4-28-2019 Space Case Matthew 25:14-30

Claustrophobia is the fear of being in a small space or room and unable to escape or get out. It can be triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows, small cars and even tight-necked clothing.

I didn’t think I had claustrophobia until I moved to Pembine, WI. My wife and I loved it... for the first month. The thick Wisconsin forests reminded us of the beautiful Rocky Mountains near the Continental Divide. But that beauty sure got old after a month. We couldn’t ever see more than about a couple hundred feet in front of us while we were outside or driving around because of the trees. Sure, Colorado has trees, but it is also partially a desert so there are plenty of clearings that stretch for many miles. You can actually see the horizon on the outskirts of the suburbs! A month after moving up here, my wife and I had to find some clearing anywhere away from the Dunbar forests. We had to find our way out of the trees! We had become claustrophobic from the trees!

WHY? BECAUSE I didn’t have enough space, I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH SPACE. Oh, yes physically I had plenty of space, but somehow mentally I did not.

Space is good! It gives us freedom —and somehow even mental freedom to be thoughtful and purposeful in how we live our lives. We make good choices when we have space. Perhaps it is because space is the opposite of all the pressure we have in our lives.

In our adult Sunday school Hour, we were to go through a new series starting in Genesis. We started this series for a couple weeks, and the Lord deviated us (for a time) from that series in order to address more urgent matters, and so this morning we even addressed the doctrine of the Trinity—which does tie into Genesis, but was not part of my original plan—and that is okay! Why? because lately, the Lord really is showing me that this is His church and not only my church.

So, today for the main service, we're starting a new mini-series that's all about making space in our finances so that they don’t restrict our ability to live the lives God is calling us to. We will return to Revelation Chapter 6 in a couple weeks, but our Lord wants us here now.

To live that life now, we need to make room in our minds and hearts to understand how our relationship with money and possessions can affect our ability to be good stewards of God’s gifts.

THIS SERIES IS ABOUT MAKING SURE YOU HAVE SPACE TO BE WHO GOD IS CALLING YOU TO BE and there is certainly no killer to enjoying that space like pressure. And, as many have said in the past: THERE’S NO PRESSURE LIKE FINANCIAL PRESSURE

Right now, a few of us feel like we are stuck in the middle of this endless forest of money management and we cannot see very far:

Some of us feel trapped. We might be too embarrassed to ask anyone for help, or to find directions for us, and that we’re in the thick of it.

We don’t have enough room - and that impacts our ability to work, rest, or even to think clearly.

We need to create MENTAL SPACE. Most of us have money habits that come from a lifetime of both good and bad money lessons.

Take a moment, and think about your earliest, most influential memory of having and managing money. It could be of actual money, it could be of possessions or even status. Don’t think too hard, just go with the first thing that pops into your head. Write that down in your notes on the back side of the bulletin.

Those early memories shape how we think about money even today.

Even if we have had really great money lessons in our lives, even if your sitting here saying, “Pastor Josh, I have good money management skills” we still have a lot to learn about how to balance our spiritual health with the pressures of the world we live in. Are we really using our money as God would have us?

There is scripture in the Bible to guide us and so that is what we ought to look at this morning.

Transition:

I want to look at one of the parables of Jesus that many of us are familiar with:

This parable illustrates not only the benefits of being a good steward but also helps explain why financial management can be so challenging.

As we walk through this parable, we're going to see a lot of principles to understanding our money and facing financial phobias.

Scripture Reading: Turn to Matthew 25:14–30

Matthew 25:14–30 ESV

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 and 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.’

If there is one thing to pull away from this is TO BE ENTRUSTED with SOME THING MEANS to be TRUSTED with things.

The master entrusted his resources to his servants/his δοῦλος/ his slaves.

To be entrusted with something means that someone--the One--trusts you with something. The question then becomes: “am I faithful with what I’ve been entrusted with?” Well… it takes space think about this

Transition:

To have more this Financial Space, we must very first understand...

I. Everything we have belongs to God

In our case here today, YHWH sees us as being worthy of His trust, and He has entrusted us with our skills, talents, and even possessions here on earth.

Matthew 25:16–18 ESV

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.

These “talents” were never owned by the slaves, they were from the Master, and the money belonged to the Master

That changes how we view our responsibility for our possessions--It’s the difference between being the homeowner verses being the tenant.

The tenant (in this case servant/slave) is responsible to be a good steward of the property they are possessing, but the landlord is the one who owns the property, both before the tenant occupies it, and after the tenant leaves.

it is not just with money:

Even Our TALENTS & SKILLS We Have Belong To GOD

Ps 24:11

Psalm 24:1 LEB

The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness, the world and those who live in it,

Now, at this point, you may be thinking, "Does God really own every penny that I’ve earned and I worked hard for?” YES! “Well… that doesn’t seem too fair.”

