Don’t Waste What God Gave You | Phil Kniesel

We’ve all had regrets.  Things we wish we said differently, choices we wish we hadn’t made, or opportunities we wish we hadn’t missed. But what if the most spiritually dangerous thing in your life isn’t what you’re doing wrong, but what you’re not doing at all?

In this message, Pastor Phil unpacks Jesus’ story from Matthew 25 about the servants entrusted with bags of gold. It’s a reminder that every one of us has been given something of value from God—something to make the world better. The question is: what are we doing with it?

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- Hey, this is Phil Kal, lead pastor at Hope City Church. Thanks for tuning into our podcast. My prayer is that this helps and encourages you, gives you some practical ways to live out your faith and ultimately fills you with hope. Enjoy the message.- I haven't met anyone who doesn't have regrets. I mean we all have 'em. It could be something you've said, something you did. It could be the way you handled a difficult situation or it could just be the color you painted your living room. We've all got regrets. I'm curious, what's a recent regret you have? You know, a number of years ago, Marla and I decided to stain our back deck and it's a pretty big deck. So I rented one of those large standup sanders from Home Depot and I took the time about two days to sand down the entire deck railings and all, and we were ready to get it stained and so we went out to purchase the stain and we decided upon one and brought it home. The next day, Marla had something up and so I thought I'd be a really great husband and surprise her with staining the deck before she came back home And when she came home the look on her face wasn't one of, oh wow, that is amazing. It was one of, oh no, what have we done? Because the stain color definitely looked different than what was on that little picture on the can. And when it was applied to our wood, it dried as this ugly orange tinge and we both hated it. that said, I was like, babe, I'm not redoing this. I'm not standing this down again. I'm not standing it. So we kept that deck for a considerable amount of time and we regretted it every time we stepped outside this summer. Thankfully we, we finally swapped it out. But some of people's biggest regrets are expressed actually at the end of their life. I wish I hadn't worked so hard, I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. I wish I had let myself be happier. What's a recent regret you have? You know, many of them are driven by things we did wrong or wish we could have done differently and I think that also spills over into our faith journeys. I wish I didn't do this. I wish I hadn't gone there. I wish I hadn't said that and more, but what if, what if the most spiritually dangerous thing in your life isn't what you're doing wrong but what you're not doing at all? We're in a series entitled Bigger Than Us where we've been looking at the core things we as a church are about. And in week one I stress the importance of sharing our faith because our world desperately needs Jesus. Last week, pastor Ken mentioned that all of us have a next no matter where we may be at. And today I want to unpack that question. What if the most spiritually dangerous thing in your life isn't what you're doing wrong but what you're not doing at all? And Jesus actually told a story about this very thing it's founded in the New Testament book of Matthew and it was while he was explaining what the kingdom of heaven is like and just for clarity, this was not just heaven, the place you go after you die, this was God's kingly rule breaking in and through by what Jesus was doing on earth and God's kingly rule reaching its pinnacle when Jesus returns. And in this passage Jesus was giving some pictures of how God's reign operates now and how it will be revealed at the end. It's chapter 25 of Matthew and in it he gives three stories, three scenarios to illustrate the kingdom of heaven. First, he gives a parable about 10 virgins, identifying the concept of readiness about how the kingdom calls for prepared and ongoing faith as we wait for Jesus to return it's long haul readiness. And by the way, friends Jesus is returning. It's not if but when. In fact, I did hear someone recently predict that he's coming back on September 23rd. Now that's likely not gonna happen because the Bible says no one knows the day or the hour, not even Jesus. But despite that, my prayer is that you live your life ready for that incredible moment. So first, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is about long haul readiness. Secondly, he talks about faithful stewardship in the parable of the bags of gold or also called the parable of the talents, which is what I want to talk about today. And thirdly, he references what he calls the separation of the sheep and goats which leans into accountability and the fact that each of us will stand before him at the end of our lives and give an account of how we lived. So in summary, the kingdom of heaven is God saving rule in Christ. It's real now and revealed fully when Jesus returns. And because we're living in the in-between, it calls us to live, ready, faithful, watchful, and merciful lives. Jesus is calling his followers to live this way as they are