Discovering the Superpower of Operating Inside Your Destiny

Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:11-27

We are given according to our ability

Be honest, who among us would not like to operate in a God-given superpower? If yes, you should love the parable of the talents! Of all the resources and materials I read in preparation for this lesson, the majority focused on the failings of the third servant. I believe what I read was true and noteworthy, but it wasn’t clicking well with me.

It was during this same time that I was reading Joy’s book “Finding Joy in the Broken Pieces” and locked in on a quote: “Operating inside your destiny often feels like having a superpower”.  Isn’t that a great quote!  It was then that I knew “Discovering the Superpower of Operating Inside Your Destiny” was going to be my subtitle because the joy experienced by the first two servants is where I wanted to focus.

Guess what I also discovered? As I was reading that the nobleman in our story gives each one according to their own ability, I believe the Holy Spirit prompted me to pay attention to that word – ability. When I paused to take a deeper look, I discovered the Greek word ability is dunamis, meaning (miraculous) power, might, strength. It’s derived from another Greek word: dýnamai. Sounds like dynamic doesn’t it – or dynamite even!

As we begin to unfold this passage we discover that we, too, have been given according to our miraculous power, might, and strength.  Not only that, but God Himself has given us the actual miraculous power, might and strength itself!  THAT is why operating inside of your destiny really does feel like having a superpower!  Hold on to those thoughts as I move forward.

This parable comes right on the heels of Jesus’ famous exhortation of the last days in Matthew 24. He’s in Jerusalem. The triumphal entry is about to take place or possibly has already. He’s been telling his disciples since Caesarea Philippi that He was going to suffer and be killed, and that He would rise again on the 3rd day.

When Jesus tells this story He knows that He is the one who is about to “go away on a journey”, and has entrusted His possessions to His servants. It’s a parallel.

What’s a Talent?

How many are curious to know what is a talent? In the context of this parable, it’s a huge sum of money. Some translations use the term “bags of gold” to indicate what a huge sum of money it really was that all three received. To help put this into perspective, a talent could be either gold or silver. Each talent weighed about 3,000 shekels, and back then a common value of one talent was around 6000 denarii. 

In case you’re wondering how much a denarii is, consider the parable of the good Samaritan told in Luke 10 that Liz will be teaching next week.  The good Samaritan gave the innkeeper two denarii and said, “take care of him, and whatever you spend extra I will repay when I return”.  He fully anticipated that two denarii would at the minimum cover the cost of room and board for an extended number of days. Perhaps it was a week, we don’t know.

Now if just two denarii can cover the cost of room and board for a stretch of days, imagine you have been given 5 talents (or 30,000 denarii).  That’s a lot!  Especially when you hear the parable of forgiveness Jesus tells in Matthew 18 and hear about the slave that owed ten thousand talents!  That’s like Elon Musk level of money, isn’t it?  Whew!

The meaning behind the talent has mission written all over it, and goes so far above and beyond anything we can accurately measure.  In short, what the talents represent goes way beyond monetary resources. Consider that the real treasure in the gift God has given us is our very existence, life itself. 

Without God, none of us would be here.  He delights in every single one of us! Talent represents what God has given you individually as well as what God has given us collectively (because together we become force multipliers).  It goes right to the heart of how you were created, where you were placed in time, culture, and family, and includes all the natural talents and abilities He has given you. 

He wired you a certain way and He’s giving you permission to walk in the way you were wired!  So much so that operating in any way outside of how He has created and designed you is like having to walk in an ill-fitting pair of high heels – you won’t get very far!  Granted there are times when we “break-in” a new pair of shoes, but I think we know the difference between a new pair of shoes and an ill-fitting pair of shoes, right?

What’s your Why?

A while back at work my director was encouraging me to read a book called “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek.  Mr. Sinek noted something unique in highly successful people.  Drawing a target onto a whiteboard, he wrote from the inside-out: why, how, and what.  While most people often begin with “WHAT”: this is WHAT I do, this is how I do it (and kind of pushing the why aside), those highly successful people start with the WHY (this is why I do what I do, this is how I do it, this is what I do). Rather than going from the outside-in, they began from the inside-out.

Your “why” was given to you by God, to use in ways that glorify him and draw others to him.

