“Don’t Bury What God Gave You”

Series Title: The Greatest Among You Pastor Jim Lowe III

Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 08/16/26 (3rd Sunday Message)

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{All scriptures are “NIV84” unless stated}

New Series:

The Greatest Among You

This is a new series we’re continuing.

We talked about greatness last week and what it looked like in the eyes of the Lord. We discussed how he said the greatest among you would be a servant.

Greatness is measured…but only by how much you’re willing to serve.

Message Title:

“Don’t Bury What God Gave You”

Let’s look at a parable.

Matthew 25:14-15

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.

A man was going on a journey… going far away for a time.

He called his servants to him.

his servants meaning those who were of service to him.

He gave talents to each of them.

That talent was the master’s property.

A talent was worth more than a thousand dollars.

Matthew 25:16-18

16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18 But the man who had received the one talent went oﬀ, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

The one with 5 went immediately and put what he had to work. it produced a return.

Same with the person with 2. it produced a return.

The person with 1 went and dug a hole to hide his master’s gift.

Matthew 25:19-23

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. 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 the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; 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 after a long time the master comes back.

accounts are settled with everyone.

The first two show what they have and have produced. The master is pleased and rewards them.

Matthew 25:24-25

24 “Then the man who had received the one talent 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 talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

The last man had his story already prepared.

He basically told his master he knew he was a demanding person. The servant knew he’d be responsible for producing something.

“so instead of trying and losing what I had… I made sure to keep it so you lost nothing.”

The master doesn’t call him good and faithful…

Verse 26-27

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.

The master is using the man’s own logic against him.

If you KNEW that I was going to demand a return… why would you not GET a return??

I gave it to you to use… not to hide it.

Verse 28-30

28 “ ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Throw the “worthless” servant outside. such a harsh word…

Now let’s get to the teaching of why this is powerful…

especially for the church…

and the church MEMBERS today.

Point 1: Everybody Was Given Something

yes the servants got diﬀerent amounts… but every one got something.

No one was left out. That’s still true today also!

The master still gives to everyone. He’s given something to all of us also.

You might really be feeling like you don’t have anything to oﬀer.

No one was left out.

Repeat:

“The Lord Has Given Me Something!”

Scripture points to this for us clearly.

1 Corinthians 12:7

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

Now to each one.

Not just pastors.

Not just ministers.

Not just the singers or the people with the microphone.

EACH ONE.

you have each been given a manifestation of the Spirit.

No one can say they don’t have anything.

So the question is not…

“Did God give me something?” Because scripture tells us he did..

The REAL question is actually…

“Why did God give me something?” again:

1 Corinthians 12:7

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

For the common good…

for the good of others…

it’s something that will bless someone else.

Repeat:

“The Lord Gave Me My Gift To Help Someone Else!”

for the common good.. not for OUR good…

the common good.

Each of us…

has a gift…or multiple. and those gifts

are meant to serve someone else!

1 Peter 4:10

10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

Each one uses their gifts… to serve others.

Each one…serves others.

It doesn’t say…IF you received a gift…

you already HAVE been given something. And THAT gift is meant to serve someone else!

Matthew 25:15

15 To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability.

One person was given 5 talents. another was given 2.

the final was given 1.

As we said each one was given something… but we also see diﬀerent amounts.

This leads us to point number 2:

Point 2: Value Isn’t Attributed By Quantity

There was a servant who received 5. The second one received 2.

The third servant received a measly 1!

we might look at that and say that isn’t fair.

Would you rather have 5 thousand dollars? or 1 thousand dollars?

But the Lord doesn’t work according to the world’s system.

Just like last week…greatness is measured by how you serve others.

But we know at the end when the Master came back…

he said the same thing to the 2 men who put the gift they received to work…

“Well done good and faithful servant.” The same phrase was said to both of them.

Because they were working according to their ability. that’s why they got what they did.

according to their ability.

You might see some people in the church doing all types of stuﬀ.

They sing, they teach…they lead a ministry…they’re in the bookstore… Everywhere you look you see that person doing something…

they’re using their gifts!

You might think you can’t do all that…

and you don’t have to.

but the truth is what CAN you do?

You might be a 5, 2, or even 1 talent person. that doesn’t matter…

what matters is what you do with what you’ve been given!

That leads us to number 3.

Point 3: What God Gives You Comes With A Responsibility

We see it from how the servant with the 5 responded.

Matthew 25:16

16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more.

The man went AT ONCE. He went immediately.

So did the second one.

We see the first 2 servants and what they did. We also see what the 3rd servant did.

I have ALWAYS said that he did something. he hid it…

he did SOMETHING with it… He put it some place also.

That’s being active!

it took work to dig that hole and do something with it.

But it wasn’t the same thing.

Being Active With Your Gift Is Not The Same As Being Productive With Your Gift!

I’m not here telling you to “do anything with your gift.”

I’m saying to use your gift to bring some Kingdom benefit.

The man was using all types of energy to dig that hole. But that energy wasn’t being used in the right context.

You Can Work Hard And Still Be “Burying” Your Gift!

How do we know?

Because when the master returned… two men were good and faithful one man was wicked and lazy.

Why?

He didn’t steal it…

he didn’t spend it.

So why did he get thrown out? Because he didn’t use his gift correctly.

again:

1 Peter 4:10

10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.

We learned last week that the Lord requires us to use our gifts for others. “We can’t call ourselves a servant if we aren’t doing service.”

that’s what happened with this servant… there was no service!

Even when asked…the servant said he was afraid… fear did it.

fear made him hide it.

Point 4: Fear Can Cause You To Bury What God Gave You

The servant actually told the master he knew he was responsible for a return. so in fear…he hid it.

His internal fear became the culprit That fear created a “burial ground.”

We have other “burial grounds” we operate by. things that cause us to bury our gifts.

the things we tell ourselves…

Burial Ground Statements:

“I’m afraid.”

“I’m not good enough.”

“I’ve never done that before.” “What if I get laughed at?” “Someone else can do it better.”

“I tried it…no one wants to listen to me.”

“I have too much else I’m trying to do right now.” “Nobody asked me.”

“They’re too unorganized.”

Too many times we’ve sent our gifts to the Kingdom Burial Grounds.

Instead of using them for the Kingdom… they don’t get used at all.

There are some of us who know that we have to take the talent out of the burial ground. There are some of us who have buried talents we didn’t know we had.

How Do We Know Our Gifts?

We talk about the gifts test every couple of years. There are tests that help you discover your gifts. What gifting have the Lord put in you?

Repeat:

“I Have Been Given A Gift And I’m Responsible For Using It.”

there is an online test you can take

It will ask you questions about yourself.

They may seem random at the time…

but it’s an assessment test that will calculate your strongest gifts.

Spiritual Gifts Test:

giftstest.com

ONCE you have your answers…let us know what they are.

We can talk with you about ministries that line up with your gifts. So here is our challenge this week:

Spiritual Gifts Challenge:

With all the festivities today, there is one table outside for media. Please go by and take a look and see if that’s the place you can serve. The rest of the ministry fair will continue over the next few weeks.

Our Challenge Today Is To Find Out What We Have Been Given

Why?

Because again…we will be held responsible for what we do with it. We cannot call ourselves a servant if we aren’t doing service!

A Church Where People Serve Is A Church Where Lives Are Changed!

Let’s use what the Lord has given us for the Kingdom!