Parable of the Talents--Yes, Again!

 

Read Matthew 25:14-30

I have preached this parable at least twice a year to this body, and most of those twice-a-year occasions included two different messages at our services. Some years, I worked it in more.

I have preached this in other locations. It is a Go-to Parable. It is jam-packed. It is good for preaching, good for Bible study, and best when put into practice.

So, where do I go this time? I will follow my Sermon for Dummies guidelines that I keep posted by my computer.

·       Include the good news in the message.

·       Connect the good news to our current situation.

·       Repeat critical items.

I am going to focus on the third guideline: Repeat critical items. So here we go again with my acronym: TURN

T is for trusted. All of the servants were trusted with money in accordance with their ability. They had a preexisting relationship with their master before this parable began. They were trusted servants. Even the third servant was trusted with a substantial investment in his ability. We are trusted servants.

U stands for urgency. The first two servants put their talents to work at once. They were ready to be trusted more, and because of that, they could put their master’s money to work immediately. We are to act with urgency.

R is for Return on Investment (ROI). The master expected a return on the trust he placed in his servants. He didn’t have to say this. These servants knew this because of the existing relationship. We are to produce a return for our Master.

N is for No Fear. Every servant had to contend with fear, but only the third one was debilitated by fear. We all deal with fear, but we should not be afraid. Our desire to produce a return for our master should be enough to overcome whatever fear is taunting us. If you must be afraid, be afraid of not pleasing your master, but fear does not govern the trusted servants' thinking or actions. We are to live without fear interfering with our decisions.

This acronym brings us to the question of what we did with what our Master (the Lord) gave us. We must realize that we are his trusted servants, are to act with urgency, are to produce a return on our Master’s trust, and that fear does not govern our lives.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge… The key word there is beginning.

Perfect love casts out fear.

But the question remains. What did we do with what God gave us?

I have posed this as a challenge in various areas of our discipleship. Among the gifts or trusts given to us were time, talents, and treasure, the standard three.

Also, in this context of what did we do with what God gave us, we explored our salvation, wisdom, children, leadership, spiritual gifts, Sabbath rest, and even God’s generosity.

We have looked at fear and why the third servant was called wicked in addition to being easily labeled as lazy.

And we have looked at this parable in the context of fear.

So what is left?

How about victory? What did we do with the victory that God gave—I say it again, gave—us. In our belief and profession of Jesus as Lord, we receive the victory that Jesus won on the cross. We pass from death to life.

Our sin is set aside. Death has no more sting for us. Yes, we hurt when we lose a loved one. Even Jesus wept over Lazarus, knowing full well that he would see his friend momentarily. He would need a shower and some new clothes but death would not claim him for now.

Only a few, ok that few could be a few billion people, but in comparison to all who have lived since God created humans, it’s not that many, will meet Jesus the old fashioned way, through death. Most won’ get to meet him in the clouds without experiencing death.

Most of us will get to heaven the old-fashioned way. We will die in these bodies, but the death of this body is not the end for the believer.

We get that, and we discussed this when we discussed the parable and salvation, but this time, let’s look deeper into that salvation.

Let’s consider this salvation, which we know through our faith and God’s grace, in the context of victory.

Sin does not enslave us and death cannot hold us. That’s victory. No, that’s the ultimate victory.

Remember God’s answer to Paul’s prayers to remove the thorn in his side: My grace is sufficient for you.

So, what’s different from just asking what we did with our salvation?

With the words "Your grace is enough for me," we affirm that we have already won the ultimate victory. Nothing in this world can take that away from me or you.

So, should we not be the boldest people on the planet? We have already won even if we mess up everything from now until our hearts stop. We have already won.

There should be nothing that holds us back from putting our Master’s words into practice. We should be bold, we can’t lose.

Back in the mid 1990s, I went to a Chester L. Karrass negotiating seminar. It was good training, so much so that I hired the guy to train 20 of my people, who quite frankly were terrible negotiators. It was money well spent, but I’m not talking about negotiation.

The instructor began the class by asking who would bet $100 on the flip of a coin. Nobody responded.

Then he said, "What if I gave you 10 to 1 odds, and we would do this 10 times?"

I stood up right then, started pulling my wallet out of my back pocket, and said, “I’ll take that action!”