Take a 3×5 card or piece of paper. Ask yourself: What’s calling you?  What’s your WHY?  What do you do that is a joy to you that may be a drag for others?  What strengths do you have?  What are you known for?  Be thinking about it and write out what comes to mind.  Stick that card in your bible and use it as a bookmark.

There’s a famous scene in the movie Chariots of Fire where future Olympian Eric Liddell feels a tension between his chance to be an Olympic runner and his calling to be a missionary in China. Eventually, he tells his sister he will go to the Olympics first and then to the mission field, because both honor God. “God made me for a purpose, for China,” Liddell says, “But he also made me fast, and when I run, I feel his pleasure. To give that up would be to hold him in contempt.”

The Bible makes it clear there is no “sacred versus secular” work in the way we often think there is. Your giftings don’t have to be all within the confines of the church.  All creation was made “very good” (Genesis 1:31), and we must do all things to God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). So, whatever we are doing (provided it’s not a sinful activity) and wherever we are doing it (whether within the church or any other sphere), we serve God well by doing it well.

This parable also teaches us that faithfulness over little is required for more. Receiving underscores the grace that precedes the work.  Two servants immediately went out, went to work, and won more money.  The third servant went off, dug a hole in the ground and choosing NOT to operate in his superpower, hid his master’s money (25:18).  Not only did he waste what he was given, he projected his paranoia onto the master, imposing his own harsh standards onto the master’s character!

The servants who received 5 and 2 were proud of their work! Human beings have been created to be goal-and-praise-oriented.  One of the Christian’s greatest joys is to hear “well done, thou good and faithful servant”.  In other words “wonderful”! 

Harps and a cloud don’t come standard issue in eternity

I remember when I was in my early twenties sitting outside on some steps with a good friend of mine.  We were talking about heaven and the question came up “what exactly will we be doing in heaven?”  It’s a valid question, right? Not knowing scripture very well back then, the two of us had a hard time comprehending anything outside of the standard harp and cloud.  We both concluded that it sounded rather boring compared to life, so we hoped we lived very long lives prior to having to go there.

Listen to what this parable has to say about that:

“Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord”.

Think about that statement! Does that imply only in the here and now or can we consider this applies in eternity as well?  Are we in a training ground here? My personal thought is that this passage gives us just a smidgeon of a hint of why we are here for such a time as this as well as what’s to come after this life. This statement kind of reminds me of the non-descript boy in the back of the room who has his hand politely raised but no one is paying attention.  What exactly is being said here?  To me, it affirms that harps and a cloud don’t come standard issue in eternity!

So, what exactly will we be doing in eternity?  Here’s a small glimpse!

• We will be both priests (ministering to God) and kings (ministering on earth). Revelation 5:10
• Some of us will be made judges.  Revelation 20:4
• We will be given dominion.  Daniel 7:27
• We will work.  Genesis 2:15 affirms that work was a part of the original Eden, part of the perfect human life.  God Himself is a worker! John 4:34 and 5:17
• We will worship! Revelation 5:13
• We will feast! Isaiah 25:6; Matthew 8:11; Luke 22:30; Revelation 19:7-9
• We will live together as a family with other believers. Revelation 7:9; Luke 16:19-31; Luke 23:43; Psalm 16:11
• We will serve the Lord. Revelation 22:3
• We will never stop learning. Romans 11:34; Colossians 2:3; Isaiah 57:15; Ephesians 3:18-19 all join/combine to affirm this
• We will have no secrets. 1 Corinthians 13:12

What does all of this tell us?  It affirms that this life is a training ground for the next life.  Everything we say matters.  Everything we do matters.  How we love God and one another matters.  Not just in this life, but in generations to come, and throughout eternity.

Interestingly enough, the phrase “son of” was common in the days of Jesus and the early church.  A man was referred to as “the son of” the dominant quality in him.  Barnabas, for example, after he gave his all to Christ became Barnabas “the son of encouragement”.  Judas, who we all know, was called “the son of perdition” or “the son of waste”.   

If you were known by your dominant quality, what would that be? 

The Kingdom of God should be the dominant quality in the followers of Jesus. From the greatest to the least of us, we have all been given gifts by God to invest here, now, for such a time as this. We should be known throughout all the major spheres of society as Sons and Daughters of the Kingdom!