Unopened Gifts

 Matthew 25:14-30 The parable of the Talents.

14 “For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents;[a] to another, two; and to another, one—to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately 16 the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. 17 In the same way the man with two earned two more. 18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

19 “After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I’ve earned five more talents.’

21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!’

22 “Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I’ve earned two more talents.’

23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy!’

24 “Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.’

26 “But his master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy slave! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27 then[b] you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money[c] back with interest.

28 “‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

First let's look at the magnitude of what the master gave them. A talent was a large sum of money equal to $6,000 denarii. In that day 1 denarii was a typical day's wage. 1 talent = 16.4 years income. So for the one he gave 5 talents to he gave him the equivalent of  82 years income. For the one with 2 talents, he got 49.3 years worth income. And the 1 that got one got 16.4 years worth.  Now according to my calculations using the 2024 average annual income for TN of $85,000 the one with 5 talents got the equivalent of $6.97 million,  the one with 2 talents got $4,190,500.00 and the one with one talent got $1,394,000.00. All totalling $12,554,500.00 in today's money.

So now let's think of the servants. I wonder if they ever were out working and thought “ man if I just had a chance, I would buy a bunch of chariots and deliver food to people. We’ll call it “Jewber Eats” . I bet it would make a fortune. If I only had the money”... maybe they were looking for a life changing opportunity and when the master gave them the money they thought “this is it!” and then it's very successful and they double the masters money. 

But then there's the one… Imagine if you will, someone gives you a gift. Its all wrapped up in a nice box. You don't know what it is inside but it looks nice. You don't open it but you take it home and put it in the closet, Not knowing that what's inside the box would change your life. But you never open it.

- Do we blame the giver of the gift for not working to help your situation when we never opened it?

When we look at the ones who did something with the money, we tend to look at the reaction as a financial reward: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a little now I will put you in charge of many things” but look at what it doesnt say. It doesn't say you did a good job, now go retire and live out your days doing nothing. No, it says you did a good job. Now I know you are ready to go to work. Now you have learned to trust me and learned that I will provide it all so now I'm going to use you to do things you can't imagine. 

But if we bury the talent , if we don't open the box, we miss out on the opportunities God has in store for your life. 

I believe there to be three main reasons people don't open the gift. 

Comparison, Fear and Complacency.  

Comparison being that my box isn't as big as theirs. Or seem to be as fancy.  But when we look at the servants and how the master divided the talents up it wasn't out of chance. He gave to each of them based on prior experience and their level of commitment to handle it. He didn't just arbitrarily pick one to give 5 and the other got 1. It was based on the wisdom of the master in knowing his people.  It wasn't the amount that the servants were given that earned them the praise of the master but their willingness to put it to use. 

Fear , we say we want God to do stuff but we don't really want to let him. Fear that we aren't good enough or know the right things to say or do. When God created you, he did not create you like the ikea furniture at my house that came with a bunch of unnecessary parts and extra pieces. Every part of you was specifically crafted for you to use. It's easy to feel like we don't know what our gifts are. My belief is that every need that you are aware of is an opportunity for God to reveal your gifts. It may only be for a season but being willing to step out of our comfort zone and allow God to use us where he needs us is part of the “deposit with the bankers” that Jesus refers to. 

Complacency, have you ever given someone a gift that they didn't use? Does it make you feel happy? Complacency may be the most dangerous of them all. I know God has called me, I know I'm needed but I'm happy sitting in my own life. And maybe that's fine with you. Maybe you're ok with sitting back and watching others do the work. But the hard reality is it's not fine with the master.  How much joy does it bring you to see someone using something you gave them. I think of the joy I see on my kids face when she is riding the bike she got for Christmas and it makes me happy.  But when we see the things we have given to people get thrown away or just sit in the closet, it makes us wonder why we gave it to them. God doesn't wonder why, but it does grieve the master when he gives opportunities and we bury them. 

Fortunately Jesus give us an easy way to begin using the gift. “Deposit it in the Bank” means to help within. There is a statistic in churches that 20% of the people do 80% of the work and its because we have buried the talents, we have put the box in the closet.  

Its time that we as the body of Christ begin to invest in the bank. Maybe you know what your gifts are. Its time to use them. Maybe you don't, it's time to find an area to serve in and watch the master honor your efforts and begin to show you where your strengths are.