Parable of the Three Servants
Notes
Transcript
Lazy, Afraid, or Faithful?
Lazy, Afraid, or Faithful?
Jesus Christ always pointed to Kingdom life. In the parable of the three servants, Jesus gives us a picture of what our faith is supposed to look like.
Have you ever thought about the word faithful? God is faithful to you and me. He made a covenant promise with us, in Christ Jesus, God kept that promise and continues to keep His promises.
We know that we can trust God and that His living Word is true. Often, we will expect God to remain faithful to us, yet we will not remain faithful to Him. See, faithful does not just mean to be trustworthy, it means that we are full of faith and that we trust the one, Jesus Christ, whom we place our faith in.
In this parable, Jesus lays it our for the believer. Jesus wants us to search our hearts and our minds this morning. He wants us to decide if we are being lazy in our faithfulness, afraid in our faithfulness, or acting in complete trust and remaining faithful to Him.
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.
Recall “The last supper.” Jesus was going on a long journey, to the right hand of the Father. He called His servants together. A servant is a bond-slave. A person who is faithful and responsible to the Master. Jesus entrusted His disciples with the continuing works of sharing the Gospel message and of making disciples.
We are here today for the same reason. Jesus has called you, He has chosen you. For those who call upon Christ as their LORD and savior, we are bond-slaves unto Christ. Jesus purchased us through His own blood at the cross.
Sunday morning is not meant to be a once per week get together or social gathering. We are here together to worship corporately and to prepare our hearts and minds for sharing the Gospel message with the world as we ourselves are made more into the likeness of Christ.
Are we remaining faithful in this, or are we expecting the LORD to be the only one in this relationship to remain faithful? Brothers and sisters, we must remain faithful until our Master returns.
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.
Have you noticed that Jesus talked about money a good bit. Not because He wanted everybody’s money, but because he knows how hard it is for us to give up what we have earned.
The Greek texts indicate that 5 talents (bags of silver) was equal to about 75 years of wages, two talents was about 30 years of wages, and one talent was about 15 years of wages. It is not about the money, it is about faithfulness and obedience.
Jesus knows where we are in our walk. He does not give us more than we can handle. Whether in this walk for 15, 30, or 75 years, he gives us gifts according to our abilities.
The gifts we receive are for the edification of the body of Christ. Gifts given by the Spirit of God. Every true believer on this planet has been given a gift or several gifts for this purpose. It goes a bit deeper.
Faithfulness. Our faith should drive us to be active members of our local church. Obediently tithing to the church, obediently serving through the church, edifying one another within the church to bring others to the kingdom.
Real quick here on tithing. I hear people say “I don't tithe, I give in other ways.” Well sorry, we are to give of our first fruits and serve as well. if you are giving someone a love offering, or serving, it is not tithing. Tithing is giving of your first fruits to your local church for the mission of fulfilling the Gospel message.
I hear people say “I have been saved since I was a kid.” Well, what are you doing with your faith in Christ? Service is giving of our talents and gifts of the Spirit for the edification of the body so that we can corporately reach others for Christ. The point is that it does not matter how long you have been saved, but if we are being obedient to Christ after receiving salvation.
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.
The first two servants went to work immediately. They did not make excuses, they did not wait; they were diligent and faithful. I want you to notice something about these two servants. They were both successful. Did they start with the same amount of money? No. Did they end up with equal amounts of money? No. They were both equally successful though.
Do not fall into the trap of comparing the gifts God has given you with the gifts He has given someone else. Paul tells us:
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,
5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
Take any one part of your body away, and tell me how successful it is on its own. Every part of the body, meaning every person, every gift given to each believer, is equally important to the function of the body with Christ as its head.
The third servant was not successful, he did nothing. He made excuses. This servant claimed to be a bond-servant to the master, but did nothing for the master.
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.’
We can make excuses for not remaining faithful, but at the end of the day, if we are not faithful and using our gifts, what are we doing? We are being lazy, complacent, fearful, or prideful.
Guess what! laziness, fear, and bad pride, NOT FROM GOD! Theses are unacceptable excuses to Christ, who paid it all.
Are you remaining faithful to Jesus Christ this morning? Are you using your gifts this morning to the benefit of the body of Christ?
Look how Jesus says the Master responded:
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.’
The master sees right through the excuses the servant makes. There is no excuse for doing nothing in the eyes of God. Doing nothing is not remaining faithful to God, to do nothing reeks of self importance, self indulgence, laziness, and pride.
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.’
Jesus pulls in the very question of faith here. When Jesus uses the phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” he is referring to the realization that many will come to when they realize the anguish of an eternal separation from God; guilt, shame, and regret. Think of a time when you were in intense emotional anguish and you were crying uncontrollably and gritting your teeth. That is the illustration Jesus is making here.
The proof of our faith is found in our faithfulness to Jesus and our use of the gifts that He has given each of us. No excuses, no human reasoning, and no justification can get around what Jesus is telling us here. We either have an active faith or our faith is dead.
Look what Jesus says to the other two servants:
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!’
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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!’
The master said the same thing to both servants who remained faithful, the two who did not make excuses for not remaining faithful. Two different amounts given, two different amounts brought back, the same result. This is a picture of how each of us are to use the measure of faith we are given by His grace.
The Holy Spirit of God, through Christ Jesus, has given you a gift. Are you remaining faithful to Him in all things? Notice that the amount does not matter, it is about what we do with those gifts. Jesus Christ celebrates with us when we remain faithful. When our faith produces fruit, when we no longer make it about us, but we make it about Him.
He gives in abundance to those who remain faithful to Him. This parable is not about money, it is about our faith. Our faith in Him leads us to invest in Kingdom life. I pray that every one of us one day hear those words from the mouth of our LORD and Savior: “Well done my good and faithful servant.” Amen.
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