Untitled Sermon (35)

Turn to Matthew 25.

We are in the second week of a three week series on Kingdom Stewardship and Generosity. 

And as I told you last week, the elders ask me to speak on this subject in January in part because it’s a topic we’ve neglected over our 18 year history.  We’ve been really low key talking about what the Bible says regarding money and giving. And God has been faithful to provide what we need.

The other reason they asked me to speak on this is because in February, we’ll be refinancing our mortgage on this property, and the interest rate on our loan is going way up.  So we’re hoping to pay down – or even eliminate – our existing loan balance to be good stewards of our resources.

And I told you that next Sunday, we’re going to have a big container of some sort – a bucket of some kind, at the back door to the worship center as you leave so you can drop in a check or a deed to a vehicle or jewelry or anything of value that we can sell.

And some of you have already reached out to me or to Curtis Thomas and have let us know about what you have to contribute.  It’s been very encouraging.

We’ve already been given or promised artwork, a very nice chess set, furniture, a vehicle, along with cash that has been given or pledged.  Again, very encouraging.

I hope you will take time this week to pray and ask God how you might be involved in helping here. 

If you have an item or items you want to give, let me or Curtis know, or next week just bring the items or list them with your name on a piece of paper and you can put those in the bucket.

If you have cash or a check or if you’re sending a check, bring that next week or let us know what you’re sending to us. 

If you have stock that has appreciated or have money in an IRA that you want to give from, again, just let us know this week or by next Sunday. 

And keep praying that God will supply what we need.  It would be amazing if somehow we were able to pay off the entire amount.  That’s what I’m praying for.  But whatever we’re able to do will help us as a church going forward.

Last week we talked about valuing God’s Kingdom over money and stuff.  Seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.  Not laying up for ourselves treasure on earth.  And not being anxious about whether God will provide what we need to live.

Next Sunday, I’m going to talk about God’s design for us to be generous givers.  For generosity to be characteristic of our lives as followers of Jesus.

This morning, the subject is stewardship.  Being a faithful steward of what God has entrusted to us.

And to see that, we’re going to look at a parable Jesus tells about three stewards who were entrusted with money and see how they handled it. 

Let me give you the context for this parable.  Because remember, context matters.  If we want to understand a passage correctly, if we want to interpret what Jesus is saying correctly, we need to see what He’s saying in its context.

So the setting in Matthew 24 is this.

Jesus has just pointed to the Temple building in Jerusalem and said to His disciples “this temple is going to be destroyed.  There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

And the disciples ask Him in private “when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

And the rest of Matthew 24 is Jesus telling the disciples about what the signs of the end times will be. 

And then in chapter 25, after He has addressed the signs of the end, He tells three parables.

The first one is called the parable of the Ten Virgins.  And the point of that parable is vigilance.  Keep alert.  Stay on watch.  Live expectantly and be ready for the day when Jesus comes back. 

The second and third parables are about diligence.  Stay vigilant and live diligent. 

The parable of the talents, which is the one we’re going to look at this morning is about diligently applying the Kingdom First mindset we talked about last week throughout our lives as faithful stewards.

And the last parable in Matthew 25, the parable of the sheep and the goats, is about diligently caring for one another in the church, especially the least among us, as we await Jesus’ return.

So we could sum up Matthew 24 and 25 this way – Jesus is coming again.  You don’t know when, but there will be signs to indicate His coming is approaching.  Stay alert.  Stay vigilant.  And be diligent with the work He has called us to do.  Advance the Kingdom.  And take care of one another while you wait.

That’s the context for the parable of the talents that we’re going to study this morning.

 Let’s read the passage together, and before we do, let’s pray.

LET’S STAND FOR THE READING OF GOD’S WORD

The word of God for the people of God.

Matthew 25:14–30

[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 a

nd 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.’

Amen.  May God bless this reading of His word. 

The grass withers and the flowers fade but the word of our God will last forever.

Here is how we’re going to approach this parable. 

We’re going to see who the main characters are pointing to

The Master and His Journey

The Servants and the Talents

Commendation and Condemnation

Principles of Faithful Stewardship

So let’s look at the Master and His Journey first.

All Jesus says in vs. 14 is that the coming of the Kingdom when Jesus returns will be like a man going on a journey,

He is identified as a master because He has servants, and they call Him master.

And as we’ll see, this Master is a very wealthy man.  Very wealthy.

And He’s going away for a long time.  Going on a journey.

