Click HERE to view Rev. Jimmie Scott’s guided meditation during the service.
So, nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mom what he’d learned in Sunday school. And he said, “Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. And when they got to the Red Sea, he called his engineers and had them build a pontoon bridge. And then they walked across the Red Sea safely. And then he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters to call for an airstrike. And then they sent bombers that blew up the bridge and the Israelites were saved.”
“Now Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?”
And Joey said, “No, no, no mom; but if I told it the way she did, you’d never believe it.” [Congregants laugh] All right.
So today, we’re continuing with Week #2 in our parable series. You know Jesus said that he taught in parables because, when it comes to understanding spiritual principles and God’s laws, sometimes we don’t get it, and we don’t believe it. Jesus said, “We have eyes, but do not see, and we have ears, but do not hear.” So he used parables, which are just simple little stories of common everyday things — like seeds or coins or pearls — and it’s told in a way to help us get it … “Aha!” To just have a little bit of awareness of these powerful spiritual truths that we sometimes miss.
Last week we looked at the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price. And today, we’re looking at the Parable of the Talents.
How many people know the parable of talents? Okay; it appears in the book of Matthew, Chapter 25, verses 14 to 30. And it starts:
The kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a different country and brings his servants together and gives to one five talents, gives to another two talents, and to the third one talent.
And then he went away, and the one who had five doubled it and used it wisely and made it ten. The one who had two doubled it and made it four. And the one who had one hid it and buried it so that it would be safe.
And then when the master came back, he met all of them. And the first one said, “You gave me five; I doubled it to ten.” And the master said, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. You were faithful over a few things; now I will make you the ruler of many things, and you can enter into the joy of your Lord.”
And then the second one said, “Hey, I got two. I doubled it.” And the master said, “Again, well done, my good and faithful servant. You have done well with a few things, and now I will make you ruler of many things, and you can enter the joy of the Lord.”
And the third one with the one talent said, “Lord, I knew you’re a hard man, reaping where you do not sow and gathering where you have not scattered seed. I was afraid, and I went and hid it in the ground. So look, here’s what is yours.”
And the master said, “You wicked and lazy servant! You knew that I reaped where I do not sow and gather where I have not scattered seed, so you ought to have deposited the money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own plus interest!”
And so, he took the one talent from the third and gave it to the one with ten, and ends it with this:
For everyone who has, more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But to he who has not, even that which they have, will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
So, we’re going to look at two things. We’re going to look at, first, at the lessons from the face value. And then we’re going to look at the deeper lesson of the metaphysical value of this parable and great simple story.
The first thing I think it teaches a face value is to ACCEPT OUR TALENTS AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR TALENTS. You know, all three servants were given talents – and that is money. That is currency. And they were entrusted with the responsibility and the expectation that they would use it well, and they would use it in a way that would bring increase and bring greater good.
Every one of us has been endowed with certain talents and abilities and creativities; all sorts of skills and different gifts. And every one of us has been given these, and there is an expectation and a responsibility that we utilize and share and invest our gifts and our talents in a way that will bring forth more good … not just in our lives, but in our communities and into our world.
Each of them were given different talents. And notice that one didn’t say, “Hey, he got more than me.” Or, “I didn’t get as much as him!”
And so, one of the things to really accept our talents and use it responsibly to increase our good, means that it’s important for us to not complain and compare ourselves with others. I don’t know if you’ve ever had a time in your life, but I’ve had a couple times where I thought, “Man, I would love to have that guy’s life.” “I wish I had that woman’s wealth or level of success.” “I wish I had their energy,” or “I wish I had their personality.”
Instead of focusing and accepting our talent, sometimes we look around and wish we had other people’s lives or aspects of other people’s lives. Sometimes we wish we had bigger eyes and smaller thighs. [Congregants laugh] Sometimes we wish we were smarter; we wish we had a more wonderful personality or had different gifts in different areas. Sometimes we are not satisfied. We’ve been given different gifts. But then with those different gifts, we wish we were different. We wished we were other than we were.
And the truth and the reality is: your gifts and your talents and your situation in your life is the exact situation you need. You are the way you were meant to be. Every single one of us, the people in our lives and our situations — those are all there to help the evolution of our souls to awaken.
