Talents | Austin Turner

Well, good morning, Heights family. Good morning

to our online family, Pauldin, Baghdad. Love

that you guys are joining us in worship here

this morning. My name is Austin. I get to be

the youth pastor here for our Prescott location.

And thank you. It has been a while. It has been

a while since I've been up here. So I'm just

so grateful, so grateful to be here, so grateful

to worship together as a family this morning.

And if you've been with us the last few weeks,

we are talking about stories as told by Jesus.

And if you didn't know, Jesus tells a lot of

stories. We call them parables. And a parable

is just a short story used to illustrate and

communicate a deeper biblical principle. Sometimes

Jesus uses these parables, he uses analogies

in them to communicate a better and illustrate

better a biblical principle. Or he uses people.

To represent God and humans. And so I would love

to jump right into our story today. It's in Matthew

25. If you want to turn there, click there, whatever

it is. Matthew 25. We're going to read the whole

thing all the way through. Because I need you

guys to grasp and understand just the story from

beginning to end. And then we're going to unpack

it afterwards. So Matthew 25, verse 14. Again.

Matthew 25:14

It will be like a man going on a journey who

called his servants and entrusted his wealth

to them. To one he 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 out 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 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 have been faithful with a few things.

I will put you in charge of many things. Come

and share in 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 have 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 in your

master's happiness. Then the man who'd received

one bag of gold came. Master, he said, I knew

that you were a hard man, harvesting where you

have not sown and gathering where you have 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. You knew that I harvest

where I have not sown and gathered where 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 have received it back

with interest. 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. Would

you guys pray with me as we kind of dive in and

unpack this story? God, we come before you this

morning, thankful for the gift of life, thankful

for just being able to sit here this morning.

God, we come and we ask for you to illuminate

the dark parts of our hearts that we keep hidden.

Would you teach us something new here this morning?

God, we ask these to be your words and from your

spirit. Spirit, we ask you to guide us as we

navigate this passage. It's in Jesus' name that

we ask and we're thankful. Amen. Do you ever

feel inadequate? Do you ever feel inadequate

in your life where you're not good enough? Do

you ever feel angry because maybe something,

an injustice has been done to you? Or do you

ever feel so paralyzed by fear and uncertainty

that you just can't move forward? Or maybe, do

you ever feel like a plastic bag drifting through

the wind, wanting to start again? Do you ever

feel so paper thin, like a house of cards one

blow from caving in? Do you ever feel already

buried deep, six feet under screams, but no one

seems to hear a thing? Do you know that there's

still a chance for you? Because there's a spark

in you. And you just got to ignite the light

and let it shine. And own the night like the

4th of July. Because baby, you're a firework.

The best part is seeing the faces going, why

are they clapping? Why? Who? What just happened?

I'm just trying to keep you on your toes. But

also, I was watching some of you guys who had

no idea that was Katy Perry. All right. Sitting

there and going, oh, my gosh, preach. I am that

plastic bag drifting through the wind, wanting

to start again. Come on, preach it. Man, if that

is you, I'm just going to say I'll pray for you

after service because you just resonated with

Katy Perry. That's all I'm saying. Again, going

back to those, going back to those first, I wanna

take a moment to look at the servant with the

one talent, all right? And you're gonna hear

me say talent. Just know that bags of gold and

talents, those are interchangeable because some

translations use bags of gold, other translations

use talent. A talent is a measure. All right,

it's just a measure of money. And so this servant

had one talent, all right? And so I just had

to ask, why? Why didn't he go out and multiply

it? Why, why? And so we look at verse 25, it

says, master, because I was afraid. And so maybe

it was fear or maybe, maybe it was anger. Maybe

he looked at the other two and he goes, why did

you give him more? Because again, at the beginning,

it said, the master gave each according. to what

he thought they could handle. And so he looks,

he might have gone, you know what, they got more.

And just to spite him, he might've just buried

it in the ground. Or maybe he sat there and he

goes, he felt inadequate. Maybe he felt like

he wasn't good enough because a talent was about

6 ,000 denarii. One denarii is one day's worth

of money, of work. And so that's 6 ,000 days,

which would have taken him about 20 years. It

would have taken about 20 years for one worker

to earn one talent. And so he's given, he's entrusted

this talent, so 20 years worth of money right

here in his hands. So maybe it just felt inadequate

because he goes, I'm not good enough for this.

Like, I'm not good enough to what you gave me.