If you have a 50-50 chance of winning each time and if only won once, you would break even. Any coin flip that came up in your favor after that was gravy.

The offer was only for instructional purposes and I became good friends with the instructor, wrote a few things for him, and still consider the training he provided some of the best I have received in my life.

OBTW—for the couple of dozen negotiating strategies and tactics discuss, the instructor noted that the Karass organization only endorsed one—the Win-Win.

We have the ultimate win-win in our salvation that came by God’s mercy and grace.

We have better than 10-1 odds. We’ve already won.

That should give us peace. We should be assured of our right standing with God. We should be fully convinced in our own minds—doubt gets the boot—that we will enjoy the company of our God and Savior for eternity.

That should make us bold as disciples of Christ Jesus, bold in our witness, and send us into the world without fear of anything the world can do to us.

Yes, we will have trouble, pain, sorrow, hurt, and a bunch of stuff that if we wrote the script for our own day, would not be included. But all of that stuff is nothing compared to what is in store for us.

So we should be bold as we serve the Lord and bring glory to his name. Do not be timid. Do not hold back. We don’t do fear.

You are on a mission from God and regardless of how many times you are wounded while you go into the world with good news, you will be with God and be in right standing with him for eternity.

You win!

Now, stop holding back.

What did we do with the mercy and grace that God gave us?

I hope that we all hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” one day. And maybe our Master might add, “You were fearless as you brought glory to my name.”

Bruh, you were fearless!

That’s what we long to hear. We are told that if we deny Jesus before men, he will deny us before his Father. That’s “Depart from me I never knew you,” sort of stuff.

But it doesn’t apply to you. You will not deny Jesus. You know the truth. You will remain faithful to the end, but will you be bold?

Bold is not boisterous, bravado, or something in which you need a Type-A/High Dominance personality profile. There is no preferred Myers-Briggs Type Indicator required.

It’s going where God sends you and not worrying about the consequences.

You want to do your best, but you are not afraid to trip and fall and get back up as you learn new things and ways to practice your discipleship.

We are bold!

We have no excuse to be timid. To be timid is to bury our talents in the ground.

We will not accept burying our talents in the ground. That’s not us. Being bold might take—will take—practice.

And once again, I come to the sage of modern-day wisdom, Yogi Berra, for further guidance.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Take what God has given you and do something with it. Just do it. Make your best decision, don’t look back, and do what you know to do to bring glory to God’s name.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it. Which way? The way that God is leading you, and do it with urgency. There is no get around to it in the discipleship business.

There are some things that we do as organizations and in those cases groups of people make decisions or you need a supervisor’s approval to act.

That’s not the case with what God has given you by grace. You are free to act without worry about losing your right standing with God as you do your best to bring glory to his name.

Should you abide by the laws and regulations in place? Of course. Understand what the law prohibits, but don’t back off beyond that. The Pharisees did that by adding to the law.

You are not supposed to work on the Sabbath, so we should prohibit even picking up a shovel in case someone forgets it is the Sabbath and starts digging a ditch.

Should we not be concerned with our personal safety? In the big picture, your destination is assured even if you die in your endeavor, but don’t do stupid stuff to hasten the process.

Should I get up in people’s faces and thump them with my Bible? If that’s your approach, make sure you take a big, heavy Bible and not some little gospel the Gideons put out. And make sure your mouthwash is Listerine strength.

Seriously, we are not making people come and be disciples; we make disciples when they respond to the good news.

We deliver the good news. The receiver decides if he or she believes. We disciple those who believe and pray for those who don’t, at least haven’t yet. That’s our hope, that they will respond to the grace offered while they can.

We will be so bold to give those who refused another round at some point. As long as it is called today, we continue to share this gospel of truth.

We try to get along with everyone as much as possible, but we will not hold back on sharing what we are commissioned to share. We don’t go into the world to offend people, but if the truth offends them, they need to hear the truth and we must be bold and share it.

So, in this ongoing saga of sermons of the Parable of the Talents, what will we do with the words from God, “My grace is enough for you?”

Among all of our other responses that bring glory to God’s name, let’s add boldness to that list.

Let’s be bold in bringing glory to God by taking his love and good news to the world!

Amen.

