Heart for the House - The Gifts of God

Talents

Also Talents in our Spiritual lives

Matthew 25:14–15 ESV

“For it 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.

Talents are Not Divided Equally

1 Corinthians 12:1–11 ESV

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

The currency of the day was Roman, and a Roman talent was the top tier of the currency tree So the master gives money to his servants. And this money isn’t equally distributed. One servant receives five talents; another receives only one. The point here isn’t the amount given, but what the servants do with the gifts. So often we go through life with the attitude that God can have our life but not our time, money, or talents and gifts. But here we see that everything we have is a gift from God....no matter if we are talking talents as in money or talents as in those thigs that we are good at, they are both gifts from God Himself, not somethingthat we have somehow made or developed on our own.. “Your” talents are not “yours,” They are a gift from God, and one he is entrusting to you.

God Wants you to do Something With Your Talents

Matthew 25:16–18 ESV

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.

The next takeaway from this message is that God wants you to do something with your talents. Don’t just say thank you and then do nothing! Imagine if you were attending a birthday party for a child you dearly love. You’ve purchased a toy for them, and it is exactly what they wanted; and it requires no batteries or assembly. Now imagine if you give it to them, they open it, and then they set it aside. You see them a week or so later and ask if they are enjoying the toy, and they say no, they haven’t played with it. You’d be puzzled; this isn’t a natural reaction to such a gift! God doesn’t want us to receive this gift of money and do nothing with it.

God Rewards Those Who Use the Talents He has Given

Matthew 25:19–29 ESV

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.’ 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.

In fact, the parable seems to imply that God wants us to step out in faith with the gifts he has given us. He wants us to take a leap of faith with his possessions. Two of the servants doubled the money the master had given them and presented the original sum plus their earnings back to the master upon his return (vv. 20–23). Both of them are rewarded for their work. But the third servant dug a hole in the ground and buried the money, doing nothing and earning nothing (v. 17). And what does the master do for the one who took the do-nothing approach? He rebukes him (v. 26)! The master rewards those who took a risk but punishes the one who did nothing. It’s remarkable to think that maybe, just maybe, Jesus is teaching us that God wants us to take risks with the giftsthat he has given us.

Now that is a scary thought! It is uncomfortable to take risks and step out in faith that was exactly what we saw from the servant with the one talent

Matthew 25:25 ESV

so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’

But sometimes our objections to living generously and to taking wise risks are rooted in fear. Life always involves risk, but fear can paralyze us into inaction lest we fail to make the perfect decision. Think of the servant’s excuse in this parable: “So I was afraid” (v. 25). He was afraid to do anything with the gift he had been given. He hoarded it rather than making wise choices and trying something. Is your understanding of God rooted in the revelation that is Scripture? Do you live in fear about how to proceed with the gifts he has given you? Or are you willing to take carefully considered, biblically informed risks with what he has entrusted to you?

6. A time will come when God calls us to account for how we have managed what he has given us. Did we hoard, or did we invest? In the parable, after a long time, the master returns (v. 19). Notice that he never says how long he’ll be gone. We never know when Jesus will return, or when we’ll be called home. But it will happen. The master assembles his servants and they let him know what they have done with the time and the gifts entrusted to them. What are you doing with your life? Is it an endless cycle of monotony with no purpose? Or are you living for God? Are you glorifying him with your life? What are you doing with what God has entrusted to you? Are you taking risks? Are you seeking to grow the kingdom? A key point not to miss in this parable is that the servants give it back to God—all of it, including what they earned. When we spend our money, we have a chance to put it toward something that grows the kingdom of God. Do not let fear paralyze you into inaction. Today is a day when a decision can be made to take a risk with what God has entrusted to you, to the end that when you see him, you can say, “Master, this is what you gave me, and this is what I have done to grow it for you.”