Latest revision as of 16:26, 30 March 2022

Theological Proposition/Focus: Jesus has equipped his servants, plans to return, expects that his servants have used what he gave them wisely, and intends to reward those who serve wisely.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We must use what Christ has given us wisely.

Introduction:

Image: Being left at home and then cleaning really fast before your spouse arrives.

When Emily and I first moved to Nebraska we both had jobs that required us to do a lot of traveling. Emily regularly traveled to teach week long courses. Now, I have to admit that I am actually a sort of picky, maybe even OCD person so while I didn't let the house get trashed, I did imagine what it would be like to not care. I imagined not making the bed for a week, not doing the dishes. I imagined all the free time that I would have because I didn't need to clean for a week! Then I imagined rushing around to tidy up the house so that Emily wouldn't know I had lived like such a slob. That would be glorious I thought, then I got to work because my OCD wouldn't let me do it, but you get the point. I am sure there are people who would just let it go and clean up at the last minute I am not one of them, but still I imagine.

The point of the illustration is that when we know a guest is coming over, or our spouse is coming home from a trip, we often get things cleaned up. Well, I want to tell you something, Jesus is coming again.

Need: We need to live our life in light of Christ's planned return.

Subject: Second Coming Stewardship

Preview: Within Matthew 25:14-30 we are going to see that as Christ Followers we expect Christ to return, in the meantime, we have choices to make, we expect to give an account for our work, and we look forward to the eternal reward such work brings.

Text: Matthew 25:14-30.

Setting the Stage:

The parable in Matthew 25:14-30 is the last parable within a series of parables focused on the need for every believer to be ready for Christ's return. The previous parables drove home the idea that a believer needed to be ready for the return of the master but this passage in particular set up the idea that working for the Kingdom was part of being ready. In order to fully understand this parable, we must realize that the people were expecting Messiah to come as a conquering King. Here we see the notion that Jesus will return but there will be some delay. Nevertheless, as we wait for that return there is an expectation that we serve Jesus with all our worldly possessions in anticipation of his return.

Body

Jesus: The returning righteous master has expectations (14-15).

Jesus will come again (14)

The term Orthodoxy is a fancy theological way of saying something that is believed and practiced everywhere, always, and by all. That is a belief is orthodox if all those who have historically been recognized as Christians have held the belief. Orthodox beliefs are those beliefs that are standard within Christianity. Examples of Orthodox beliefs are the virgin birth and deity of Christ, the Trinity, or the death and resurrection of Christ. You can think of Orthodox beliefs as the set of non-negotiables. One important Orthodox belief is what is known as the

parousia

That is the Second Coming of Christ. There is a lot of debate on when exactly Christ will come again, and we won't be getting into that today. For today what we need to know is that Christ is coming again and this belief is a shared belief across denominations.

So, what do we need to know from this particular verse? We need to realize that We are in the middle of a particularly interesting time in history. Jesus is not physically present right here and right now. He has sent his Spirit but he is not here. However, he is only on a journey and the implication of him being on a journey is that he is planning to return.

We also see that in his absence he entrusts his servants with what is his. Jesus has assigned each of us as Stewards.

Jesus has gifted each of us (15)

In verse 15 we are given just a little more detail. The master in the parable entrusts a specified number of bags of Gold to each of his servants.

ταλαντα between 75 and 100 pounds of silver (αργυριον in verse 18 refers to silver money)

The word for bags of gold here is the Greek word Talent but it is not something you have been gifted with the ability to perform as you might initially think but rather a weight. Specifically, this was the weight that a soldier could carry on his back (typically between 75 and 100 pounds of silver). Today this would be well over 1 million dollars per talent if Gold but since this is likely silver it is probably about $31,000. The point that Jesus is making is that this master entrusted everything he had, which was substantial, to his servants.

Textual note: The NIV adds the word Gold here, the actual word is talent and since silver was the currency it is probably better translated as silver.