For more on this jam-packed parable, follow the links…

 

The Parable of the Talents

Parable of the Talents – Part I

Parable of the Talents – Part II

Parable of the Talents – Part III

Parable of the Talents: You wicked, lazy servant

The Parable of the Talents: God’s Generosity

The Parable of the Talents: Leadership Lessons

The Parable of the Talents: Points & Prayers

The Parable of the Talents and our Spiritual Gifts

The Parable of the Talents & Wisdom

The Parable of the Talents & Children

The Parable of the Talents and Sabbath Rest

Take the Talent Away from Him

God wants to give you more

After a long time…

The Baseball Glove and Salvation

Christian Stewardship - Time

Christian Stewardship – Talents

Christian Stewardship – Treasure

We Don't Do Fear!

 Read Matthew 25:14-30

Let’s talk about fear.

Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

    but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Isaiah 41:10 - Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Psalm 34:4 - I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Here is a familiar verse from a very familiar Psalm. It’s verse 4 of Psalm 23.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

So, what’s the message? Fear God. That’s a good start to knowing him more.

Don’t fear God’s punishment. It’s not for you. Disciple, yes, but punishment, no.

Don’t fear evil. God is with you.

Don’t fear others or the situations of the world. God is with us.

If fear has to be a part of your life, then fear God more than whatever else you might be afraid of. If fear must control part of your life, then make sure it is the fear of the Lord and it motivates you to please him.

You will still have trouble in the world. You will still be tested by the trials this world throws at us, some of which are substantial. The world might even persecute you for following Jesus, but you don’t need to be afraid.

Now to the third servant in the parable. Fear debilitated him. He was not functional. He acted with cowardice and void of wisdom.

Well, the master shouldn’t have been so hard on him. Fear was just in his nature.

He couldn’t help it. It was his nature to be afraid.

What if being an alcoholic was in your nature? Would a continued state of drunkenness be acceptable?

What if stealing was in your nature? Would we appoint such a person as our treasurer?

What if you had murder in your heart? How high would we let the body count go before we did something?

It doesn’t matter if fear is part of your nature. We are called to take on a new nature. We are a new creation and the fear of anyone other than the Lord is repulsive to God and those who seek and follow him.

If fear seems too hard to overcome, ask yourself this question as if it was from the Lord. Let’s put it in the first person from the Lord.

Did I go to the cross so you could live in fear?

You are saved by grace through faith. That’s a done deal, but you will stand before God and give an account, and the words I was afraid don’t earn you any points.

Fear is never rooted in trusting God. It always falls within the realm of our own understanding.

The grace of God is unbelievable. It goes beyond our worst sin, but know with certainty that fear of anyone or anything other than God does not please and, I would venture to say, angers the Lord. And if anyone is slow to anger, it is the Lord.  

But there is no doubt that he is not happy with this third servant, who was governed by fear. Do not expect to please God if we live in fear, are controlled by fear, or make fear-based decisions. Consider these final words in this parable.

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

I want to be in the well-done, good, and faithful servant line. We don’t fear. We have faith and trust and know with a blessed assurance that we belong to God, and he will be with us wherever we go.

We don’t do fear.

Amen.

Is my desire to please God greater than my fear?

 Read Matthew 25:14-30

It was February or March 1980. I was in a CH-46 helicopter hovering at 120 feet. We were rappelling, that is, jumping out of an aircraft and getting to the ground using a rope and a small device called a carabiner.

I had rappelled before but this was my first time from a helo. The guy in front of me was a big kid. By kid, I mean another butter bar in his early 20s. This guy was huge. He was at least 6’4” with wide shoulders and all the muscle you would expect from a warrior.

He was also afraid.

Just to say something in his defense, jumping out of an aircraft that isn’t on fire or about to crash anyway isn’t a natural act. At 120 feet, it might even seem more natural to stay aboard and put out a fire than to jump.

Some of you have jumped out of aircraft at a much higher altitude, for which a parachute was highly recommended. Some jump out of aircraft at altitudes where you need not only a parachute but oxygen as well.

But, there we were at 120 feet, and Second Lieutenant Connolly was frozen at the back of the helo and did not want to move. Major Bo Dishman was our leader and had undoubtedly seen this before.