Or maybe it's fear. Maybe it's what really is

what he said, master, I was afraid of you. And

maybe it's the fear that stopped him, the fear

of failure, the fear of letting him down, the

fear of losing it all. I know that when I was

younger, I fear of failure stopped me from doing

a lot of things because I hated, I hated to lose

and I hated to fail. And so when it came to trying

new things, I would just stop before I even started.

I would just say, I don't want to participate.

I don't want to do it. Not because it didn't

seem fun, but because if I didn't think I could

be good at it instantly, I wouldn't do it. If

there was some possibility of failing or losing,

I wouldn't do it. And so again, because my thought

was, well, if I don't try, then I can't fail.

Right? If I don't do anything with it, then at

least I can't lose because I never started. And

so whatever the excuse was for this servant,

all right, we know that he had a fundamental

misunderstanding of who his master was. See,

he saw his master, as it says in verse 24. He

says, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting

where you have not sown and gathering where you

have not scattered seed. So what is he doing?

He's blaming, he's looking at his master and

he's going, I'm going to blame you for what I

chose to do. Isn't that like a lot of humanity?

We are really, really good at blaming other people

for our mistakes. We are really, really good

at putting the blame and the burden on someone

else, even when it's our fault. right? And so

if you're a teacher in the room, teachers, you

understand this really well. Teachers, isn't

it your fault that the student didn't turn in

their work, right? You told them 10 times, but

the 11th time they would have done it for sure,

right? And parents, you know this. It's your

fault that your child showed up to the sporting

event without their sport equipment. Right, even

though you told them five times to put it in

the car, but hey, that's six times. So it's your

fault. It's your fault that they did that, right?

We see this all the time. We see the blame game

being played out every single day of our life

because again, we are really, really good at

pushing blame to someone else. Just like this

servant did to his master. He's saying he has

a misunderstanding of his master's character

and he uses that to blame his master. And so

maybe, maybe you're sitting here and maybe it's

not blame. Maybe it's going, maybe there are

excuses. It's not blaming someone else. You just

have an excuse. You have an excuse as to why

you can't do something, why you can't, just like

the servant, take the talent and go out and multiply

it. Maybe it's the excuse of time, right? We

all love that one. I don't have enough time,

right? But one day when I get enough time, then

I'll start doing something. But I just don't

have enough time now. Maybe it's money. You're

like, ah, I hear you talking about being generous

all the time. But one day when I get ahead, then

I'll start tithing. Then I'll start being generous.

Can I tell you that if your goals start with

an if and when, you're not going to ever do them,

especially when it comes to following Jesus.

Because again, what is this parable? What is

this story supposed to illustrate? Jesus is talking.

to his disciples in this moment, and he's telling

them about the end of times. He's going, hey,

these are the signs when the end is coming. And

they're like, sweet, when is that? And he goes,

no one knows the day or the hour, which is so

unhelpful. And so then he uses these parables,

these two stories, this one being one of them,

to illustrate his point on going, this is what

being a good steward of what you've been given

looks like. And so we looked at the one. The

one servant who squandered his money, buried

it in the dirt to hide it because he had a misunderstanding

of who his master was. Can I tell you that how

you view God will determine how you live for

God. How you view God will determine how you

actually live for God. If you don't believe me,

let's look at the next servant. So we looked

at the one servant, the two other servants in

verse. 16 and 17. So the man, right, who received

five bags, he went at once. And then 17, so also

the one with two bags, right? So they went at

once. There was urgency. They didn't know when

their master was coming back. They didn't know

when they would see him again. So they just didn't

waste any time. So they went out and they multiplied.

They went out and took the talents that they

had. that they were given, that they were entrusted

with, and they multiplied it. You know, what's

interesting is we look at the response when the

master comes back. The response is the same for

both of them. The master says to both of them,

he says, well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful with a few things. I will

put you in charge of many things. Come share

in your master's happiness. One servant came

back with 10 talents. That's like 200 years worth

of labor and money. The other came back with

four talents. That's like 80 years of labor and

money, two very different amounts. But what does

the master say to both of them? He says, well

done, good and faithful servant. He doesn't look

at them and say, wow, you got so much more. Good

job. I like you better. He doesn't look at the

second one and go, man, you tried. Thanks for

trying. He goes, wow, well done. Why? Because

the point is God is looking at the heart. God

is looking at the motivation behind what you're

doing. I think sometimes we stand here and we

go, gosh, if I only had five talents, then look

what I could do, right? Because maybe you're

standing here and you're going, I only have two

talents worth of time. I only have, you know,

like I just don't have enough time. I only have

two talents worth of time. And so, but you're

going, if, hey, guess what? If I had five, Imagine

how much more I could do. That's when I'll start

using my time for God. I think it's interesting

that Jesus doesn't tell us. We don't know when

the day or the hour when God's coming back. We

also don't know the day and the hour of when

we leave this planet. But we ask, okay, so let's

play this out. Let's say that we knew that Jesus

was coming back one year from today. We knew

that 12 months from now, Jesus would come back.

