Work for the Master

put your Lord’s gifts to work; be faithful even with little

Intro me

I think some of you will know that I used to work in finance - for a hedge fund in fact. If you don’t know what a hedge fund is, it’s nothing to do with these [hedges]. The hedge fund I used to work for was called [D E Shaw] and what hedge funds do is take people’s money and invest it for them - not in hedges, at least not normally. In stocks and shares and other more complicated financial thingies. The idea is they invest your money in clever ways that mean you often make lots, but even when you lose, you lose little - that’s called hedging. And obviously they get paid a bunch for doing that.

Here’s the thing: trading and finance and hedge funds and the like are all fun and games when things go well. But trading is always a risky business - even we we try to hedge. Back in 1998 - although you probably don’t remember it even if you were born back in those ancient times - there was something called the “Asian [financial crisis]” - and D E Shaw had a whole lot of other people’s money invested in complicated financial things in Japan.

We thought we were well hedged, so even in a crisis we shouldn’t lose much - but it turned out we weren’t that well hedged. And we lost an absolute megatonne of money - not my team, I have to say - but the company as a whole. We lost a tonne of other people’s money - and when you lose customers’ money, you lose customers. That’s how my job with DE Shaw in London came to a very abrupt end: loads of people were laid off and the office was closed down - sold off to a competitor.

What’s my point? Trading is a risky business. It’s risky business if you’re writing clever software and doing complicated stuff that almost no-one understands - including you. But it’s a risky business even when you’re doing simple things: buying something here to sell it over there later. It’s been a risky business for as long as there have been traders.

So what if I told you Jesus gives risky traders a big thumbs up in the next story he tells us? And he gives people who play it safe instead a big thumbs down? What’s going on? What is Jesus telling us?

Well let’s go find out. We’re continuing our journey through Matthew’s gospel, his account of the life of Jesus, and we’re in Chapter 25, starting at verse 14. That’s page 994 in our blue bibles. Matthew chapter 25 - look for the big 25 - and verse 14 - look for the tiny 14. And Sze/Andrea is reading for us today. Page 994.

Jesus has been talking about the end of the age, about his coming return to judge the living and the dead. About how it’ll be unmissable, but also unexpected. And the last few weeks we’ve been looking at a series of stories he tells which teach us how to live while we wait: be ready; be faithful; be prepared. What’s today’s story going to add?

The New International Version Chapter 25

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

I love this story - and I think it has a really important message for us. But we’re going to need to think a bit to understand him right. So stick with me and let’s get going.

If you’re an old hand with the Bible, you might know this story as “the parable of the talents” - where in our translation it’s bags of gold. You know why? Because the English word “talent” came into our language from this parable. Kinda’ cool to see Jesus’ teaching has actually shaped the English language, right?

Our version translates the Greek word [τάλαντα] as “bags of gold” because it means a huge amount of money. Hard to be precise but this is the biggest money word you get in Greek. “one beeelion dollars” is the right vibe. Most scholars think it’s roughly all the money an ordinary worker would earn in their whole life; maybe 40 years’ salary. So, tonnes of money.

This master entrusts his vast wealth to his servants while he’s away - away for a long time. And this “master” represents Jesus, of course - going away for a long time, but ultimately coming back, coming back to judge, just like Jesus will at the end of the age - like he’s been telling us this last while. The master gives them megabucks: huge sums of cash. 5 lifetimes’ earnings. 2 lifetimes’ earnings. a lifetime’s earnings.

These servants represent us - people like us. This parable is all about how we should conduct ourselves while we wait for Jesus’ return. In particular, what we’re meant to do with the precious, valuable things he’s entrusted to each of us. You might be thinking “wait, Jesus hasn’t given me megabucks. Did I miss something?” We’ll come back to that - but let’s work through the story first.

Two of the three servants go and put his money to work - “at once,” it says. It’s like they immediately spring into action even as their master turns to head out the door. And this is where the trading comes in that I started with. How do you “put money to work”? The answer is you trade with it. You use money to buy this so you can sell it for more somewhere else - or somewhen else. You give money to this person and that person so they can do the same. That’s how money “works”. … But trading always comes with risk.