It was not uncommon in the ancient world for wealthy people to have multiple homes in various locations around the world. 

In Jesus’ day, Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea had one residence built for him in Jerusalem and another palace build for him on the Mediterranean Coast, in Caesarea. 

And he had servants in both locations.  When he was gone from one, he expected his servants would manage his property and keep everything functioning so that when he arrived at any time, the house would be ready for him. 

Those servants had it nice.  When the boss was gone, they had the place to themselves.  They were house sitters in the nicest house in town.

But they also had a job to do.  Maintain the house.  If Pilate ever arrived at one of his residences and the place was not being kept up, heads would roll – literally.

In this parable, the master who is going on a journey is Jesus.  His coming death and resurrection signal the start of that journey.  He is going away.  But He will come again.  And while He’s away, He expects His servants to be busy at work, not just enjoying their house sitting.

And in fact, in this parable, the Master has more in mind for His servants than just maintaining His residence.  He wants them to keep His business, His enterprise, operating in His absence. 

So He doesn’t just give them the keys to the house and say “see you when I see you.”

He gives them money to manage to keep His business running and prospering while He’s away.

So in this parable, Jesus is the master.  And His journey is the time between His ascension into heaven and His second coming.

This master calls three stewards and gives them talents.

So two questions here.  First, what’s a talent.

We know how we use the word.  We have Talent Shows and show off our singing or dancing or juggling or comedic skills.

By the way, when I was in HS, I was tapped as the emcee for our HS Talent Show three years in a row.  Maybe a little foreshadowing there.

Anyway, in the ancient world, a talent was a unit of weight.  Like a pound or a kilogram.  If you said “how many talents is that?” and someone said “Five talents” that would mean that whatever it was weighed a particular amount.  The Roman talent weighed about 80lbs.  A Jewish talent was more like 55lbs.

In either case, what’s being weighed here is gold and silver.  So a talent became a large amount of gold and silver.

Now Jesus doesn’t specify whether it’s a talent of silver or of gold or of copper that the Master gives.  But it’s commonly agreed that the talent he’s talking about here represents 6K denarii, or roughly 20 years worth of wages for a common worker. 

The guy who gets five talents?  A lifetime’s worth of money.

Two talents?  Forty years worth of money.

One talent?  That’s still a pretty good chunk of change. 

This tells us that the Master is a VERY wealthy man.  He’s not giving his servants everything he has.  But he’s giving them more than they have ever seen before.

He’s not giving them this money to keep for themselves.  This is not a bonus.  The text says he entrusted to them his property.  And based on how the first two stewards responded, it’s clear to them why they have been given this money. 

The master himself presumably got this money by being a skillful and shrewd businessman.  We don’t know what kind of business he ran, but he clearly prospered. 

And while he was going to be away, he wanted his servants to keep the business going.  It was clear to the first two that was his expectation.

The money in this parable represents all God gives to us.  Not just financial resources.  But our time and our abilities or gifts as well. 

In the parable, it’s money.  And money is certainly a big part of what Jesus is talking about here.  But it’s more than money.  It’s your life.  Your time.  Your abilities.  All that you have is a gift from God.

JC Ryle is right when he says “Anything whereby we may glorify God is ‘a talent.’ Our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible—all, all are talents.”

It’s significant to note that they are given different amounts based, vs. 15 says, on their abilities. 

The Master knew what his servants were capable of and he apportioned his resources accordingly.  He didn’t burden them with more than they were capable of managing.

These servants – doulos – scholars disagree on what this parable is communicating about the relationship between these men and the master.

My view is that these three servants are here representing all who profess faith in Christ. 

They claim to be servants.  But I think one of the main points of this parable is that one of the ways we can tell those who are truly followers of Christ from those who simply profess faith is by how they manage or steward the gifts God gives them.

And of course that’s the key part of the parable.  Two servants are commended for how they handled their talents while the Master was gone.  One is condemned and punished.

That’s the heart of this story.  Servants one and two take the wealth they’ve been given.  The follow the pattern the Master set.  They do what they’ve seen Him do.  They invest the money the way they’ve seen Him invest.

And while He’s gone, they double His money.  Five talents become ten.  Two become four.

The response of the Master to the first two servants is the same, in spirt of the fact that the first one earned him significantly more actual money than the second one did.  Note that.

Note that the first two servants appear eager to show their Master what they have done with what He gave them to manage.  They bring it to Him.  They say “see.”  They’re like kids who are proud of their accomplishment.