recognizable marks of people who want to call them call themselves Christians. So I want us to read the story here in Matthew 25. It's called the story of the bag of bags of gold or in some version the story of the talents. This is a pretty long passage of scripture that I'm gonna read now. Uh, just stick with me. Okay, so Jesus says this again. It'll be like a man. So again, he's giving another story of what the kingdom of heaven will be like. That's it in his reference here. It'll be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 20 gave five bags of gold to another two bags and to another one bag each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more so also the one with two bags of gold gained two more, but the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five master. He said, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more. His master replied, well done good and faithful servant, you've been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. The man with two bags of gold also came master. He said, you entrusted me with two bags of gold. See, I've gained two more. 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. Then the man who had received one bag of gold came mastery, said, I knew you are a hard man harvesting where you have not sewn and gathering where you've not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See here is what belongs to you. His master replied you wicked lazy servant. So you knew that I harvest where I have not sewn and gather why I have not scattered seed. Well then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so that when I returned I would've received it back with interest. Every financial planner and bankers like, yeah man, that makes sense. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has 10 bags for whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken from them and throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now that that took a pretty harsh twist at the end and I'm gonna talk about that later. I just wanna remind you the story that Jesus shared prior to this one was about the 10 virgins that was all about being ready for his return. He follows it up with this story where Jesus is answering the question, what readiness looks like while we wait for him to return? And so I wanna unpack what he's saying and notice right from the get go this is what we read. It says, um, again, it'll be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and and trusted his wealth to them and trusted that word's important. This means the master took something of value, something that was valuable to him and put it into someone else's care. Don't miss this. Before Jesus gave any command or expectation of what to do, there came grace. What we see is that God gives first and yes the amounts are different. One received five, another two bags of gold, another one, the amounts differ but everyone got something significant. Each was given according to their ability. Now some scholars believe that each bag of gold was roughly 20 years of wages. So no matter the number received, they were all a big deal. They were all significant. And Jesus was saying, you, you've been given, given something from the Lord and that something is of value, that something is to make the world better. You have a gift, it has been entrusted to you. Peter, a disciple of Jesus underscored this when he said it this way. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. Now some people are given more based upon what they can handle. Some are given less, but we are all given something. And so our job isn't to look at others and say, I wish I had what they have. Our role is to recognize that we're not empty handed. And that goes for every single one of you, something has been entrusted to you from the Lord and the measure given to you is intentional. God knows your capability, your season and your assignment. God is never unfair with how he gifts us. He is wise. And so we just gotta be faithful with what he has given us. And faithfulness is not measured by what we have but by what we do with what we've been given. Don't let your gift remain like the app you just downloaded on your phone but never use each of you should use whatever gift you have received. It's not, man, I wish I had something in my hand. It's thank God for what he has put in your hand. And it's interesting to see the response of the individuals in the story. The one with five bags of gold goes out once and puts the money to work the same with the individual with two bags of gold. And then we get to the one who had one bag and we read this, it says, but the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money in saying this, Jesus is telling us that there is an expectation to do something with what we've been given. The contrast is one of urgency versus avoidance. It says the individuals with five and two went at once, the individual with one dug a hole in the ground, he did nothing and going at once is acting in faith. It's not reckless, it's decisive. James, he's another writer in the New Testament. He says it this way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead. They went at once. And friends, I'm cur, I'm curious with what is in your hand. Do you need to take an at once step, like maybe you need to start serving at our