Some of us would walk away. and instantly change

our lives. We would go, shoot, I only got 12

months. I got to do some stuff. I got to start

following Jesus. But then some of us, probably

a majority of us, would go, well, okay, that's

12 months. I'm going to use about six of those.

I got some things I really, really want to do

in my life. I got some things that I really need

to get done, some loose ends to tie up. And so

I'm going to spend about six of those 12 months

really just living for myself because, you know,

that's... I just got wants and desires. And then

the other six months, remember the if, like when

that comes, then I'll do it. Then the other six

months, I will go and live for Jesus. I guarantee

you that's what happened. But we don't know the

day and the hour on purpose because... What Jesus

is trying to communicate through this story is

he is trying to say the urgency is important

because we don't even know when our last day

and hour will be. And so what are you doing with

what you've been given? Better yet, how do you

view God? If you don't know how you view God,

just look at how you're living for God. Do you

view God as someone who is harsh and greedy and

selfish and someone who is just ready to rain

lightning down at the slightest mistake, like

the first, the servant with one talent? Or do

you view God as someone who is good and gracious,

someone who is ready to forgive, someone who

is ready to take your mistakes and multiply good

out of them that only God can do, like the other

two servants with the five and two talents? Again,

how you view God will determine how you live

for God. So what are you doing with what you've

been given? And so I want to close out with a

story to help illustrate this point. Because

again, I think sometimes we stand here or we

sit here and we walk out and we go, well, you

don't understand. I don't have anything. You

don't understand. I wish I had one talent of

stuff to use. I wish I had what they had because

if I had what they had, then I would be so much

more effective. And so I would love to close

out with this story. It is Senior Sunday and

we, so I want to tell a story of one of our leaders.

His name is Kyle. He's been with us for a long

time. And I met Kyle eight years ago. When we

started our fifth and sixth grade ministry, we

were over in H4 in a tiny, tiny little room.

And Kyle came in one day and introduced himself.

And he said, hey, I'm here to serve. Where do

you want me? And I said, hey, can you be with

these fifth grade boys? And he said, sure. And

so I actually don't find out till later, probably

a year later, that he had told our middle school

pastor at the time, he had said, hey, I want

to serve in youth, but I would really love to

do high school. If I had to, I would do middle

school, but I will not absolutely ever, ever

do fifth grade. I didn't know that, but God did.

And so I put him with fifth graders, not knowing

any of that. And so he shows up. And one thing

you need to know about Kyle is when he showed

up, he was an engineering student at Embry -Riddle.

And if there's two things that Riddle students

do not have, especially engineering students,

they don't have time and they don't have money.

All right? Like, for real. I walk this with him.

Like, they don't have time, that's for sure.

And they for sure don't have money. Loads, mountains

of... student debt. And so Kyle walks in and

he doesn't have any of these things. And so he

shows up. He shows up every single week. We had

four fifth and sixth grade services every single

Sunday. We had one fifth and sixth grade youth

service on Wednesday nights. And Kyle was there

at every single one of them every single year.

And so then it came time for his boys to move

into seventh grade. He had graduated Riddle at

this time. And so now the question was, what

is next? And so he asked God, where do you want

me to go? And God says, I want you to stay here.

And he didn't have a job. He wasn't promised

any job, no engineering, anything. He just goes,

okay, God. I'll trust that you'll provide. And

so he stays here because God told him that I'm

not done with you and with your fifth grade boys

that you started out with. And I want you to

be faithful and continue to multiply what I have

given you. And I want you to stay here. And so

then Kyle then proceeds to walk with those same

group, those same boys. all the way through middle

school. And now eight years later, Kyle is still

here and he gets to watch those fifth grade boys

graduate this week. I asked him, I asked him

if I could share this story and he said, only

if. you make sure that God is the one who gets

the glory. And I said, don't worry, I'll make

sure to tell a bunch of bad stories about you

so they know. Because again, Kyle is not the

hero of this story. All Kyle did was take what

little he had, which was not a lot, and he goes,

God, I'm just going to show up. And God continued

to use him to multiply. And so the same group

he started with as fifth grade boys, not only

did they, most of them stay through their senior

year, we added so many more along the way. Because

again, God is the hero. God is the one who actually

did the work and actually was the one who multiplied.

