The Parables
Series
#9
"A TALENTED CHRISTIAN"
TEXT: Matt.
25:14-30
INTRO: In our
culture we often define worth by what we possess: i.e.
a. The place we
live
b. The kind of house we live
in
c. The kind of car we
drive
d. The line of credit we
have
e. The clothes we
wear
f. The degrees we’ve
earned
In God's kingdom however, we
possess nothing of our own, rather our worth is determined not by what we
possess, but how we use what God
possesses, that which He has entrusted us to use!
ILLUS: Years
ago a Sunday school in Philadelphia was overcrowded, much like some of our
children's departments today. A
little girl was turned away. She
began, that day, to save her pennies to help the Sunday school have more room.
Two years later, she died. They found a pocketbook by her bed with
57 pennies and a little scrap of paper with a note saying to help the church
build a bigger Sunday school.
The pastor of that church, Dr.
Russell Conwell, used that note to make a dramatic appeal to his congregation.
People's hearts were touched. One realtor gave the church a piece of
land. He said he just wanted a down
payment of 57 pennies.
The local newspaper picked up the
story, and it was carried across the country. The pennies grew, and the results can be
seen in Philadelphia today. I've
never been to that spot, but I'd like to go see that church. It seats 3,300 people with a large Sunday
school department. I'd like to
visit Temple University and Good Samaritan Hospital that came about as a result
of that initial effort. I'd like to
visit the room at Temple University where that little girl's picture is on the
wall with the reminder that she gave 57 cents with an amazing
result. -- Bob Russell, "Take the Risk,"
Preaching Today, Tape No. 143.
PROP
SENT: Jesus teaches us that
stewardship is not an optional choice in His kingdom for those of His kingdom,
but it is required of His servants who will identify themselves with the
I. THE LONG JOURNEY Matt.
25:14-18
A. Servants
Matt.
25:14a
1. We are not Lord's or
Rulers.
a. Therefore we own
nothing.
b. Equal status – all
servants.
ILLUS: When
the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being and placed you in this
world, He placed you here not as an owner but as a steward -- as such He
entrusted you for a season with goods of various kinds -- but the sole property
of these still rests in Him, nor can ever be alienated from Him. As you are not your own but His, such is
likewise all you enjoy. -- John Wesley -- James S.
Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc, 1988),
p. 464.
2. We came into the world with
nothing, and leave it with nothing. (You can't take it with
you!)
B. Stewards
Matt.
25:14b-18
1. God's property given to us to
use.
a. Not to be used for self but for
master.
b. Idea is that if we have been
entrusted with something (like
riches) we should recognize that we have been blessed with such to benefit
others too!)
c. Stewardship involves responsibility
– the idea here of “investment!”
ILLUS: There
is no portion of our time that is our time, and the rest God's; there is no
portion of money that is our money, and the rest God's money. It is all his; he made it all, gives it
all, and he has simply trusted it to us for his service. A servant has two purses, the master's
and his own, but we have only one. -- Adolphe Monod (1800-1856) --
Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for the Christian World (Wheaton:
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry 10737.
2. Different amounts given, equal job
of responsibility however!
a. Different amounts of worldly goods,
or abilities.
b. Yet we are equally responsible for
what we have.
3. Some will run from
responsibility. Matt.
25:18
a. Will try and hide in the world what
God has given them, or fail to invest what God has given them; no
stewardship.
b. Put trust in the world and
self.
c. The idea of burial here it to keep
it for self, not to invest it for growth for the
master.
d. This is not just about money; this
is about all areas of our lives, stewardship is about all our resources: time,
talent, and tithes.
II. THE LONG TIME Matt. 25:19-23
A. Settled
Accounts Matt.
25:19
1. Jesus indicated a long time between
first and second coming here.
2. Time given to demonstrate
stewardship.
3. There will be accountability for
what we've done with the Lord’s goods and opportunities He has given
us.
a. The implication is that everyone
was given something to start with, some with much, some with less … but everyone
with something!
b. At some point in the future
everyone will give an account for what they have done with what they
had.
c. And we do reap what kind of
stewardship we practiced!
ILLUS: An
interesting fable is told of a rich man who wanted to help a poor man. The rich man hired the poor man to build
a house on the hillside and went away on a long journey. The carpenter said to himself, "My boss
is away and I can use cheap materials for the parts of the house which will not
show. The house will be weak and
undesirable but nobody will know except me." But when the rich man returned he said,
"The house is not for me: it is for you!"