He talked Connolly into relaxing his grip on the rope and told him that he would count to three and then he would jump. Connolly agreed.

One. Two—and Major Dishman pushed Connolly out the back. He grabbed the rope half a second later but was already 40 feet closer to the ground. The rest was a piece of cake.

Jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft doesn’t make sense. Your whole being says, don’t do that! This sort of fear is natural and healthy.

I was at a seminar once on the 40^th floor of a building. During a break, some of us found a balcony. I’m sure someone needed a place to smoke.

In any case, I looked over the balcony and down at the street below. My very being said, that’s far enough!

Sometimes, fear keeps us alive. Sometimes, fear keeps us from living.

The third servant in this parable was afraid. Why? We don’t read that his master had beaten him, so there should have been no physical fear.

We don’t see that his master had threatened him. He had not been on probation. There was nothing in the makeup of the relationship between master and servant that should have prompted fear in the servant.

So why was he afraid?

The master was a hard man. He received a return even when the servant didn’t think he deserved it.

The master had great expectations for his servants. He did not give them more than they could handle; he gave to them according to their ability.

Each servant should have produced a return of some sort, even if it was just a little interest from the bank. But the third servant was afraid.

Afraid of what?

Of things that existed only in his mind. He was ruled by negative fantasies or living out the worst-case scenarios in his mind.

Fear is natural if you are about to jump out of an aircraft. Training can help, but fear is natural.

If someone is shooting at you, your instincts—probably fear based—will tell you that lead and flesh don’t mix well and you should get behind something like a rock or a steel wall. If you watch too many movies, you need to know that cardboard boxes don’t work.

This sort of fear helps keep you among the living.

If your mind is making you afraid, you are dealing with things that may or may not happen, and as it turns out, most of the time, don’t.

Fear can motivate and help you achieve your goals. I am not going through that again!

Fear can initiate. I had better figure this out. It’s time to get it in gear.

Fear can debilitate. I’m not even going to try. I know I will fail.

We have all sorts of irrational fears.  Such as the fear of:

·       Failure. That’s a no-brainer.

·       Success. Yes, sometimes people are afraid they will succeed.  What comes next if I do well at this?

·       Learning something new. You might be surprised how many people this impacts. Such fear seems to increase with age.

·       People expecting more of you. If I do a good job, people will expect more from me next time. This one ties in with the fear of success.

·       Getting too involved. There’s only so much of me to go around. Sometimes, this is a legitimate concern. Sometimes it is an irrational fear. Wait! That one sounds rational to me. For the average person, it might be a legitimate concern. For the Christian, if God has called you to it, he will give you the resources you need so you are not spread too thinly.

Fear is sometimes related to knowledge and our level of risk acceptance.

What does that mean?  There are three main areas of information or knowledge that we deal with in every situation. In just about every decision we make—including and especially those involving an element of fear—these three areas come into play.

There are the Known Knowns. These are things that we know, and we know that we know them. Well, duh!

There are the known unknowns. These are things that we don’t know, but we know that we don’t know this information. For some, this creates an implied task of finding out. We know what to look for—we just need to find the answer.

And then we come to the granddaddy of them all, the Unknown Unknowns, or the UnkUnks, as it is affectionately referred to by those who frequently assess risk.  This is information that we don’t know and we don’t even know—at least yet—that we don’t know it.

You might think that this would be the most debilitating of the three, but typically, only those with a higher risk tolerance than most reach this point.

Most people give in to fear with the known knows or the known unknowns. Few are pioneers who learn as they go, adapt, improvise, and overcome. They navigate the unknown.

These people know that information arrives over time. If you have all of the information, the time for decision-making has come and gone. What you are dealing with has been overcome by events.

That means that people who venture into the unknown unknowns are either crazy or they trust God. Without all of the information at our disposal at one time, we must either act blindly or trust in God.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Try it this way: If we had all of the information at our disposal, it would be impossible to please God. Our decisions and choices might be easier, but they would be void of trusting God.

People not debilitated by fear know that we will have to work with imperfect knowledge as long as we walk the earth in these bodies.  They accept that reality and navigate their way forward.

The third servant never got past the known knowns. He knew his master was a hard man with high expectations, so he didn’t even try. He didn’t even assess his own skills. What could he do with this bag of money?

