Sloth

Welcome

Well, good morning, Lifepoint! If we haven’t met yet my name is Dan and I serve here as the teaching pastor for our Worthington campus. Glad to be here with you this morning.

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Introduction

If you have a bible with you, meet me in Matthew Chapter 25. Matthew 25. We’ll start in 14 today.

Series Set-up

And while you’re turning there…

This is week 6 of series we’re calling: Vice and Virtue; looking a what have historically been called “The Seven Capital Vices.”

Envy, Lust, Vainglory, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, and Gluttony.

And I know, at first, it’s like, “Geez…we ever gonna talk about something happy?”

And I get it. But as I’ve been preparing for this over the last couple of months I’ve become more and more convinced that the Vices are phenomenally important

Now, you, of course, have the option to sit here, listen, and go about your way. But if. we. take. this. series. seriously. and really lean in to what we’re talking about each week, I think this could be a catalyst for one of the most spiritual significant seasons of your life.

Here’s why.

Each of these vices is actually like an underlying condition of our hearts…the deeper spiritual issue of what’s going on inside us all.

Think about the medial world for moment.

Underlying conditions produce symptoms. And these symptoms are the things that we can see on or just beneath the surface of our lives. They are the things we typically think of as sin.

Things like:

Lying to your spouse or loved one to keep them in the dark…

Stealing from your sibling when they’re not looking…

Loosing your temper and taking it out on those around you…

We could keep going.

The point is, we have to see those things however serious they might be as symptoms of a deeper issue.

Again, think of the medical analogy. If you go to the doctor, generally, they can treat your symptoms…if nothing else, they can give you some Tylenol to dull the pain for a bit.

But they actually have an ethical duty to do more than just treat your symptoms! A doctor is trained to trace them back to an underlying condition. Because that’s where the real treatment is needed! More importantly, it’s only when we get to the underlying conditions that we’ll really start to experience the healing and freedom that is offered to us in Following Jesus!

And I know I keep talking about this, but to me, it feels like the modern church, for the most part, has done a pretty poor job of getting to the underlying conditions. Instead, we seem to have busied ourselves with something that looks a whole lot more like symptom management.

And while this might work for a minute, when the sum total of our experience with the Christian life is really only about symptom management…sin management…we inevitably end up stuck…frustrated…wondering if this is really what following Jesus is all about…some even deciding to try some other system that looks like it works bit better (or at least doesn’t seem to come with the same kind of guilt and shame we might’ve felt in the church).

In this series, we’re trying a different approach. I want us to do the hard and sometimes tedious work of not just symptom management…but hard work of looking at the symptoms that show up in all our lives and discover what underlying condition they point to!

Because then and only then, can we start to talk about real treatment.

And to do that this morning, we’re going to look at Matthew 25 - looking at presenting symptoms in this story from Jesus, talking about the underlying condition, and end on treatment.

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to Matthew 25:14. I’ll pray, and then we’ll get started.

Pray

Presenting Symptoms

Alright, let’s get started.

Matthew 25 is right in the middle of one of Jesus longest descriptions of what He calls the Kingdom…or the Kingdom of God.

This whole thing starts back in Matt. 24:3

Matthew 24:3 ESV

3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

And what follows is a series of analogies and stories about what the Kingdom of God is like…who will enter…how..and why.

When we get to our passage, Jesus tells a story about a Master who had three servants.

Look with me starting at v. 15, Matt. 25:15-18

Matthew 25:15–18 ESV

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.

Eventually, the master returns and the same three servants come up to him to report back what happened to the money they were entrusted with.

The one with five talents, presents the five more he generated through is work. The one with two, has two more because of the same work…and to both the Master says in v. 23 (Matt. 25:23)

Matthew 25:23 ESV

23 ‘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.’

Now, we need to be careful with this parable for moment because if we just leave it out of context, it might sound like these first two servants are “entering the Kingdom” because they’ve earned something. But that’s not really the focus Jesus has in mind as he’s telling this story. They’re not buying or even earning their way in.

