A Purpose and A Name

Hey All, 

This is our passage for the week:

Matthew 25:14-30 

¹⁴"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵To 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. ¹⁶The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. ¹⁸But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.¹⁹"After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The 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!' 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. ²⁵So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent 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? ²⁷Well 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" 'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.²⁹For 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. ³⁰And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

Questions to think about: 

-What basis was used in distributing talents (aka. sums of money) to these servants? Does the system seem fair? 

-What could 'talents' represent today? 

-What talents have you been given? Do you believe that God has given them to you? If yes, then do you think it is fair that God will settle accounts with you one day? 

-Why does God entrust us with talents? 

-How is the Master's response to the servants like or unlike to what you would have pictured God's response to be? Was the master too hard on the last servant? 

-Is it your responsibility to develop your talents, or God's? 

-What is the correlation between this story that Jesus told, and your life? In terms of the talents and gifts that you have been given and what you are doing with them? 

I want to challenge you (and myself obviously) with the fact that we have all been given talents and gifts in our lives. There are things that we can be so passionate about that we desire to learn about an pursue. In developing these things there are two struggles. First, not thinking that God has given us anything that is special and second, that we don't owe it to God to explain how we have used those talents. Consider this: Mother Teresa said "We have all been given a name at birth, and that name will stay with us until our death. But that does not mean that God does not have another name for you that He wants you to live into. God told us that, ¹⁵ "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! ¹⁶ See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hand." (Isaiah 49:15-16) 

God promises that he will never forget you. He has a name for you. The  challenge is to trust these promises and to learn what those talents are and how we can use them well. 

Answer questions like-

What are you passionate about? 

What injustices make me angry? 

What activities give me great energy and joy? 

Who do I really admire and why? 

God has created you to be uniquely you. Use those talents! :) I am praying for you all. As usual I will be looking forward to responses. I am here to answer questions as usual. I would love to hear your responses!!