ARE YOU USING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS? The Parable of the Bags of Gold (Part Three)

WELCOME to part three of the Finding Purpose in your Spiritual Gifts series if you missed the last two videos you can find links to them below.

Today we are looking at the Parable of the bags of gold! We are going to explore this parable and see what Jesus says about using (and not using) our gifts.

As we unpack this parable, let’s assume that the bags of gold are spiritual gifts and the man who goes on the trip is Jesus and the servants are his followers (us).

you will find this parable Matthew 25:14-30 and we will take a look at it in detail a bit later in this post, but first I am going to Summarize the parable so you have the story in your head :)

Jesus speaks of a wealthy man who goes on a journey and entrusts his wealth to three servants. To one he gives five bags of gold, to one he gives two bags of gold and to the other he gives one bag of gold.

After a long time, the man or “Master” returns. He calls the three servants to come before him to account for the gold. The first returns the five bags with an additional five bags or earnings. The master is thrilled, and puts him in charge of many things in his estate. The second servant is called and he has doubled his masters gold, as well - "Well done good and faithful servant", he says and puts him in charge of many things.

The third servant comes before him with one bag of gold. He did not increase his master’s wealth. He dug a hole and hid it in the ground. The master was furious, called him lazy, gave his bag of gold to the one who now had ten and threw him out into the the darkness where there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. Yikes!

NOW LET'S BREAK IT DOWN.

Matthew 25:14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.

The definition of “ability” is "a talent skill or proficiency"

The word “ability” is important, here because it points to the degree that each servant has developed his talents and skills. We would surmise that the servant who received five bags of gold probably had more ability than the one who received one bag of gold. Had the one with five bags of gold worked harder to develop his abilities than the one who received one bag?

Moving on to Matthew 25:16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

It doesn’t appear that the Master gave instruction as to what his servants were to do with the gold, yet the first two servants immediately took it upon themselves to invest the wealth and grew the man’s fortune. Why would they do this? Maybe they had taken the time to forge a relationship with him, come to love and respect him. Maybe they paid attention to his routine and emulated his ways. It appears they wanted to please him.

On the flip side, why would the third servant dig a hole and plant his master’s gold in the ground? Was he too complacent to build a relationship with the man? Was it just too much effort to invest his master’s gold and make a return on it? Even if he didn’t know how to invest it, couldn’t he have asked someone to invest it for him? Or take the initiative to learn how to grow the wealth himself? After all his master was gone for a long time. He could have developed a skill in that time that would have brought a return on his master’s wealth.

Verse 19 says “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.

20 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, I have gained five more.’21 “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!’ 22 “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.’23 “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!’

So, the master entrusted them with more of his wealth! This makes us think of Joseph and how he became second only to Pharaoh by using his gift of interpreting dreams. God gave him some and he brought back more. Eventually God gave Joseph a Kingdom to manage and in turn Joseph was able to save Jacob and his brothers (Israel) from famine, what a return on God’s investment! Yes, God put him in charge of many things, “an abundance” and he was undoubtedly one of the wealthiest men on earth at that time. He used his gifts wisely.

STORY OF JOSEPH Genesis 37 - 41

Verse 24 Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 26 His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.' 28 ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 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. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

So the Master rewarded to the two servants who worked to “grow his wealth”. The third servant was cast out for not using the bag of gold entrusted to him to grow his master’s wealth. This is Jesus telling us there are consequences for not using the very important gifts we are given for God’s purposes. The consequences are dire! The servant was called wicked and lazy, his bag of gold was taken away from him and then given to the one who had the most, the one with the most ability, then thrown into the darkness.

Jesus clearly states our purpose in this parable. It is to expand his wealth by growing his people, and of course serving one another in the process! And God greatly rewards us for doing so.

So, If you are feeling like you have no purpose, take heart, God gives us this life changing amazing all encompassing purpose and provides us with all we need to accomplish it. He gives us awesome spiritual gifts to be used in accordance with our abilities (please see part one and two of this series.)