What Are You Afraid Of?

*this sermon was from March 2018
Matthew 25: 14-30 (NIV)
4 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.Come and share your master’s happiness!’22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
In this parable, Jesus is comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to a lord and his servants. Just for clarity, in this parable, when Jesus speaks of talents, he's talking about 15 years of wages per talent. Wow! What money, right? In the parable, we learn that one man gives his lord a 100% return on investment. He gets 5 talents and returns with 10. We learn another man received two and came back with two more. Think about this as an account of your stewardship. The man with two talents wasn't envious of the man with five talents because he realized that none of the talents actually belonged to him. We should be the same way because nothing that we have belongs to us. It belongs to God, and God blesses us according to our ability to handle it. Some folks have five talents, some folks have two talents and that's okay! Rev. Macon said during this sermon that "you don't have to have the best, but you have to give your best."  Let that sink in for a moment. A blessing that you aren't ready for can quickly become a course. Don't worry about your neighbor, worry about you! If God has given you two talents, use them!  When he sees your ready, he'll bless you with five. So, if you have two talents, one talent, or ten talents, don't be afraid to use what God has given you.
Remember, God didn't give anything everything, but he gave everything something.
Be blessed!