church. Maybe you need to invite your neighbors over for a meal. Maybe it's leading a small group, maybe it's starting a prayer group. Maybe it's sharing how you came to faith in Jesus with someone who needs to hear it. Maybe it's following God's call in your life. Faith acts in the present. It acts at once with what's in your hand. Do you need to take an at once step? Because notice Jesus doesn't talk positively about the guy who buried his gold. And at first I'm kinda like why? Like burning the gold seemed seemed kind of respectable. He wasn't gonna lose the money. The master would get it all back. It was risk-free, it was tidy, it was safe. But Jesus wanted to make a point when we bur what we have been given, it's, and this sounds a little harsh, it's disobedience in disguise. You know many times we can create our own excuses that justify burying our talent, burying what God has given us. We say, well I don't really have something that's really that great. We ask, what if I fail? And therefore we live in fear. We doubt that we can bring value. Some of us deal with perfectionism. So it's not, if it's not amazing, we're not gonna start. Some of us deal with procrastination. We have good intentions but no follow through others. We compare. Well they got five talents, she's got two, I got one. We diminish what we have because we look at others instead of keeping our eyes on Jesus. Don't let what God has entrusted to you become buried. It's like gym memberships. I read recently that roughly 67% of all memberships are rarely to very rarely used. That's mind blowing. Results always require movement. Whether that is physically or spiritually. Ownership without operation produces zero growth in your life. Burying the talent that you have been given friends isn't an option. It's actually as Jesus says here, a form of disobedience. So eventually the master returns to settle accounts with the servants. I just want you to notice the language Jesus is using here. Master and servant friends. When we follow Jesus, we are servants, meaning we follow his ways and what he has said and we don't make the rules and we don't call the shots. His ways are higher than ours, his ways are better than ours. We follow them. And so the master, he calls in the individuals to settle accounts. And the first two report an increase. And although they had different amounts, they get commended identically, identical praise, identical promotion, identical joy. This is what the master says to both of them. 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 masters happiness. God evaluates faithfulness, not sameness. And then the third guy comes in and he offers excuses to the point of mischaracterizing the master. He says, well I knew you were a hard man. I was afraid so I hid it. He's blaming the master's character to justify his disobedience. A distorted view of God will always give you room to justify disobedience. So if you only see him as hard or demanding, you're gonna hide what you have been given. You're gonna push back, you're gonna retreat, you're gonna do nothing. And I know some of you have had that either ingrained in you or told this is how God acts friends, listen, God loved you so much that he gave his son Jesus to die on the cross so that you can be forgiven of your sin and so that you can have life eternally. He wants to be your Lord and savior. And our God is full of love. He is good, he is worthy. And how we see him ultimately determines how we respond with what he has given us. And in this story, Jesus is not teaching that God is exploitive. He's exposing the servant's excuse. So the servant mischaracterizes the master and the master then uses the distorted servant's words to judge him. He says, so you knew that I harvest where I've not sewn and gather where I've not scattered seed. He he's he's using the servant's own words against him. And what Jesus is doing is exposing the excuse and revealing the weight of disobedience. The issue isn't low capacity, it's willful negligence. He was hitting the posture of the heart. The servant here was twisting the expectation from the master and making it seem like he was actually doing a good thing. But in reality he was just protecting his own disobedience. And I think man, maybe we're just like him at times. Are you avoiding something you already know God has asked you to do? What story are you telling yourself about God that might fuel your avoidance? Are you trying to justify a lack of going at once? At times we're all like this third guy. What if the most spiritually dangerous thing in your life isn't what you're doing wrong but what you're not doing at all? Let's look at how Jesus ends this story to the two that multiplied what they've been given to the ones that went at once. Remember the master gives three things. Praise, well done, good and faithful servant promotion. You've been faithful with little, I will put you in charge of many. Enjoy. Come and share your master's happiness, different capacities, equal faithfulness and equal commendation. Which tells us thank God that he doesn't grade us against our neighbor. He just calls us to be faithful with what we've got. And it also tells us that faithfulness always expands capacity in this life and in the life to come. Like this is kingdom mass. Use what you've been given