Steven Furtick - Confronting False Assumption (02/27/2017)
In the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus powerfully shows that God entrusts us with gifts according to our ability, expecting us to faithfully multiply them rather than bury them out of fear or false assumptions about His character. The shocking conclusion is that the fearful servant who hid his talent is condemned as wicked and lazy, while the faithful ones enter the Master's joy—revealing that our view of God shapes how productively we live.
The Genius of Jesus: Confronting False Assumption
Well, it's time for a sermon. Cool. Does anybody want this painting? I am totally not authorized to give it away. But I want to preach to you today on something that I think we all deal with. It is my goal today to provide you with excellent ministry. And if this sermon does not satisfy your standards, please pray to the Lord for me and ask Him to make me smarter. Because I want to share some things, some insights with you today from the Word.
From Matthew, chapter 25, verse 14 through... I don't know, about 30. Somewhere around 30. Matthew, chapter 25, verse 14 through 30. We're in a series called The Genius of Jesus. It's amazing how much one man's mind can have an impact on the world. Think about Shakespeare and all of the worlds that emerged from one man's mind. Think about Beethoven, all of the musical worlds that emerged from one man's mind. Think about Mickey Mouse, all of the worlds that emerged from Walt Disney's mind. Think about iPhones and iPads, all of the advancements that emerged from one man's mind.
And one thing it might be good for you to know today, if you don't feel like you're very smart, is you emerged from the mind of God. He thought of you before He presented you to the world. And so you're exactly what God had in mind when you were born. He knew what He was doing. And so that's a good thing to know.
Jesus' Brilliant Parables Reveal God's Heart
But we're talking about how brilliantly Jesus illustrated the kingdom of God and how much He represented the heart of God. And the genius of the way He did it and, well, you've got to be kind of selective on what you share. But I didn't think we could do a whole series on that without sharing about one parable. And I'll tell you what a parable is in a moment. But let me just read this to you.
It's a story that Jesus shared. In Matthew 25, verse 14, He is teaching one day. And He's kind of going on and on and on and on and on and on and on. And everything He's saying is just building on each other. And He's layering to teach people what the kind of life that God has called us to is like.
And He says, "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. And then he went on his journey."
The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work. Everybody say, put it to work. Shake the person next to you. Say, put it to work. You better put it to work. Use it or lose it. And he took it and he put it to work and gained five bags more. That's a pretty good return. Double on the original investment. I'd put my money with that guy every time.
So also, verse 17, the one with two bags of gold gained two more, but the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.
The Master's Joy and the Shocking Rebuke
After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 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, look, I have gained five more."
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."
And 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." 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."
And if it was a soundtrack right now, the music would start to get a little bit ominous, because here comes Brother One Bag. Here comes the Scaredy Cat. Here comes Mr. Low Yield.
And then Jesus said that the man who had received one bag of gold came and said, "Master, I knew that you were a hard man." Now, that's not the way you suck up to the boss, just in case you're going in for an interview any time soon.
"I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seeds, so I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you."
And his Master replied, "You wicked, lazy servant! You knew, so you knew, did you, that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well, if you knew that, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers. At least then I could have got some interest off of it instead of in your backyard."
"Take his gold and give it to the one who has ten bags, 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. Throw that worthless servant outside in the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Everybody say amen.
Confronting False Assumption in Our Lives
On that happy note, I want to preach to you for a few moments today on the shocking subject... Let me make sure I say the title just right because I changed it about 10 times. Confronting False Assumption.
After you've written it down, I want you to turn to the person next to you or somebody around you that looks like they can take it and tell them, "Your assumptions are costing you." Your assumptions are costing you. Absolutely. And then you may be seated.
Well, I think they have to come get the painting. Let's give it up for the stage crew, stage team, stage wizards, stage warriors. Look how quick they got that out of there. Like a pit crew. Amen.
How y'all doing? You enjoying this series? You want some more?
Confronting false assumption. Or if you want to put it in the form of a question, what have you assumed? What have you assumed and how is it costing you?
Certain assumptions are necessary, no doubt, just to make it through life and to economize time. You can't ask to see the credentials of every pilot on every plane you fly on. You have to assume that he's licensed and qualified at some point. So certain assumptions are necessary.
You didn't check the seat you sat in before you sat in, and I don't think to make sure it's going to hold weight. Certain assumptions are necessary. Not all assumptions are bad assumptions.