The carpenter accepted the key in astonishment. Instead of a first class home he now had
a fourth-class home. God gives us a
job, a life to build. We have to
live in the house we build. If we
do a shoddy job, we cheat one person -- ourself. – Source
Unknown
B. Successful Stewards Matt.
25:20-23
1. Praise not determined by amounts
made, but by faithfulness in using what they
possessed!
a. The Master replied the same to each
who had been a good steward in spite of the final
amounts.
b. “Well
done...”
2. Same reward for same faithfulness
even with different totals!
a. Not how much do I
have.
b. It was “what am I
doing with what I have?”
ILLUS: It
is required of a man that he be faithful, not successful. -- Howard Hendricks, Leadership,
Vol. 1, no. 3.
3. (read Mark 12:41-44) -- though a widow gave 2 mites (KJV),
(fraction of a penny to a couple of
cents) it was greater than those who had given much more because it was
greater in proportion to what she had.
a. Attitude of
steward.
b. Willingness of
steward.
4. While both faithful stewards had
different amounts they were equal in their commitment to duplicate the original
given them … so while one made more than the other because he had more to start
with they both shared the same reward for the same commitment and same sacrifice
in stewardship!
a. Notice the master equally praises
them: “Well
done, good and faithful servant!
b. Notice the master equally promotes
them: “You
have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many
things.”
c. Notice the master equally blesses
them: “Come
and share your master's happiness!”
III. THE LONG STORY Matt. 25:24-30
A. Selfish
Servant Matt. 25:24-25
1. Wasn't interested in helping the
master by his energy.
2. His interest was
self.
3. While the master was away he would
do as he pleased with the goods given to him.
4. He invested everything in the world
... his thinking was that the master is a hard taskmaster so he wouldn’t do
anything to help him ... in the meantime what do I get out of this
stuff!
ILLUS: I
heard about a little girl who experienced a major breakthrough in her life when
she learned to tie her own shoes. Instead of excitement, she was overcome
by tears.
Her father asked, "Why are you
crying?"
"I have to tie my shoes," she
said.
"You just learned how. It isn't that hard, is
it?"
"I know," she wailed, "but I'm
going to have to do it for the rest of my life."
My hunch is that some of us feel
the same way when it comes to Christian stewardship. We learn that it's exciting to give.
But isn't there just a tiny bit of
dread because we know we have to do it over and over again for the rest of our
lives? -- Heidi Husted, "The Sermon on
the Amount," Preaching Today, Tape No. 122.
a. This wicked servant merely buried
the investment and never used it productively, only to protect his own self
interest.
b. His only concern was to preserve
his own life by not losing anything; he wasn’t interested in gaining
anything.
B. Slothful
Steward Matt.
25:26-30
1. The heart of the problem --
laziness!
a. Didn't trust God. This was the root of the issue … he
could have at least put it in the bank and had the original grow interest for
the master without his having to do anything … but it was obvious he hated the
master and did not trust him, meaning God.
b. Not willing to invest in God's
work.
c. Trusted self more and the world
over the master!
d. He didn’t care to return anything
to the master. His interests were
self interests.
ILLUS: The
late Bishop Edwin Hughes once delivered a rousing sermon on "God's Ownership"
that put a rich parishioner's nose out-of-joint. The wealthy man took the Bishop off for
lunch, and then walked him through his elaborate gardens, woodlands, and farm.
"Now are you going to tell me," he
demanded when the tour was completed, "that all this land does not belong to
me?" Bishop Hughes smiled and
suggested, "Ask me that same question a hundred years from now." -- Bennett Cerf, Leadership,
Vol. 1, no. 2.
2. Cast away! -- No true servant acts
this way with the Master's things!
a. Served only self not God. There was literally no intention of
doing anything to help the master, not even put the original investment in a
local bank! The idea here was that
this wicked servant was only interested in self preservation. His kingdom was “self” … he served no
master but himself. It wasn’t the
single talent that he had been given that was the problem; it was the lack of
investment that was the problem.
b. The servant who earned 2 more
talents was praised as highly as the one who had earned an additional 5 in the
story; it wasn’t the amount of talents, it was the amount of
commitment.
c. Kingdom of the world demanded more
attention than the Kingdom of God!
3. The concept of stewardship is quite
clear in the story, no one can please God without being a steward, and you
cannot be a steward if you serve yourself.
CONCLUSION: You can't be God's servant without
also being His steward! To not be
one will mean that you cannot be the other! In whose kingdom are you invested in,
God's or this world’s? The"
talented" Christian uses God's blessings ... the wicked servant hides them or
uses them for self!