and it grows. The flip side, bury what you've been given and it shrinks. And verse 29 sums this up. Well, it says this, for whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what they have will be taken from them. Gifts either grow with you or atrophy with neglect. And then there's this like sober side to what Jesus shares the third servant. He doesn't repent for his lack of use of what's been entrusted to him. He makes excuses. And I just wanna read again what he says. You know this, but this is what he says. Master, I knew that you are a hard man harvesting where you've not sewn and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and I went out and hi hid your gold in the ground. See here's what belongs to you. And what's the master's response? You wicked lazy servant it. Wow. He gives condemnation and then he says, take the unused talent and give it to the one who has 10 and cast them into utter darkness. That almost seems too harsh for someone who is just playing. Its safe, doesn't it? I mean come on. The guy gave the master back everything he was given. So why so harsh? I believe Jesus was hitting disobedience and leaning into this idea that chronic willful unfaithfulness reveals an unregenerate heart said differently. Disobedience is a pattern rather than a moment. And it shows a heart not surrendered to God.'cause what we need to understand is this wasn't about a bad week in the life of this dude. We all have bad weeks. It was about a settled refusal to obey. Jesus was showcasing a pattern, not a moment. Chronic willful unfaithfulness. It's when we say, yeah, I know what Jesus wants me to do but I refuse to do it anyway. I'm gonna refuse even when the scriptures or the Holy Spirit and others are pulling me to do differently. This is not struggling forward. Friends, we do that regularly. This is digging in. It's not I had a moment of weakness and now I'm ready to repent. It's a hardness of heart that resists. And Jesus warned and talked about this kind of life at another time in the book of Matthew. He says it this way when he is talking about Jesus followers, he says, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus by their fruit you will recognize them. In John 15, he takes this analogy further. He says He's the vine. We're the branches and if we remain in him, we will bear much fruit. The book of one John says, we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Listen, I'm not saying we're gonna live perfect lives, but rather I'm saying our lives are to be lived directionally and repentant. A longstanding unrepentant refusal to steward what God gave you may just reveal a deeper unwillingness to obey. It may reveal things that you have never truly bowed to Jesus. And so what am I talking about? It's when I'm busy entails years of no service though opportunities abound. It's when you fail to talk about your faith even though you have friends and family that desperately need Jesus. It's when you will take open handedly but are closed handed for kingdom endeavors. It can be cherishing a sin. You refuse to surrender. You call it your struggle while all the while you just build a fence around it. It can also sound like blame shifting. God is too demanding. I've got some church heard. Leaders have failed me. The timing's not right. Hope city, listen, I'm not talking about grief, health, crisis, burnout, or even bouts with sin. I'm not talking about the repentance. Struggler who keeps getting back up if that's you. Keep fighting, keep repenting. Take heart. His grace is at work in you. What I'm talking about here, what Jesus is referencing is a dugin defended pattern that says, I will not. But here's the thing. I love this 'cause if that's you and if that's me, the beauty of our God, the beauty of his grace is that it's never too late. You can change, you can make your way toward faithfulness. Just start with direction. Just start with moving forward. Start with a small step of obedience. So if you need to repent, do so. If you need to get beyond fear, step out in faith. If you need to stop comparing, then take your eyes off others and fix 'em on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. Grace is readily available and present for every single one of us. But listen, grace doesn't lower the bar. It lifts us over it. And Paul says it this way to the Ephesians church for it is by grace that you've been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by work so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. What if the most spiritually dangerous thing in your life isn't what you're doing wrong, but what you're not doing at all? And I wanna get super practical for a moment. I want every one of you right now just to identify one entrustment that God has placed into your hand, one thing that God has given you. And next I want you to identify an area, whether it's your home, your church, your work, your neighborhood, where you can put it into practice. And then I just wanna say, don't just think about it, go at once. And I wanna let you know this hope city. We have a plethora of serving options across our church. And we would love you to step up and lead into what God is doing here through what God has given you. In fact, this morning on your way out, you're just gonna get a little card like this and you can scan the QR