What Do You Have Buried?
Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:14-30
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who
called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave
five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own
ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 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. 18 But he who had
received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a
long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents,
saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more
talents besides them.’ 21 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.’ 22 He also who had received two talents
came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two
more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over
many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you
to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you
have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in
the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you
knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered
seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent
from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance;
but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And
cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.’
This parable focuses on the desire we all have to receive our own ‘well done’. Even
the most pessimistic person appreciates an ‘ataboy’. Many things in the world are
motivated by the human need for validation. So, in this parable from the mouth of the
Master, we hear about man going off on a long trip preparing his servants to handle
his things while he’s gone. He gives each servant what he feels they can handle and
he goes away on his journey. Now, as we analyze what happened, we’re going to
focus on the last servant who had only received one talent. The bottom line is that
the other two did what the master expected of them and the last one did not. Their
motivation was to get that ‘well done’ from the master while the one who hid the
money was motivated by fear.
Fear is so destructive as a motivator. I know you may have heard that the fear of
YHWH is the beginning of wisdom but that is a different type of fear. It’s more like a
reverence. That’s a healthy fear. The fear that my 10 yr old son has for his father is
an example of a healthy fear. If I ask him if he wants to do what I say right away or
wait for his father to come home, he will quickly do what I say. But he doesn’t fear
that his father will just be unjust toward him. He completely trusts his father and
knows that even if he does need to be punished, it’s because he is loved. He may
fear the punishment in a negative way, but he does not fear his father in that same
way; he trusts him. But you see, the servant who had received only one talent did
not trust his master. In fact, he basically called him a thief saying that he took what
wasn’t his to take. You see, the master could have hidden his own money, but that’s
not what he wanted.
Luke 11:11-13
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he
asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Our God is not a hard God. Everything that exists comes from him. We don’t know
how righteous or unrighteous this master from the parable was. Maybe he was harsh
and was a thief. But we do know that our Father in heaven is righteous and just, and
that His yoke is easy. In the book of Genesis we read that He has given dominion
over this earth to man. We are like the servants with the talents whose master is
away. He has given us each according to our own abilities and He expects us to use
what He has given us in order to benefit the kingdom. Hiding our talent in the ground
does no good for the kingdom.
1 Corinthians 14:12 - Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it
be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.
Whatever spiritual gifts we have received are for the edification of the church; for the
body of believers. Our God is a gentleman. He is not going to take back what He
has already given to man. We are His hands and feet in this world. It is through us
that the kingdom of God increases. If His people hide what He has given us, the
kingdom will not increase.
Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work
of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity
of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be
children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking
the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share,
causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
We each have our own function within the body of Messiah; the church. If we each
fulfill our function properly then the body works together well. But if we don’t, the
whole body suffers. Within the human body, the pancreas is a very small organ. It
has two main functions, it produces digestive enzymes to help properly digest your
food and it produces hormones; the most important being insulin. Now, if the
pancreas stops functioning properly, it’s going to affect other systems within your
body so that they don’t work properly either. The body may eventually die of
something that has little to do with the pancreas but it would still be the
malfunctioning pancreas that started the snowball effect downhill.
The same holds true within the church; the body of believers. We each have a
specific function that God has given for us to do and for the church to function at it’s
best, each of us has to do what we were made to do. This is all a part of praising
Him, blessing Him, rejoicing in Him, and testifying of Him with everything that we are.
We were made to worship Him completely in every facet of our existence.
Romans 12:3-8
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God
has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in
one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being
many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use
them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us
use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in
exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who
shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Whatever gifts God has endowed you with, you need to be using for the kingdom
right now. None of us is promised tomorrow. The gifts we have been blessed to
attain are for today. Tomorrow never gets here because just when you think you’re
getting to tomorrow, it becomes today. It is all about today when it comes to the
kingdom.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of
ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is
the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given
to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom
through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same
Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another
discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these
things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Since it is the same Spirit working within us, when we learn to truly crucify the flesh
and be led by the spirit, we will like every cell in our own body, be working toward the
same cause. It may seem like the heart is more important than the liver, but take
away the liver and that heart will surely fail because of it. We can’t look at our gifts
and compare them to that of another. It doesn’t work that way in God’s economy.
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and
He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say
to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their
abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all
the livelihood that she had.”
It was the amount that the widow gave that was compared to the rich people who had
given before she had, it was that she gave more because she gave of herself. That’s
what God wants from us; everything! Not in fear that He is harsh, but rather with trust
knowing that in His generosity anything you give will be multiplied back to you.
Malachi 3:8-9
8 “ Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘ In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
Most times this passage is used when discussing money. But a tenth is not always
about money. What about our time? Our offering is our self. There are 168 hours in
a week. Even if we only consider our waking hours, which is about 112 hours, more
than 10 hours a week should be focusing on God and the Kingdom. Are you robbing
God?
Malachi 1:13-14
13 You also say,
‘ Oh, what a weariness!’
And you sneer at it,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
“ And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?”
Says the LORD.
14 “ But cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“ And My name is to be feared among the nations.
Are you bringing the lame and sick or are you bringing you best? Are you using your
best stills to increase your bank account or to increase the Kingdom? What are you
offering?
