people who do nothing with what they've been given.
If you don't do anything with what God has given you, he will take what he gave and give it to someone who already has more. It doesn't seem fair, but God owns everything. Your job is to manage it. And when you mismanage it, he can come take it from you and give it to someone who will do what he wants them to do.
How do we know God owns everything? We see that people die and can't their take things with them. That’s because they don't truly own what they have.
Since God owns everything, what does that make us? We are stewards. We manage what is God's and are responsible for using it properly.
The story in the text is about faithfulness to an absent master who will return and wants an account of what his servants did with what he gave them.
In the parable, a talent was the largest unit of money in Jesus's day. Jesus used money in many of his parables because how you use money shows you where your heart is.
Your bank account and credit card statements are the most accurate display of where your heart really is.
Some of us give God less than what we wear to church.
What does God want you to do with the resources he gives you? He wants you to expand his kingdom interests.
A Change in Worldview
You have to stop seeing the things you have as yours. The glasses you wear, the car you drive, the place where you live, the air you breathe. They aren't yours.
God gave you his resources for his purposes.
Like the servants in the text, we've done nothing to earn what God has given us. God gave the talents to each servant based on their ability. He isn't concerned about the quantity but instead focuses on your ability to be faithful.
The master in the parable gives the servants a lot to manage. One talent was worth 6,000 days of wages for an average laborer or about 18 years of income.
However, he knew how much each servant could handle and distributed the money accordingly.
Likewise, God knows how much money each of us can handle. That's why some of us haven't had certain opportunities or don't have the amount of money we want.
He will entrust you with more if you're faithful with a little.
Five Stages of Your Personal Economy
Ron Blue says that most Americans fit into these five categories:
Struggling - barely making it.
Surviving - living paycheck to paycheck.
Stable - can handle where you are, but it's tight.
Secure - have more than just a little. Can handle emergencies.
Surplus - have more than enough.
He says we can move from struggling to surplus on our own. And those of us with surplus then move to significance.
You can have a significant amount but not be moving forward the kingdom agenda. God has goals, visions, and dreams for you, and he's equipped you with enough resources to accomplish those things. But many of us refuse to mature.
How Do We Mature?
God creates a little distance between him and you.
The master in the text goes away. The master had to leave for the servants to develop the skill to manage on their own.
Like a child learning to walk, the Father lets go of our hands so we can take steps on our own. He lets us learn how to use what he's been teaching us by giving us space.
God will endow you with resources and let you manage them alone.
If God came down and removed you from every tough situation, your faith would be weak or nonexistent. We have to thank God for our mountains and our valleys because the valleys are where we learn to depend on the Lord.
Taking Risks
God has given everybody something but hasn't given everybody the same thing. God may start you at a specific number, but he doesn't intend you to stay there.
Søren Kierkegaard was right when he said we humans are exactly alike and utterly different. The servants in the text are exactly alike. They received something to manage from their master that they did not earn.
At the same time, they are utterly different. We don't all have the same capacity, but we grow when we use the capacity God has given us.
God isn't asking you to go beyond your capacity. He's asking you to take a risk with the capacity you have.
People who are growing and taking risks see money as a river, not a reservoir. A reservoir has something coming in and nothing coming out.
When we use our money for the kingdom interests of God, treasure is stored for us in heaven. But many of us aren't sending anything to heaven because we spend all our money on earthly things.
God may not have given you much, but he gave you something. And he expects you to recognize that what he gave you is his and to be faithful with what you've been given.
Reflection Questions
In what ways do you identify with the different servants in the Parable of the Talents?
Are there areas in your life where you’re playing it safe instead of taking risks with what God has given you?
How does viewing your resources as God’s, rather than your own, change the way you think about managing them?
Take time this week to review your bank account and credit card statements. What do your spending habits reveal about your priorities? How can you better align them with God's Kingdom purposes?