Fan Into Flames the Gift of God

I was honored to preach this sermon at Living Hope Community Church on May 5, 2024.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 2:10

We are not saved by works, but we are saved for works. God has work for us to do! God doesn’t need us to do work for him – he’s God; omnipotent, all-powerful, all things are under his authority. He can handle the work by himself. He’s got it under control. But God invites us to join him in his work – the work God himself is doing. What an overwhelming privilege and honor to join God in his work!

And what is that work? God is on a mission to repair the world. In case you haven’t noticed, the world is broken. War. Hate. Poverty. Racism. Greed. Injustice. There is so much wrong with the world as a result of human sin – as a result of bad decisions that human beings have made.

But God has a plan to repair the world through his Son Jesus Christ. God sent his Son first to redeem us from our sins by dying in our place upon the cross. He will send his Son again to make everything wrong with the world right. He will bring peace and justice to the whole world. In that day, as it says in Revelation 21:4, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

One day, Jesus will rule the world and make everything wrong with the world right. And although that final consummation of God’s kingdom won’t occur until Jesus returns, there is a sense in which God’s kingdom is breaking into our world right here and right now. The Bible says that we are ambassadors for Christ. We represent God’s kingdom to the world by showing people what God’s kingdom of peace and justice looks like. We do this by serving those in need and extending to them God’s love, forgiveness, patience, and grace.

We’re not saved by the works that we do. We’re saved by grace. Our salvation is fully paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross. Nevertheless, there is work to do. We’re saved for works – saved so that we may have the privilege of joining with God in the work that he is doing to repair the world. There is work for us to do. We are called to do the work of an ambassador for the kingdom. And when Jesus returns to rule the world, we will be rewarded or reprimanded based on the job that we did. 

Turn to Matthew 25.

Matthew 25 is in the context of what’s called the Olivet Discourse. These are a series of teachings that Jesus gave to his disciples on the Mount of Olives, probably during the last week of his life just before his crucifixion and resurrection. In these teachings, Jesus describes what it will be like when he returns to rule the world. He does this through a series of parables, which are stories that make an analogy for what is going to happen. For example, the first parable here in Matthew 25 is a story about ten young women who are waiting for a wedding – they’re waiting for the groom to show up so the wedding can begin, and they’re waiting so long that the sun sets. Now some are prepared and have lamps ready so they can see. Others are unprepared and are in the dark. And all of a sudden, the groom shows up, the wedding starts, those who are prepared enter in but those who are unprepared are shut out. Now this is a parable. The story isn’t literally what’s going to happen, but it’s an analogy that is making the point that in the same way that these young women had to be prepared because the wedding started all of a sudden in the middle of the night, we need to be prepared because Jesus will come back all of a sudden, at any moment. Do you understand how this parable works?

Similarly, at the end of the chapter, in verses 31-46, Jesus tells another story about separating the sheep from the goats. Now there won’t literally be sheep and goats. He’s using this imagery of sheep and goats as an analogy to make the point that, in the same way that a farmer might separate his sheep from his goats, Jesus when he returns will separate faithful people from unfaithful people, righteous people from unrighteous people. So it’s a picture of judgement, of separating out of people into two categories, and there will be rewards for some, and punishment for others.=

Now sometime this week, I want you to read this whole chapter because there are a total of three stories in this chapter and they are all interrelated. They are all focused on this same topic of what it will be like when Jesus comes back, and it’s beautiful how they fit together. I want you to read this whole chapter and see that big picture perspective.

But for today, I want to focus on the central parable of this chapter, which begins in verse 14. And this is called the Parable of the Talents. 

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 

Matthew 25:14-15

Now this word translated “talents” refers to 20 years wages. It’s a huge sum of money. So before going away, the master gives a huge sum of money to each of his servants. Notice that he doesn’t give the same amount of money to each servant. Some of them get more than others. So one of them gets five talents, that’s equal to 100 years wages. Another gets two talents, that’s 40 years wages. And another gets only one talent, but that’s still 20 years wages. So this master is incredibly generous in entrusting this money to his servants – they don’t all get the same amount, but they all get huge amounts. He was not stingy to any of these servants.

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 25:16-30

In this story, a master goes away, entrusting his servants to use the resources he gave them to do work for him while he’s gone. When he returns, he judges those servants based on the work they did.

The servant who was entrusted with five talents put those talents to good use, earning five more. The master rewards that servant: “well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Now the servant who only had two talents, he put those two talents to use, and he earned two more. Now, the master is not upset with him, like, “hey, the other servant earned 5 talents… why did you only earn 2?” No, the master is very understanding. He understands that this servant only had 2 talents. See verse 15. He gave the talents to the servants, “each according to his ability.”

Notice that the servant who had 2 talents and earned 2, and the servant who had 5 and earned 5, get the same reward: “well done, my good and faithful servant”. What’s important in this parable is not how much each servant earned, but whether or not they were faithful in using what they had been given.

One servant, with the 5 talents, was given a lot, and he was faithful with a lot. The other, with only 2 talents, was only given a little, but he was faithful with that little that he had been given. Both get the same reward.