And that’s where the third servant comes in. He knows the amount of money he’s been given is huge. Terrifyingly huge. So rather than trading with it - and risking it - he plays it safe: he [digs a hole] and buries it. Now today, that’s not what I would recommend doing if you want to protect a big bag of gold - but in Jesus day that was standard practice - hidden under the ground was a quality option, even. Rabbinic law rated this as the number one safest place for money - so safe that you could not be held responsible if it went missing.

When the master returns, this servant heads out into the fields, probably pretty nervous as he tries to remember the exact spot. But then, as he digs his way down, ‘clink’ - phew! There it is, still covered with soil. And when he drags it up and back to the surface he’s relieved: the bag is intact; all the gold is still there, untouched. It’s worked. [v25] “I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you,” he says, expecting praise for being cautious, being safe.

Except that is not how it turn out at all. The master is furious. Fizzing. First, we get these hard, sharp words: “You wicked, lazy servant.” Then the safely preserved bag is snatched away - taken and given to that other servant who already has ten! And to top it all off, he is declared “worthless”, thrown out, and sentenced to darkness and weeping. All for playing it safe!

What’s going on? Is this the same Jesus we know? What’s so wrong with avoiding risk? With playing it safe with the master’s precious things? I mean, he didn’t blow it all on women and wine or a fancy holiday. He kept it safe. How is that so bad? This is where we have to be careful. Where we have to read closely, to pay attention.

The first question we need to ask ourselves is whether this master really is [v24] a hard man, greedy, taking what he has no right to. Well, what do we see in the parable? It starts with this master giving - not taking. He entrusts, he gives, his vast wealth to his servants. And how does he respond to the other servants’ results? He is happy [v21] - precisely, equally happy as it happens [v23] - with the performance of both. There’s no sign of this hardness. At no point does he ask for anything that’s not rightfully his. He even invites them to come and share in his happiness - and the story ends in the same way: where they have, he gives yet more.

That’s in the parable - what about the Jesus we know? Is he a hard master? Does he take what’s not rightfully his? No. No. It’s the exact opposite: The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. Jesus tells us his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He invites those who labour and are heavy burdened to come to him and find rest. He has come to give us life, life to the full - not to take it from us. Every journey to faith in Jesus begins with us grasping his grace, accepting his free offer of forgiveness and righteousness paid for with his own body and blood. Like this parable begins with the master giving.

This servant’s charge, that the Master is hard, is dead wrong. But we need to dig down one more level before we’re done here. One last question: did that servant really believe his own words? Really believe his master was hard, greedy, grasping? I don’t think so - I think the master is right: [v27] if he really believed that, he would at least have “put the money on deposit with the bankers,” not just buried it.

Just to explain that, in Jesus’ day there weren’t banks like there are today where you could just go up to the counter, hand over your money, and one day get it back with interest. Instead there were people called τραπεζίταις who would take your money and put it to work for you. There would have been risk in handing it over to them still. But notice it’s plural here - bankers. That risk is reduced when you spread out your investment across multiple τραπεζίταις - for those who know, this is the basis of modern portfolio management theory in investing.

He doesn’t believe his own words. The truth is, unfortunately, darker: he wasn’t acting out of fear - the master doesn’t critique him for being too fearful. He was wicked and lazy, a worthless servant. Why does the master choose these words? Wicked, or evil, is a moral statement. Because he’s lying about the master - and lying about his own motives. Lazy is a fact, and the heart of the issue - because here’s the thing about burying the gold: dig the hole and you’re done. You may be “servant” in name for the rest of the time the Master’s away but you are not serving. All the serving you did was done on day one. That’s lazy.

And worthless? he’s a worthless servant because he does not serve. The whole point of his actions is to ensure he spends the whole time the master is away not serving him. While the other two servants are about the master’s business, putting his money to work, this wicked, lazy, worthless servant is about his own business instead.

So is the master’s judgement really so harsh? Notice how this servant is described in v29: he’s the one who “does not have” at all. He was never really a servant, never really part of the master’s household at all.

