Wasted Talent

The topic of our discussion last Monday was "Wasted Talent".  We looked at the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.  The first two servants used the talents their master gave them, while the third one was lazy and wicked and did not work.  God expects us to use our skills and our abilities for His service and we need to do just that.  It does not matter when we have five skills, two skills or just one.  What matters is what we do with them.

Here are the notes of our discussion.

October 24, 2011

Wasted Talent

We are introduced to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.  Jesus has already given an example of what will the Kingdom of Heaven be like earlier in this chapter, when he talked about the parable of then maidens, five of which run out of oil, verses 1-13.  They were not prepared for the coming of the bridegroom.

Then, Jesus begins this section, with the word “again”, hinting that he is going to tell them another story to illustrate the same idea, what will the Kingdom of Heaven be like.  This shows us that the meaning of the parable is related not to talents as money, but to talents in the sense of what God has entrusted us and how are we using that for the benefit of the Kingdom of Heaven.

1.         Discover your talent

The first point I would like to make is that we all need to discover our talents.  In the parable – verses 14-15 – a man traveling to a far country calls three servants and gave the first one five talents, the second one two, and the third one one, each according to his own ability.  The talent was a considerable amount of money, that was the wage of a common man for about twenty years.

The rich man, the master, knew his servants.  He perhaps picked them when he hired them because of their abilities.  He knew what each of them could do and could not do.  So, he did not give them more than they could handle or less than they could handle.

God created us and He knows us individually.  He knows what our abilities are, what we can do and what we cannot do.  He knows what to expect from us.  We are born with different abilities and skills, but the amount is not important, it is what we do with those that matters.

Also note that the talents did not belong to the servants, they did not owe them.  Instead, they were trusted to them by their master and they knew the expectation that they would have to return not only the talents they received, but also something more, something for which they used their talents.

Now, what is your talent?  What abilities or God has given you?  How do you know?

Well, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks at length about the spiritual gifts that the church in Corinth had been blessed with.  Apparently, there was some who were not happy with the gift they had been given.  In clarifying this situation, Paul says in verses 4:6:

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

In the next few verses, Paul explains that some people are given a message of wisdom, some of knowledge, some of faith, others have gifts of healing, others miraculous powers, and so on.

While we may not have these miraculous powers today, we do have the skills and the abilities that God has given us.  Examine yourself and see what you are good at.  See what you know how to do and how well can you do it.

Sometimes, discovering a talent you have requires going into a new territory.  Imagine if you lived in the mountains and never saw the ocean.  You don’t know how to swim, because you have never been in the water, have never been taught, have never gotten your feet wet.  But then, you move to an coastal town and you start going to the beach, and see other people swim, and then your friends teach you and a few weeks later your swimming like a fish. 

At times discovering our talent means moving out of our comfort zone and into new territory.  It is not called discovery in vain, you find out something you didn’t know about yourself.

Perhaps you are good with money and can keep your family on a budget and also able to save some money.  Think how you can use this talent in the service of the Lord.

Perhaps you are good at encouraging people, at finding the best in what they do and in building them up.  How can you use this talent in the church?

Perhaps you are good at sharing your faith with your coworkers.  You may not be good at public speaking or singing, but you can still invite people to church or other activities and find a way to affect them positively with the Word of God.

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 12:12: 12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  Then, in verse 18: 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.

We are all the body of Christ and we should all do our part.  Whether we are the mouth the speaks the message, the eye that looks out for visitors, the ear that listens for the needs of the people, the hand that helps them or the foot that goes and visits them in their need, we all have a role to play with our talents.

2.         Use your talent

Once discovered, you need to use your talent.  In the parable, in verses 16-17: 16 Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. 17 And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.

Both these servants worked.  They did not sit around and stare at their talents, or show them off to their friends or enemies.  They were not proud of the talents given to them, but they humbly considered this as a part of their job.

Let us remember that these talents were not theirs, but of their owner, who expected something of them.  When God gives us our talents, our skills and our abilities, he expects us to use them.  Whether we are successful in our use of them is not really important.  The important thing is that we use them.

If you are the eye or the eyes of the body, you cannot be asleep the entire time.  If you are the hand, you cannot be resting the entire time.  There is a time and a place for everything, says Ecclesiastes 3:1, and we need to make sure that our talents are in use.

In Matthew 25:35-40, we read: 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Remembering that everything we do for other people, we actually do for God motivates us to go out there and use our talents to the fullest.

It is important to note here the good use versus the bad use or the misuse.  While we are all blessed with different talents, their use, like their discovery, will need some time and some training.  Einstein is quoted to have said that “genius is 1 percent talent and 99 percent hard work”.  While we may strive to perfection in our service to our Lord, we will make mistakes and will stumble as we use our talents in His service.  This is quite normal, something to expect and something not to be ashamed or afraid.

If you teach a lesson for the first time, you will make some mistakes, but this should not be a reason for you to shut your abilities and never teach again.

When you encourage people, serve them, invite them to your homes, help them with donations or whatever way that you trying to reach them, you will make mistakes, but you can learn from them and from other people who have done similar activities before and grown.

On the other hand, perhaps you are a very good speaker, but this talent can easily be misused and abused in gossip.  Proverbs 26:20 teaches us that: Without wood a fire goes out; without a gossip a quarrel dies down. 

Pretty much every talent that God has given you can be used in a bad way or abused. 

If you are the eye, you may be tempted to look at inappropriate things.  As the mouth, you may say things that hurt people, instead of building them up.  As the hand, you may steal the things you are supposed to share and cause people to stumble and sin.

Remember that in the parable, the first two servants used their talents wisely.  They were not involved in any misuse or abuse of their money and they brought in good profit for their master.  In return, in verses 21 and 23 of Matthew 25, their lord or master told them: His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

If you have noticed that you are not growing, that you are not being trusted with much, perhaps it is because you have not been faithful with few things.  We all have to start small and as we use our talents, we improve them, we grow and God will trust us with bigger and more important tasks as we serve in His kingdom.

3.         Do not waste your talent

Finally, do not waste your talent.  In the parable, verses 24-25, we see that the last servant hid the talent in the ground.  He did not use it to trade and he also did not allow other people to use his talent.  In the words of his master, recorded in verse 27, the last servant could have put the money in the charge of the bankers and had received some profit for his master.

But he did not do that.  He did work, he dug a hole and shut down his talent, but this work did not allow for his talent to be used.  And he also finds an excuse for his lack of work, accusing the master of being a hard man and sowing and gathering where he did not seed?  But the truth was that the master gave the last servant one talent, enough money for twenty years of salary of a common man and the servant did not do anything with it.

We should strife our best not to be like the last servant.  We can find many excuses why are talents are not being used.  We can blame God as a hard master, especially when things do not go in accordance with our human plans.  We can blame our lack of this or of that, lack of time, lack of money, lack of tools, lack of energy, being too busy with our human families, with work, sports, hobbies, wives, etc. 

Still, the truth is that God expects us to use our talents and not to waste them.  Many times in life something happens because some stands up and talk, takes a stand about something, uses their words, their hands, their feet, to do something they believe in.  Inaction cannot bring about the spreading of the word of God.  We are commanded to go into all the worlds and let our light shine before men, so that they can glorify our Father in heaven.

Conclusions

If our talents are wasted, we will meet the fate of the last servant, cast into outer darkness.  Do we want to be like that?  Do we want to hide our talents, bury them in a hole, because we are scarred of using them?  Or do we want to stand up, use what God has given us and honor him with the talents He has given us?