It is also worth noting that the master does not give the same quantity to each person. Many people have asked about this and some might even argue that this is unfair but notice the end of verse 15.

Gifting is done in accordance with ability

We must notice the end of the verse. The amount given is by the ability of the individual. In God's Kingdom, he does not create all of us equal because we each have different strengths and abilities. We are all equally valuable but we are not all equal in what we are provided with or expected to do. So, we are all equally expected to do our best, but our best may look different and that is okay. The key is we are equally valuable and expected to give our best.

Image: Pilot Orientation is a week longer than Flight Attendant Orientation

My family has a fascination with airplanes. Among my four brothers, 3 of us have commercial pilot's licenses. My younger brother decided to make a career out of flying. When he received his first job working for the airline he had to go to orientation the airline. I remember a particular story he told me. The first week of orientation was about airline operations and aircraft/passenger safety. The airline chose to have flight attendants and pilots attend the first week of orientation together. At the end of the week, the flight attendants were getting ready to go do their next week of flight attendant training and one of them asked my brother, "where are you going to be assigned." My brother responded, "We still have two weeks of training." To this, the flight attendant responded "oh, I didn't realize that I only needed to go to an extra week and I could be a pilot."

I worry that at times we are so busy looking at what others are doing and how others are equipped that we lose sight of our equipment and our assignments. God has blessed each of us with various gifts, and God has given each of us different financial entrustments. We need to take stock of our gifting and be prepared to give our best to God.

MTR: Take stock and ask what God has given to you.

Us: The Investors have choices (16-18).

ευθεως

The first thing I want to call attention to is that the actions we are going to read about for the first two servants were done immediately. If Christ asks you to act, you must act immediately.

There are good choices

In verses 16 and 17 we see that the servant who received five talents and the servant who received two talents get right to work and earn a 100% profit on the investment. A couple of things strike me. We are not told how the money was invested it simply tells us that the money was put to work.

There are bad choices

Unfortunately, as we will see in verse 18, there are also bad choices. It was common practice to store something by burying it. The problem is that this servant chose not to make use of what the master had given him. This servant decided to take no risk. I have spent some time trying to make sense of the problem here. One commentator wrote that this servant "deliberately disobeyed" his master. But as I look at this text here I don't see an explicit command given to the servant what I see is an implicit command. So, I don't know that I see deliberate disobedience as much as a failure of faith and failure of stewardship.

I think that we must recognize that God expects us to step out in faith with what he has given us.

MTR: Consider how you are using what God has given you.

In the previous point, I asked you to consider what God has given you. Now I want to ask how are you using what God has given you.

Future: Each investor will give an account (19-27).

In verses 19-27 there are several important points of emphasis.

Emphasis 1: The length of time.

The first point of emphasis is the length of time. Verse 19 is packed with grammatical significance. The very structure of the grammar in verse 19 suggests that this is important. The master, after some unspecified length of time, returns and settles accounts.

In verse 20 the verbs of coming and bringing include the preposition προς (to) which emphasizes that everything that is done is done with an orientation toward the master. That is everything is oriented toward the glory of Jesus.

Emphasis 2: Equality of blessing.

The second point of emphasis I see in that passage is that the blessing bestowed on both faithful servants is the same final blessing. Being put in charge of many things and an invitation to share in the master's happiness. Remember earlier when we learned that God did not equally equip every individual, this may have made you uncomfortable. But what we see here should greatly comfort you. Here we see that God does not expect every believer to produce the same results, he only asks for our best.

I want you to hear this. I could stand up here and tell you that God has given each of you equal blessings but first, that wouldn't be true to the text, and second, that would then mean that you all should have equal outcomes. I would essentially be telling some of you that you were going to have to work hard to give just as much as the person next to you. I am thankful to God that he is not measuring our outcomes but rather what we do with what we have.

Emphasis 3: Contrast in servants.