Alright I think we’ve gotten mostly to the bottom of this. So what’s Jesus’s point? I think he’s unpacking here for us what it really means for us to say “Jesus is Lord”: Christians are servants. With a master. We’re not “free agents” who collect a “get into heaven” ticket from Jesus and then just go do whatever we want, go get on with our own business rather than his. We are servants with a master.

If you don’t like the sound of that, let me sweeten it a bit: we are servants with a master - but he’s a master who has given everything for us, who loves us, who gives us every single thing we have, who makes us every single thing we are, who gives us every single breath we breathe, who wants and works for our good. Our master does expect us to serve him - but only after he has served us: only after he has saved us and given us new live. That’s why we call Jesus “Saviour and Lord.” This is the “and Lord” bit.

Don’t hear me saying we earn our salvation by serving - that is not right. We are gifted our salvation in free grace, explicitly not because of works - Eph 2:8-9. But we are to do something with it, do something in response to it. We are saved for something. Eph 2:10 You can’t read this parable and conclude Jesus has no interest in what we do with the life he’s given us until he returns. Jesus puts the focus on getting to work here. Have a problem with that? Take it up with him!

But work, you might thing, eugh! I hate work. Maybe you’re not old enough to hate work yet - then maybe you hate school or studies or the washing up instead! British culture has a funny relationship to work. Our main goal is avoiding it as much as possible. We view work as this unpleasant intrusion into our lives that we have to put up with until we make enough to stop doing it. Maybe just enough to stop doing it for a week while we holiday. But ideally enough to stop doing it ever again, and to retire, the earlier the better! We talk lots about a work / life balance - as if work is anti-life, not really life at all.

Now I’m not against retirement. I certainly would like to retire one day. But I think the bible does stand againt this attitude that work is fundamentally bad. See, right back at the very beginning of the Bible one of the very first things we discover is that God works. He works to make stuff. And then when he’s done, he says “yeah, good, very good.” [Gen 1:31-2:2] Work can’t be fundamentally bad if our fundamentally good God freely chooses to do it. And then if you read on, you’ll find humankind placed in a garden to work it. [Gen 2:15]

And this, it’s important you see, this is before everything goes wrong and gets messed up in our world. Work isn’t an unfortunate side effect of the fall - work predates the fall, and we are actually made for it. Not because if we do it, God can take the day off. But because work is not inherently bad - in fact, it’s inherently good: God chooses to do it. And invites us to join him in it. Yes, after the fall, it’s harder and there are more problems. But still, work is not inherently bad.

And that’s not just paid work out at a job. This all kinds of work I’m talking about. School work. Home work. House work. Parenting work. Caring work. Factory work. Thinking work. Sporty work. All this work is not death, it’s not anti-life. It’s not a necessary evil to be avoided as much as possible. Ok, back to the parable..

Did you notice this in the Master’s response to the two servants? [v21b] “I will put you in charge of many things” [cue our groan! Oh no- more work! I thought I was done with that now you’re finally back] - but then the master adds “Come and share your master’s happiness.” Work and happiness in the same sentence - see that? How come? Because service to the master is true life, is the good life. It’s what we were made for.

And here’s the flip-side of that: service of yourself is not. I know that’s not what the world tells you, but living for yourself, it turns out, is hollow; unsatisfying; isolating; empty. It’s not life at all.

Stop for a moment and reflect: what does your brain say about work? What does your heart feel about work? How deep is your groan when you think of it? And how much more do you long to live just for yourself - rather than work to serve God, and serve others? Can you believe Jesus, that it actually could be what you’re made for? The path to sharing your master’s happiness? ...

Jesus tells this parable because he wants us to think about where we see ourselves in it. Christians are servants of our Lord, our Master, Jesus. And I guess that’s the first big question to ask: are you a servant of the Lord Jesus? Do you understand that to be your identity, your place, your role? Or do you think there’s a way ahead for you outside of that? Essentially, that’s what the one-bag servant thought: I don’t want to do the work of a servant. I don’t want to be busy with the Master’s stuff. I don’t want to be a servant - I want to go my own way …

But that’s not an option. Jesus is your Lord - or he’s not. And if he’s not, he’s not your Saviour either. Because Saviour and Lord are two sides of the same coin. Can’t have one without the other. Package deal not pick-and-mix. If you want him as Saviour you must have him as Lord. That’s the warning of this parable. And if you won’t have him as Lord, you don’t have him as Saviour - only as Judge. It’s a deadly serious warning. Only two places it can lead: come and share your master’s happiness - or be thrown outside in the darkness. No other destinations. So which is it going to be for you?

