Dr. Crain's Classical Comments
Using your talents for the glory of God
Posted by Administrator (admin) on Nov 20 2006 at 12:01 PM
This morning we are here to induct several students from our junior and senior classes into the National Honor Society. Faculty chose these students because of their outstanding leadership, scholarship, character, and service.
Two Scriptures came to my mind as I pondered this ceremony, one lengthy and the other short.
Matthew 25:14-30 says,
14"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[c] and entrusted to them his property. 15To one he gave five talents,[d] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20And 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.' 21His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.[e] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 22And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' 23His 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.' 24He 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, 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 26But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29For 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. 30And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
I will be assuming throughout my talk that though the word “talents” in the parable refers to money it also functions as a metaphor for talents (i.e., gifts) that God gives us.
And 1 Corinthians 11:31: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
This morning we are here to celebrate students who have, I believe, invested their talents for the glory of God.
These are students who have taken their academic calling seriously and who have sought to serve others. They have taken the gifts God has given and used those gifts for Him.
It is true that God has given each one of you gifts, NHS students and other students alike. And what does he expect you to do with them?
It is entirely possible that you could use your talents for diabolical purposes. I had a friend in college, a Christian friend mind you, and he thought he was quite brilliant—and he was. Sometimes he would say, “You know what, man, if we wanted to we could become brilliant bank robbers, beating the system, and living as millionaires.” Of course, he was joking—I think—and he went on to invest his talents by serving as a missionary in China. But he could’ve used his talents for diabolical purposes like evil rulers who devised effective means for killing masses of people in cost-efficient ways.
It is entirely possible that you could bury your talents by becoming a sort of talent-couch potato. You know the sort—the brilliant student that doesn’t do nearly as well as he could even though he’s got all the tools. Or the lazy athlete who’s a real physical specimen and yet consistently underperforms.
But God is calling us all to do what these students have done: invest our talents for the glory of God.
Really, this ceremony is all about God and his glory and doing all things for him. Many years ago when I was a young Christian I got in a friendly debate with a Christian friend about doing all things for the glory of God.
When I embraced this truth it electrified me, perhaps for a strange reason—at least my friend thought it was strange. This truth electrified—got me so excited I wanted to run around the room shouting for joy—because it gave me a motive and meaning for all my acts. And that’s where our dispute was—all my acts now had a motive and meaning.
“You mean,” he said, “God cares about whether we cut our toenails or not?”
“Yes, even our toenails! By the way, I think you need to cut your’s.”
For me if God didn’t care about the little things in my life then he also didn’t care about the big things either. And if he cares about the big things then he cares about the little things. Paul is quite clear, “Whatever you do, do it to the glory of God.”
And that is a National Honor Society students’ motive—they study, they serve, they lead for God ultimately and not themselves. What does it mean to do something for God’s glory? You can do something for your glory or for God’s glory just like you can do something for yourself or for someone else.
As a married man I often find this is the case with how I relate to my wife. Am I getting her flowers for her or so that I can then use the stored up good will the flowers give me to talk her into letting me buy a Home Depot power tool? (The temptations us old folks have!)
Paul challenges our motive. But the verse supplies meaning to what NHS students do and what we should all do—God cares about every little speck of dust in this universe and he cares about every aspect of our lives (we are made from dust after all). Hence, all our acts have meaning. Everything that we do is either for God’s glory or against it—and that means something.
Today, I commend you NHS students. Like the servant in the parable you have chosen well. You have realized that God has blessed you with talents and you have invested them.
The challenge for you and for us all—it is the challenge, the test, we face everyday and every future day—whether we will invest our talents for God or not.
The good news is that God graciously rewards those who use the talents he has given. In the parable he gives the one who used his five talents five more talents. The sobering news is that God will evaluate how we use what he has given us.
In the parable the Master comes to evaluate the servants. This event refers to the judgment day, when Christ shall judge the living and the dead. Yet God also gives us mini-evaluations throughout our lives to let us know how we are doing. These mini-evaluations point forward to the day of final judgment.
NHS inductees, this ceremony is a form of God’s evaluation. By using his chosen servants, God has looked at what you have done, and he has said, “well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.”
Enjoy this day and this honor and realize that greater tasks and greater responsibilities are being prepared for you.
For the rest of us, faculty, students, and parents, it is an opportunity to reflect on whether we have been faithful to invest our talents for God and his glory. Have we used our time wisely?
Jonathan Edwards, an 18th century pastor, made 70 resolutions. Many of us have resolutions; we just may have never written them down. He pondered his life, though, and wrote down what he wanted to accomplish and he would frequently come back to them to reflect on whether he was meeting his goals.
His fifth resolution was this: 5. Resolved, never to lose one moment of time; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
Let me alter that just slightly: Resolved, never to lose one talent God has given me; but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.
And so I ask you all: How can you serve God by not losing one talent to glorify him?
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