Different Ingredients, Same Expectation

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“Whose dish is on the chopping block?”

Those are the famous words on the TV Show - Chopped.

Chopped is a TV show where four contestants are given a basket of random ingredients like a Honey Crisp Apple, Grated Parmesan Cheese, Pepperoncini, and Blueberry Preserve.

The contestants can make whatever they want with the ingredients, the only expectation is that they make something out of the ingredients that they are given.

Analogy

The same thing is true in each of our lives.

God gives us a basket full of gifts, and he gives us the freedom to make whatever we want to make out of the gifts, God’s only expectation is that we make something out of the gifts that glorifies him.

Advent Introduction

Title - Come To The Table

Each week, we’re exploring one of Jesus’s parables to that call us to prepare, to live with urgency, and with purpose.

We’re using the image of a dinner table to capture the truth of each message.

Today’s Message

Message Title

Different Ingredients, Same Expectation

Parable

Jesus tells the story of a three guys who each received an incredible basket of gifts from their master. Two of the guys did something with their basket of gifts but the third guy didn’t.

Big Idea

God gives different gifts to different people that he expects us to use!

Encouragement!

Don’t neglect your gifts - Let them define you! (Romans 16)

Context of Matthew 25 (Open to Matthew 21) #977

Jesus’s earthly ministry is coming to a rapid end.

Jesus is in the final week of his earthly life.

Matthew 21

Jesus entered Jerusalem triumphantly on Palm Sunday and his authority is immediately challenged by the religious leaders: Scribes and Pharisees.

Part of the reason the Scribes and Pharisees challenged Jesus is because they didn’t like the fact that Jesus knew more than them!

At this time in the world, people didn’t have personal bibles like we do today.

This meant that the people of Israel were dependent upon the Scribes and Pharisees for a knowledge of God’s word.

But now there’s a new guy who is teaching better than them, and they didn’t like that!

Matthew 23

Jesus was frustrated with the Scribes and Pharisees because they weren’t willing to live out what they taught. He calls them hypocrites seven times!

Matthew 24

Jesus leaves the temple. He looks up and says all this will be destroyed. His disciples ask: When is this going to happen?

Jesus knows that he will soon be crucified and so he starts talking about a future time when he won’t be there.

During this time when I’m not here people will claim to be me, there will be war and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, Christians will be persecuted, and the city of Jerusalem will be destroyed.

This in-between period, Jesus says, will be hard and full of tribulations. We are living through these times right now. The world has been living in this tribulation period since Jesus returned to the Father.

But don’t worry because I’m coming back! But only God the Father knows exactly when I’m going to come back.

It will be like a thief coming in the night, catch you off guard and so that mean you must live your lives expectantly.

The Text of Matthew 25:14-30 #983

Matthew 25:14–30 ““For it [my second coming] 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.

16 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.

19 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 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.’ 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, 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 reap where I have not sown and gather where I 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 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.’”

Sometimes my kids and I play Monopoly.

When you play Monopoly, you start the game with a certain amount of money.

When we first started playing, neither Luke nor Evelyn wanted to give up any of the money they were given. They would land on a spot but rather than buy it, they would hang on to the money.

Well dad had a different strategy. Dad bought everything he landed on.

After a couple trips around the board, my kids learned that if they don’t use their money, they will lose their money because dad owns half the board!

When you don’t use what you’ve been given, you will lose it.

Big Idea: God gives different gifts to different people that he expects us to use!

Matthew 25:15 “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”

Talent?

A talent was a unit of measurement that represented approximately 20 years average household income.

Average household income in America is $83K.

One talent = $1.66M.

Two talents = $3.32M.

Five talents = $8.3M.

We’re talking about massive amounts of money.

Generosity of the Master?

This Master is incredibly generous!

Has anyone ever had a boss that said, “Here’s $8.3M to invest!”

“According to Their Ability”

This master gives out gifts to his servants according to the ability of each servant.

Now, right away if that offends you, then pay attention to that because you might be wrestling with the same things that the third servant wrestled with.