He didn’t even give it a shot. He buried his money in the ground.

He buried it in the ground!

For the student of efficacy, the lifelong learner desiring growth, and the Christian maturing some each day, this statement should be absolutely repulsive.

He buried it in the ground!

To take what God has entrusted to us—money, time, talents, salvation and grace, our children, the gospel, our minds and bodies, position, status, or the things the world calls KSAs (knowledge, skills, and abilities) and bury them in the ground should leave a very bad taste in our mouths.

I can’t think of anyone who has ever tried to label me a financial expert or banking whiz, but I know this: Money buried in the ground does not increase. It accrues no interest. It is invested in nothing, and there will be no return on investment.

The best that you can hope for is that it’s still there when you dig it up.

A one-hour trip to the bank to put the money in a CD would have saved this third servant a lot of worry.

He wouldn’t have to worry about someone finding the buried money.

He wouldn’t have to worry about investing it and managing it. Apparently he didn’t have those skills.

He would know exactly where it was.

Putting this money in the bank should have been a no-brainer. It required little effort and would produce a modest return, but the servant was afraid.

Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard wrote a book titled Who Moved My Cheese? It’s about dealing with change. The setting is mice in a maze with cheese, and as you might have guessed, things change.

Change is defined as moving the cheese.  It is a simple but not simplistic approach to dealing with change and used by many in the corporate world, but the heart of the message is very simple. How to deal with change is very, very straightforward.  Here it is.

What would I do if I were not afraid?

The answer to this question is often our best course of action. Let’s stand in the place of the third servant.  Maybe, he doesn’t have any real investing skills. But he can open a bank account. He could do that. It was within his ability.

If he weren’t afraid, the third servant would have at least opened a bank account.

I’m going out on a limb here and put a provocation before you. You haven’t lived until you have recognized, dealt with, and overcome fear. Addressing our fears is a part of our abundant life.

The following quote is from William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. It is from Caesar to his wife, who is concerned that her husband is about to be killed. She had a dream or a vision that he would be killed.

A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.

If you read Julius Caesar at some point in your life, you might recall that Caesar did get killed. Yes, sometimes, the bad stuff happens.

Sometimes, the worst-case scenario becomes the current situation. Sometimes.

But would fear have prevented his death? I guess he could have never gone out in public again.

If fear governs, don’t expect to ever achieve any great thing. Do not expect a well done good and faithful servant. Expect to live a mediocre life.  Go with the flow. Chill. Don’t stick your neck out.

We have been saved by grace through fear, right?

Your salvation is secure in the grace you received by faith. Fear and faith don’t mix.  

If you live by fear, how will you answer the question I always associate with this parable?

What did you do with what God gave you?

Understand that the answer, I was afraid does not help the situation. Our fear does not exempt us from answering this question.

What did you do with what God gave you?

I am sure that the first two servants dealt with fear as well, but their desire to please their master was so much greater than their fear.

Their desire to please their master was greater than their fear.

So today, I close with this thought. Is my desire to please my Master greater than the fears—rational or irrational—with which I am contending?

Is my desire to please God greater than my fear?

I pray that our desires to please God overwhelm our fears and that we all yield a good return for our Master.

Amen.

 

God wants to give you more!

 Read Matthew 25:14-30

 

Consider the words: You wicked, lazy servant!  Now those are some words I don’t want to hear.

 

We don’t always understand this part in our modern mindset.  Hey, the guy just didn’t do well.  Why accost him and call him names—mean names at that?

 

Was he really wicked?  Lazy, that’s easier to swallow, but wicked, really?

To understand the parable, we should understand the Proverbs.  In macro view, they say there is God’s way and there is everything else.  What are the terms for everything else?

 

Wicked.

Sinful.

Slothful.

Lazy.

Foolish.

 

It’s a dichotomy:  Righteous or wicked.  There is no middle ground.  There is no fence-sitting.  It’s God’s way or everything else and everything else is labeled wicked.

 

We in this over-sensitized time don’t do well with distinct dichotomies, but there is good and evil.  There is right and wrong.  There is righteous and wicked.

 

We are usually in tune with what’s happening in the parable up to this point, but now the master says, “Take the money away from this servant and give it to the one who has the ten talents.”

