Don’t Bury Your Gift

How many of you are sitting on gifts that God has blessed you with? You are sitting on talents that could bless someone else. You have been given a dream and instead of making a move, you leave it at just that…a dream. Someone has the gift of teaching and is needed in the Children’s Ministry, but you are not sharing your gift. There is someone that has the gift of hospitality or the gift of ushering and you are sitting on your gift. You are saying I am waiting on the Pastor to ask me, or you are waiting on one of the leaders over the ministry to ask you. How many of you are sitting there doing nothing?

The Bible tells us a story. It is the Parable of the Talents. Some may be familiar with this parable.

It is in the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 14 through 28.

¹⁴ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them and made another five talents. ¹⁷ And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸ But he who had received one went and dug in the ground and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

²⁰ “So, he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²² He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

²⁴ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

²⁶ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷ So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents.”

Instead of using the one talent given to him, he buried it. How many of you have buried your gift? How many of you feel that what you must share with others isn’t enough? How many of you feel that you were not called to do anything in the church? How many of you feel you do not have a gift?

The Bible tells us that everyone has been given a gift according to their purpose. Romans 12:6-8 says ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. (NKJV) In 1 Peter 4:10, it says “As every man hath received the gift, even so, minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God”. God has placed a gift inside of each of us. It is up to us to be a good steward of that gift that God has blessed us with.

We are not good stewards of the things that God blesses us with. We are not good stewards of our gifts. Our gifts are to be used to help the Body of Christ. You may be given the gift of ministering to others through song. Instead of joining the choir or helping in some way with the music ministry, you bury that gift. The church may be in search of a secretary or even a receptionist or a financial secretary. You are blessed with the gift of administration, or you just retired from your job working at the bank. Instead of answering the call, you keep it to yourself. You bury your gift. How do you know that God didn’t bless you with that job at the bank so you could be the church’s financial secretary? You don’t know. Instead, you bury your gift. God has called some of you to be preachers, but you are not moving. Instead, you tell God, oh no that is not what I am supposed to be doing. We shy away from it. You feel you are not qualified to spread the Word of God. God qualified you when He called you. He would not call you to it if He was not going to prepare you to go through it. Instead, you bury that gift and warm the pew every Sunday morning.

God does not want you to be like the servant who buried his talents in the ground. God does not want you to sit on your gift. He wants you to use it. He also wants you to nurture your gift. For those of you who are familiar with gardening. It requires a few things for that seed to grow. You must plant it. Then you must water it and sometimes you may have to add fertilizer to it occasionally, so it can get its nutrients. What happens if you do not water your seed, or feed it? It dies. These gifts that God has given to us we have to nurture them. We can water and feed them by studying the Word. We can water and nurture them by being with other believers. We can water and nurture them by doing everything we can to understand how to use our gifts properly. If there is training needed, get it. Whatever you need to bring it to life, do it. If you are unsure of what to do, ask God. He will tell you what to do. He is the one who blessed you with the gift.

When you don’t step out on faith. When you don’t move when God says move. When you bury your gifts then you are blocking the blessing not only for you but also for someone else. Someone out there needs whatever gift God has blessed you with. Someone out there needs you to bring your gift to life. Someone out there needs to read the book God told you to write. That dream He has placed in your heart is for you and someone else too. There is power in your gift. Don’t bury your gift. Don’t sit on what God has placed inside of you. Don’t keep it locked away and never bring it to life. God wants you to use your gift. Don’t bury your gift. Someone needs to see it, experience it, hear it, read it, listen to it. Whatever it is, someone needs it. Don’t bury your gift. Be a good steward of the blessing that God has blessed you with. Don’t be like the servant instead uncover your gift and use it to build God’s Kingdom.