Instead, you might be relieved to hear that God gifts according to our ability which is meant to be comforting because God will not give us more than we can handle. And it also means that God does not hold us accountable for what we have not been given.

If you don’t use what God has given to you, then he will take it away.

Matthew 25:28 “So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.”

Examples of God giving and taking away

Religious Leaders

Putting ourselves in Jesus’s frame of mind for just a moment, when Jesus told this parable he probably had the religious leaders in mind because they were the ones who had been given a tremendous gift!

They were given an understanding of God’s word!

They were the ones entrusted with the Word of God, to teach it and preach it and to advance God’s Kingdom to all ends of the earth.

But they used God’s word as a club, making thousands and thousands of these ridiculous bylaws that were a burden to people.

Because they didn’t use what God gave to them, he took it away because the very Word of God stood before them and they didn’t recognize him.

Saul

Saul was gifted with the Kingdom of Israel.

God’s Holy Spirit lived in Saul to give him wisdom and understanding.

But Saul didn’t use what he was given, and God took the kingdom of Israel away from him and gave it to someone else.

Jewish People

Jewish people were entrusted with the very words of God.

God said that he strategically placed them in a land that was surrounded by many other nations so that they would be the light of the world, the salt of the earth.

They were supposed to draw others to the light and teach others how to love and worship God.

But they didn’t do that! And so God said, I’m taking away what I gave to you and sending you away to live in some far-off land.

Biblical Theology

They Received Riches

God rescued the people of Israel from slavery. He pulled them out of Egypt. He saved them by grace! And then gave them instructions on how to live their lives.

In ancient Israel, God dwelled in the middle of his people at the temple (The Glory of the Lord, smoke filled the temple).

Because at the temple, there was this thing called the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant was the most special part of Israel because inside the ark were the Ten Commandments - Decalogue, The Ten Words of God.

The people of Israel received riches of God’s grace, mercy, redemption, salvation, and understanding of how to live their grateful for what God had done for them, and they were supposed to teach others.

But they didn’t invest in those gifts. They lost what they had been given.

We Received Riches

God rescued you from slavery to sin. He pulled you out of the darkness. He saved you by grace! And then he gave you instructions on how to live your life.

God dwells in the middle of his people in your heart! He wrote his word on your heart!

Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,”

Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

Ephesians 1:11 “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,”

You have received God’s grace, mercy, redemption, salvation, and understanding of how to live your grateful for what God has done for you, and you are supposed to teach others!

If you use what God has given to you, then he will give you more!

Matthew 25:28 “So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.”

Examples of God giving more!

David

David was an afterthought, even to his own family.

What he had wasn’t much but he was willing to use it for God’s glory and so God pulled him from the fields and placed him in the Throne Room, making him the King of Israel.

Disciples

These guys were stinky, dirty, and uneducated fishermen.

They had basically nothing to offer except a few willing hearts and two fish.

But God turned them into fishers of men who changed the world.

More of What?!

Encouragement. When you use what God has given to you, then he will give you more encouragement! - Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!”

The master said to two of the servants, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”

I’m not someone who suffers from depression and I’m thankful for that because I know that depression can be awful and debilitating.

But sometimes I get discouraged.

Discouragement is one of my biggest enemies: It’s like a huge boulder that sits on my back, constantly.

Sometimes people will encourage me, and I feel that stone roll away. But it only rolls away for a moment because for every compliment there are many more criticisms.

I’m learning that if I live my life looking to the praise of others as my source of encouragement, then I will be discouraged because as quickly as the praise of man comes, it goes away even quicker.

Instead, I must remember that I’m performing for an audience of one - My Lord. And his encouragement is the only encouragement that matters.

What’s true for me is true for you.

When you’re discouraged, don’t look for praise from others because it will only leave you discouraged.

Keep working hard for the kingdom, looking forward to that day when Jesus blesses you with the only encouragement you’ll ever need - “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Responsibility. When you use what God has given to you, he will give you more responsibility - Matthew 25:21 “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.”

After Jesus says, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” he says, “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.”