There’s only one servant here who doesn’t get rewarded. That’s the servant who was given 1 talent, but didn’t use it. He didn’t put it to use to earn more.  He hid his talent, because he was afraid. 

The master represents Jesus. Jesus went away. He ascended into heaven. One day, he will return from heaven, to rule the world. When he comes, he will reward or reprimand his servants, based on what they did with the talents entrusted to them.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the English word “talent” which refers to a skill or an ability is actually derived from the Greek word used in this parable, which originally referred to 20 years wages.

Surely, God does entrust us with finances, he expects us to steward our finances well, not selfishly or wastefully, but wisely and in a way that will bless and help others especially those in the body of Christ who are in need.

Certainly, wise financial management is part of the moral of this story, but I believe the life application of this parable is multifaceted, going beyond just finances. God entrusts us with money, but he also entrusts us with skills and abilities. We often call such abilities “gifts” because they truly are gifts from God. We say “that person is gifted.” The gifts come from God. We can’t take too much credit for them.

I believe that God has gifted each one of us in one way or another. Now, just like in the parable, not all people are gifted equally. Some of us, like Jerry Wierwille, have many gifts, talents, and abilities. Those are the 5 talent people. Others of us are more in the 2 talent or even just 1 talent category.

But remember what happened in the parable. It didn’t actually matter how many talents a servant had to start out with. What mattered was whether or not they were faithful with whatever they were entrusted with – whether that be a lot, or a little.

You might say “I only have a little bit of talent.” Okay. No problem. Are you faithful in using that little bit of talent for God’s glory?

We all have something we can do, to join God in his kingdom work – his work of repairing the world. Whether we do something big, or do something small, is not the point. The important thing is – are we faithful in doing the work God has entrusted to us, whether big or small?

If you are faithful with what God has entrusted to you, you will receive blessings and rewards.

If you are unfaithful with what God has entrusted to you, you will receive a reprimand with severe consequences.

Throughout scripture, God entrusted his people with talents, skills, and abilities. He does this not just for fun, but for a purpose. Throughout scripture, God gave people gifts so that they could do the work that he prepared for them to do.

For example, in Exodus 34, God instructed the Israelites to build the Tabernacle, which was a portable Temple. In Exodus 35:10, God said: “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the LORD has commanded”

Then it says in verse 30:

Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

Exodus 35:30-35

God worked through skilled designers, artists, and craftsmen to build the Tabernacle. They had the privilege of joining with God in the work he was doing, putting their God-given skills to use for his glory. What an awesome privilege!

So the Israelites built the Tabernacle and entered the Promised Land. When King David came on the scene and moved the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, the Bible says that David appointed skilled musicians to play loudly on musical instruments.

In 1 Chronicles 15:22, it says, “Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful.”

You are fearfully and wonderfully made, created in Christ for good works. You have God-given talents – gifts that God gave you for a purpose.

So my question for you today is, how’s your stewardship? Are you using what God has entrusted unto you, for his glory?

What talents has God entrusted you with?

What education has God entrusted you with?

What passions has God entrusted you with?

I believe that when God calls us to do something, he also gives us the will to do it. It may not come immediately, but the more we get busy doing what God has called us to do, the more we become passionate about the work.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” I used to think that means that God will give you whatever you want. Then I got older and wiser, and realized that God literally gives us the desires themselves. He influences what we desire in the first place. He gives us a heart to want to do his will. 

The Bible says in Philippians 2:13, “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” 

God not only helps us to do his work, but also gives us the will to do it.

Paul Washer once said, “A lot of people think Christianity means doing all the righteous things you hate and avoiding all the wicked things you love in order to be saved. Nope, that’s just a lost man with religion. A Christian is a person whose heart has been changed. They have new affections.”

Our prayer should be, “God, help me to want to join you in your work… give me the will, the passion, the desire to do your work…. show me what you desire me to do, give me the words to speak to someone in need today, help me to serve others today…”

God will answer that prayer.

He will help you find your sweet spot in the body of Christ – where your unique God-given talents, resources, passions, and life experiences can be used for maximum impact for God’s glory.

Christ has ascended into heaven. He has no literal body on earth today. The Bible describes the church – the people of God – as Christ’s body. Metaphorically speaking, we are his hands and feet. Through the Holy Spirit, he works through us. We have the awesome opportunity and privilege of being the instruments that he works through to bring his kingdom of peace, justice, healing, and hope into the world.

Because we are each unique, each gifted with unique talents, each entrusted with different resources at our disposal, and each blessed with different life experiences, our specific roles within the body of Christ are also going to be just as unique as we are. It’s not going to look the same from person to person. And that diversity is the beauty of the body of Christ.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 12

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

1 Corinthians 12:4-20

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

1 Corinthians 12:27-30

Turn to 1 Peter 4

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 4:10-11

Each has received a gift. The purpose of the gift is to build others up – to help others. When you use the gift God has given you, you are being empowered by God to help others and to glorify God.

