Making The Most of Your Opportunities

"Making the Most of Your Opportunities"
Pastor Mike Leiter
Dice Wesleyan Community Church
Preached Sunday, October 21, 2001

Text:
Matthew 25:14-30

Main Points:
I. What Mistakes Did The Third Servant Make
II. What Lessons Does This Parable Teach Us About Life?
A. Life is an adventure in responsibility.
B. Life is a treasure of diversity.
C. Life is a giver of opportunity.

Big Idea:
You can make a difference with your life if you will make the most of the opportunities God gives you.


Introduction:
This morning I will be beginning a series of messages called, “You Can Make A Difference”. I want to show you that whoever you are, whatever you have, and whatever abilities you may have, you can make a difference with your life.

I love the parable in Matthew 25 where Jesus is teaching his disciples about opportunities. Jesus tells them a story about a master who went on a journey, and entrusting his possessions to three servants. The first servant was given 5 talents, the second 2 talents, and the third only 1 talent. Understand, a “talent” was an ancient word that stood for an amount of money that was worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $2,000. The story says that each person was given money based on their ability to make the most of it. As the story goes, the servant with 5 talents began to invest and work his master’s money and when it was all said and done, he doubled the money and when the master settled accounts with him, the servant returned 10 talents to him. The servant who had been given two talents did the same, doubling the master’s money and returned 4 talents to the master. However, if you remember the story, the third servant who had only one talent didn’t use it or invest it. He dug a hole in the ground a buried it. When the master came to the third servant, he was shocked and angered to discover that this servant only gave back the 1 talent. It hadn’t been invested or used in any way. The master said, “You could have at least put it in the bank so it could have gained interest. The master was so angry that he called the servant, “wicked and lazy” and cast him out of his home.

And what I want to do this morning is to look at what we can learn about life and how to make the most of our opportunities in a way that will allow you and I to make a real difference with our life.

I. Where did the third servant go wrong?

A. He was full of excuses. (He focused on every reason why he was unable to make a difference.)
B. He had a bad attitude toward the master. (He thought of the master as a ’hard man’.)
C. He was self-sufficient. (He didn’t need to talk to or deal with anyone to bury his talent.)
D. He was fearful of losing. (He didn’t play to win, he played to ‘not lose’.)

These all remind me of something I learned about the geography in the Middle East. The Sea of Galilee is one of the liveliest bodies of water in the region. It’s full of life and activity. If you recall, when some of the disciples fished in the Sea of Galilee, their nets were so full of fish they were on the verge of bursting. The Jordan River flows into the North and out of the South shores of the Sea of Galilee. The Jordan River continues south until it flows into another sea, however this sea has no outlet. It only receives from the Jordan and that’s where it ends.