Talents

Matthew 25:14–28 ESV

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who 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.’ 21 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.’ 22 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.’ 23 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.’ 24 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, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 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. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

Intro

**The Amazing Adventure of Sammy the Sock**

Sammy was a bright blue sock with a white lightning bolt stitched on his side. He lived a cozy life in the top drawer, snug next to his twin brother, Silas. Every day they waited patiently for adventure — and today, it finally came.

It started with a thud and a whirl: Laundry Day. Sammy and Silas were tossed into a basket, carried downstairs, and stuffed into the belly of the washing machine. The lid slammed shut. Darkness fell.

At first, Sammy was thrilled — spinning, swishing, and splashing through warm, soapy water! It felt like riding a water slide. He laughed and twirled with Silas at his side. But then, disaster struck.

The machine shifted into “Spin Cycle.” A sudden *WHAM!* sent socks flying everywhere. Sammy lost hold of Silas.

“Silas?!” he shouted, but the roar of the machine drowned him out.

Spinning alone, Sammy tumbled into a hidden trapdoor near the bottom of the washer — a tiny crack where only the smallest socks slipped through. He tumbled through pipes, raced down slippery tunnels, and plopped into a secret chamber deep inside the machine: the Land of Lost Laundry.

Here, unmatched socks wandered aimlessly. A grizzled old mitten approached. “Another newcomer, eh? Welcome to the Forgotten Fold.”

Sammy panicked. “No! I have to get back! I have a twin!”

The mitten shook its threadbare head. “Many of us have lost our twins. Best to accept it.”

But Sammy refused. He believed there had to be a way back.

He teamed up with a clever, slightly damp scarf named Sally. Together, they navigated the treacherous Undersuds Swamps and outwitted the notorious Stain Gang. They climbed the Tower of Tangles, an enormous column of wrapped-up clothes and rogue shoelaces.

Finally, at the top, Sammy spotted a thin beam of light — the escape hatch to the laundry room.

With a mighty leap, Sammy soared through the hatch… and landed not in the laundry room, but inside the dryer, where Silas was already tumbling around, dazed but smiling.

“You made it!” Silas cried.

As the warm air swirled around them, Sammy realized something important: Sometimes, even when everything spins out of control, you have to trust, be brave, and never give up — because even if you lose your way, persistence can bring you home.

From that day on, Sammy wore his slightly frayed lightning bolt like a badge of honor — a reminder that even a sock can be a hero.

**The End.**

Jesus is in the middle of telling parables that describes the kingdom of God. He wants people to be able to understand how God operates and how we can operate as a citizen of this kingdom. Jesus used parables to be able to relate to the people that he was talking to. A parable is a story that can be “PAIRED” with a truth so that a person can understand and relate to it. In other words a way to understand it is that it is a “PAIR-ABLE” story. Let’s break this parable down.

Use what you have

Where did it come from?

James 1:17 ESV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

You have to use what God has given you.

How should we use what God has given us?

1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Looking back at these verses we find two ways we are to use our gifts. 1. to glorify God. and 2. to serve each other. This sounds a lot like what Jesus said were the two greatest commandments to: Love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Using what God has given us (time, talent, resources, knowledge) to glorify him and love our neighbor helps us fulfill these commandments.

Why didn’t you get what they have?

1 Peter 4:10 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

God gives gifts according to his grace. Maybe it is his grace that kept you from getting what someone else has. You don’t know what they had to do through to get what they have. Maybe if God would have given that “talent” to you it would have broken you. We see in the Matthew that he gave talents according to each one’s “abilities”. The master knows what each servant is capable of. Its not about favorites. It’s not about being unfair. being unfair would be setting you up for failure. You see, the master wasn’t witholding anything from the second 2 servants. He was equipping them to be successful in their own ways according to how they were designed and his purpose for their life. Success is not defined by what you have, its how you use what you have been given.

Power of Faithfulness

This is a story about being faithful, not getting increase

The reward of faithfulness in your life is increase. When you are faithful with what God has placed in your hands, He will bless you by taking you to the next level. We even see today in Matthew that the faithful servants were at a minimum doubled in their blessing.

Perhaps the reason some people feel stuck today is not because God has forgotten you, but maybe its because you have taken what you have and buried it.

Why do we bury what God has given us?

This third servant buried the talent for one obvious reason, He was afraid. He was scared of what might happen if he took a risk and commited to doing something that would cause him to loose the talent he was given. He thought it would be better to just sit on it and bury it so that it would stay hidden and safe. Nobody could steal it, he couldn’t lose it, and he didn’t have to actually do anything.

Maybe he compared his talent to the talents of the other servants and thought because it was less than what they had that it wasn’t even worth the effort because in his eyes “it will never amount to what they can do”. Notice that the master never said how much he wanted in return. He just expected them to do the best they could with what they had. That is all God wants from us. He just wants us to take what we have in our hand and steward it the best we can.

Why might you have buried what God has given you?

Increase means increase in responsibility

Everyone says they want more, what they want is more harvest, They don’t want more fields to tend.

You can’t have one without the other. Notice the faithful servants didn’t get to just keep the profit they made. They were actually given more responsibility. They were “set over” or made “ruler of” much! They recieved more responsibility. Everyone wants more until they have to take care of what they have been given.

Which servant are you?

Do you use what God has given you?

Or do you complain? Make excuses? Lazy? Fearful?

Maybe the last servant with one talent didn’t feel he had enough to accomplish what the other servants could

afraid to lose that talent, take risk