And Kyle was the one who just said, I'll show

up. And so as I asked what? What are you doing

with what you've been given? Because if you actually

think about it, you've been given so, so much.

It's not compared to the person next to you.

It's not compared to the people on Instagram

because we all know Instagram is real. What has

God given you this morning? What has he gifted

you with, whether it's money or time or all of

the above? Again, what's the step in? Maybe it's,

I need to serve. I need to step in and serve.

I'm gonna make the time because we don't just

have time. I'm gonna give, I'm gonna start giving.

Even if I don't have a lot, I'm gonna start giving

because I know that's what I'm supposed to do

to multiply what I have for the kingdom of God.

Or maybe it's going, man, I just need to commit

to a life group. I need to step into a group

here at Heights and stop just bouncing around

and being, just a floater wherever I'm at. I

just want to be committed because I know if you

ever, if you read the Bible from cover to cover,

you know that faith is not ever done alone. Following

Jesus is always, always done within the context

of community. So maybe it's one of those things,

or maybe it's actually D, all of the above, which

is the right answer because When we read this

parable, Jesus is talking not just about money,

but he's talking about the things you have and

what you've been given, what you've been entrusted

with. That idea of entrust, by the way, it says

it in 14, it says the master entrusted his wealth.

That same word in Greek is the same word used

in the betrayal of Jesus. To entrust means to

hand over, to deliver. And so it's interesting

when we talk about this parable, the master handed

over, delivered his wealth to the servants to

be stewards of it. What we've been given from

God was handed over to us to be a good steward

of what we have, not what they have next to me,

but what I have. And what am I doing with what

I've been given? And so, as I said, It is Senior

Sunday. And this is a hard, hard time because

every year it's just like losing part of the

family. It's good. It's all positive because

they're going out to do things with other parts

of God's family across the globe. But it's hard,

especially for this class. We started with parent

-child dedications and I wanna tell you that

we have one student with us who was dedicated

as a baby here at Heights Church and now she

will graduate here at Heights Church and we can

celebrate that. And so this is important because

again, We just prayed and we just agreed as a

church family, like, hey, we want to help you

raise your kids. Now I want us to pray for those

same kids, the ones that we have gotten to watch

grow up as they go off and they become adults

outside of high school and in the context of

the bigger world. And so I want to pray for them

as we commission them. But first, you need to

know a few things. This weekend, we honor a group

that is near and dear to my heart. Eight years

ago, I started full -time youth ministry here

at Heights with fifth and sixth graders. I walked

into a tiny room in our kids' building because

we didn't have any space elsewhere. I walked

in having no idea what I was doing, and I just

hoped that they didn't smell my fear. There was

a group of fifth graders there. We all bonded

together over that first year of trial and error,

making mistakes and learning from them together.

I'll never forget my first winter camp that year

as being the pastor in charge, the one in charge

of our church. That year, one of our leaders,

Kyle, put a hole in the chapel wall. We had our

boys students. Drink over 50 shots of coffee

creamer. We stayed up until 2 to 3 a .m. with

those same boys who were puking up the coffee

creamer. We had to send some kids home because

they were just homesick. But we had students

give their lives to Jesus. And we created a strong

beginning together. Since then, We have hopped

around to different rooms and buildings here

on our Prescott location. Unplanned, I became

the middle school pastor, and I followed those

same fifth graders up when they entered their

seventh grade year. Their last Sunday as eighth

graders, I remember one of them saying, I'll

see you in high school. And I said, no, you won't.

Two months later, there I was, the high school

pastor. Four years since then, we are here watching

the same 10 -year -olds that I once knew grow

into incredible young men and women about to

graduate high school and move on to the next

chapter of their lives. Eight years since beginning

this journey with these seniors, we have been

through a lot. We have seen a lot. We have grown

a lot together. We've made many mistakes along

the way, said things we shouldn't have, done

things we shouldn't have, but we made it. We

made it together. Together this last Wednesday,

the seniors' final youth night, we were able

to witness over 300 middle school and high school

students worship together in this room. Let me

tell you, it was a party. This time, though,

no coffee creamers, no broken walls, and no puking.

