Sunday's Message - The Best We Can with What We’ve Got

Here's the message I offered during the celebration services in First Presbyterian Church, Brilliant, Ohio on Sunday, November 15, 2020.

Matthew 25:14-30 [Contemporary English Version]

The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country.

As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the five thousand coins used them to earn five thousand more. The servant who had two thousand coins did the same with his money and earned two thousand more. But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master’s money in the ground.

Some time later the master of those servants returned. He called them in and asked what they had done with his money. The servant who had been given five thousand coins brought them in with the five thousand that he had earned. He said, “Sir, you gave me five thousand coins, and I have earned five thousand more.”

“Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”

Next, the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, “Sir, you gave me two thousand coins, and I have earned two thousand more.”

“Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”

The servant who had been given one thousand coins then came in and said, “Sir, I know that you are hard to get along with. You harvest what you don’t plant and gather crops where you haven’t scattered seed. I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!”

The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don’t plant and gather crops where I haven’t scattered seed. You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it.”

Then the master said, “Now your money will be taken away and given to the servant with ten thousand coins! Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don’t have anything. You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”

The Best We Can with What We’ve Got

Over the years, I believe that I’ve tried to do the best I could with what I’ve got. In fact, I’ve sort of used those words to shape my life. And that’s a good thing, because I think it’s kept me both realistic and focused. But I’ll tell you, for me, the best part of that little phrase is that I can use it regardless of what’s happening around me. For example, if I’m successful in doing something and I’m getting a lot of praise, I can say, with sort of a modest smile, “Well, I do the best I can with what I’ve got.” And then I’m free to bask in the adoration without becoming too full of myself. On the other hand, if I find myself in a situation where I’m failing miserably, I can say, with a look that just oozes sadness, “Well, I do the best I can with what I’ve got.” And then I can slink off, with what’s left of my self-worth, fairly confident that no one’s going to be coming after me with pitch forks and hot tar. You see, what I mean? This is one powerful statement.

Of course, I recognize that actually doing it, well, that’s a heck of lot harder than just saying it. As a matter of fact, I think making the very most of what we have is something most folks struggle with. I know I do. In other words, we just don’t always do the best we can with what we’ve got. I mean, think about it. Even though we all have a voice, instead of speaking up, we often shut down. And even though we all have hands, instead of reaching out, we often pull back. And even though we all know there are situations all around us where we might make a difference, instead of stepping in, we often turn away. And as a result, stuff that should happen, doesn’t. And if that’s not bad enough, this lack of action is something we know and feel. And if we’re not careful, that knowledge and those feelings can get in the way of our relationships with one another but more importantly, with God. 

And I’ll tell you, that’s why we’re going to spend a little time talking about how we can make better use of what we have right now. And to that, we’ll use this parable that Jesus taught his disciples to answer three questions: first, what have we’ve got, or better, what have we been given; second, what can we do with it; and third, what do we know going in. And remember, the goal is for us all to understand a little bit better how we can do the best we can with what we’ve got.

But to figure that out, first, we really need to have a good idea about what we actually have, or like I said a minute ago, what we’ve been given. And I think we can get a pretty good idea about what that is by looking at the parable we just read. Remember, according to Jesus, “The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country.” [Matthew 25:14-16, CEV] 

Now that’s what Jesus said, and I think that tells us a lot about our situation. For example, just like we see in the story, God is like the master who gives, and we’re like the servants who receive. And just like it is in the parable, what he gives to each is based on his understanding of us, not our control over him. In other words, what we end up having is based on his will, not our wants. It’s like Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body. First, God chose some people to be apostles and prophets and teachers for the church. But he also chose some to work miracles or heal the sick or help others or be leaders or speak different kinds of languages. Not everyone is an apostle. Not everyone is a prophet. Not everyone is a teacher. Not everyone can work miracles. Not everyone can heal the sick. Not everyone can speak different kinds of languages. Not everyone can tell what these languages mean. [1 Corinthians 12:27-30, CEV]

What each of us receives is going to be different. 