And the Master’s response is the same for both.  It’s a two fold response. 

“Your faithfulness means increased opportunity to serve.”  And “Enter in to your Master’s joy.”

These both point to the future and indicate that faithful service to the Master in this life will mean increased opportunity in the life to come.

I have no idea what that means, except to say that I think it relates to what we looked at last week about storing up treasures in heaven.

There is a correlation between having a Kingdom First mindset in this life and serving the Lord faithfully with that mindset in view and what we will experience in the life to come. 

The Bible doesn’t spell out what that will look like.  It talks about ruling and reigning with Jesus in eternity.  It talks about treasures in heaven.  John Piper talks about how our faithfulness in this life will increase our capacity for joy in the life to come. 

All I can tell you is that Jesus promises that our faithfulness and diligence in this life will bring us great joy in the life to come.  We will be glad we did not become weary in well doing but remained faithful and diligent.

The third servant also comes forward, realizing that he blew it, and making lame excuses for his sloth.  Vs. 24

‘Master,

I knew you to be a hard man,

reaping where you did not sow,

and gathering where you scattered no seed,

First, note that this servant has misjudged the character of his Master.  I knew you to be a hard man. 

And his next statement is worse.  He’s accusing his Master of being unjust in His business dealings.  He viewed the master as one who selfishly seized what really belonged to someone else (reaping where he had not sown).

He resented the master’s wealth and did not want the master to profit from his labors.

When he says “here, have what is yours,” you can hear the contempt in his voice.

The Master knows what’s really happening here.   This man buried what the Master had given him because the servant was wicked and slothful. 

When the master left on His journey, this man said “out of sight, out of mind.  I can do what I want now.”  He buried the money and moved along.  He didn’t care anything about the Master, about His business endeavors, about any of it. 

Wicked and slothful.

In vs. 26, when the Master repeats what the servant has said about Him - You knew that I reap where I have not sown

and gather where I scattered no seed?

That’s not the master affirming the slander of the servant.  It’s Him saying “is this really what you think of me?  I this really the charge you want to level against me? 

And the Master says “you didn’t even do the minimum.  You could have at least taken the money to the bank and earned interest on it.  You didn’t even do that.”

So the consequence is that the servant is stripped of what had been given to him and he is cast into outer darkness. 

Not all scholars agree here, but I think this has to be a clear reference to eternal punishment. 

I think it’s a clear indication this servant professed faith in Jesus but didn’t actually possess faith in Jesus.

Given what the man said about the Master’s character, and how he ignored what the Master had entrusted to him, it’s a pretty good indication that he didn’t have much regard or love for this person he claimed was his Master.

So it’s not that he is cast into outer darkness with weeping and gnashing of teeth because he didn’t invest wisely.

He didn’t invest at all because he clearly didn’t love or respect his master, which was revealed in his unfaithfulness.

All of this brings us to the clear principles regarding stewardship that come from this passage and from the whole of scripture.

Let me define that term.  Stewardship.  It’s not in this passage specifically. 

But it is a biblical concept.  A steward was a household manager.  A person who manages the domestic affairs of a family or a business.  An overseer.

In 1 Corinthians 4, the Bible calls us stewards of the mysteries of God.

[1] This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. [2] Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Paul is talking here about the Apostles, who were overseeing, managing and administering the mysteries of God.

1 Peter 4.  Rick Tarter referenced this passage in his message on spiritual gifts two weeks ago.  And it connects directly with this parable from Jesus.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Steward.  Manage.  Oversee and put to best use the grace God has given you.

That’s what the two faithful servants did with what their Master had entrusted to them.  The managed His business for Him while He was away.

And that’s what this parable is telling us we are to be doing. 

What Jesus did while He was here?  Calling people to repent and believe the gospel?  Spreading the good news that the Kingdom of God is at hand? 

That’s what we are to be stewarding until He returns.

And that means that we take what God has given us and we invest it on His behalf in that mission.  We steward it.  We invest it for a return.

So let me give you some principles of stewardship that I see in this passage.

First, Everything you have belongs to God.  It’s not yours.  It’s His.

The Bible makes this clear. 

The stuff we think is ours isn’t really ours in the first place.  It’s Gods, and we are His portfolio managers.

In Job 41:11, God, speaking to Job, says,   Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?  Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. (ESV)

In Psalm 50, verses 10-12, God reminds Israel that when they make animal sacrifices, they are giving God what belongs to Him in the first place.

10 "For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11 "I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. 12 "If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains.