But I will say this. Assumptions are tricky, and I think three of the most dangerous words you can ever say or think in your mind when making an excuse or evaluating a situation... The three most dangerous words really in terms of relationship or in terms of productivity go something like this: I just assumed.
I just assumed. Not only can those three words ruin a relationship, but they can sabotage an opportunity because I just assumed. I didn't prepare. I just assumed. I didn't look into it. I just assumed. I didn't check with anybody to see if this guy was good for me to go in business with. I just assumed.
Those three words can create a lot of needless frustration. Because sometimes you can just assume that somebody feels a certain way about you, be offended at how you assume they feel about you, never take the time to ask them how they feel about you, and needlessly grow hatred in your heart and bitterness that can take root in the soil of who you are because you just assumed.
Assumption: The Illusion of Knowing
Just assumed that they meant to or just assumed that they thought so. I just assumed.
Now I want to give you a quote about assumption. This is original. For better or worse, I thought of this. Thinking about assumption, I realized that assumption is the vulnerability of ignorance masked by the illusion of certainty.
As soon as it sinks in, you're all going to say amen and shake your head. What assumption does is it creates an illusion of certainty to mask the fact that I really don't know what's going on in this situation. You're never more vulnerable to attack or assault than when you assume.
Assumption. One of the things Jesus did so brilliantly is to confront the assumptions of His day, to confront the assumptions of what God was like, to confront the assumptions of which people were close to the kingdom of God and which people were far away, to confront the assumptions of what it takes to be in right relationship with the Creator.
He confronted false assumption, and they killed Him for it. So married were they to their preconceived notions and false premises of what God would be like, that they hung creation's Author on a cross, because He confronted their false assumptions, their assumptions that had created for them an illusion of control.
Assumption always does create the illusion of control.
The Anatomy of False Assumptions
What is the anatomy of an assumption? In other words, what makes us assume things that aren't necessarily accurate? Well, I have at least three components. They all start with the letter A, because that's what I do. All week while you're doing a real job, I'm making stuff start with the same letter.
I think that assumption is born out of apprehension a lot of times. I think it's like we're scared about a situation we're going into, so to shield ourselves from what we do not understand, we create knowledge that we have not labored to discover, based out of prejudices that we might have inherited, just because we don't know.
So my assumption gives me the illusion of certainty, but it's really doing nothing more than protecting me from finding out something that could help me to understand what I'm facing. So it's an apprehension thing a lot of times.
Sometimes it's an apathy thing. I don't care enough to find out what it's like to be you. I don't care enough to find out why you did what you did. I don't care enough to ask the question behind the question to figure out why things aren't working right. It can just be an apathetic response to assume. I just assume. It's a lot easier to assume than to ask.
To ask means I have to open up myself to the possibility that there may be a view of the world that I did not originate. So I assume.
Which brings me to my third A, which is arrogance. Just to think that the way you've seen the world is the only lens anybody looks through. To think that the neighborhood you grew up in is representative of the way the entire globe functions is just an arrogant way to live life, to assume.
Assumptions You Simply Cannot Afford to Make
There are some things you cannot afford to make assumptions about. Certain things, if you assume the restaurant is good and it's not good, you just wasted some money. It's cool. You'll eat again.
If you just assume that, you know, if your friend said he was a nice guy, you go out on one date. You know, you can go out on one date, and then you can not be feeling too good and cut it short, and then just block his number. And that's just, you know, a low-cost assumption.
I promise I'm going to get to my text in a minute, but I want to start by talking about some assumptions you can't afford to make.
Husbands, you cannot assume that your wife knows that you love her. You can't afford to assume that. Well, she knows. Well, tell her again and show her and remind her and convince her.
You can't assume that the people that mean a lot to you know they mean a lot to you. You can't assume that people that are doing a good job know they're doing a good job. They might feel like a failure.
You can't assume that people who are contributing to maybe your life know that you appreciate their contribution.
Parents, we can't assume that our kids are hanging out with the right friends. You can't afford to assume that. My kids aren't even teenagers yet, but I know when they become teenagers I have to stay on top of things.
I know I can only check so much, but as much as I can, I don't want to assume that they're making the right decisions at an age where they're not really able to decide yet because they don't know the criteria.
Stop assuming things that God wants you to look into and to understand.