Now, not everyone has the same gift because not everyone has the same role in the body of Christ. But we all have the same Spirit. We have all received a gift. We all have a gift to give. What is that gift that God has given you, for you to exercise in the service of others for his glory?

Perhaps you are like the skilled designers and craftsmen in the book of Exodus – empowered by God with the ability to make beautiful designs. You can use that talent for God’s glory!

Perhaps you have the gift of encouragement. I think of my brother in Christ, Timypaul Lupe. I can’t talk to him without feeling encouraged. That’s a gift! It’s a gift to encourage others. Don’t hide that gift. Let it shine brightly for God’s glory!

Perhaps you have the gift of helps – just showing up faithfully, early mornings serving in the church getting things ready, or staying late after service cleaning things up – we don’t often think of it this way, but that kind of diligence – that faithfulness to service – is a gift. Often, the work that receives the least praise and is the most overlooked is actually the most important.

Often times, our role in the body of Christ is shaped by our God-given talents, education, skills, passions, and life-experiences.

In other words, God has allowed you to go through certain things in life in order to empower you to help others in a deeper and more meaningful way than would otherwise be possible.

Often times, it’s through the suffering that God has allowed us to endure, that we gain the wisdom, perspective, endurance, and compassion to help another person going through a similar struggle in a far deeper and more meaningful way than would ever be possible if we ourselves had not gone through that suffering.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are the one suffering, you know the difference between flippant aphorism like “just give it to God” versus receiving wisdom and counsel and comfort from someone who has actually gone through what you’re going through, and truly understands.

We comfort others with the comfort we have received from God.

God is a God of redemption. Not only can he use your good skills, your good qualities, and your good life experiences and use them for his glory, he is also able to redeem the bad.

I think of folks who once struggled with drugs or alcohol, who now minister to individuals with those same struggles, in AA or Celebrate Recovery. I’m sure their passion for that ministry, and the compassion they show to those men and women, and the wisdom and counsel they are able to share with them, comes in large part from their own story of God delivered them out of similar struggles. We comfort others with the comfort we have received from God.

Consider this question: What experiences in life have you gone through – good or evil – that God can use to bring deliverance, healing, and hope to another person going through the same thing?

Our gifts are shaped by our life experiences.

As we consider Matthew 25, as we consider how to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us, each of us must consider: what is my purpose?

Each of us is only one small thread that makes up the tapestry of God’s kingdom that is advancing and invading our world to repair the earth and make everything wrong with the world right. It’s a kingdom that will be finally consummated upon Christ’s return but as ambassadors for that kingdom our work begins right here and right now.

There is so much work to be done for God’s glory, it can be overwhelming to think about. None of us can solve the world’s problems on our own. Thank God we don’t have to. Thank God that the body of Christ has many members – millions of people who call on the same of the Lord.

If we each do our individual ministry – our small, little piece of the puzzle that God has entrusted us with in our personal lives – then collectively, we combine to form a massive, intricate tapestry, a detailed mosaic, a system that’s one unified picture of how God is working to fix the world. It’s made up of millions of ordinary people, each engaged in some small little work, but faithful in that work. We don’t do this work alone. If we are all faithful in the little things, God adds all those little things up to become big things that change the world.

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:6-7

Have you ever tended a fireplace that was going out? It’s just a few glowing embers, but then you blow on it, and that fire comes back to life?

Fan into flames the gift of God. Perhaps your gift is sitting like an ember, just waiting to explode. It just needs a little push.

There are many opportunities right here at the church, to step up and put our God-given talents to use. You can sign up to volunteer with setup, cleanup, ushering, refreshments, children’s ministry, audio/visual. Many, many ways to serve.

Have you prayerfully considered how God might be calling you to serve?

Why not pray about it? Why not ask him?

Maybe you’re thinking, “I would love to volunteer, but I just don’t have the ability to right now.”

That’s okay.

Life is literally made of seasons.

Maybe you’re working a dead-end job that doesn’t use your God-given talents or passions, but you need to work it to provide for your family. That’s just the season you’re in right now. Providing for your family is faithfulness to God. So continue to work hard until God provides the next job opportunity where you can better use your talents and passions. Until that day comes, continue to be faithful in providing for your family in the season you’re in right now.

Maybe you’re a parent and you feel God tugging at your heart to get involved in some kind of ministry in the church, but it’s hard because you don’t have much free time anymore because your kids need so much care and attention. But guess what? Raising the next generation in the Word and teaching them the right way to live IS ministry. A season will come when you have time for other ministry opportunities but in this season right now God has called you to be a parent and maybe that requires your focus right now.

Or you might be caring for aging parents, and you wish you could serve more in the church but it’s hard because the caretaking takes up all your time. But maybe in this season, that caretaking is the ministry that God has called you to. Stay faithful to it, and you’re staying faithful to God.

Seasons change, and as the seasons of life change, the assignments that God gives us to work on also change. None of us can do everything. The question is, are we being faithful with the responsibilities that God has entrusted us with in this season?

This week, let’s prayerfully consider how God might be calling us to fan into flames the gift of God in our lives.