Jesus is actually focusing on their conduct as His servants in his absence. In other words, the way they have lived matters. The intentionality they’ve brought in serving their master matters.

And I think we see this most as the story ends…

The third and final servant comes to the master. Look with me at v. 24 (Matt. 25:24-25)

Matthew 25:24–25 ESV

24 ‘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.’

And we’re starting to get some symptoms here.

First of all, like the others, he has done something with the talent…something very thoughtful and intentional. Based on what he knows about his master, he goes to bury the talent and keep it safe so that he can give it back to him.

Actually, he’s the only one who shares his entire thought process for what he’s done.

But unlike the other servants, the third servant is motivated by fear. Look again at the beginning of v. 25.

Last thing, Now we have to read between the lines a bit here, but the other thing you’ll notice is that now that the Talent is buried, he doesn’t have to think about it any more. In his mind, the task is done…it’s off his mental load…he can focus on other things…and because we know he’s motivated by fear…it’s safe to say, by burying it, he doesn’t have to worry about it any more. It doesn’t have to keep him up at night…he doesn’t need to loose sleep over it any more.

In other words, you could say that he has successfully distracted himself from the very task the master has entrusted him with, all under the guise of obedience!

These are the symptoms.

Underlying Condition

Now, the helpful thing about this story, unlike some of the others we’ve looked at, is that we don’t really need to guess at the underlying condition.

Jesus comes right and says it. Look with me at v. 26.

Responding to the third servant, the master says: (Matt. 25:26-27).

Matthew 25:26–27 ESV

26 ‘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.

Did you catch it? You “slothful servant”.

Sloth.

And as an underlying condition, this one has surprised me the most. Because of all of the capital vices we’ve talked about so far, I have a hunch that this one is the most misunderstood - maybe the most dangerous - certainly most hidden - and likely our least concern.

What is Sloth?

But let’s start with the basics: What is Sloth?

And this is why it’s misunderstood. Obviously, the English word “sloth” is a metaphor…and like the an actual sloth…the assumption is it means to be slow…and a euphemism for being lazy...and if you ever use the word, it’s interchangeable with laziness.

But I think we start to run in to problems if we equate sloth (or at least whatever Jesus is talking about here) with laziness.

First of all, laziness doesn’t really fit the symptoms that show up in the story.

Remember, the third servant, does something with what’s been given to him. It’s not like he’s just sitting back, waiting for the master to come back. He did take action…he had a well thought out plan! He buried it precisely so that he didn’t waste it.

More to the point, if we equate sloth with laziness, we’ll miss how this vice is far more at work in our lives because, for many of us, laziness is not one of our symptoms!

Now, it’s helpful to jump back to some church history for a moment and remember how we got this list of Vices that we’re talking about in this series.

We did a much deeper dive in week one on this…but as a refresher, the list of Vices really began as a pastoral counseling project in the 4th and 5h centuries, by a group of people known as the Desert Father’s and Mothers. Basically, they were Followers of Jesus who were starting to create what you could think of as a spiritual physicians desk reference to account for all the spiritual “ruts” people seem to get stuck in. And this list was tweaked developed up until about the 13th Century by the Theologian Thomas Aquinas.

When he talked about Sloth, laziness is one way that sloth could show up…but it’s not the only way…and it’s not even the main way.

In fact, for most of church history, sloth has been described not as laziness, but as “a failure to love”…and I know that’s super broad…but let me give you an example of what this looks like.

Think about the kind of relationship I have with my daughter Evelyn. Father - Daughter. This works for any meaningful relationships you have.

Like any father, I remember vividly the moment I first got to hold my daughter. I will never forget that…and even the first few nights in the hospital with her. Any sound she made, I was up and ready to solve the problem! Changing diapers, holding her, whatever I could do.

And then at certain point, it was time to go home.

And when you think about it, that’s one of the craziest parts of being a parent. They just give you a human to take home! And that’s when stuff got real for me.

Zoom out for a second.

