The Importance of Your Stewardship

Mt 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14–30 (ESV): For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘ Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Context

At the time of this passage Jesus is speaking to his disciples about the reality of the kingdom of God, and more so about the conditions of the citizens in the kingdom at the time of the end when he returns.

He mentions beforehand that there will be nearly half of his people who have thought themselves to be prepared but in the end they were found to be rather unprepared. This is found in the parable of the wise and unwise virgins. It is in this parable that Jesus sets the theme for the rest of his lesson: Spiritual Preparation.

Jesus is very clear: not all will enter Heaven, but only those who do the will of His Father.(Mt7:21)

However this message is not a message to put us as believers in a quivering fear, but in a holy fear, one that provokes us not to condemnation but exhortation.

Jesus’s intention here is to provoke us to the action of making proper spiritual preparation, for Jesus wishes for none of us to be found lacking at his return.

This is a message of hope and assurance, because as long as we take heed to what Jesus has said, we can trust him to do his part. He has told us beforehand these things so that we can prepare, it would be unwise to not do so.

Part 1

In the parable of the talents Jesus is using symbolism in a story to explain that He has given each of his believers a level of stewardship, and that each steward has been given by Him certain gifts that are unique to him/herself. Jesus uses this parable to explain to us his as his stewards that were are expected to use our gifts for his glory, or rather we are to multiply them through proper usage.

Like the master in the story, He to has left on a long journey, and he to has given each of us talents or gifts, and like the master he will be returning to settle accounts with us. We will either face gain or loss, all according to the works done in this body. Good or bad. 2 Cor 5:10

14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 1

1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Mt 25:14–18.

In the first part of the parable we see how the stewards were given a unique amount of talents, and the amount was based on their level of ability.

Can I tell you that Christ knows you, He knows what you are capable of, he knows every single thing about you, and he has given you the proper amount of gifts and stewardship that you can handle. He hasn’t given you too much nor has he given you too little, but he has given you the perfect amount!

Here in the story the master gives the stewards talents, what are talents?

Talents in those days were a measurement of weight used to calculate money.

1 talent weighed around 75 pounds.

1 talent of silver in those days was worth $15,000 US dollars today. 1 talent of gold was around $1,250,000 US dollars today. The word does not state whether or not the stewards recieved gold or silver so we will take both into consideration.

The steward who received 5 talents: Silver: $75,000, Gold: $6,250,000.

The steward who recieved 2 talents: Silver: $30,000, Gold: $2,500,000.

The steward who received 1 talent: Silver: $15,000, Gold: $1,250,000.

To us this is a great deal of money, we can look at these numbers to understand the value that Jesus has placed on the gifts in our lives. He didn’t give any of us any gifts that are deemed useless, no every gift has a purpose and a value.

Some of you here today believe that you have nothing to honor God with. You constantly compare yourself to others and you think I don’t have the gifts they do, so you get discouraged. Look at this parable Jesus says the gifts I give you are for you and only you. Quit trying to do and be something I never called you to be.

There is absolutely nothing in this world that you can be, that will ever be better than who Jesus called you to be.

Some of us are experts in art and drawing and we are out here trying to become the next big worship leader, and God is saying I gave you the ability to draw, so draw!

Some of us are experts in business we can turn 20$ into $20,000 at the wave of a hand and we are over here trying to become the next big TV preacher.

Please don’t get me wrong there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing those things, but what I am saying is don’t neglect the unique gifts that God has given you. Please don’t write them off as invaluable because they are not.

14 Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress

Theres that word “progress” there is progress to be made in the stewardship God has given you. He didn’t say the progress in what you wanted to do, but progress in the gift he has given you. AKA your stewardship!

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 4:14–15.

Actually God will expect a multiplication of what he has given us. Our gifts can’t be neglected. It Must be used!

Some of us are struggling to see the gifts we carry, and that prevents us from being good stewards, and some of us see the gifts we have and use them for our own gain.

Some of us are experts in making money. Boy we could squeeze a 100 dollar bill out of a quarter. But we use it all for ourself. We buy and buy, and when someone asks us for a dollar on the street we scoff and just shrug them off. “They just gonna buy drugs with it” Maybe they will maybe they won’t either way your called to give. According to my Bible we are supposed to give our cloak to the one who wants to sue us, and who would steal everything we have. We are to give and not hold back. Mt 5:40-42;Prov 21:25-26)

We can’t see the heart of a man, only God can, so why are we trying to? Jesus made it real simple for us, just simply do what I have said, quit trying to think so much!

Some of us hold influence and we use that influence to use and manipulate people to do what we want them to do.

Some of us hold great work ethics and drive, but we have gotten somewhat addicted to the high feeling of success and turned success to a idol.

