Abundant Responsibility

Introduction

Talk about that 14 letter word that many people hate…R-E-S-P-O-N-S-I-B-I-L-I-T-Y

First taste of responsibility

Maturity involves responsibility.

As we look at the Abundant Life that God gives us and we seek to mature in our faith to embrace that life, it means we must also learn to embrace Kingdom responsibility.

Matthew 25:14–30 ESV

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. 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.’

3 Principles for Us to Remember About Kingdom Responsibility

1) The Master Establishes Responsibility (v.14)

God is Sovereign

He has placed us here at this time for this purpose.

All that we have has been entrusted to us by Him.

He is the Master who is Holy, Righteous, Good and Perfect

We are to enjoy Him

We are enjoy His purpose for us

We are to enjoy the responsibilities He has given to us

His established responsibilities over our lives is for our good!

2) Responsibility Includes Accountability (v.19)

God knows what He has given to you and how He has equipped you to use it for His glory.

God call for us to be responsible with what He entrusts us is a call to be responsible to Him.

This in itself is an abundant blessing!

We are no longer bound to the expectations of the world to which we were once enslaved, we are now bound to Christ Whom we now serve!

The accountability we have to Christ is for our greatest good. He is firm and established, yet kind and patient. He lets us know what He expects of us and equips us with His presence through the Holy Spirit to carry it out.

Our responsibility to Him is to be faithful to His purposes and obedient to His statutes.

The fruits produced by our faithfulness is not the goal, our faithfulness is the goal.

Our Master isn’t looking for some external ROI. You are the ROI. Your faithfulness to the Master is His desire!

He doesn’t want your works, He wants your heart.

There is going to come a time where we will be held accountable for all of what we have done with all of what God has entrusted to us.

Some think of this as a negative, but it’s only negative if we have neglected our responsibilities.

1 Corinthians 3:10–14 “10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.”

If we have embraced our responsibility and have faithfully served Him, accountability is a blessing, not a curse.

3) Responsibility Includes Reward (v.21, 23, 29)

The reward for the servants was not that they kept what they made for the Master, it was the joy of the Master Himself.

If our desire is to gain in that which the Master gives, we miss the whole point of the responsibility given to us.

The goal of responsibility is not to get more blessings…it’s to get more of Him. He is the blessing!

One of the greatest dangers we could face is to be comfortable in our appreciation for what Christ has done and miss out on the deep, meaningful, beautiful, and rich fellowship with Christ that He desires for us because we chased after the blessing instead of the Blessed One.

As the previous verses mentioned, Jesus is the foundation on which we are to build our lives.

If we build foolishly and irresponsibly, we will not have much to show for it.

But if we are faithful and build upon the foundations of Christ responsibly, we will have much reward for all of eternity.

The richness and the depth of our experience in Christ will resonate throughout eternity.

ILLUSTRATION: Attending the New York Philharmonic

Your faithfulness to God and embracing your Abundant Responsibility to Him matters.

It matters here and now.

It matter for all eternity.

Responsibility produces maturity. Maturity produces Joy. Joy produces Fellowship. Fellowship produces deeper maturity. Deeper maturity produces eternal reward.

Closing

Regardless of where you are right now in your journey with Jesus…you have a choice to make:

You can choose to embrace the responsibility God has entrusted to you in Christ or you can neglect the responsibility God has entrusted to you in Christ.

You can be faithful and obedient to the Master or you can be lazy and disobedient to the Master.

You can dedicate yourself to being a faithful steward to all that God has entrusted to you or you can decline your stewardship responsibilities.

The choice is yours…but so are the consequences.

I beg you, whether the Master returns and calls us to account, or the Master brings us to Him and calls us to account: Be found faithfully embracing the Abundant Responsibility He has established upon you. It is for your good and to give you joy, not rob you of your joy as Satan as lied and misled many to believe.