I am a father regardless of the kind of relationship I have with Evelyn. It’s a biological reality. Being a father is easy part!

“Fathering” is the HARD part. “Fathering” takes work….it’s all those small bits in the middle life that don’t seem like big a deal, but add up to just about everything. “Fathering” is sleepless nights trying to patiently get her to sleep…it’s packing lunches, getting out snacks, playing dress up, wrestling after a long day…fighting off bad dreams…

Simply put, in a moment, I became a father…being a dad takes a lifetime.

In this relationship, Sloth is when I neglect the work of “fathering.”

Sloth is disengaging…failing to listen…failing to show up…failing to care…failing to “dad”…I am failing to love her. And this is what Followers of Jesus throughout history have meant by sloth.

Interestingly enough, in the original language, the word Jesus uses, literally means to withhold, or to disengage and pull-back.

Sloth is our failure to love.

And isn’t this exactly what’s happened in the story Jesus tells?

We don’t know motivates the first two servants, but we do know that the last one…the slothful one is motivated by fear…not love.

And in his fear, he is afraid to actually engage in the work his master has called him to! And irony here is that he’s busied himself with disengaging from the work!

In her book, Glittering Vices, Rebecca DeYoung points out that Sloth will typically show up in two ways.

The first symptom of sloth is distraction.

Distraction

And I want to spend a bit of time here, because I think this, for most of us, is where we’ll see sloth in our own lives.

Think back to the passage for a moment.

The slothful servant takes the money...and he does something with it. In fact, if you had met him at this moment in time, laziness would not come to mind at all because you would have found him getting the tools, looking for the perfect spot, hidden enough so that no one else would stumble up on it, but in a place where he won’t forget and can easily get to when the master returns...you’d find him digging and burying. And all along, he could have given you the elevator pitch for why he’s doing what he’s doing! The point is, you would not have found him doing nothing - you’d actually find him quite busy!

More than that, the way the story is told makes it sound like he did this right away! He got the money and got to work. Today, we’d call that a Type A personality.

But the real benefit is that the task is complete...it’s off his mental load...and like I said earlier, we know he’s motivated by fear, so now he doesn’t have to worry about this any more.

He can give his time, attention, and focus to something else.

The master had given him a job - entrusting him with resources - and if you explore the different nuances of that work, there’s risk involved - it’s not easy work...it’s not quick work...but the first two servants, over the course of time have been willing to do the long, slow, tedious work they’ve been tasked with by their master.

The slothful servant has moved on. Willing to kind of engage when it’s easy, but unwilling to do any of the heavy lifting.

Again, think of my relationship with my kids.

Like I said, being a dad is easy. “Dadding” is the hard part. If Courtney is out for an evening with a friend and I’ve got dinner and bed time...here’s what happens way too often.

Pizza movie night! And I can wrap this in all the right language to make it sound exciting, fun, and special.

I tell them, “I’ll make a pizza, you pick the movie, and you can watch whichever one you all agree on!”

If you’re a dad, you know what’s going on here.

Pizza means, almost no prep or dishes. “You pick the movie” means, I don’t have to help you figure that part out... “You can watch what you pick” means, I don’t have to watch = I just got a free night.

A few weeks ago, I was going through this same schtick, talking about Pizza / Movie night...and she got this skeptical look on her face and said, “Dad...are you going to watch it with us or you just going to be on your phone again?”

And you see, what was revealed in that one moment is that I really had no interest in a fun night for the kids...I had no interest in pizza / movie night...I wasn’t interested in the harder work of fathering that night, I was really interested in doing what I wanted to do! And I’m not saying that taking a “night off” is always sloth...that it’s always a “failure to love.” But I think we have to be way more skeptical of our own motives here...because while there may be no issue with this every once in a while...what is the impact on the relationship when this becomes the norm? The MO?

Let’s dig a little deeper...for some of us, sloth masquerades as productivity or hustle...and the To-Do list is always full and you’re always checking the next thing off the list.

It’s the harder, riskier, sometimes tedious work of real relationship that we’re avoiding.