Now I want you to look at verse 24 and see the contrast. The first thing I see is both fear and understanding. The fear is pretty obvious in the response but I also see understanding, understanding that the servant had not done well. The servant in verses 24 and 25 is defensive and appears to attack the master in his defense.

Hid YOUR in the ground

Verse 25 is interesting. Here I think we see one of the most telling points of emphasis. The servant never took ownership of what was the master. Stewardship is more than just acknowledging that you don't own any of it, it is acknowledging that you are responsible for all of it. I have heard people who are talking about tithing say something like "well you know God owns it all." Yes, he does! but that is not a valid excuse for not investing it as you are supposed to invest. Just stating that it is God's is not enough you need to take action.

In verse 26 the master argues that the wicked servant has indicted himself. He knew better. In verse 27 we see that the actions servant labeled as "responsible" actions were, irresponsible, lazy actions.

MTR: Determine to wisely use what Christ has given you.

Judgement: There are actions that warrant reward and actions which warrant penalty (28-30).

Key point: The grace of God.

Reversal of Expectation (v28)

In verse 18 we could get into a lot of theological debate but I am not sure that is the point. I think the point here is what expositors call Reversal of Expectation. Jesus uses a literary device to emphasize God's grace. The master has already given away his 5+5 eq 10 talents and his 2+2 eq 4 talents. Such a decision would have been striking and unheard of in the ancient world. Now, even further the master gives away his remaining talent. I think when we read this we are to understand the bountiful grace of God in giving away all that he has.

God is our judge but a judge is not necessarily a bad thing. A judge is only bad for a guilty party. For the one who does well, the judge is a great thing, the judge brings justice and for the obedient one, justice means blessing.

Key point: The judgment of God.

Reversal of Expectation (v30)

Verse 30 is terrifying and I believe it was supposed to be terrifying. Just like we had a reversal of expectation in verse 28 I think we also have a reversal of expectation here in verse 30. We tend to think of failure to do one's job as resulting in being fired or losing responsibility. Why is this the case? Because in our society we "promote to failure" if one fails to do one's job it is because we asked too much of them. However, here we see that for those who pretend to serve Christ while living for themselves, the judgment is severe.

Image: Legal Judge Verse Olympic Judge, the Perfect 10.

When I hear the word judge I tend to think of a courtroom and the legal consequences of a judgment. However, this is not the perfect example of a judge. Consider sports,

1976 Nadia Comăneci the Romanian Gymnist

In gymnastics there is the notion of "A perfect 10" for a single routine, this score was once thought to be unattainable—particularly at the Olympic Games—under the code of points set by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). However, in 1976 Nadia Comăneci a Romanian gymnast scored a perfect 10 on the uneven bars. The scoreboard was not able to display her score because nobody believed it was possible. Because the hardware could only display 3 digits the scoreboard showed 1.00. After 1976, Nadia couldn’t stop earning perfect scores and would go on to accomplish the feet 6 more times. For Nadia, judgment was not something to dread but something to look forward to.

Headline text

MTR: Live expectantly

Conclusion:

Jesus is coming again. We need to live as if Jesus could come at any time.

I want you to remember that the wicked servant does not seem to have disobeyed an explicit command from the master but rather to have not had the faith to invest in what mattered. If we have the faith to invest in what matters I am convinced God will reward us.

Image: John Wesley

I read a story of a lady who once asked John Wesley what he would do if he knew that he would die at midnight tomorrow. This woman wanted to know how would he spend his remaining time. His reply is striking:

"Why madam, just as I intend to spend it now. I would preach this evening at Gloucester, and again at five tomorrow morning; after that, I would ride to Tewkesbury, preach in the afternoon and meet the societies in the evening. I would then go to rend Martin's house, who expects to entertain me, talk and pray with the family, as usual, retire to my room at 10 o'clock, commend myself to my heavenly Father, lie down to rest and wake up in Glory."

Hmm, that is what I want in my life. I want every moment of my life to be worth being the last moment before I see my Lord. How can I possibly live that way? I am convinced the answer is Stewardship.