Now I get it, accepting Jesus as Lord feels scary: what is he going to ask you to do? Stuff you don’t want to? How hard will it be? Where will he take you? Places you don’t want to go? What about all the things you wanted to do with your life? Your own hopes and dreams? What will it mean for them?

The pivotal moment in my life was when I became a Christian - and the last barrier that had to break that night, as I came to the moment of decision, was this one: am I really ready to let go of control in my life? And that night, I was finally ready to say “Ok Lord, you take the wheel.” Finally - and for me it happened suddenly - he’d made my heart ready to hand over control: to become a servant.

Have you taken that step? Do you need to do that today? Right now? If that’s you, I want to invite you to totally tune out everything else I’m going to say. Go ahead - ignore me, and do business with God right now. It’s ok to feel the fear - giving up control is scary - but do it anyway. “Jesus, be my saviour and my Lord. As much as I know how, I give you my life.” That’s the path you have to take - there is no other route to entering your Master’s happiness. Do business with God right now. ...

If you’re still with me, if you’ve already dared to take that step, then we’re on the same journey, knowing that one step is critical - but learning that it leads into a whole life of choosing to serve Jesus again and again. Of digging up the things he’s given to us and putting them to work for him. Some of us have been at this for a long time now and it’s not easy. And it doesn’t get done, it’s always a work in progress.

The way we’re going to finish up today is a bit different. Rather than a song to respond with, I wanted us to have something more personal, more specific. So I want as many of you as are able to pull up our fill-in notes on your phone or tablet. I’ve put something special at the end. Here’s the QR code and link for that. And we’ve got a few spare tablets at the back that you can borrow if you don’t have a device with you - or you could do the same thing on paper and clipboards. But I really want us all to try this together.

What I want us to do is to think our way across a whole set of different things God has entrusted to us - like he entrusted things to those servants in the story. I want us to dig in and do our best to honestly assess just how much we’re serving Jesus with each one - or, on the other hand, how much we’re effectively burying that thing, like the other servant did, wanting to serve ourselves instead of him. And then I’ll have one last question to close.

So come on, pull up the notes with me and scroll down to the bottom. Join in. You don’t have to show anyone or tell anyone. This can just be for you. But I want to challenge you to write it down, to lay it out in black and white.

So let’s start with your money - because this parable is about money first. Aha - gotcha’ at the first hurdle - is it really your money? Who made you able to earn? Who had other store it up to give to you? We have to see it as God’s money, entrusted to us. So, money...

Maybe God has not given you much money. Maybe you’re young - or maybe you just have that life situation. Does that mean it doesn’t matter what you do with what you’ve been given? When other have so much more? And so many of them don’t use it well? When what you have is so small you can’t see how it could really make a difference?

Jesus’ parable should warn us against that kind of thinking. Remember his focus is on the one-bag guy not the five, the little guy, the one with less. If you don’t think you’ve been given much, all the more reason to see the danger you could be the one-bag guy - all the more reason to consider what you’re doing with what God has given you.

So the money that God has given each of us, to what extent have we “put that to work” for the Master? His assignment to us while he’s away is pretty clear: love God, love people. So how much of our money actually works on that? Maybe you’re thinking “well, I’ve got to eat; I’ve got to buy food” - and you do. You can’t love God or love people if you’re dead - so I think you can count essential spending as a good use, money put to work. But most of us have some spending we’d struggle to really justify as essential. Many of us get to enjoy luxuries, really, when we think on a global scale.

What does putting money to work look like in practice? Well, “share with the Lord’s people who are in need” would be close to the top of the list. And you could give to church - you know things are tight for us, and we have big big plans. But you could give to a thousand other great Christian causes too - there’s a lot of loving God and loving people going on through great organisations like Bethany, Compassion and Safer Families for example.