Again, 13th Century Theologian and Philosopher Thomas Aquinas talks about how those with sloth will often find themselves bouncing around from one thing to the next - unable to stay still - unable to persevere in any one place because it’s often easier to move on. It’s easier to distract ourselves with emails...the next task...another project...it’s easier to stay busy!

And I love how Rebecca DeYoung talks about this...using Marriage as an example she says:

Married love is “eternal, but it’s also daily, about as daily and unromantic as housekeeping.” Through consistent practices and disciplines, whether we feel like doing them or not, we renew and refresh our decision to love, keeping our commitment of love alive. The person with [slot] resists the effort of doing day after day after day whatever it takes to keep the bonds of love strong and living and healthy, whether she feels particularly inspired about doing it or not.

Could it be that this rejection of the hard, often un-glamourous...sometimes tedious...work of love is what’s actually behind the ever increasing feeling of restlessness so many people experience today? Whether it’s at work...or at home...a relationship...or just the season you’re in....

Could it be that sloth is what’s driving the great migration in churches all across the the country - frankly all across our city...like, bluntly...a lot of churches are growing not because people are becoming followers of Jesus...but because they got frustrated over there and now they’re over here...or just a sense that it’s time to look for something else?

Could it be, ironically, that the very thing we think of as laziness, is actually what prevents us from experiencing any kind of rest because we’re always on the move?

But sloth does not end there.

A moment ago, I asked you to imagine how my “slothful” response on pizza/movie night might play out not just over one night...but years. The question is what kind of relationship does that produce over time?

The haunting thing is, sloth as an underlying condition will inevitably take aim at all of our most important relationships, including our relationship with God. In sloth, we will slowly but surely begin to shrink back from the work of pursuing, cultivating, and maintaining relationship...up until the point that we are uninterested and disengaged with those relationships that are supposed to be the most life giving and satisfying! We disengage to point that we find no relationship exists...with a spouse...with a friend...with a child or parent...even with God himself.

Modernizing the language of the 4th Century Monk, Evagrius Ponticus, Rebecca DeYoung shares:

From the perspective of those with the vice, such a life of faithfulness offers nothing but daily drudgery and dreary discipline. They would much prefer to escape the claims of their religious identity and be free of its wearisome demands.

And friends, this is why sloth is so devastating and dangerous! Because at the same time, it robs us of any real desire for relationship with God...and for far too many, leads to willingly opt out! To walk away from faith in entirely!

Isn’t this what we see at the very end of the story Jesus tells in Matthew 25? Look with me how it all ends in v. 28 (Matt. 25:28-30)

Matthew 25:28–30 ESV

So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 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. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

What we have to see is that, at the end of the day, Sloth is a complete reversal and rejection of the Gospel!

While the good news of Jesus is that because of his work on our behalf, his faithfulness in the place of our faithlessness, we are invited into His Kingdom, simply by faith in Him! Trusting that His work for us in his death and resurrection from the dead fully pays the debt of our sin...initiates the process of finding healing and wholeness as we step in to life the way it’s meant to be lived…sloth comes along and whispers, “It will cost you too much.” “It will keep you from what you really want to do!” “Following Jesus will be harder than you can bear...demand more than you can give.”

And the crazy thing is, sloth is at least half right.

But this is where we can start to talk about treatment!

Treatment

You see, the treatment for sloth is not simply “do better” and “try harder”...treatment starts when we can hear sloths whispers about how much it will cost to follow Jesus...and instead of shrugging it off...pretending we can’t hear...we say, ‘You’re right.”

It’s when we recognize that the call to follow Jesus is a call to give the totality of our lives! It’s a call to surrender every part of of my life, my identity, to Him and say, “Not my will, but YOURS.” It’s to recognize what 20th Century German Theologian and Spy called, “The true cost of discipleship.” That following Jesus will today, tomorrow, and every day after that, require we pick up our cross and walk right behind Him!

So what do we do?

“Stabilitas” - The Hard Work of Staying Put / Keeping After It

Prayer