But it was a night we'll never forget. It just

goes to show what can happen when you trust God

and let him multiply what he's given you. And

so four years ago, when I became the high school

pastor, I started this tradition of writing a

letter. writing a letter to the graduating senior

class and reading it from stage. I'm not sure

why I chose to do that. But I'm going to read

it because a lot of them are sitting in front

of me now, their last weekend as high school

students in our main service. And so if you would

just bear with me, here we go. Remember how it

all began. Entering fifth and sixth grade, thinking

the finish line was so far away that you'd never

make it. Seeing the seniors and thinking how

big they were. Now you're here, the big scary

seniors. And time flew by, didn't it? It wasn't

as long as you thought. For me, it doesn't feel

quite real. You've been a part of every ministry

I've led for the last eight years. Every Wednesday

you were there. Every Sunday you were there.

When we came back from summer break, I knew you

would be there just another year older. And now

the time has come for you to move forward onto

the next stage of your journey that we call life.

I've so enjoyed our last years together. Last

first day of school, last turkey bowling event,

last gingerbread house making contest, last winter

camp, and last youth night. Next school year

will be so different. I'm not sure what to expect.

I'm so excited for the classes behind you, but

it won't be the same without you. Over the years,

I've probably done more learning from you than

you have me. I've learned how to persevere. You've

taught me how to move forward even when times

got tough. If you remember, not all of our times

together were perfect. That first year was tough.

Many times I wasn't sure if I had what it took

to lead you. But you guys continue to show up

and believe in our youth family. I've learned

the real definition of family. From day one,

you chose to make youth group your family. Whether

day one was eight years ago in fifth grade or

somewhere along the way, thank you for showing

up and showing me what family is and how to continue

to show up for your family week in and week out.

I've learned the value of honesty. If there's

one thing I know, you guys were honest. even

at my expense. But I always knew what you were

thinking and how you felt, and that brought me

so much comfort. You've taught me to never settle.

You guys were always telling me how we could

get better, how we could be more impactful, and

how we could be more faithful with the gifts

God has given. You've shown me that your real

self is your best self. In a world filled with

facades, you were always great at showing your

real selves. I am so beyond blessed to have been

a small part of your journey, and I'm so excited

to see where the Holy Spirit leads you after

high school. My encouragement to you is always

surround yourself with positive family. Our faith

was never meant to be practiced alone, so find

a community of people who love Jesus and constantly

surround yourself with them. Never settle. Paul

says to run your race to win. Always persevere

and allow God to pick you back up. You're only

out when you quit. So never quit. Always be your

real authentic self and don't settle for anything

less. Forgive often. Forgive yourselves and others

often. Forgiveness is the best path forward,

always. Prioritize your relationship with Jesus

above all else. Jesus is your rock, your God,

and your savior. It's because of him that you

have life and it's because of him that you have

hope. Lean into that hope, always. I love you

all so very much. While we may not see each other

as much as we used to, we are still family and

you will always have a home here. To our senior

leaders, thank you so much for the impact and

faithfulness you have had in these senior lives.

You may not see it now, but trust me, it's there.

Thank you for always showing up and fielding

those late night phone calls and texts from your

students. Your love for Jesus and his kids are

evident through your actions. So thank you. Kyle,

I know you didn't do this for recognition, but

thank you for the bottom of my soul to be on

this journey with me and these senior boys. Thank

you for holding me accountable and calling me

out when I needed it. You have become one of

my closest friends, and I'm so grateful for these

eight years. As I said before, seniors, whether

you've been with us from the beginning or have

joined us somewhere along the way, I'm so grateful

you chose to be a part of our youth family. At

this time, I'd like to close by commissioning

and praying for our seniors. So if you would

just pray with me. God, thank you. Thank you

for this group. that you have brought into our

lives. Thank you for this senior class that you

have made family here. God, we ask for your blessing

and your power to go among them and outward as

they walk out of these walls onto their next

phase of life. And so God, we're just so grateful.

So grateful that we have a church family to surround.

And so God, we ask that you would bring your

church family from across the globe to surround

these students as they take the next steps in

their lives, wherever they find themselves. God,

thank you for the blessing that they are in my

life and the lives of this church family. And

so God, we just pray. We ask that your spirit

would go make their paths straight before them.

Would you continue to guide and lead them? And

Father, I pray for our church family in this

room and online. God, as we go out, as we are

challenged with what we have been given, God,

would you empower us to be better stewards of

what we have? And God, would we stop making excuses

and live fully for you right here, right now.

We ask this, God, in Jesus' name. Amen.