If you think about it, whatever you do to earn that money is also a gift from YHWH.

The talents, skills, and even opportunities that allow you to earn money are only yours because God willed it.

He's been your enabler, your investor, your entire life, whether you knew it or not.

The fact that everything belongs to God is great news for all of us here today.

When we let it sink in that we are just here to manage the property of our lives, not be the owner, it can be a relief.

YHWH IS THE BEST PROVIDER

Sometimes we can feel like what God has entrusted us with is not enough. When we are struggling, it is hard to think of the little we have as a blessing.

There is a passage in Matthew that applies to those times:

Matthew 6:31 ESV

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’

These things can dominate our thoughts, it dominates the unbelievers,

Matthew 6:32 ESV

For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

but our heavenly Father already knows all our needs.

So what are we to do when we lose all hope of keeping financially afloat?

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

As we accept this idea of every good thing coming from God, it makes space to really live in gratitude for what we have, and what an honor it is be trusted with it.

It reminds us that our faith and good management of God’s gifts will result in his care of us.

It is both humbling and empowering to acknowledge that we are not the owners of our possessions, but just the managers/the caretakers.

Transition:

So, the first principle is to live the truth that everything in my life actually belongs to God and has only been entrusted to me for a time. The second principle we get from this parable is that God wants us to be good managers of what He has entrusted to us.

II. God Wants Us to Be Good Managers

Look at this next verse (v.19) in the Parable.

Matthew 25:19–21 ESV

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.’

The motivation for us to invest what YHWH’s given us is really that moment of recognition, and of cheering, and joy on that day Jesus says to us, "Well done good and faithful servant."

God wants us to be good stewards of His gifts here on earth that we might enjoy/be happy with our Master.

The first step of that we’ve already done - we’ve trusted Him to be a good master. The next step is to be good stewards of His gifts.

This is something we can all strive to do better.

It goes beyond being good with numbers, or being an entrepreneur, or having a scary, unnatural understanding of hedge funds.

Becoming a good manager of our finances and being a good steward of God’s gifts is something we need to be diligent about improving every day.

YHWH also provides us wisdom and guidance in how to be good managers

If that is true, WHY DO WE FAIL TO BE GOOD STEWARDS?

Before we get to what this parable teaches us about being good managers, let’s take a look at the servant with the one talent in vv. 24-25

Matthew 25:24–25 ESV

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.’

“…and so I was afraid…”

Fear of judgment made him hesitate and fail, Fear of failure is what caused him to “play it safe” Fear of loss made him hesitate to risk But before you cast you judgement on him consider: when you only have one talent, one, dollar, it seems like a lot more to risk and to lose.

Most of us have felt like this servant at one point in time or another. Whether we have a lot or a little, we can find ourselves acting out of fear of judgement, fear of failure, or fear of loss when we make choices — especially about our finances.

The way to reduce fear is to bring light to them.

Illustration: CHILD AFRAID OF THE MONSTER IN THE CORNER

When I was little, I would wake up at night, and would think there was a monster sitting in front of my dresser. I could see the face, the mouth, and horns. I would be so scared of what I thought I saw that I would freeze up. I felt like I couldn’t move, even though there was nothing physically holding me down. It was only when I got up the courage to reach out of the covers and turn on my light, that I saw the monster was just my clothes hanging out of my dresser. Fear made me believe things that simply weren’t true.

<<ACTIVITY>> BEING HONEST WITH OURSELVES

Today, I want us to to shine a light on our fears, and to do that, we’re going to be willing to talk about them.

Let’s take a minute to be honest, at least with ourselves, about where we are.

This isn’t just about how much money you have in your account. It’s about how we feel about our financial situation. When you think about your finances, which of these options feels like yours:

Option 1: I require financial assistance to get by.

Option 2: I am struggling to keep up with day-to-day expenses.

Option 3: I am able to make ends meet.

Option 4: I am able to make ends meet and have some left over.

Option 5: I have more than I need for myself and my family.

It is actually strange how even the wealthy can feel the first couple options, but for all of us here today, option 5 is really true for you no matter how you feel.

Acknowledging where we are means that we are able to focus on what we need in our lives right now and have realistic goals so that we can live in gratitude and be happy.

If we are struggling, as the servant with one talent was, we know we need to work a little harder to trust God and not be afraid.

Maybe we need to lean on our friends, our families, or our church for support. That’s what we are here for.

For those of us who are lucky to be on the other end - we face other challenges. How do we keep our possessions from having power over us? We’ll be talking more about that in the weeks to come.

Knowing where we are is the first step in getting where God wants us to be.

TRANSITION:

Now that we’ve started facing our fear of finances, what’s next? It’s finding the faith to reach for the light.

