Dr. Ron Sumners
March 21, 2010
Dr. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ tells this story of a famous oil field called Yates Pool.
During the Depression this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. Mr. Yates wasn’t able to make enough money on his ranching operation to pay the principle and interest on the mortgage, so he was always in danger of losing his ranch. There was little money for food or clothes so he and his family had to live on government subsidy.
Day after day, as he grazed his sheep over the rolling hills of West Texas, he was greatly troubled about how he could pay his bills. Then a seismology crew from an oil company came into the area and told him that they thought there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a “wildcat” well, and he signed a lease contract.
At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent wells were more than twice as large. In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test of one of the wells showed it still had the potential flow of 125,000 barrels a day!
Mr. Yates owned it all. The day he had purchased the land he had purchased the mineral rights as well. He had been living on government relief; a multimillionaire living in poverty. The problem? He did not know there was oil under his land, even though he owned it!
Many Christians today live in spiritual poverty. They are entitled to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and His energizing power, but they are not aware of their birthright!
We are looking today at the parable of the talents. It is about wasted potential and neglected responsibility. In this parable, the master leaves his servants with money to invest. When he returns some of the servants are proved to be faithful, others are proved to be lazy. Let me point out several lessons from this parable.
God has given us gifts!
We have studied for the past few weeks the fact that God gives Spiritual gifts to each and every Christian. Every one has ability (a gift) with which to serve God. We do not all have the same gifts or the same number. Some Christians seem to have every Spiritual Gift in the book. Others of us scramble to find one! These servants were given money according to their ability. Obviously, the master did not expect every servant to produce the same amount. Some were obviously more gifted than others in trading. He did expect each servant to do their best for him. God does expect for every one to serve Him to the limit of their gifts even though our gifts may not be equal.
So, our job is really very simple: we are to discover the gifts and abilities that we have been given and find a way to use them for God’s glory and honor.
Every one has been given proper gifts.
1 Corinthians 7:7 says that every man has proper gifts from God. “Proper” means “fitted.” When you buy a pair of shoes, the salesman might tell you, “We have a shoe that is perfectly fitted for your foot.” None of us would be happy or be able to walk comfortably with ill fitting shoes.
There are many Christians today who think God skipped over them when He was giving out gifts. They seem to think that the only gifts that God gives out are in music, public speaking or teaching. Those are just a small measure of what God gives to people. He gives many gifts. It may be in business or finances, a particular talent, special insight, an ability to organize, extraordinary vision, a caring heart, the ability to give wise counsel, a peacemaker! Maybe God has given you the gift of a true empathy for others. Whatever it is, it is specific to you.
God has given us a responsibility.
The message of this parable is this: God has given us talents in order for us to become responsible children. The more gifts God has given you; the greater the responsibility.
Of course, we can do this in many ways.
By our personal explanation of the Gospel to our friends and family, by giving tracts and printed sermons to others, by investing financially in the ministry of the church, by ministering at the various on-going ministries of the church, by being an angel of compassion to those who are hurting, we grow in taking seriously our responsibility to the Master! God has trusted us with the treasure of the Gospel. We can bury that treasure or we can invest it at every opportunity!
A man distributed Gospel tracts for many years at a street corner. Finally, seeing no visible results, he gave up. When he returned to the same spot two years later, he saw another individual handing out Gospel leaflets as he had done. Striking up a conversation, he discovered that the man had become a Christian through a salvation tract given to him on that corner about two years past. The convert added, “Many times I’ve come back to find that man and thank him, but he never returned. I decided he must have died, so I have taken his place!” The first man suddenly realized that his work had not been in vain. He found another street corner and started handing out tracts again the next day.
How are you investing the treasure?
God has given us a promise.
The parable tells us that the person who serves faithfully will be rewarded. I see two principles here. First, those who are trustworthy in little things will be given more responsibility. When you use your gifts, you will develop more gifts and abilities. You may get more gifts or you may further develop the gifts you already have, Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6, “Stir up the gift that is within you.” This is the picture of stoking the embers of a fire to cause it to burst into flame again.
You will never be used greatly by God until you are faithful in what He has given you to do now.
Secondly, in the little things of life we prove whether or not we can handle the big things. Our story says, “Everyone who has more will be given more, but for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.”
God has given us a warning.
The warning is clear to those who do nothing with the talents that God has given. They will lose what they have been given.
Dear Abby recorded a powerful story. A young man from a wealthy family was graduating from high school. It was expected, in their wealthy community for parents to give their child a new car upon graduation. The boy and his dad had spent weeks visiting one dealership after another. The week before graduation, they found the perfect car. The boy was certain that it would be in the driveway graduation night.
On the eve of the graduation, his father handed him a small package wrapped in colorful paper. The father told the boy that the package contained the most valuable gift the father could think of. It was a Bible! The boy was so disappointed and angry that he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. He and his father never saw each other again.
Several years later the news of the father’s death finally brought the boy home again. He was filled with remorse for all the lost time with his family. Following the funeral, he sat alone one evening, going through his father’s possessions that he was to inherit when he came across the Bible he had thrown to the floor those years ago. He brushed away the dust and cracked it open for the first time. When he did, a cashier’s check dated the day of his graduation fell into his lap. It was for the exact amount of the car they had picked out together. The gift had been there all along…but he had turned away.
The best investment we can make with our life is to use what God has given us to bring glory and honor to the Father. This approach will lead us away from the dangers of life; it will enable us to share in the blessings of God, and it will lead us to indescribable joy, hearing the Father say, “Well done!”
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