{"id":10996,"date":"2026-11-11T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T15:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/?p=10996"},"modified":"2026-11-10T21:12:44","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T03:12:44","slug":"november-15-2026-a-holy-use-it-or-lose-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/november-15-2026-a-holy-use-it-or-lose-it\/","title":{"rendered":"November 15, 2026 &#8211; A Holy &#8216;Use It or Lose It&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4><b>Prepare\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This Sunday, the gospel is once again focused on who is ultimately \u201cin\u201d with God and who is \u201cout.\u201d While it would be inaccurate to say that the master in our parable is Christ (Christ is much more than this parable can touch), we do learn about God through him. Three slaves were given very large sums of money (one talent would have been worth 16-20 years\u2019 wages). Two out of the three slaves return a 100% profit to their master alongside the original sum. Those are great business people! And, as happens with parables, we are and are not talking about money here. Yes, we are to use our fiscal tools for the gospel. But, we\u2019re also talking about our gifts, abilities, relationships, and social capital. These two slaves took a risk and were willing to try something, which was key to their return on investment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And then we have the slave who is ultimately cast out because he buried his money, refusing to take any risk at all. This slave was so afraid of making the master angry that playing it safe ended at least as badly as trying and failing would have. Importantly, the master is not a full representation of Christ. So, while in the parable the slave who refused to use their gift was left out, we know that, with Christ, that\u2019s not the whole story. Perhaps they are left out of the experience of furthering God\u2019s kingdom, which is a gift itself. On the one hand, God does have judgement for wasted gifts, according to this parable. On the other, we know, from Christ\u2019s death and resurrection, that he also has immense grace.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Opening Exercise<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Get into pairs and tell a story about how you learned you were really good at something. Consider the following questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Did you intentionally learn this skill or happen upon it? Do you like other people to know about this skill or do you keep it secret?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>Texts to Read Aloud<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bible.oremus.org\/?passage=Matthew+25:14-30\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Matthew 25:14-30<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<h4><b>A Holy &#8216;Use It or Lose It&#8217;<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Have you ever heard the phrase \u2018use it or lose it\u2019? I had thought that phrase was about people taking something from you: use your seat in the cafeteria or, if you get up, someone might come take it. But, the more time I spend with people who are aging, the more I\u2019ve come to see this phrase differently. My friends who are in their eighties, and still very able-bodied, all seem to have two things in common: they\u2019re lucky and they never stopped moving.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those octogenarians who can lift more weight than most young people are doing so because they\u2019ve been lifting some weight throughout their whole life. They continued doing so even when they were scared or saw others not moving as much anymore. In this parable, Jesus gives me yet a third perspective on this phrase, a holy \u201cuse it or lose it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The first two slaves were given a LOT of money to use to make their master more money. Both were successful! They were given different amounts and made different amounts. And yet, they received the same praise. Christ teaches us that it is not about being the best or the most successful. God simply wants us to use what God has given us to grow God\u2019s kingdom on earth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #ffffff\"><b>A Holy &#8216;Use It or Lose It&#8217;<\/b><\/span><\/h6>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That is where the third slave goes wrong. He is afraid of failing and making the master angry. His plan, however, epically failed in that regard. He buries the money, not using what he\u2019s been given at all. The result is not only anger, but ultimately being kicked out of the light, into the dark and scary place. That\u2019s what happens when we let fear override God\u2019s instructions; we can miss the joy of participating in what God is doing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Note that this is different from being abandoned by God. God is still with us and Christ still saved us. But by not stewarding the gifts given to us, we find ourselves outside of Christ\u2019s party instead of getting to work alongside Christ to spread love in our world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether it was fear of failure or something else (laziness, forgetfulness, indecisiveness, etc.) that stopped the third slave from using the gift he was given, Christ\u2019s message is clear: God wants us to use our gifts for holy things! Sitting back and waiting for someone else to do God\u2019s heavy lifting ultimately results in being left out of the community and the transformation God has invited us into.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Reflection Questions<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What does the master hope will happen with the talents given to the slaves?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What do the talents represent in the story?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What talents have you been given?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When have you stewarded your talents well like the first two? When have you been afraid to do so, like the third?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How can you \u201cuse it\u201d so you don\u2019t \u201close it\u201d when it comes to God\u2019s gifts?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Closing Activity<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Affirmations: Go around the room (or in small groups) and affirm each member of the group. Everyone affirms everyone, sharing something they appreciate about the person being affirmed. Good affirmations are about how a person shows up and uses their talents, not about what they have materially or something that happened to them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Closing prayer:<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Pray the prayer of Good Courage to close your time:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lord God, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">you have called your servants <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to ventures of which <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">we cannot see the ending, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">by paths as yet untrodden, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">through perils unknown. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Give us faith to go out <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">with good courage, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">not knowing where we go, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">but only that your hand <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">is leading us <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and your love <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">supporting us, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Biography<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lindsay Batesmith is the pastor of Rejoice Lutheran Church in Erie, CO. She is consistently in awe of the power of vulnerability to connect us to each other and invite the Holy Spirit to transform lives. When not at church or her favorite coffee shop, Lindsay is usually playing with her dog, Echo, or watching <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Great British Bakeoff<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with her wife, Tillie.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-10727\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-300x162.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-1024x551.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-768x414.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-1536x827.png 1536w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-250x135.png 250w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt-650x350.png 650w, https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2025\/09\/FaithLens_logoalt.png 1950w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prepare\u00a0 This Sunday, the gospel is once again focused on who is ultimately \u201cin\u201d with God and who is \u201cout.\u201d While it would be inaccurate to say that the master in our parable is Christ (Christ is much more than this parable can touch), we do learn about God through him. Three slaves were given [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":310,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1400],"tags":[16797,16794,16795,732,16796],"class_list":["post-10996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post","tag-affirmations","tag-matthew-2514-30","tag-parable-of-the-talents","tag-stewardship","tag-use-it-or-lose-it"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>November 15, 2026 - A Holy &#039;Use It or Lose It&#039; - Faith Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Explore Matthew 25:14\u201330 and Jesus&#039; holy invitation to use our gifts or lose out on the joy of furthering the Kingdom of God.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/faithlens\/november-15-2026-a-holy-use-it-or-lose-it\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"November 15, 2026 - A Holy &#039;Use It or Lose It&#039; 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