I promised on this podcast, to include a link to the YouTube video I discussed in the
episode, so here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date April 6, 2008
Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:14-30
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who
called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15 And to one he gave
five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own
ability; and immediately he went on a journey. 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. 18 But he who had
received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. 19 After a
long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents,
saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more
talents besides them.’ 21 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.’ 22 He also who had received two talents
came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two
more talents besides them.’ 23 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful
servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over
many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you
to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you
have not scattered seed. 25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in
the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you
knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered
seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28 So take the talent
from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance;
but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And
cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.’
This parable focuses on the desire we all have to receive our own ‘well done’. Even
the most pessimistic person appreciates an ‘ataboy’. Many things in the world are
motivated by the human need for validation. So, in this parable from the mouth of the
Master, we hear about man going off on a long trip preparing his servants to handle
his things while he’s gone. He gives each servant what he feels they can handle and
he goes away on his journey. Now, as we analyze what happened, we’re going to
focus on the last servant who had only received one talent. The bottom line is that
the other two did what the master expected of them and the last one did not. Their
motivation was to get that ‘well done’ from the master while the one who hid the
money was motivated by fear.
Fear is so destructive as a motivator. I know you may have heard that the fear of
YHWH is the beginning of wisdom but that is a different type of fear. It’s more like a
reverence. That’s a healthy fear. The fear that my 10 yr old son has for his father is
an example of a healthy fear. If I ask him if he wants to do what I say right away or
wait for his father to come home, he will quickly do what I say. But he doesn’t fear
that his father will just be unjust toward him. He completely trusts his father and
knows that even if he does need to be punished, it’s because he is loved. He may
fear the punishment in a negative way, but he does not fear his father in that same
way; he trusts him. But you see, the servant who had received only one talent did
not trust his master. In fact, he basically called him a thief saying that he took what
wasn’t his to take. You see, the master could have hidden his own money, but that’s
not what he wanted.
Luke 11:11-13
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?
Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he
asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
Our God is not a hard God. Everything that exists comes from him. We don’t know
how righteous or unrighteous this master from the parable was. Maybe he was harsh
and was a thief. But we do know that our Father in heaven is righteous and just, and
that His yoke is easy. In the book of Genesis we read that He has given dominion
over this earth to man. We are like the servants with the talents whose master is
away. He has given us each according to our own abilities and He expects us to use
what He has given us in order to benefit the kingdom. Hiding our talent in the ground
does no good for the kingdom.
1 Corinthians 14:12 - Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it
be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.
Whatever spiritual gifts we have received are for the edification of the church; for the
body of believers. Our God is a gentleman. He is not going to take back what He
has already given to man. We are His hands and feet in this world. It is through us
that the kingdom of God increases. If His people hide what He has given us, the
kingdom will not increase.
Ephesians 4:11-16
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work
of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity
of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be
children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking
the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share,
causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
We each have our own function within the body of Messiah; the church. If we each
fulfill our function properly then the body works together well. But if we don’t, the
whole body suffers. Within the human body, the pancreas is a very small organ. It
has two main functions, it produces digestive enzymes to help properly digest your
food and it produces hormones; the most important being insulin. Now, if the
pancreas stops functioning properly, it’s going to affect other systems within your
body so that they don’t work properly either. The body may eventually die of
something that has little to do with the pancreas but it would still be the
malfunctioning pancreas that started the snowball effect downhill.
The same holds true within the church; the body of believers. We each have a
specific function that God has given for us to do and for the church to function at it’s
best, each of us has to do what we were made to do. This is all a part of praising
Him, blessing Him, rejoicing in Him, and testifying of Him with everything that we are.
We were made to worship Him completely in every facet of our existence.
Romans 12:3-8
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God
has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in
one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being
many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use
them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us
use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in
exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who
shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Whatever gifts God has endowed you with, you need to be using for the kingdom
right now. None of us is promised tomorrow. The gifts we have been blessed to
attain are for today. Tomorrow never gets here because just when you think you’re
getting to tomorrow, it becomes today. It is all about today when it comes to the
kingdom.
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of
ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is
the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given
to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom
through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, 9
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same
Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another
discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the
interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these
things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Since it is the same Spirit working within us, when we learn to truly crucify the flesh
and be led by the spirit, we will like every cell in our own body, be working toward the
same cause. It may seem like the heart is more important than the liver, but take
away the liver and that heart will surely fail because of it. We can’t look at our gifts
and compare them to that of another. It doesn’t work that way in God’s economy.
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and
He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say
to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their
abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all
the livelihood that she had.”
It was the amount that the widow gave that was compared to the rich people who had
given before she had, it was that she gave more because she gave of herself. That’s
what God wants from us; everything! Not in fear that He is harsh, but rather with trust
knowing that in His generosity anything you give will be multiplied back to you.
Malachi 3:8-9
8 “ Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me!
But you say,
‘ In what way have we robbed You?’
In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse,
For you have robbed Me,
Even this whole nation.
Most times this passage is used when discussing money. But a tenth is not always
about money. What about our time? Our offering is our self. There are 168 hours in
a week. Even if we only consider our waking hours, which is about 112 hours, more
than 10 hours a week should be focusing on God and the Kingdom. Are you robbing
God?
Malachi 1:13-14
13 You also say,
‘ Oh, what a weariness!’
And you sneer at it,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
“ And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?”
Says the LORD.
14 “ But cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“ And My name is to be feared among the nations.
Are you bringing the lame and sick or are you bringing you best? Are you using your
best stills to increase your bank account or to increase the Kingdom? What are you
offering?
I promised on this podcast, to include a link to the YouTube video I discussed in the
episode, so here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date April 6, 2008