But I’ll tell you, regardless of how much we get, I think it’s really important to remember that what we receive is incredibly valuable and unbelievably precious. Remember, when the boss divided his 8,000 coins three ways, not each servant got the same amount. But given the fact that each coin represented the prevailing wage for a day’s work, even 1,000 coins is a lot of money. It’s like trying to decide whether you’d like to be as rich as Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg or Warren Buffet? I know my answer would be, “yes, please.” Of course, when you’re looking at what we’ve received, it’s not just about money. Like we talked about during the sermon last week, it also involves both our time and our talents. You see, this is what God has given; therefore, this is what we’ve got. And remember, that was our first question. 

And second, what can we do with it? In other words, what can we do with the time and the talents and the money we’ve been given? What can we do with all this stuff we’ve got? Now that’s the question, and again I think we can get a pretty good idea about the answer by looking at the story. I mean, after the man had given his servants their share of the money and after he’d left, those three guys were on their own with a pretty important decision to make, weren’t they? They had to decide what they were going to with their windfall. And according to the story, that’s exactly what they did:

As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the five thousand coins used them to earn five thousand more. The servant who had two thousand coins did the same with his money and earned two thousand more. But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master's money in the ground. [Matthew 25:16-18, CEV]

Now that’s what they did.

And I’ll tell you, as we try to figure out what we’re going to do with the stuff we’ve got, we’ve got a decision to make too. I mean, on one hand, we can make the intentional decision to put our time and our talents and our money to good use. In other words, we can decide to do the very thing Paul challenged the Romans to do:

God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully. [Romans 12:6-8, CEV]

Now this we can do. 

On the other hand, though, we can pretty much throw our gifts in a hole. I mean, either because we’re afraid of failure or just lazy, we can bury what we’ve got in our backyard, can’t we? And we can do it, even though his sort of runs counter what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount:

You are like salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.

You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven. [Matthew 5:13-16, CEV]

And so there it is. We can choose to be salty and bright or to be bland and dim. And since our boss is temporarily out-of-town, the choice about what we’re going to do with what we have, man, that’s really up to us, and that’s also the answer to our second question. 

And so, we know what have we’ve got; and we’ve got a pretty good idea about what can we do with it. And that leaves us with our third question, namely, what do we know going in? In other words, before we take those gifts and talents God has given us and start putting them to use, what are some things we already know? And again, I think this parable gives us a pretty good idea about what some of those things are. I mean, do y’all remember what happened? The boss came home and called in his servants. And while the first two doubled their money, the third guy was afraid of taking a chance and so he buried his coins in the backyard. And when the boss heard from servant number one and servant number two, he said the exact same thing: “Wonderful! ...You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!” [Matthew 25:21 or 23, CEV] But with servant number three, well, it was a little different. 

The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don’t plant and gather crops where I haven’t scattered seed. You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it.” 

Then the master said, “Now your money will be taken away and given to the servant with ten thousand coins! Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don’t have anything. You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.” [Matthew 25:26-30, CEV]

Now that’s what happened, and so we, as we consider what we have, like it or not, we know that we’re going to be held accountable for how we use it. I mean, that’s pretty obvious.

But I’ll tell you, I think there are two other things we can know as we move forward that aren’t as obvious. You see, first, we know that the master really wants to reward his servants, because he wants them to make good use of what they have. In other words, I believe God really wants to call us all “good and faithful servants.” That’s one thing we can know going in that the servants didn’t. And second, we know that if we use what we have, man, we’re going to be successful. I mean, no one lost money in the parable. And the two who spoke up and reached out and stepped in, good night, they were incredibly successful, but not the one who shut down, pulled back and turned away. In fact, it reminds me of that old joke about a guy who’s complaining to a friend about how God just doesn’t answer prayers. And he knows this because he’s been praying that he win the lottery for years and nothing’s happened. And when he finishes his rant, his friend says, “Well it would help if you bought a ticket.” Just remember, every parable in which Jesus talked about planting seeds, regardless of what happened along the way, the harvest was certain. And right along with knowing that we’re going to be held accountable by the one who wants to reward us, this we also know going in. 

You know, since it’s served me so well in the past, I’ll probably continue to think in terms of doing the best I can with what I’ve got. And I’ll tell you, based on what Jesus taught in this parable, that might not be a bad idea for all of us. And to make applying it even easiest, we already know, first, what we’ve got, and second, what we can do with it, and third, what we can expect going in. And so, I ask y’all: Starting today, are we going to do best we can with what we’ve got?