But sometimes we think, “You know, I was born into the wrong family.” “I got the wrong body. “I got the wrong skills.” “I’m in the wrong job.” But instead of using where we are — accepting it as a launching pad and then accepting the responsibility to build our lives from where we are right now and knowing that that’s our gift, that is the path we’ve been called to — we spend too much time complaining. Too much time comparing. And too much time wishing we were different than we were and our lives were different than they are.
So, I ask you: What area in your life — or what thing about yourself — are you having a hard time accepting? And what area in your life or thing about yourself could you do a better job of accepting responsibility for utilizing that gift consciously and intentionally to increase the level of good in your life, in your relationship and in our world?
The second thing that we learned from this is that ACTION AND ENERGY ARE THE THINGS THAT INCREASE GOOD IN OUR LIVES. The two servants — the one who had five and the one who had two — they went out and actively worked with what they had. They didn’t wait for the perfect moment. They didn’t wait for the right circumstances. They didn’t wait for some divine sign. They just moved forward, utilizing the gifts that they had and that they we’re given.
You know. when it says, “Faith without works is dead,” I always think of the flip side of that … and that means that faith with works is alive and enlivens us! It gets the energy in our lives moving! And so, it is the action, but I also believe it’s the energy behind it. It’s the joy behind it; the gratitude behind it.
How many people have ever done something reluctantly or with resistance? Anybody ever anybody ever put that> And I know we’ve all done things with joy! We’ve all done things with enthusiasm and passion. And between action and energy, energy is the secret sauce. We can be mechanical, but it’s the consciousness; it is the energy. It’s the mindset and the attitude.
The way to multiply and increase good in our lives is to not only act, but to act with joy; to act with enthusiasm; with passion; with love and care. A great example of that is our volunteers. For all of our volunteers, it’s not just the action, but it’s the energy behind it. It is the love, the care, the generosity, the support. It is their friendliness that brings more good, that has blessed our ministry and blessed our community.
And in any area of our lives, when we take action, infuse it with positive energy. There will be an increased flow of goodness in our lives.
You know, there are universal laws –The Law of Attraction, The Law of Increase, The Law of Circulation; all is basically the energy that you put out, the passion and the joy that you put out, will be multiplied and it will come back to us. And so that’s why it is so important for all of us to put more of our heart, more of our spirit, even into the simple things we do. But also into our relationship, into our work, and into our own self-care that is important for us.
So, I ask you: What’s one area in your life that you know you can take it up a notch or two in terms of how you’re infusing/investing your talents and your abilities with greater energy? What is that one area? Is it your self-care? Could you imagine pouring your heart more into your self-care? Is it your relationship? You know, is it your work? Because action and energy is the thing that increases the flow of good in our lives.
And the last one we’re going to look at that it teaches is to not live in fear. DON’T LIVE A LIFE OF FEAR and DON’T BURY YOUR TALENT. The third servant buried his talent, and he did it because he was afraid. He did it because he felt insecure. He buried his gift in the ground because he didn’t trust himself to be successful. He thought he’d fail. He didn’t think the little bit he had had much value, and he didn’t really want to mess up. So, he chose to play small. He chose to hide. And he chose to rob himself of the opportunity of being able to expand that and bring more good into his life.
How many people have ever held back or not done something that you wanted or you knew because you were afraid? Anybody ever have that? Sometimes we allow fear to rule our lives: the fear of failure, the fear of judgment, the failure that we are not good enough.
I found it interesting and surprising at first that the master said, “You wicked and lazy servant.” And there’s an important point that’s being made: that honoring and doing the work that God has called us to do and sharing the gifts that are in us is a responsibility. And to not do it is to dishonor God and to diminish ourselves. And so that’s why it was such a negative thing. Don’t hide your light!
Remember in the Parable of the Light? “Don’t hide your light under a bushel basket but put it on a stand so it can give light to everyone in the house.” There is a responsibility that every single one of us has … and it’s not to shrink back. It’s not to play small. It’s not to think whatever you do is just not enough and it’s not valuable because you are valuable.
The message is clear. Don’t let fear stop you from living your truth. And no matter how big, no matter how small, it is enough. And you are enough. Don’t bury it, because it ultimately ends up hurting ourselves and robbing the world of the gift that we came here to bring.