So the point is, it’s all God’s.  What you think is yours isn’t really yours.  It’s Gods.  Your car is God’s car.  Your money is God’s money.  Your retirement account is God’s retirement account.  Your hot water heater is God’s hot water heater. 

And it’s not just your money and your stuff.  Your time belongs to God.  Your talents and gifts and skills and abilities come from Him. 

Some of you are old enough to remember Rush Limbaugh.  He used to regularly say about himself “talent on loan from God.” 

That may have sounded like he was bragging.  But in a very real sense, he was exactly right.  His talent,

Taylor Swift’s talent,

every NFL player,

 every company executive,

every artist or architect or physician or whatever – you name it – talent on loan from God.

Everything you are, everything you own – it’s all from God and is on loan.

If you’ve ever taken Curtis Thomas’ class on Romans, you know that he loves the verses at the end of Romans 11.

Romans 11:33–36

[33] Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

         [34] “For who has known the mind of the Lord,

                  or who has been his counselor?”

         [35] “Or who has given a gift to him

                  that he might be repaid?”

         [36] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Everything you have is from Him and through Him and to Him.  It’s all His. 

Principle #2.  God expects more of us than just “home maintenance” while He’s away.

It would be easy to say “our job while the Master is gone is just to take care of the house and the family and have it ready when He comes back.”

And the next parable – the Sheep and the Goats – is about taking care of one another while we wait for Him.

In fact, let me just point out that all three of the parables in Matthew 25 are about two groups of people. 

The women who were waiting for the bridegroom and the women who weren’t.

The faithful and the unfaithful stewards.

And the sheep and the goats. 

It’s clear in all three cases that God has expectations for His people while they wait for His return.  Don’t be complacent.

· To the virgins – Don’t become complacent.  Stay alert and vigilant.

· To the stewards – Don’t become complacent.  Be diligent to steward all that your Master has entrusted to you.

· To the sheep – Don’t be complacent about the needs of your distressed brothers and sisters near and far. 

In the same what that the Master in the parable expected His servants to be actively involved in maintaining His work and investing what He had entrusted to them, and not to just sit and wait for His return,

God expects you and me to be actively engaged in the same work Jesus did when He was here – Go.  Make disciples.  Baptize them.  Teach them to observe all I commanded you.

DA Carson:

“It is not enough for Jesus’ followers to ‘hang in there’ and wait for the end. They must see themselves for what they are—servants who owe it to their Master to improve what he entrusts to them. Failure to do so proves they cannot really be valued disciples at all.”

#3 – God expects and rewards faithful stewardship.  You worry about that and leave the rest up to Him.

I remember reading this parable as a young believer who is temperamentally inclined toward conservative investing.  And I remember thinking “what if those who invested the Master’s money had lost money?  What then?”

Here’s the answer to that.  If you are doing what Jesus did and doing it God’s way, you can’t lose.  Because – listen – God’s word does not return void.  It accomplishes God’s purposes. 

Our job is to deliver the mail.  What happens after that is up to God.  But we’ve done what Jesus expects His stewards to do.

#4 is sobering – God will severely judge unfaithful stewardship

That’s how this parable ends.  Severe judgment from the Master. 

Now you may be asking “are you saying God’s going to judge me as a believer if I’m an unfaithful steward.”

Well let me ask you – why are you being unfaithful to what Jesus, your Savior and Lord is expecting from you?

If you’re content to bury what God has given you, to sit on it, not to engage those around you, not to work to advance the Kingdom, you have to ask yourself why.

Here’s the final principle for this morning.

#5  How much of God’s money do you keep for yourself?

The parable is about money.  And as we’ve said, God’s expectation is that you would steward more than just money.  But not less than your money. 

Because it’s not your money in the first place!  All you have is a gift from God.  And yes, He wants you to take care of yourself and your family with what He provides for you. 

But what about the rest?  Where does that go?

We’re going to talk more about that next Sunday when we talk about Giving and Generosity. 

But I’ll just say this week that if you’re no regularly, faithfully, deliberately, intentionally, strategically looking for wise ways to invest your money, along with your time and everything you have – you should be asking yourself “Am I being a faithful steward of what God has entrusted to me?”

I’ll give JC Ryle the last word this morning.

We are not told that the unprofitable servant was a murderer, or a thief, or even a waster of his Lord’s money: but he did nothing—and this was his ruin! Let us beware of a do-nothing Christianity: such Christianity does not come from the Spirit of God.

Let’s pray.