Most of all, I could keep going, but you can't afford to assume that your view of God is accurate. That's an assumption you can't afford to make, that the way you think God is is the way God really is.
The Dangerous View of God in the Parable
In this parable, Jesus is confronting an assumption that the people in Palestine had about what God was really like.
I think a key verse... I'm going to work on a few of the verses, but I think a key verse is verse 24. When that man with one talent came back to the master in the story... Because you understand, this is like a metaphor. It's like a symbolic thing. Jesus is using the master in the story to represent different perceptions that people have of God.
He said that the man came to the master and said, "I knew that you are a hard man and you're not fair." Now, if you start with that view of God, it will lead to inaccurate assumptions about life.
And if you go through life with inaccurate assumptions about the way it works, you'll assume inaccurately about yourself and others.
So, the trouble with this passage is really that man's assumption. I'll prove it to you.
In Matthew 25:24, he said, "I knew that you are a hard man." That's one's translation. But the more literal translation, if you want to look at how it's really worded, and this might tell us something about the way assumption works, is that in the English Standard Version, which is more literal, he comes to the master and says, "Master, I knew you to be a hard man."
Hold on. That's different, because he's describing in that language his experience of the master, not necessarily the reality of what the master is like. That's where assumption comes in.
Planting Assumption Reaps Confusion
When you plant the seed of assumption in the soil of ignorance, you reap a harvest of confusion.
You want that one back? When you plant a seed of assumption... "I knew you to be a hard man." In the soil of ignorance... "You don't know me like that." You reap a harvest of confusion, and you become a worthless servant, because you're operating not by knowledge but by assumption.
How can you get anything done on the basis of assumption? You become unproductive, unfit, unfruitful, ultimately unfaithful because of your assumption.
I'm teaching good today, class. The class is in session. We're going to confront some false assumptions.
The reason I know it was a false assumption he had about the master is because of the verse before it. In the verse before he came to the master saying, "Hey, I know you're hard to please, and I know you're basically impossible, and I know there's nothing I could do that would be good enough for you, so I didn't even try."
In the verse right before that, I want you to watch how the master, who Jesus is using to represent what God is really like, responds to the servant who did what he was supposed to do.
Look at verse 23. The 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."
Does the guy we hear talking in verse 23 sound anything like what the guy in verse 24 described him to be?
See, you have to watch out where you get your views about God from. You have to be real careful who you let represent God to you, because sometimes the root of assumption is secondhand information.
Some of us were introduced to God in systems that taught us things about Him that absolutely are not true.
You can't afford to assume what God is really like, because assumption turns to accusation. Now, all of a sudden, you're blaming God for things that aren't really true or accurate or reflected in His response toward you.
Six Dangerous Assumptions from the Parable
Now let's back up. Let's back up. I need some help for this. I want to do a little skit. I don't have any bags of gold to give out, but I have some elevation pens. Always got those.
Let's just do it like this. Here you go. I'm going to give you one, two, three, four. You're kind of OCD. You're turning them all to face the same way, aren't you? Five. That's good. That's good. That's good.
Are y'all married? Going all right? Need any advice? I'll talk to you after. Two. Sorry, Joel. That's one. Name, please. Dar. Mike. Joel. Joel Delft. All right. Just hold that. I'll be back to you in a little while. Just take care of those for me.
He said, the kingdom of heaven is like a master who went away on a journey. When he got back, he settled accounts with three servants.
We have here a parable brilliantly illustrated by the master teacher Jesus of three servants, one master, and two mindsets.
Everything that Jesus taught was taught in an effort to challenge your mindset and to give you His.
In fact, one time the disciples asked Him, they said, "Hey, boss, why do you use all these parables so much? Why don't you just state the principles instead of going into all these parables?"
A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, and it's often open to interpretation. You might hear a parable preached 15 different ways from 15 different people, and that's kind of the point.
Jesus said in Matthew 13, verse 11, He said, "I do it because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you but not to them." Then in verse 12 He said, "Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken away from them."
That's why I talk in parables. "Though seeing, they do not see. Though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them it is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. You'll be ever hearing but never understanding. You will be ever seeing but never perceiving."
I always heard that the reason Jesus taught in parables was so the people could relate to the teaching, to make it more relatable. But here He says that the purpose of the parables isn't to be more relatable. It's not about relatability. It's about revelation.