 

Ouch!  Isn’t that being a little harsh?

 

Let’s remember that the money was a trust.  It really never belonged to the servants.  Remember the joy of the first two servants.  ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

 

See what I gained for you.  Here is what I did for you!  My joy is in pleasing you!  I love being your servant and bringing you this good report.

 

The third servant knew that the money belonged to his master, but he never moved beyond fear to realize that he was also a trusted servant.

 

He only had one talent.  How can he be considered a trusted servant?

 

One talent equaled the daily wage for a worker for 20 years.  That’s big-time money even when you are only trusted with one talent.  Today, what does the typical worker make?  If it’s on the low end, maybe $25,000 per year.  On the high end, perhaps $50,000 per year.  I’m not talking about supervisors and executives or oilfield wages, but workers. 

 

So, one talent in today’s equivalent is between half a million and a million dollars.  That’s no chump change. 

 

Other estimates put a talent at $100,000 to half a million, but still: That’s no chump change. 

 

OK, so we get this is a big trust even for the third servant, but why take what little he has?

 

Think to Proverbs 13:22. 

 

A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

 

You may have heard the second part of that as the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just or the righteous. 

 

What else could the master do if he subscribed to biblical wisdom?  The wicked and lazy don’t get to keep what they have if they have anything at all.

 

This morning I want us to look at the wealth of the wicked being stored up for the righteous in the context of this parable.

 

The first servant had done very well.  We know this from the beginning of the parable.  He was trusted with more than the other two.  He produced more than the other two.  He put what the Master gave him and put it to work right away and produced a great return.

 

Today, it would take 10 years to double your money if you invested in something with a 7% interest or return.  The master was gone a long time, but I doubt it was 10 years, so this first servant surely made some aggressive investments that required much attention. 

 

He had to be diligent.  He had to be wise.  He had to be decisive but not impulsive.  His master trusted him in accordance with his ability.  He produced a fantastic return.

 

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

 

The second servant did likewise and received the same commendation from his master, but at the close of this parable, we see the first servant rewarded beyond all others.

 

So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough.

 

The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. 

 

This first servant took the money with which his master had trusted him and produced a good return.  He knew what he started with and what he produced.  But when the full accounting of these servants was finished, this first servant was given more.

 

The talent first trusted to the third servant was put in the first servant’s trust.  He was given more.  He had more and was given more.  He had more than enough.

 

Now both the first and second servant were also invited to share their master’s happiness.  They got a promotion and they were invited to be a part of their master’s happiness.

 

But the first servant got something extra.  So, the moral of the story is it pays to be number one!  That’s the ticket!  It’s dog-eat-dog even in the parables of Jesus. 

 

Or not.

 

All of the money still belonged to the master.  Even the 11^th talent received by the first servant still belonged to the master.  It’s not about how much you have.  It’s about what you do with it.

 

The first servant was now trusted with even more. 

 

In this parable, it has to do with money.  Money is something that we get—we can wrap our minds around it easily.  It’s not conceptual or reflective.  We can count and measure money.

 

Well, I used to be able to count and measure.  Now I just count out.  I have grandkids.

 

But we are trusted with so much more than money.  We lead and we serve.  We parent and look after parents.  We proclaim the good news and we are a light unto the world.

 

We are generous.  We are people of truth.  We are people of love and mercy.

 

We are disciples.  God has trusted us with following Jesus, taking the gospel to the world, and doing our best to live the right standing with God that we have received as a gift.

 

We can look at this parable and if we are not careful, we might think it’s about what we do that puts us in right standing with God, but it has nothing to do with what we have done.

 

God alone made us right with him.  He did all that was required.  We are receivers of his blessings.

 

Look at the religions of the world. They require their followers to do good, or follow certain rules, or a combination of both to get to heaven, or get to a state of Nirvana or reach a plane of consciousness or become nonexistent.

 

Everyone else is working their way to heaven.  Heaven has been given to us freely in the blood of Jesus.  We are receivers of this gift.

 

The world that believes in something else but thinks it can earn its way to heaven spends time doing things that get them there or so they believe.

 

We spend our time receiving what has been so freely given.  We want to receive more and more of the Kingdom of Heaven into our lives now.  Yes, there is more in store, but we are to receive God’s kingdom now.