But you don’t have to give money away to put it to work for God. Maybe you’re investing in yourself - training, learning - and that will open new doors to love God and love people. You can learn to drive so you can drive yourself to the beach. Or you can learn to drive so you can love and help others, see? Maybe it’s something as simple as putting your savings in Kingdom Bank - a bank that specifically lends savers’ money out to churches and christian workers and projects - that’s putting it to work.

I’ve spent a lot of time on money to try and give you the idea. We’re going to go a bunch faster and then I’m going to give you some time to think and to work. The parable is about money - but clearly it’s about more than just money. You can see it’s about time too - because that’s exactly what the one-bag servant withholds from his master when he buries the bag of gold; he’s keeping his time for himself not spending it for his master.

How much of your time is locked in essentials, taken up by things you must do? And how much of your time is your own, to do with as you please? So how much of that have you “put to work” for the Master, loving God, loving people? Even when your time isn’t your own, are there ways you can put that time to work for God, too? How you respond to that annoying kid in class. How you conduct yourself at the office where others know you are a Christian? How you are mindful of God alive with you and within you as you work or study or wait. We should wake up every morning thinking we work for Jesus, and wondering what he wants us to do with what he’s given us today.

So let’s look in some more corners: like I said earlier, the word talent in English and its meaning is shaped by this parable because people so often think about the things God has made us able to do as gifts from him like these bags of gold. So what has God made you able to do? What are you particularly good at? What’s easy for you but hard for others? I expect there’s a list if you’re honest. Well, ask the same question for each one: How much have I put this to work for Jesus? How much of the potential he’s put in me have I given back to him?

Are there talents I’m mostly using to serve myself which could serve Jesus or serve others? Are there talents I’ve just buried - and I need to dig them up and put them to work? I think this one in particular is significant. Has God made you able to do something, given you a talent, that just didn’t seem that big to you? Not that impressive? So it’s laid buried - perhaps for years and years? Let today be the day you go and dig it up. The Master has not yet returned - don’t let him return while that talent is still buried in the ground. God gifted it to you. You should put it to work for him.

Though there are more, I want us to think one last kind of thing God has entrusted each of us this morning: your situation. What I mean is where God has placed you. Who he has connected you with. What particular opportunities you have that others don’t. Who you know that they don’t. What influence you have, what reputation. Who listens to you. What “ships” you can steer. Think about the particular place you have in life - and again, be wary of thinking “I have nothing special”; every one of us influences others - even if it’s just a few seemingly unimportant people. Remember, Jesus’ focus was on the one-bag guy.

How much are you using the situation you’ve been given by God to work for him? What influence, what control do you have? Who do you use it for?

Money. Time. Talents. Situation. There’s no precise answer for any of these - but I bet none of us score 5 stars across the board. Just try and be open to God and honest with where you are and rate yourself. And then we’re going to finish with this one final task:

I want us all to pick one of those categories, and one slice within it where we feel you could make a change in the next week, and then set ourselves a goal to put more of that into the service of Jesus. More - just making a change, a course correction, moving closer to where we want to be. Don’t go crazy - be concrete - be specific - be practical - be realistic. What are you going to do or change?

Remember, we are not talking about earning anything with this, we’re talking about responding to the great gifts God has given you. [Jon’s going to play for us while we think] - just sixty seconds to think. And then I’ll draw us to a close with a prayer.

..

Lord God, I pray for anyone listening who still says “no” to you as Lord. Please God, would you open their hearts to yield to you right now, and to let go of control, to be ready to serve you, to have the hope ahead of hearing those wonderful words from Jesus: “come share your master’s happiness.” O God, save from “the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” even today.

God please help each of us who name you as Lord to hear what you are saying today. Please would you call us specifically and personally - challenge us where we need to do a better job of putting things to work for you rather than just for ourselves. Make us able to change. Bring us into the blessing of glad service to you and this sharing in your happiness. Thank you that whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance.

Please help us to believe you are that good. That you give that much. That your will for us is life not death, blessing not curse. God, may be we faithful with the gifts you give us, even the little ones. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

put your Lord’s gifts to work; be faithful even with little