HOW TO EMBRACE FAITH OVER FEAR

Remember, everything is a gift from God, and He continues to provide for us

YHWH entrusted you with what you have for a specific reason, The Bible has wisdom to help us be great caretakers

Increasing our financial wisdom is a tool to help us trust God more

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM VS BIBLICAL WISDOM

When we think about what we know about financial management, most of us have learned from two areas:

Our families – as we touched on earlier, those first impactful memories can really shape our mindsets around money.

And the financial industries - Now there are some very good banks, financial advisors, and organizations out there dedicated to helping families and individuals succeed in being good money managers. However, in general, the financial industry is set up to convince you to spend more than you have, and to always want more.

Those practices do not help us live our best lives in Christ.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT BEING A GOOD MANAGER

Use what you have, and don’t spend more than you make,

Be careful in what you borrow and from whom

Despite the fact that each of the good servants got different amounts, it was really only the behavior of acting in faith and being a good manager that the master really cared about. Both the good servants were rewarded, even though they didn’t begin or end with the same amount.

The bottom line is that it doesn't matter how much you have. What matters is what you do with what you do have.

So How do we apply Biblical wisdom in everyday life?

KNOW YOUR FLOCKS AND HERDS

Riches can disappear fast…so watch your business interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and your herds. Proverbs 27:23-24

Proverbs 27:23–24 ESV

23 Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, 24 for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

WATCH CLOSELY

Whether it’s flocks and herds, or checking and savings accounts, God wants us to pay attention to how we use what he’s given us.

He doesn't call us all to be accountants (can I get an amen) but He does ask us all to give an account.

Most of us have had a time or two in our lives where the last thing we wanted to do was look at our bank account – but that’s living in fear.

The first step in becoming the money managers He wants us to be is knowing exactly where our money goes.

EVERY FINANCIAL DECISION IS AN OPPORTUNITY

When we start to understand that everything is YHWH’s and we're just managers, then it becomes very clear that every financial decision we make is really a spiritual decision.

Beyond that, every financial decision also becomes a powerful opportunity to be a trustworthy manager of God's great resources.

EVERY FINANCIAL DECISION REVEALS HOW I SEE MONEY

Our financial decisions are interesting things. They say a lot about what’s important to us.

How we manage resources speaks volumes about whether we have really put our trust in God or things for the security and happiness we all want.

Transition:

So, now we know that everything belongs to God and He wants us to be good managers of the things He places in our lives. That brings us to the last key to having more financial space—and by “space” I mean stepping back and thinking, “is this what God really wants? Does this purchase glorify God?” and that’s really the encouraging part – The Freedom that comes with being a good manager:

III. We are Rewarded for Good Management

GIFT OF GREATER TRUST

When we read the end of the parable,

Matthew 25:28–29 ESV

28 So take the talent from him and 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.

God is saying "You've done such a great job with the little bit I've given you, I'm going to trust you with even more."

That’s pretty amazing, to be trusted by our Creator with even more.

Those who have done well will be blessed with additional resources.

When God sees that we have the faith in Him to be good managers of His gifts no matter how small, He gives us greater responsibilities.

SPACE FOR MORE

As we get better at being stewards of our finances, it helps us find joy and satisfaction serving God with money.

Even if we don’t have much money, when we aren’t afraid of using our finances for Him, we have more room in our lives.

That space can be an opportunity for all the other areas of our ministries to flourish.

Most of us have wished we had time, or energy, or even money to do more for God. When we start by getting our financial priorities in order, it can make space in all the areas of our lives to grow—even spiritually.

So What?

When we serve YHWH with our money, we receive the GIFT OF GRATITUDE

Thankfulness, gratitude, and praise in various forms will start to come into your life from every angle.

You'll see God as your provider in everything. You'll appreciate Him even more. You'll realize it's all His, but He gives parts of His blessings to you.

He'll ask you to give, but He'll also provide more too.

You'll find yourself thankful for what you get AND for what you give.

Conclusion:

As you trust YHWH more and more, your finances will no longer stress you but instead, they'll continually point you back to your loving Heavenly Father who loves to give good things to His kids.

And, you'll want to celebrate. You'll enter into your Father's joy.

<<CLOSING PRAYER>>

Let's pray...

Lord, please help us to better understand that You are the owner and we are the managers of everything in our lives. Lord, we want to be freed from financial pressure and brought into a new place of financial space. Please open our eyes, open our ears, and open our hearts to receive from You in the next couple weeks what we need to understand so that we can truly trust you with every area of our lives.

Help us to also understand more and more what it means to be a good and faithful manager of all that You have put in our lives.

Let us leave this place today, grateful for your provision, filled with your joy, and walking in the peace that comes from knowing that you own everything.