Well Done

Intro

This Friday will be Kim and I’s 22nd wedding anniversary

But to start this morning, I want to go back to shortly after the wedding

After we returned from our honeymoon, we wanted to do something special to thank both sets of parents for all their support and generosity to us

So we had my parents over one night to our very small apartment and I made some good steaks

And then Kim’s parents were coming over and wanted to make them a good steak as well

I ask her parents, “How would you like your steak cooked?”

They replied, “Well done”

To which I, quite correctly replied, “Yeah, I don’t do that”

We finish dinner and they say to me, “That was the best steak we have ever had”

Yeah, well,, you know… maybe because I didn’t cook all the life out of it!

And really, that was more than I like - probably medium well

I, on the other hand, prefer my steaks pretty rare

I’m not saying I want it to still be alive, but I want it so that a good vet at least has a chance of bringing it back

Or, as this meme expresses pretty well

“Well done is for good and faithful servants, not for steaks”

Which brings us to our parable for this morning where this line comes from

Please turn with me in your Bible to Matthew 25

Scripture Reading: Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14–30 ESV

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 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? 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. 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.’

Pray

Main Point

When Jesus returns, he will generously reward the faithful and punish the faithless

Recap

This is the longest of the parables in the gospel of Matthew

It is a story about a Master going on a long trip and he entrusts 3 of his servants to manage his money

Each of the three is given a different amount, though the only reason given in the story is “each according to his ability”

The first servant is given 5 talents, the second is given 2 talents, and the third is given 1 talent

To help us visualize the amounts here, a talent was 20 years’ wages

So let’s use a relatively easy number and call a year’s wage as $60,000 - real conservative modern numbers

Twenty years would make that one talent equal to $1.2 million today

Yes they all received different amounts, but even the guy who only received one talent still was entrusted with a lot

It’s what happens next that starts to set the servants apart

The first two immediately go and start figuring out how to invest their master’s money

The third dug a hole and stuck the bag of money in the ground

Fast forward a long while and the Master finally comes home and calls for the servants to come give account

The first doesn’t say much, just notes for the Master that he took when he had received and doubled it

The Master commends the servant and moves on to the second

Likewise, the second servant notes that he doubled the money and receives the commendation of his Master

Then we get to the third servant

He starts with a little speech justifying his actions and knowing the Master to be a hard man and expecting to gather where he had not sown any seed and blah blah blah

But does that sound at all like the Master the first two servants knew?

For the third servant, his fear had left him faithless

He tells the Master that he buried the money in the ground and now he could return exactly what he had been given

To which the Master condemns him both with his words and with banishment from the Master’s house

Doctrine

As we have over the last few weeks, we are going to follow a simple flow to help us understand this parable of Doctrine / Devotion / Deeds

Let us start with the doctrine: What are we to know and believe based on this story Jesus told?

And remember our main point: When Jesus returns, he will generously reward the faithful and punish the faithless

To that end, three things I want us to see

Jesus is coming back

Jesus will generously reward the faithful

Jesus will punish the faithless

Jesus will return

Scan just before this parable

You probably have a subsection header in the last section of chapter 24 that says something like, “No one knows that day and hour”

Just after out passage is Jesus teaching on final judgment

And in between?

Jesus tells two parables about a man arriving unexpectedly, including this one

Important because it allows us to see that this parable is about ultimate things - what the Bible refers to as the day of judgment

In this parable, Jesus is the Master and he will return

We don’t know when Jesus will return, but we do know why he will return

Jesus will return in judgment

Jesus will generously reward the faithful

Which brings us to the second thing we are to believe from this parable

We are to believe that Jesus will reward generously!

Look at the three responses of the Master to the first two servants

Matthew 25:21 “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.’”

“Well done, good and faithful servant”

Words of praise and affirmation for his character and his conduct

Put them in charge of more

Invited them into his joy

The servants are invited into the celebration, come join the party!

But they invited to celebrate now as servants, but as friends

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

This is the doctrine section - asking what we are to believe

We are to believe both that God exists and that he rewards!

Jesus will punish the faithless

There is a real, and sobering, contrast though for us in this passage

Jesus will punish the faithless

Notice how the response of the Master in the parable is almost the opposite for the third servant

Matthew 25:26–30 “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? 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. 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.’”

“Wicked and slothful”, instead of “good and faithful”

Took away from him what he had, instead of giving him more

Cast the worthless servant into outer darkness, instead of inviting him into his presence

If there is great hope and promise that Jesus will reward the faithful, there is also the sobering truth that Jesus will punish the faithless

Devotion

How does this passage equip us to Reflect Jesus by challenging our hearts?

And in the two types of servants, we can ask which of those are we more like

The first two servants delighted in serving their Master

They received what had been entrusted and worked diligently

The second received less than the first, but he did not think that made him less

He did not become envious of the first servant or hard-hearted toward the Master

Instead he stewarded faithfully what the Master had entrusted to him

Conversely, the third servant was full of fear and bitterness

Maybe he was jealous that he received less than the other two

“What makes them so special? I’ve always worked harder than those two clowns!”

Maybe he was angry because he thought the Master would stiff even if he did make some extra money

Maybe he was afraid of investing the money and losing it and what would happen then

Clearly he misunderstood the character of the Master thinking him a hard, cruel task-master

All of us will one day stand before Jesus in judgment

But now is the time to evaluate our own hearts to see which servant we are more like

Are we like the first two servants, delighting in serving our Master?

Or like the third, who feared the harsh punishment of the Master?

Deeds

Which brings us to our third part of our framework - Deeds

How are we to Serve Jesus in response to this parable?

The answer is, I believe, pretty straight forward

We are called to faithfully steward the gifts that God has entrusted to you

There is certainly an aspect of this that is financial

The money you have is not your own - it belongs to the Master

It has been entrusted to you to steward well

Give generously, pay your bills in a timely manner, invest wisely

But it is more than financial

There is an acronym - SHAPE - that I find helpful here

Spiritual Gifts: God gives every Christian one or more spiritual gifts for the building up of the church

Heart Passions: What are you passionate about?

Maybe it is a justice cause or a group of people that you care deeply about

Abilities: You have abilities that God has given you - not spiritual gifts but practical abilities - that you are to steward well

Maybe you are good at starting businesses or reading financial reports or understanding complex scientific questions… or maybe just intuitively understanding when another person is sad and hurting

Personality: You have a unique personality that God has given to you - your sense of humor, your intellect, your friendly smile

Experiences: Your story

What you have been through and experienced can hold you hostage or it can be a way for your to encourage and support others

Certainly way more could be said about each of those - and I have taught an entire class on it - but for this morning, the question is how can you steward well the gifts God has entrusted to you

Don’t you want to hear those words from the parable said about you?

Well done!

Because I do - and as we steward the talents God has entrusted to us, we will be invited to come share in the joy of Jesus, our Master

Conclusion

Ultimately, the caution of this parable is to be ready

We don’t know when the Master will return

Jesus is coming back as judge of all

Jesus will reward the faithful and punish the faithless

But here is our great hope

Jesus is the Master

And Jesus is the true Servant

The faithful Servant who stewarded the call of God the Father to leave the glory of heaven and come to earth

The suffering Servant who endured the cross to redeem faithless people into faith-full children of God

And when he returns, the Servant will be crowned as King of kings and Lord of lords to reign forever and ever

And because God the Father looks at him and says, “Well done”, we get to enter into his joy and reign with him forever

Pray