What if the 2 good stewards in the story would have used what was given to them for their own good? I believe Matthew 6 sums up well what would have happened. Their reward would have been found in themselves, but they would have had 0 rewards from their master. The same is true for us, if we use our gifts for ourselves our reward will be limited to here on the earth, and there will be none in Heaven.

Sad part is that many people will strive and strive to get everything they can out of this world without any regard to Heaven and in the end they will see that everything they worked for and did, will burn up in flames.

Some of us are just lazy, we have no desire to work in our chosen areas, and this to is a great tragedy.

We see in the parable the cost of doing nothing: the servant who did nothing with his gifts, lossed them in the end and faced rejection from his master. He was thrown in the outer darkness.

We cannot afford to waste our time here on earth. As christians the called of God we are to be diligent for the kingdom of God. There is no room for laziness.

As christians we should have a powerful drive to serve our master. The one who saved us from eternity in hell. We should take it in honor that we get to do such a thing as to serve the living God.

For we were once filthy in sin, enemies of God but through the blood of Jesus we have been brought close to His presence, we get to put a smile on our creator’s face, how privileged we are!

We are servants by nature, but how many know you can be a servant, but not do any serving. *We can hold that plate up all day long but if we don’t serve it, it will just sit there and you know who suffers? The one that needs to be fed with the food thats on your plate.

You see it is not just us who will suffer loss, but it is the ones who we are supposed to impact for Christ that will suffer the most. For God placed that food on our plate to feed someone right in front of us, but for some reason we don’t give it to them.

If you neglect your gift, you also neglect the ones your in charge of.

Its too much to lose to be lazy, it is dangerous to be lazy in the kingdom of God. How sad would it be if we wasted our life here on earth and when we get to Heaven Christ would reveal all that we missed out on in His kingdom, How sad would it be if we were called a wicked and lazy servant?

Friends of Bay Pine Baptist church if we are struggling to see our potential or struggling to have the passion of servitude, do you know that Christ is so good that he is willing and able to give us a new perspective and a new passion?

Is our perspective dark, is it hard to see our potential through the thick cloud of darkness? Let us look to Christ and see through his lens for he is light and if we see through him our perspective can be changed.How must we do that, why that is what the altars are for. We come boldly to the throne of grace ask of him What we need, with the expectation that if we ask him anything according to his will he hears us. Heb (4:16; 1 Jn 5:14)

He says ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. If you want a passion for servitude, if you seek it beyond measure and desire fervently to walk through the doors of faithful servitude our Father will most certainly grant your request!( Mt 7:7)

Yes the desire and expectation that our Master has is that when he comes he finds us waiting, watching and when he appears to be like the 2 good stewards and boldly step up and say “look Master you gave me 5 talents I have made you 5 more!” Or “look master you gave me 2 talents and I have made you 2 more!” Oh how joyous it will be to hear our Master say “well done my good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a little I will place you over much enter into the joy of your master!” Mt 24:46)

They were proud to be able to do such a thing for their master! Same shall we be!

When we examine this story and its outcome we are faced with many truths, some of which are hard:

The story is indeed about us and what Jesus has given to us and what he expects us to do with what he has given.

2. The story shows us that there is much reward for faithfulness and much loss for unfaithfulness

3. Jesus has given us the perfect measure of gifts, worthy to be multiplied

4. There is no room for a lazy and fearful heart in the kingdom only a bold and diligent one.

5. Our life is to be a life filled with servitude to Jesus.

The story is also filled with much hope:

1. The hope that Jesus sees the work we do for him and seeks to reward us in the highest capacity possible. No deed for Christ goes unnoticed.

2. The hope that we all have a purpose in this life: to serve the creator of the universe with the expectation of joy and peace forever.

Part 2

So now the question arises. Where are we at in our stewardship? Are we in the group of Go Getter’s in the Parable of the Talents? Are we struggling to see the value in the gifts that Christ has given us? Are we using our gifts for our own selfish gain? Are we struggling with motivation to serve Christ? Whatever the need is friends Jesus is here to help us.

If we are all being honest with ourselves we could all use some work in the area of stewardship. I know I do. But friends if we do need help in this area of stewardship lets not be cliche and put that statement to rest, but put action behind it. For if we are truly in need of improving our stewardship, there is not anytime to waste. Jesus is coming back and he will judge the righteous and the unrighteous. He will give us our reward for what we have done in our life for him, good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10)

The decision we make here today could determine if we face loss or gain at his appearing. Let’s make the choice today to serve him diligently and with the expectation of his reward when he comes!

Let us begin to examine what Christ has given us, and give ourselves to those things and seek to practice those things to reach the lost and to use them to build the kingdom of God!