He says, I teach this way because the people who think they know don't really know. The people who have assumed that they've got God mastered need to be confronted with some realities.
So I put it in a way to confound the wise so the simple can see what was there all along. That's why I teach like I teach. What a genius. We have a genius that we serve. We have a genius that we follow. We have a competent teacher that we obey. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.
Dangerous Assumption #1: The Ability Assumption
This parable is stocked full. It starts with this assumption about what God is like. I want to tackle a few dangerous assumptions. Can we do six? Let's move quickly.
I want to go through six dangerous assumptions reflected in this passage. My staff is laughing because I taught this parable to them Thursday, but I didn't teach it anything like this.
That's one thing I love about God's Word. You can come upon it from one altitude and one angle. It'll speak to you at one level. So I taught this for leadership, but now I'm taking the same parable, and I'm showing you how it applies to just everyday life and the assumptions we make that assault the person we could become.
I have six of them. When I'm done with these six, then I want to make one more point, and you can go do what you want to do. You can bury your talent, or you can get five more. That's up to you. All I can do is put it in your hands. Let's go.
Six assumptions that we make. Number one, I call it the ability assumption.
"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags, another two bags, another one bag." Next phrase is key. "Each according to his ability."
Aren't you glad to know that God won't hold you accountable for what He doesn't give you? That God won't hold you accountable for a gift that He didn't grace you with? That God won't judge you on somebody else's scorecard.
It said that He gave one guy five. That's you. He gave the other guy two, and He gave Joel one. Each according to his ability.
You know how last week I was preaching and I apologized to that man that was lying on the mat. Now I feel like I owe an apology to this parable because I always understood that to mean that what God does through my life is not up to me.
Even the way I would teach it when I used to teach it, I would say, some of you are five-talent people, some are two, and some are one. Just do the best you can with what you've got, and God will understand.
It is great, but it's not great, because it's not what the text says. It's what I want to believe, because that's convenient.
"Well, God, I'm just not good at that." "Well, Lord, you just hadn't given me those gifts." "Well, God, if you'd have given me the opportunity or the exposure, well, I'd totally do that. But I'm just a two-talent preacher."
That's my excuse when I start seeing other people that are doing better than me and helping more people than me. "Well, I'm a two-talent. He's five-talent. I'm two. It's all right. You understand what it's like to be a two-talent guy."
You know, she has stuff you don't have. It's just the way it is. Nothing you can do about that, except it didn't say, according to the master's choice. It said, according to the servant's ability.
Now, hold on, because ability is something that I play a part in. Y'all didn't catch it. I'm going to come to the intelligent side of the room.
It said, according to his ability. Now, there are certain abilities that you and I don't have. I might not have an ability that you have, and you might not have an ability that I have, so we could talk about that.
But one thing we all have is the ability to grow the ability we've been given.
I'm going to come to the center. It's possible that you are underestimating what you can do with your opportunity.
I told our staff, we overestimate what we would do with the opportunity we don't have, and we underestimate what we could do with the opportunity we do have if we would grow in it.
So what I'm trying to say is that when the Master was giving assignments... And you need to know this, because God wants to entrust you with His wealth. God wants to entrust you with His treasure. God wants to entrust you with opportunities to glorify Him. God wants to entrust you with His mission. God wants to entrust you with His priorities.
And how much you can have depends on how much you can handle. And how much you can handle depends on how much you want to grow in the abilities that God gave you and how much you want to see them come to maturity so you can be all God called you to be.
So I'm confronting an assumption that God decides what He's going to do with your life, because it looks like to me these servants had a pretty big choice in the matter.
"Well, if God wants to grow the church, He'll grow the church." Bull. God wants to grow the church. That's settled. If He didn't, there wouldn't have been a perfect lamb hanging on a cross. He wouldn't have gone through the charade of giving His Son to plant the church if He didn't want the church to grow and touch the world.
So quit talking about if God was able. It's are we able to stretch out and build what He started and finished, what He initiated. Do we want it is the question.
So you can grow. Touch somebody and say, you can grow. You can grow. You can get smarter. You can read books. You can take training. You can be interested in stuff. You can get a mentor. You can get better. You can grow.
In fact, I told our staff, you know, the parables are so interesting because they're open-ended. Maybe the guy who got two talents this time only had one the first time, but he doubled it and turned it into two, so he got two to start this time because he grew in his ability.