My oldest son (9) is hungry for responsibility. He mows parts of the grass now, but he wants to mow all of it. He likes to put wood on the woodstove, but he wants to build the fire himself. He likes to shoot his BB gun, but he wants to go hunting all by himself in the woods. He’s hungry for bigger jobs.

There’s a relationship between Responsibility and Maturity. Researchers asked why people mature later? Most parents withhold responsibility because they don’t believe their children are mature enough. But what the researchers discovered is that when you withhold responsibility from your kids, they don’t mature. The way to help children mature, is to give them more responsibility.

The reward for a job well done in the Kingdom is never, “Sit back, relax, and take it easy.” Instead, the reward is here’s a bigger job! More responsibility! Why?! Because God wants you to keep maturing. He’ got a plan for you!

Servants of Jesus Christ are never passive. They never sit idle. They don’t stay the same. They’re never satisfied with “Well, this is good enough.”

They are always active, working for the good of the Kingdom. One commentator put it this way, “Heavenly rewards are not beds of rest; they are posts of duty.”

Joy. When you use what God has given to you, he will give you more joy. - Matthew 25:21 “Enter into the joy of your master.’”

It doesn’t say the joy of heaven, it says the joy of your master.

I don’t think that we fully understand what this joy will be like. How could we right now?!

My best guess is that this joy refers to the joy that comes from watching the things that you put together work exactly the way you intended them to work.

Every Christian has similar and unique gifts!

Similar

The similar gifts refer to the gift of salvation, grace, mercy, redemption.

Unique

The unique gifts are the ways God gifts you for the work of the Kingdom.

The Meaning of The Parable

The parable’s meaning is this: God gives different gifts to different people according to their ability. He gives more to some, and less to others. But whatever gifts He gives, He expects us to use them.

If He gives us land, He expects us to diligently raise crops.

If He gives us the chance to study, He expects us to study hard.

If He gives us the gift of teaching, or of leadership, then we must teach and lead diligently and wisely.

If He gives us wealth, we must use it in His kingdom.

If He gives us a heart to serve, then we must serve faithfully.

God doesn’t expect everyone to return the same amount to Him, but He does expect that we return to Him all that we can.

Ways to discover my Spiritual Gift? #1123

Romans 12:3 “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 according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

Self-Reflection.

Paul wants us to think about ourselves with sober judgement with regard to spiritual gifts.

You can discover your spiritual gifts by asking questions like:

What do I enjoy doing?

What kind of ministry is satisfying and attractive to me?

Am I energized by counseling others? Am I energized by greeting and meeting new people!

What kind of ministry drains me?

Am I drained by studying and reading books?

Do I feel a burden for a specific cause, like the poor?

Do I notice problems that no one else seems to see?

It’s possible that your sensitive to the kinds of needs that God has called you to meet!

Do others see the same gifting in me?

No one has ever told me that I have a great singing voice.

Jimmy has never asked me to sing.

Probably not my gifting!

Romans 12:4–6 “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them!

Experience.

Paul says we need to use our gifts.

“In general, you don’t learn your gifts before you do ministry. You learn your gifts as you minister. Do you think you have a set of gifts in a particular area? Well, work in that area.”

You’re going to learn how God has gifted you by doing the work of ministry.

I’ve learned that interacting with a whole bunch of people puts me out of my comfort zone. I feel most satisfied when I can serve quietly in the background, watching others enjoy my works of preparation and serving.

Don’t Neglect Your Gift - Let Your Gift Define You!

1 Timothy 4:14 “Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you.”

2 Timothy 1:6 “I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,”

Do everything you can to be defined by salvation, mercy, grace.

Do everything you can to be defined as a servant, teacher, leader, encourager.

Do everything you can to be defined by Christ.

Relate to Jesus

When Paul talks about gifts, he talks about them in relation to sacrifice.

Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross so that we might receive riches, gifts!

Closing Illustration

God has given each of us gifts, our gifts differ from one another.

Some have more, some have less.

God doesn’t expect us to produce the same things, but he does expect us to use what he has given to us!