The world absolutely needs your talents and your abilities, and it needs it now! There’s not any point of waiting. It is now! And whether it’s your smile or your good attitude or just a positive vibe that you bring to everything you do, it is needed! Even one single talent, when nurtured, will absolutely make an incredible difference and bless us and more people than we realize.
In the Gospel of Thomas, it puts it very strongly, the point and the message of this parable. And here’s what he says: “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. But if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
And so, when we don’t share the gifts, we dishonor God, we diminish ourselves, and we rob ourselves of joy, excitement, enthusiasm, and what a true, abundant and joy-filled life is all about.
On the face value, this parable says: you’ve got gifts, and when you use it, it will increase in your life. And you’ve got gifts, and when you hide them or don’t use them, it will take away your good by the Law of Attraction.
So, let’s go a little deeper with a more metaphysical meaning. So, when we look at things metaphysically of any story, each character in it represents some aspect within ourselves. And so, it helps us to understand ourselves better so we could live more spiritually-centered lives.
Now the first character we’ll look at is the master. This represents the Spirit of God in us; the source of good in ourselves. It represents that power and that intelligence in whose image and likeness we have all been created: the source of every gift and all good things; the source that makes all things possible.
In 1 Corinthians 12 it says this: “Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are a variety of service, but the same Lord. There are a variety of activities, but it is the same God who empowers all of them in everyone.”
And so, we all have different skills and abilities, and we are meant to have different skills and abilities … because that makes life fuller! That makes life richer. And every single part that we all play are all valuable and important parts. And God has brought forth talents in different ways in all of us for a purpose. We’re not all supposed to have the same talents. All the different ones is what makes life so rich and wonderful.
So, the master represents God and the source of all the good and the talents we’ve got. The other thing the master represents is the spiritual law: The Law of Attraction. It was the master who increased the servant’s good and expanded that good so that they could have more. So, the spiritual law — the Lord is the law. And so that when good and abundance comes into our lives, and we attract that abundance, it’s just a consequence. And when we don’t, it’s not a punishment. It is the law working in the law.
We love the law when it works for ourselves, but we don’t like it quite as much when it doesn’t! When we don’t work it as well. But we all have to have a reminder, this is how the law works. This is how life works. This is how God works. That when we put out the positive, we get more positive. When we put out the negative, we get more negative.
So the first thing is to understand that that power and that spiritual law and that presence and source of God is in us.
The second one is the servant with the five talents represents the consciousness of abundance and faith. This one was willing and optimistic about following his dream, about believing in himself; seeing greater possibilities; of doing it with joy and passion; and knowing that he had everything in him to be able to accomplish the goal and use his talents wisely. You know, it’s the kind of mindset that’s willing to learn; that’s willing to try; that’s willing to take a leap of faith sometimes to do great things.
The servant with the two talents represents a consciousness that’s more slow and steady; a little more conservative. That plays it safe; that takes calculated steps — baby steps, but definitely takes some steps. Would not take a leap of faith, but just tends to like slow progress.
That’s that consciousness in us that can be a little cautious; that can play it all safe; that needs all the ducks to be in a row and all the lights to be green before proceeding.
Now, the servant with the one talent: that represents a consciousness of fear and a consciousness of lack. It is a consciousness where, sometimes, we act in life where we are overly cautious; where we doubt ourselves; where we second guess ourselves.
How many people have ever had a goal or an idea you had and you talked yourself out of it? Anybody ever try that? This is a consciousness that could be inside of us. It is a consciousness of fear; a conscious of lack. And then we can engage in major procrastination and sometimes not even get started.
These are all consciousness within us. The master is that divine consciousness and that understanding of the law. And then the consciousness of abundance and faith. The consciousness that’s conservative; of slow and steady. And then the consciousness of fear and lack.
And so my question for you is: What consciousness do you tend to deal with the most? And do you fluctuate from one to the other? Because our work is to raise our consciousness to a level of abundance.
You know, I found it interesting … So, they take the one that the guy’s got and then gives it to the one with ten! And then ends it with this: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from him who does not have, even that which they have will be taken away.”