Maybe you're praying for an opportunity, but God is trying to get you to grow your ability because it's too late to grow the ability once you have the opportunity. So you've got to grow the ability so when the opportunity comes, you'll have room for it.
Is this good? It's strong. It's confrontational preaching. Because everybody's just saying all the time, "Well, if God wants you to have it, He'll give it to you." No, if you want God to give it, you'll grow in what He's already given you.
That's my philosophy anyway. I don't want to just settle into, "Well, I'm a two-talent guy." Hey, man, maybe I am today, but I don't have to stay there.
I might be half a talent right now, but if I'll double the return this year and then I'll double that next year and then I'll double that the year after, and then I'll get some compound interest kicking in. By the time I retire, I'm about to be a spiritual multimillionaire because I learned how to grow what I was given.
Are you trustworthy? Is it possible that God trusts you more than you trust Him?
It says that the master entrusted his wealth to the people, but the one servant didn't trust the master enough to take action on what he had been given. Selah. Pause and think about that.
That's the ability assumption. We could say more. I have more notes, but we're on the clock.
Dangerous Assumption #2: The Significance Assumption
Let me talk about the significance assumption.
It doesn't seem fair for you to get one, you to get two, and you to get five, yet all three be held to the same standard. Only it's not exactly the same standard.
The master didn't expect an equal return from all three partners in the venture. He just expected that each one would increase on what they received.
This guy didn't, and these two did, and he treated the two that did equally. If you read the speech he gave the one with four and the speech he gave the one with ten, it was the same speech, because they both operated on the level that they were able. Then they grew in their ability, and next time they were able to handle more.
I was wondering... It doesn't state this in the text, but it's a parable. I think it's a parable on purpose so we can think about it and challenge our assumptions.
The guy with one said he hid the master's money because he was afraid. Isn't that what he said? There's always a fear that's stopping us from stepping out.
But I wonder, was he maybe a little bit offended as well? Just entertain the possibility. Could it be that he watched her get five and him get two, and then when he got his one? Could it be possible that he thought? Really? Mike just got married last week. Really? He gets two. I get one. Really? I don't think so. This ain't worth it. I'll tell you what you can do with your one talent.
Call me a one-talent servant.
By the way, in the passage... It's called the parable of the talents. It's really the parable of the servants. But really, in the passage, there are two servants and one slave.
The servants knew the heart of their master, but the slave was imprisoned by his assumptions.
It's not your position in life that determines your significance.
I always read this passage, and I thought a talent was like a few coins. I didn't understand the full value of what was entrusted to them.
One talent... Joel Delph, when he got that pen, what that symbolized, one talent... was equivalent to 20 years' wages for a day laborer.
All of a sudden, now, we see that even the guy who got the least still got a lot.
I'm going to say that to everybody in this room and everybody watching on TV and everybody watching online. Even the one who has the least, you still got a lot.
In perspective, if you've got breath, you've got a lot. If you had legs to walk into church, you've got a lot. If you've got a job, you've got a lot. If you've got a roof, you've got a lot. If you've got food in your stomach and shoes on your feet, you've got a lot.
Just one talent is a lot. Stop complaining about what it's not and start working what you've got.
That's the way I used to say it when I used to preach hard. Just one talent, but it's a lot.
I'm just a good listener, but that could keep somebody from committing suicide if you'd put it to work.
I'm just single right now, but you have a lot of time you could invest. It's a lot.
Whatever you're holding is a lot. Whatever you've got is significant. Whatever you've got is something the Master could work with if you would put it to work.
Significance assumption. Because it's not as much as theirs, it doesn't matter. You have to confront that assumption.
God will not judge you on the basis of what somebody else was called to do.
Touch somebody and say, You are significant. Tell them, You are very significant. Tell them, I should have to pay extra in the offering to sit next to you. That's how special you are.
Dangerous Assumption #3: The Safety Assumption
Number three, the safety assumption.
The safety assumption is when you think it's safer hidden in the ground than it would be in the Master's hands.
Let me break that down. The children of Israel went out on a spying expedition one time, and they decided to play it safe. But how many know that there's a great danger in playing it safe?
You watch basketball? You watch the March Madness? The March Madness. That's right. I put a definite article, because I can.
You notice when a team starts playing not to lose, they're in the most danger of losing? You know what I'm saying, Coach? When they start playing not to lose, the odds increase that they will.
