Being a Christian ain't no joke.
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Intro
Usually in our 20’s we come to the understanding of how tough and difficult life is. Tough to live even an average life.
people respond by accepting it and getting to work
people respond by doing something illegal and immoral because they are easier
or people fall apart
in the same way, Most Christians in America never come to the understanding of how tough God is. He makes is tought to live an average Christian life
people respond by accepting it and getting to work
people respond by making up their own gospel of “it’s all good”, it’s all about manifesting your dreams
people fall apart and leave the faith
I want to tell you that being a Christian ain’t no joke
God loves you but he is tough
best but the hardest coach you will ever have
And God wants you to accept that, and get to work
14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them.
Definitions
for it is - “it” is the kingdom of heaven - Jesus is in the middle of giving parables (stories) to try to explain how the kingdom of heaven works: this is the way God sees things. So this is ultimately the only thing that matters.
man - Jesus
traveling long trip (journey) means that he is going away, and going away for a while, but is also coming back because it is a trip
Servants represent us
entrusted money to them - God has entrusted us with things that belong to him (everything): life, talents, gifts, resources
Summarize the parable
5 talents (unit of money), 2 talents, and 1 talent (money) to his servants
the one with five produced a profit of 5 more
started out with 5, worked, made some good business moves with it, and now has 10
Got a well done they good and faithful servant . . . I will give you even more responsibility, a promotion, let’s celebrate
the one with two produced two more
Got a well done too, promotion, celebration
Quick lessons
with more talents, more is expected, with less talents then less is expected (he didn’t expect the servant given two talents to come up with five)
so if you ask for more from God, you must also accept the responsibility to produce more, work more, give more, sacrifice
also, don’t be so jealous of people who have more talents, more is expected (story of Jesus, James, and John)
thirdly, notice that they were not judged as a group
the master did not say, 3 servants started out with 8 talents, and now you all have 15.
no, every man had to give an account for themselves (no group projects)
24 “And the one also who had received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
The third servant started off with excuses
you are a harsh man, hard taskmaster, real tough boss
harvesting crops you did not plant
gather up crops where you didn’t plant any seed
The truth is that Christians do work for a demanding boss because being a Christian ain’t no joke
he is so demanding that he even asks us to do what looks impossible, feels impossible, or literally is impossible
but that’s no excuse because with God all things are possible
with God nothing is too hard
if God be for us who or what can be against us
and we already have the example of the two other servants who managed to please their tough boss
Christians must remember that whatever God calls on us to do (as an individual, family, church) even if it seems impossible, it’s not impossible
others have done it and so can you
we said Wednesday night in Discipleship School that when you follow God . . . it’s a lot, but you can do it
25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
and I was afraid . . . there it is! There’s the truth
The excuses were just a cover for the fact that I was afraid
I was afraid so I hid your talent in the ground: I did nothing with what you gave me, pretended I didn’t have it, I put it away and ignored it
another lesson for us is that serving God can be scary, but that’s where our faith is supposed to kick in
he wouldn’t give me the responsibility if he wasn’t going to help me, make a way, direct me, open the door
I’ll just trust him, and start walking down the path he has put before me
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me
God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind
don’t let fear cause you to be like this servant, have faith!
Then the servant says, But at least, I didn’t lose it . . . . Here, you can have what you gave me, back . . . would the master be pleased?
I am reminded of all the people who think God will be please because they think of themselves as a regular, nice person
I’m not really into all that serving God stuff, I am not into all that church stuff, I’,m just doing me . . . but I don’t bother nobody, I haven’t hurt anyone who hasn’t hurt me first . . . I just try to live my life in peace
what you are saying is, “Here God, you can have back exactly what you gave me”, you are just like this servant
again I ask, Will . . . God . . . be . . . pleased?
26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed.
I notice that the master did not say, “You got it all wrong, I am not that harsh, I am not that tough, I am not that demanding”
No, he is that demanding!!! tough! He does ask my servants to do the impossible!
and God doesn’t pay attention to excuses
When you take what God has given you, and you do nothing with it, God calls you wicked and lazy.
Why wicked - you were not obedient; you knew you were supposed to be working for me, you knew you were supposed to be serving me, you know you were to return more than what I gave you . . . but you did what you wanted to do
why lazy? Because he did nothing while the others worked. While they worked for me, you just lived your own life
life free from accountability
life free from responsibility
just lazy
All of the “I’m a decent person, I don’t bother anyone” people . . . you are in danger of God calling you wicked and lazy!
cause deep down you know better
and deep down you know all of that serving God stuff is hard work . . . it puts a burden on your lifestyle (schedule, time, money)
27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.
You should have at least put it in the bank. That way I would have gotten some interest out of it.
What does the bank, and this interest represent?
when you put money in a savings account, you are telling the bank “you do the work . . . you take my money and you do all of the investigating and calculating and figuring and planning and studying and decide what to do with my money . . . you invest it, you loan it to businesses, you loan it to people, you make money with my money . . . you do the work” and in exchange you get to keep most of the profit you make from my money
and I get my original amount back, plus a little extra (interest)
based on today’s rates, if you put in $100 and never add any more money then in 20 years you might have $111
that’s not much but still better than just hiding it in the ground and only have the original $100 after 20 years
God says, if you are afraid to launch out and do all that I have called you to do, at least invest in someone who is not afraid
use your gifts and talents to help someone who has the faith
use the blessings and resources I have given you to assist someone else
a great place to start is the local church that’s doing kingdom work - that you know (don’t get scammed)
or an individual or organization you know is making a difference
you take this and you do the work, I can at least give you something to work with
the return is not much compared to if you did the work, but is better than just hiding it in the ground
28 ‘Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’
29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
but since you would not work, and would not even help someone who would work . . . take away what he has and I will give more to the busy person
God uses busy people
if you want to be used by God more, start working more
30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
worthless . . . wow
He was cast out because he was never a true servant . . . he didn’t work . . . he was so sorry that he didn’t even make the effort to take his talent to the bank
Being a Christian ain’t no joke.
Being a Christian ain’t no joke.
God is our Father, but our Father is a king who is running a kingdom and he has kingdom responsibilities for us to do
difficult assignments
tasks that seem impossible
but he doesn’t want excuses, just results
don’t let fear turn into wickedness and laziness
at the very least, help those who are doing it
before Covid - school, nursing home
and there have been so many changes, and our personal outreach is not as much anymore
that’s why we give every month to witnessing
that’s why we do benevolence to other organizations some times (homeless shelter, thanksgiving basket group, Baptist Men)
we will always at least put it in the bank