We’ll look at the second part in a second. Let’s look at the first. “To he who has, more will be given.” And what’s the “has”? To he who has a consciousness of abundance; who believes in the abundant possibilities and goodness of God. To the person who has an awareness of the power of creativity; The Law of Attraction. To the person who believes that they have it within them, and greater things are possible. To the person that also has a level of self-worth; who believes that they’re good enough; who believes that they have it within them and, with God, they can create and do anything. It is that consciousness that has. That consciousness will always attract more and always attract greater abundance.
And that’s our goal! It is a consciousness of abundance. It is a God-consciousness. That, whatever we’re facing — whether we’re in five or two or one or something not ideal – that that consciousness is what really lifts us.
So let me answer this: If we had someone with a lack consciousness, and they win the lottery — they win a million dollars — and someone with a prosperity consciousness, and they have nothing in two years, who do you think will have more? I would say the person with a consciousness of abundance. Because even if they don’t have, their consciousness of abundance will attract the right people. It will inspire them with the right ideas. Things will begin to fall into place in their lives, because life is consciousness. Consciousness is the thing that we need to build up on within ourselves.
And then let’s look at the second half: “To he who has not, even that which they have will be taken away.” Is it just me, or does that sound unfair? Doesn’t it sound like the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Doesn’t it sound like the poor are being punished and the rich are being blessed?
And that’s not what it’s talking about. Because, again, it’s about consciousness. To those who have not an abundance consciousness — but have a consciousness of fear or lack or limitation or negativity – that that consciousness will attract more lack; more negativity; and more fear.
“To he who has not, that which they have will be taken away.” Because if you attract the good, then what do you get when you attract lack? You get, you know … we even begin to lose.
You remember in the Book of Job? It says, “The thing that I feared has come upon me.” He was afraid to lose, and guess what happened? He lost. Because what we hold in consciousness manifests in our lives. So, to he who has not — it is not a punishment, you know; it is not anything wrong. It is just an explanation of the Law of Attraction.
So, what you believe about yourself, the world, and your place in it becomes your reality. And we want to attract a prosperity consciousness, but we will only attract what we believe about ourselves. We will only attract what we believe about our world. We will only attract what we believe our place is in this world.
And so, the higher level of consciousness that we can hold, the better good that we will attract. And not in a blaming way, but in a learning way of looking at our lives now and asking: How can I raise my consciousness? How can I put more action with positive energy and vibration out to the universe so that the universe — the law — will attract it into my life? What we put out, we attract.
A DEA officer stopped by this farm and said, “I need to inspect your farm for illegal activities.”
And the farmer said, “Okay, but don’t go in that field over there.”
And the DEA officer said, “Look, mister,” and he pulls out his badge. He said, “I am under the authority of the federal government. And you see this badge? You see this badge? This badge says I can go anywhere I want on anybody’s land … No questions asked, no answers given. Do you get that? This badge gives me that power.” And he says, “You understand?”
And the farmer apologized and said, “I’m really sorry, but you can just do whatever you’d like.” And he goes and does his chores.
A short time later he hears the inspector screaming. And he looks out into the field and he’s running. And right behind him is this mean, old bull with sharp horns that’s gaining on him. And he could tell he’s not going to make it to the fence; he’s going to get gored by one of those horns.
And the officer is terrified and he’s yelling, “Help, help!”
And the farmer threw down his tools and went to the nearest fence, and at the top of his lungs he said, “Your badge! Show him your badge!” [Congregants laugh] All right.
You know, God’s laws – The Law of Abundance, The Law of Circulation, The Law of Increase – are always working; always reflecting back to us the energy that we put out. And when we continuously focus on lack, on limitation, and what we don’t like or want, we will get more of it. And when we focus on the good, when we focus on the possibilities, when we focus on lifting our consciousness to the consciousness of abundance, more abundance will flow.
The thing we need to do is to focus on three things: Focus on God, the very source out of which everything is made possible. Focus on gratitude. Notice how blessed and wonderful and good our lives are. And focus on worthiness. You are child of God. You are worthy of God’s richness and God’s abundance.
We have been given many talents and one of those talents include the ability to transform our consciousness from lack to abundance, from fear to love, from unworthiness to worthiness. Developing a prosperity consciousness is the important work and the great message in the Parable of the Talents.
God bless you all!