You know when the spies came back and they said, "We shouldn't go in. They're bigger than us"? They were never more susceptible than when they thought they were safe.
What happens is, I guess if you only have a little bit, you want to hold on to what you got.
The dumbest thing you can do in your finances if you don't have much is not put God first. That's the very worst thing you can do.
Playing it safe is dangerous in certain circumstances.
The greatest danger in your life is not that you would fail, but that you would be faithless. That's the greatest danger.
Failure can create faith, which can make it fruitful.
I think the servant with one talent would have been better off to come to his master and say, "I lost it all." The master was wealthy, and the master could tutor that, but what the master could not tolerate was that you assume the way I am is the reason that you are how you are.
What the master could not tolerate was the spirit of safety.
I'd rather step out as a church, just preaching now from a visionary perspective, and try to launch a campus. The campus just implode, but God knew that we cared enough to try.
I'd rather at the end of my life say, "God, I was an idiot. I screwed it up so much." I'd rather report to Him with failure than with faithlessness, because it seems like to me the thing God won't put up with is when you bury what He gave you and act like it's...
He hid it in the ground.
Let me ask a question. What's hidden in the ground in our church?
It said... This is a great phrase. "I hid your gold in the ground."
I wonder what gold is hidden in the ground of fearful hearts in this church today.
If you would dig it up... Dig it up. Dig it up.
Here's the good news. In the passage, the Master left. He came back a long time later. It was too late. But guess what? It's not too late for you.
It's not too late for you. See, because even if you buried it up to this point, you could make a decision to dig it back out today and start working, and it hadn't gone anywhere, and it's still right there, and you still have a chance, and you still have a hope, and you still have potential.
So let's dig it out. Let's clean it up. It's the safety assumption.
Dangerous Assumption #4: The Urgency Assumption
Then there's the urgency assumption.
I think I'm going to download this podcast myself. This is strong. Sometimes I just know when I get in a passage that it's exactly what we need.
I'm telling you, in this passage we see not a man who went and stole his master's money, not a man who went and was fraudulent with his master's money, but a man who sat on his master's money.
The problem with a lot of people in this church is we're sitting on it. Got a gift and sitting on it. Could make a difference with what you do well, but you're sitting on it. Sitting on stuff. Sitting on gifts. Sitting on talents. Sitting on abilities. Sitting on relationships. Sitting on influence.
Get up off that thing and let's go right now. It's urgent.
I discovered a clue about successful people. It says that the guy with five talents... I forgot your name. I remembered Mike and I forgot. Dara. I got it now. Dara.
Look what Dara did. This is what Dara did. Everybody say, Do it like Dara.
It said in verse 16 that Dara, the one with the five bags, went at once.
You see? Because if she would have waited, because the master didn't say how long he'd be gone, and if she would have procrastinated, there's a chance that the priority would have slipped and she would have forgotten the master's purpose.
Dara. Dara. Dara.
Contrast that with verse 19. "After a long time, the Master came back."
The space between his instruction and your obedience is the measure of your spiritual maturity.
I love how the Master didn't hover over the servants. Jesus is sharing this parable. He said, God won't make you do it. God won't force you. God is not a helicopter God. He doesn't hover over His children. He puts it in your hands.
For a lot of us now, we mistake the immediate for the urgent.
I don't know. Maybe, Brother One Talent, Joel. Intended. You ever had good intentions? Intended to look back into it at some point.
But over time, when your intentions are not converted into initiative, you bury your stuff alive. You bury your dream alive. You bury your contribution alive.
You think you have more time. Then one day, the Master comes back. Then one day, she walks out the door. Then one day, your kid says, "Shut up. I hate you. Go to hell."
You thought you had time. You were so busy with what was immediate that you didn't do what was urgent.
Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like a man who went away, but while he went away, the wise servants got on it.
Get on it, church. Get on it, my brother. Get on it, my sister. Even if you can't finish it soon, start it right now. Even if it's just a step in the direction.
There's an urgency to some of the stuff we don't see the priority in. When we do, we're caught off guard by this.
Dangerous Assumption #5: The Maintenance Assumption
Check this number five. The maintenance assumption.
This is where I want to stick up for Joel. Because he didn't buy a lottery ticket with the talents. He didn't blow it on eBay. Come on, let's give the man some credit. He brought it back. He brought it back. He didn't take off to the islands. He brought it back.
