Well done or Wicked

Build Connection

Have you ever given someone a nickname?

If you have a child, most likely you gave them a nickname when they were young. Some of those nicknames stick for their whole lives, sometimes not!

Some nicknames are a for clairity, I have a cousin who’s name is William, His dad’s name was Billy Wayne and they called him Billy and they Billy Wayne, just Wayne, or I called him Uncle Wayne.

Some are descriptions. As a youth pastor we had a kid in our youth group who was a big kid and he got the nickname Sasquatch which would often get reduced to Sassy… I knew a really skinny guy they called sticks.

A friend of mine has a dog that had a deformed let when it was born, his name is Rocky but I call him Stubs.

Some of those descriptions would get reversed, so you would call a really big guy, Tiny.

Create Tension

There is a description we will all be given one day, and It will be given to us by God. It is important because it will determine our future.

Will God say to us “Well done, Good and faithful” or will he call us “Wicked and Lazy?”

Provide Solution

We are in the middle of a series called “Once Upon A Time” where we are looking at some of the parables of Jesus.

Matthew 25:14–30

“14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. 16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. 19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ 21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ 23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ 26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

Here we have a master who is going on a long trip and he has three servants that he gives money to, some of your versions says talents, a talent was a certain weight.

A Talent of gold was equal to 6,000 denari and a denari was the average days wage. so a talent of silver would equate to almost 16 1/2 years wages.

With what the average American makes each year that puts one talent of silver at well over $1,000,000.

So one servant was given 5 million dollars, one given 3 million dollars, and one given 1 million dollars.

It is important to point out a couple things that are important to this story.

they were all given an amount that was “in proportion to their abilities.”

God knows we are all different and each of us have different opportunities and abilities

their expected increase was based on what they were given.

The servant who brought an increase of two bags of silver received the same admonishment as the servant who brought in an increase of five bags of silver.

I want like to look at two specific things in this story, one is stated directly in the text, the other is not directly stated but something we should consider.

First, the servant that was given one bag of silver says something we don’t think much about when we read this story. He says “ I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid.“

He was afraid.

The bible has a lot to say about fear.

Luke 12:7 “7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”

Luke 12:32 “32 “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.”

Hebrews 13:6 “6 So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?””

John 14:27 “27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

2 Timothy 1:7 “7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”

1 John 4:18 “18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”

Let me make something clear, fear does not belong in a believers life!

This wicked servant was wicked because he failed to produce, and that failure was rooted in fear.

Fear will causes us to do the bare minimum.

We see this play out in our parable today. Instead of seeking to produce, he was fearful of losing and so he was just going to bring back what he had been given.

Fear is out of obligation.

Illustration:

If you have ever had to buy a birthday present for someone you can relate. Sometimes you get invited to a birthday party and you feel obligated to bring a present. What do you take? For most people obligation produces minimal investment. While you want to buy something they like, do you invest the time and energy to buy something they will love?

The people we love get the better gift over the people we feel obligated to buy for!

Fear is an emotion and is easily swayed by circumstances.

if fear is where our effort and production comes from, it will always be changing.

We will work harder when we feel afraid, and we work less when there is no fear.

There is a fear that plagues our society, and that fear is as prevalent as much in the church as in the rest of society.

Christians fail to be productive in the things that God desires for us because we have a fear of what we will miss out on!

Many christians don’t give as much financially to God as he would desire because they are fearful they may miss out on something else.

they may not be able to buy that newer car

they may not be able to afford that bigger house

they may not be able to buy the new phone or new clothes or go out to eat or buy that $6 cup of coffee

they may not be able to go on the vacation they want

they may not be able to…fill in the blank!

Many christians don’t serve others, in the church or elsewhere, because they are fearful they may miss out on something else.

there’s only 24 hours in a day and I am already pushing the limit!

Satan’s strategy to is the same as it has always been.

In the garden of eden he didn’t try to get Adam and Eve to deny that God exists, He just tried to change what was most important to them!

God is no longer the most important, but what they want was more important than what God wanted.

Another thing that might get overlooked in this story about the wicked servant is that not only was he afraid, he was also lazy!

Romans 12:11 “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.*”

The question isn’t are you lazy, but are you lazy in what God calls you to do?

Spiritual laziness is the greatest killer of Godliness in a believer’s life!

If I was to tell you that you would always have foot to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to live, most of you would still not be happy with that. Because we want the best tasting food, the name brand clothes and a better house.

Encourage Change

What do you want Jesus to say to you, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” or “You wicked and lazy servant?”

What are you doing about it?

Could you have done More?