code on that for more information. Or you're gonna have some team members out in the lobby that just says, taken next step. And you can uh, or uh rather, it says call to serve on their T-shirts and they'd love for you to just take a next step. We'd love to walk that journey with you. See, the master isn't hard and unfair. He's good, he's loving. And his word to you over every faithful step, larger, small, his word to every act of obedience, his word to using what has been entrusted to you is still well done, good and faithful servant come and share your master's happiness. He clearly said faithfulness leads to more capacity, more impact, and best of all, more of his joy. So hope city, let's be people who refuse to bury our talents. Let's be like the first two servants who went at once and did something with what they have been given. Let's not have any regrets in how we lived our lives so that when the day comes, when we finally stand before Jesus, we hear him say, well done friend. Well done. I'm gonna ask you to stand if you are able to. I want to close in praying over and for you this morning. Jesus, I'm so grateful that you spoke words that just transformed our lives. But Jesus, I'm so grateful that you set the way that you showed the way. Thank you that you have entrusted every single one of my friends here today with something. Thank you that something of value has been imparted into their life. And so I pray on this day that we understand what that is and we move forward in faithfulness almost in this at once mentality of saying, God, I want my life to bring glory and honor to you through what you've given me. Thanks for being patient with us.'cause I know sometimes we make excuses because we're insecure or we're fearful or we don't believe that we have something of value. But God, today, I pray that through your spirit, you speak into every heart, every mind, and every life. I pray that today you just build inside of them, confidence, assurance and faith that you have entrusted with something to bring glory and honor to this world and to you God. And so I pray for their talent. I pray for whatever has been entrusted to them to increase. I pray for influence to just expand. I pray for impact. God, if we have delayed today, we just say, forgive us. If we need to repent, we say, I'm sorry. Fill us with your spirit. Help us to take a step and just go forward and saying, thank you for entrusting me with this thing of value. And help me to serve you and our world through this. We truly want to see your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, you know, maybe you're joining us and you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus or you've never made the decision to follow Jesus. Friend I said earlier, he went to the cross to die for your sins. He rose to offer you life both now and forever. And just following Jesus is literally the best decision you can make in your life. And if you're saying yes, I want to begin that journey, I, I want to know him. I want to follow him. I wanna understand this Christian life. I'm gonna pray a prayer that helps you put into words the beginning of that journey. Why don't you just pray along with me? Jesus today I see my need for you. I thank you for going to the cross. I thank you for dying for my sins. I thank you for rising and offering me life and hope both now and forever. And so today I put my faith in you. I put my trust in you. I ask you to be Lord and leader of my life. Help me understand what it means to know you fully. Help me to follow you. And so I put my old ways behind and I wanna begin a new life in you. Christ, help me also to take what you have entrusted to me and live it out for your glory and for your honor. And Lord, I pray over every individual, every couple and every family. I ask that as they go into this week, life's ahead of them. And so I just pray that you surround them, you direct them, you guide them. I pray that they know that they have a God who is for them and with them. I pray in every circumstance they stand on the security and the firm foundation that you are, I pray Holy Spirit for just wisdom and fresh encounters and your voice and your guidance in and through everything. And Lord, I just ask that they may walk with you knowing that you've entrusted them with something and may they move forward and go at once and say, I'm doing this for your glory and for your honor. And so I pray this over these incredible people here at Hope City, in the powerful, wonderful, and magnificent name of Jesus. Amen. You know, if you prayed that prayer of surrendering your life to Jesus this this day, can I just ask you to scan the QR code that's on the screen or on the seat back in front of you? We would love to get a booklet inside of your hands that talks about knowing and following Jesus a little bit more. We'd also love to connect with you, get to know you in a large church. If you're joining us in person here and you want prayer over anything in your life, we're gonna have a prayer team available right down here in this section at your left front, left. And they would love to pray over and for you, hope City know this. I love you lot. I'm praying for you. Go use your talent this week. Go and make a difference. Thanks for being in church today. God bless. Have an incredible Sunday.