This is where we have a confused definition of what faithfulness really is.
Can I confront our assumption of faithfulness? Many of us were taught that faithfulness is maintenance, not according to Jesus.
Jesus says, Faithfulness is not maintenance. Faithfulness is multiplication.
Can I tell you something? You're not faithful to God just if you give your life to Him. You're faithful to God when you let Him use your life to bring others to a knowledge of Him.
He expects a return.
When God made humans... Do you know what the first thing He told them to do? Anybody? The very first command God gave them. That's right. He said, "Be fruitful and multiply."
Be fruitful and multiply.
"I am not just looking for citizens," says the king, "who will return to me what I could have taken on my journey myself. If all I wanted to do was keep it safe, I would have taken it with me. I gave it to you for a reason."
"I left you in that community for a reason. I put you on that job for a reason, not just to survive, but to spread the knowledge of who I am and multiply what you have."
We sit on it and we don't multiply it because we're entitled.
Dangerous Assumption #6: The Entitlement Assumption
Jesus came to confront the entitlement assumption.
In that broad stroke with such fine precision, He says, "Everyone who has will be given more, and whoever does not have even what they have will be taken away."
One thing I grew fond of saying when I go to other churches to preach, I stand up and say, "Hello. How are you? You guys are in a great church. You have a great pastor. They'll never take it for granted, because what is continually taken for granted will eventually be taken away."
Apply that to any scenario in your life. What is continually taken for granted will eventually be taken away.
Jesus didn't say, "Help him out a little bit. Will you share one of your pens with Joel?" He doesn't do that. That's what they would have expected. That's why He taught in parables, because that's how we think things operate, by entitlement.
He said, "No, no. Take the one and give it to Dara. Give it to the one who worked it. Give it to the one who didn't take it for granted. Give it to the one who really received it in the first place."
Can I tell you something I noticed in the text? This is one of those things that only happens if you read the text way too many times.
It said that the man, the master... Y'all good for five minutes? Give me five minutes. I'll work this out. Give me five minutes. I'll turn it into ten.
Verse 14. "It will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them." All right? Whose wealth? Whose is his? The master. You got it right. Don't be all shy and, like, that's a trick question. Whose wealth was it? Say it louder. Whose wealth was it? Thank you, Matthews. It was the master's wealth. He entrusted his wealth to them.
But look at verse 16. Look at verse 16. It said, "The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work." Whose money is it? His. Whose is his?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It didn't say the master's money in 16. It said in 16 that the man, Dara, who got the five put his money... In other words, he owned his responsibility.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. He didn't forget where it came from, because when the master came back, he brought it all to the one to whom it rightfully belonged.
And don't you ever forget where your gift comes from. Don't you ever forget where your help comes from. Don't you ever forget where your resource comes from. Don't you ever forget where your energy comes from. Don't you ever forget where your life comes from. Don't you forget it.
But you know, God is saying to you, "I don't just want you to assume possession." That's a false assumption.
The man with one talent assumed possession, but he didn't assume responsibility.
Here's where I close.
Some of you have assumed possession of God's grace, but you haven't assumed responsibility for how it's supposed to flow in your life.
And I know it, that I know it, that I know it, that I know it, because when he brought that talent back, Brian, he said in verse 25, "I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you."
"I never really assumed responsibility of it myself. I assumed a lot about the way you were. I assumed a lot about what I didn't have, but I never assumed responsibility for the gift you gave."
It's a false assumption for you to give your life to God and not realize that He gives His life back to you.
And now He wants to know, what will you do with your one and only life? What will you do with the ability I entrusted you to?
Will you assume? We make assumptions.
Are you going to assume about your abilities? Are you going to assume about your significance? Are you going to assume what safety is? Are you going to assume about the urgency of what matters? Are you going to check with My priorities? Please.
Are you going to assume that maintenance is faithfulness and sit on what you got? Are you going to assume that you're entitled?
Are you going to make a false assumption?
Or are you going to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of you?
Will you take My grace? Will you take My life? Will you take the gift of God, which is on you through the laying on of hands, and turn it into something? Transform it into something. Be fruitful in something. Increase in something. Multiply, multiply, multiply. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. Always abounding in the grace of God.
Come on, we're taking hold. We're taking hold. We're taking hold.