The message began with a memory. At seven years old, our speaker was given a basketball — a free basketball — and burst into tears. On any other day he'd have been thrilled, running to show his brothers, bragging, got a free basketball, what's up? But not that day. That day his older brother got the G.I. Joe Battle Force 2000 jet — two units in one, a guy in the front, a guy in the back. And the second he compared, a perfectly good gift became worthless in his hands.
That small, painfully relatable story is the doorway into the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 — and into the mindset Jesus warns us about right before the cross.
We Compare Everything
As we go through life, we learn to compare just about everything. Long, short, rich, poor, fast, slow — these words only have meaning against other things. We even measure our own lives that way. As the message asked: can you think of any area of your life where you don't gauge your status based on how others are doing around you? If you feel successful, complacent, or discouraged, it may simply be because of who you're standing next to. The parable is Jesus addressing this exact tendency. The master gives five talents to one servant, two to another, and one to another — to each according to his ability — and then leaves. Not equal. And the world can only be truly fair in two ways: if one person lives alone, or if we all live identical lives at the same time in the same place. Nobody wants that.
The Master Called It Little
Here's the line that reframes everything. When the master returns and commends the faithful servants, he says, you have been faithful over little. Five talents — little. Two — little. One — little. As the message put it plainly: we've all been given little. The size of your portion was never the point. So why did the one-talented servant bury his? Not because one was too small to use, but because he knew the others got more. If he had never known, maybe he wouldn't have buried anything. Comparison, not size, is what froze him. And this is the sobering warning: the kingdom of God is held back by one-talented servants who bury their gift, and churches all over the world are sitting on tons of buried one-talent bags.
Real Work That's Truly Yours
Look closely at the servants who did well — they took initiative. They had agency. They were given resources but not perfect, step-by-step direction. There's something amazing in that. As soon as Jesus finished His work on the cross, He went right back to heaven and welcomed us into the work of redeeming His creation. We're not just actors who say our lines and hit our marks; we're agents of the Kingdom who make real choices that move it forward. In Pentecostal streams especially, we can over-spiritualize this, waiting for a radio signal telling us exactly what to do. But God wants you to become like Him, not merely obey commands. The work is truly yours.
Stop Looking Around, Start Looking Down
So what do you do? You don't have to be a stock-market genius — the servant just had to put the money in the bank. You don't have to start a church or sing a beautiful song. Have you ever given a popsicle to a kid? There's an opportunity there. Come to the prayer meeting. Ask what needs doing that isn't being done. The message ended with a plea and a question: stop looking around and start looking down. What is in your hand? That's the only question that matters. You are not accountable for what others have been given, and you don't get to decide what they do with it. Rejoice that you've been given something to work with — and please don't bury your talent. Watch the full message at theriverag.church.