I don’t know where Pastor Bill came up with this title, but I know he asked me to preach about it and he got out of town! Probably because I fit this description pretty well!  I am bad about tellingKay when something needs to be done, I’ll say, “I”m putting it on the list!” which means I am procrastinating. So, this message is for me and you just get to listen in!

This Parable by Jesus is set in the context of the second coming of Jesus. Earlier in the chapter, he used the Parable of the Ten Virgins waiting for the return of the bridegroom, and not havingextra oil for their lamps in case he came later in the night. At the end of the chapter, Jesus talks about the Separation of the Sheep and the Goats. And then verses 14-30 is the Parable of the Big “S”–not Salvation, but Stewardship.

He starts it off like this: “For the Kingdom of Heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.”

On the surface we might feel sorry for the one talent man, but a talent (“talaton”) was equalto 20 years of labor; and in today’s money, weighing 57 pounds, it would be worth $600,000 to $1 million dollars–not a little bit of change! Here’s a key: We need to think of the talent notjust as money, but as the innate abilities and skills that God has entrusted to us.

You know from hearing the reading about the five and two talent men; so, let’s focus on the one talent man, who was equipped with a vast amount of money, and equipped with appropriateabilities and skills that the Owner (God) gave to be used for Kingdom purposes. In reading this, I wondered; “Where did he go wrong?” because he didn’t lose the money in the Parable.

To me, it was his mindset that he imposed on himself. Listen to what he said: “Lord, I knew thee to be a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown , and gathering where thou hast no strewed: and I was afraid…”(v. 24). Solomon wrote, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he”(Proverbs 23:7). That thought, that perception of his owner, whom he called, Lord, led to fear and inaction.

Look at this way, he didn’t waste the money but wasted the opportunity to build something for thekingdom! And because of his inaction, he was judged slothful and lazy and what he had was taken away and given to another. I call it

“self-inflicted” reasoning.

What keeps us from using the talents, abilities , skills God has given us to use for His kingdom today? It may be our own false concept of God’s nature–seeing Him not as a loving Father as in the parable of the Prodigal Son; but as a stern taskmaster who expects stick obedience and no joy in living, harsh and hard. Or, maybe some past experience or cruel word was spoken over you and it lingers even today. Maybe they said: you’re stupid, or you can’t carry a tune in a bucket, or you haven’t got enough sense to do that. Remember, the owner (God) gave to each one according to his abilities–so we were not shortchanged–one talent is plenty!

Not what others think we should do with our talent; but what God thinks and what we feel God wants us to do! God’s commendation to those 5 and 2 talent men was simply, “well done, thougood and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler of many things (vv.21 & 23).” Actions used for the kingdom results in greater opportunities and responsibilities.

In writing to Timothy to encourage him, Paul wrote “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (I Timothy 1:7). Fear is what caused the onetalent man to bury his talent. Fear caused him and us to make the wrong decision. I saw this somewhere and it’s simple and true:

Fear…kills dreams. Doubts…kills confidence. Laziness…kills ambition.

Now read them backwards: Dreams…kills fear. Confidence…kills doubts. Ambition…kills laziness.

Now, let me share a couple of examples. Some, I’ve noticed here lately at Five Rivers. When theGov’t shut down, a call went out for pampers for families of first responders who were not getting paid. I saw dozens of boxes sitting over there.

Some may have thought that it costs too much and did nothing. But another call went out for empty egg cartons because Prodisee received a large donation of eggs and needed the cartons. Lately, some of us have brought our cartons! Then there was a call to help fund the upcoming mission teamto Costa Rica. And I think I saw Linda handing out “thank you notes” to those who have helped thus far. Small actions, but faithfulness in little things leads to God’s response for greater opportunities and blessings.

In one of our churches, a retired man went to the local grocery stores and collected all the rejected vegetables. He would go through them, discarding old leaves off cabbages, picking the best brownbananas, finding the best of the bruised tomatoes or potatoes; then bag them up and deliver them to a number of widows and elderly in the countryside.      Kay and I were even blessed on occasions.Back a few months ago, when I was limited by surgery, I looked out the window and a neighbor was mowing our yard; he’s a member of another church. Another neighbor pulled in the garbage cans.

A key to faithfulness in kingdom work is that God sees in secret and rewards openly (Matthew 6:1-4).  I read a statement by a 100 year old man who said that “people don’t remember how much money you had but how you treated them!” Jesus put it this way, what we often call the Golden Rule “Therefore all things, whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12). “Things” don’t just happen, you have to put action to them.

True, not everything works according to plan, but we have to be willing to adapt. Sometimes weare waiting for just the “right time” to act; but the temptation here is that in our minds we have more time–the owner may return today!

Recently one of our members shared about the Kairos Prison ministry and how they needed 1000 dozen cookies to give the men. Will many or any of those prisoners come to Christ? Some, maybeone; but like Paul preaching in Athens. He was waiting for Silas and Timothy to come; he preached on Mars Hill to those Greek philosophers. His message about Jesus, whose from the grave. Did that all believe him? No, “some mocked: and others said, we will hear thee again on this matter.Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius, and awoman named Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17: 32 & 34).

And then last Sunday, we heard about the impact Samaritan’s Purse, Christmas Shoe Box ministry has on children around the world. The testimony of the 9-year-old boy who received his first Christmas present. And now, as an adult, witnessing by video, the result of that simple Christianaction. One last example is Kidz Eatz that gives a small bag of food each weekend to 675 childrenin our local schools.

Now, where do we start afresh? We repent of our past reluctance to do those things He impressed on us to do: (Sins of omission); then with eyes on Jesus and our minds open to the Holy Spirit we look and listen to see where our next action is to be. It may be praying for someone, or our leadership here and in our country; it may be a physical action that we have neglected. Jesus tells us “ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened. And He added,“…how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:7,11). The emphasis here is not on a formula, but a living, growing relationship with our Heavenly Father.

And in the meantime, we keep our lamps lit, waiting for His return. Amen and Amen.