 

Every time that we receive God’s kingdom and live in his kingdom, he gives us more of his kingdom.  God wants to add to what we have already received and put to work and refined and produced.

 

God wants to add to what we have.

 

When we receive the gift of salvation and decide to follow Jesus and put his words into practice, we should expect not only to please God but to be further blessed by him.

 

Sometimes this is with money.

 

Sometimes it is with Spiritual Gifts.

 

Sometimes it is with opportunities.

 

Sometimes it is with peace that is more than we can understand.

 

Sometimes it is wisdom that God grants generously.

 

Sometimes it is eyes to see and ears to hear in the midst of a chaotic world.

 

God wants to give us more!

 

God wants us to live an abundant life.

 

Some might be thinking that he is going to preach name it, claim it.    No, I am preaching about the abundant generosity of God.  God is looking for a reason to bless us.  God wants to give us good gifts, fantastic blessings, and this thing called abundant life.

 

I am talking about the abundant nature of our Master as he blesses those who follow him!

 

If God is for us, who can be against us?  Make no mistake that God is for us.  He has opened his kingdom to us.  He has saved us from wrath and punishment in the blood of Jesus and he is looking to bless us beyond what we might expect.

 

God wants to add to what we have for we are his trusted servants, his children, and his friends.

 

When we live every day God’s way, we should expect God’s blessings to continue even in our trials and tribulations.  We will have trouble in this world but take heart—take courage—Christ Jesus has overcome the world for us.

 

For those who consistently reject God’s way, even what they have will be taken and given to those living in right standing with God.  Are we talking about salvation here?  I don’t think so.  All three were trusted servants.

 

This parable deals with three trusted servants some random guys just off the street.

 

What about the wicked and lazy part?  I think we are talking about someone getting through this life as one escaping a burning house with only the scorched clothes on his back and having missed a few payments on his fire insurance.

 

Are we talking about rewards for the righteous?  Yes, to an extent.  But we are also talking about awards.  Rewards come in return for what is done.  Something awarded is an honor bestowed upon someone beyond the customary reward.  Awards consider what has been accomplished but is more about bestowing a greater blessing upon someone who is already enjoying the rewards of doing things right.

 

What do we take home here?

 

God made you right with him by the blood of Jesus.  That’s the biggest gift and blessing ever.

 

God wants you to do things his way and rewards those who do.

 

God wants to give over and beyond what might be expected.

 

God wants to give you more. 

 

We often look at what we are to do when we examine this parable.  That’s good.  We should—we should be faithful in a few things.  We should take what our Master gave us and be faithful to put it to work to produce a good return for the body of Christ and bring glory to God’s name.

 

This morning, however, I want us to focus on the generosity of God.  God wants to give you more.

 

It’s not like I want to earn God’s favor.  God has poured out his favor upon you!!!

 

The sun shines and the rains fall on the wicked as well as the righteous, but there are some things that God gives only to those seeking him and his righteousness.  God wants to give you more.

 

The question is, “Will we receive it?”

 

The Kingdom of Heaven has been opened to us.  We may live in this kingdom now.  We are not on our way there.  God’s kingdom has come to us.

 

God wants to give us more.  The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.  The wicked don’t want to live in God’s kingdom.  They want the benefits but are afraid to give up what they have in the world thinking it to be better than what God has in store for us.

 

There is nothing better than what God has in store for us!

 

I believe that we want to receive this kingdom now, but we must first stop believing the lies of the enemy, of the world, and of our own selfish nature.  God’s way is better than the way of the world. 

 

The world has a great advertising campaign going but God gives us truth.  And the truth is that God loves you.  He has called us to love one another.  He wants to bless us more and more.  He wants us living in his kingdom now where he is our only Master.  You cannot serve two masters.

 

You may look around at those in the world getting away with all sorts of scandalous things and wonder, will God let them get away with it, or how much longer will the wicked live the rich life?

 

Don’t worry.  What the wicked have, they don’t get to keep.  In fact, they are only holding it until it is given to us.  The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.

 

Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten talents.

 

Take the trust given to the wicked and entrust it to the righteous.

 

God wants to give you more than he has already.  Be ready to receive it.

 

Amen.