Last week I was preaching on the parable of the 10 bridesmaids and I said during that talk that I had a burning and unfulfilled ambition. For the benefit of those of you who were not there I said that I would love to jump out of an aeroplane with a parachute. Well now, on Thursday Terry Doyle came up to me and said “Gram’ll fix it” – or words to that effect.
Sowing Seeds Ministries are going to make arrangements for my dream to come true - on condition that they can sabotage my equipment… (No seriously, on condition that it is a fundraising jump for Sowing Seeds Ministries). So, providing I pass the medical, I’ll be jumping out of a plane for Sowing Seeds Ministries sometime next year. Result!
Actually, I forgot to say that I have another ambition; I’ve always wanted to go on a four week, all expenses paid, luxury holiday in the Bahamas!
We’ve been going through Matthew 24 and 25 over the last few weeks which are all about the future return in majestic splendour of Jesus Christ. He will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. And we have summarised Jesus’ straight talking in those two chapters of Scripture as follows. Jesus is coming so wise up, watch out, wake up and (today) get busy. Get busy, because when he returns he’s going to ask us what we’ve been doing with our lives and he’s going to want that we have something to show for it.
I’m going to break this passage down to 3 sections of 3. So we’re going to talk about 3 ideals, 3 facts about our future, and 3 options open to us.
Three Ideals
The first ideal comes in v14. It’s the principle that nothing I have belongs to me.
[The kingdom of heaven] will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.
As Psalm 24.1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” And I’ve looked up that word “everything” and it means “every thing.” It’s all God’s. When I look at everything in my life; my home, my car, my time, my books, my modest talents, my dreams, my memories and my bank balance - which is even more modest than my talents by the way - God… owns… all of it.
To say that God really owns all my time, every one of my talents and abilities, and the sum total of my treasure is to say that he controls the rights. Whatever he wants and when he wants it - it is all his.
When your kids pass their driving test you have to negotiate that most painful of all rights of passage – the ceremonial lending of the car keys. As parents, you entrust your car to your offspring. But there is never any question that you can withhold your car keys at any time, for any reason. Your kids only have responsibilities (i.e. to return that vehicle in exactly the state they found it). But you keep all the rights. Oh yes! In the same way, every single minute I live, every single ability I have, every single pound I spend comes from someone else - God. We may possess much but we own nothing.
That is what it means to say “Jesus is Lord.” He’s the boss, he owns it all. I own nothing. The Bible says “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” Which is why if you are filled with the Holy Spirit you get this.
If you own your own home, take a walk around your property when you get home to get a feel for the reality of this principle. You may have the title deeds to it, but that document only reflects your right to possess that pile of bricks as long as you live, not forever. “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
If I truly believe that God owns all my time, all my talents, and all my treasure, then I am bound to use these resources for his purpose and pleasure. And in doing so my joy is released and I feel really alive,
The second ideal comes from v15 which says, “To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability.”
Ideal number 2 is to say “I will be satisfied with what I have.”
Are you a five bag person, a two bag person or a one bag person? I don’t know. God knows. But whatever your lot in life God is looking for an attitude of gratitude.
The Lord has given you opportunities for service in accordance with your ability to make use of them. We don’t have equal abilities and we do not have the same opportunities. But on the day of judgement, the number of opportunities for service will not matter. The question will be, “Have you been faithful in the use of your time, your talents and your treasure?”
The third ideal comes out of v16-18 which say that the first two doubled their money but the third one dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s investment.
Ideal number 3 is obvious. I commit to investing the time, talents and treasure I have, and not waste my life doing nothing.
Three Facts About the Future
As well as giving us 3 challenges to living according to kingdom principles, Jesus gives us here 3 facts about the future.
Fact 1. A day of reckoning will certainly come. Verse 19:
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.”
When Jesus told this story, I believe he was implying that he did not expect his return to be imminent. He says “after a long time.” I think he was hinting that a relatively extended period of history would have to elapse before his return.
2 Peter 3:4-9 says this: “[People] will say, ‘Where is this coming he promised? … Everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ … But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
How different would your life look if, before every decision you made, you asked yourself a simple question; “How is this going to look on the day of judgement?”
Fact number 1; a day of reckoning will surely come. Which would be extremely daunting and nerve-wracking if it were not for fact number 2 which comes out in v20-23. Those who are faithful, will be fruitful and will be rewarded.
The men who had received five and two bags of gold showed the master that they had doubled his investment. In each case the 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!”
Sometimes people say “The Lord does not call us to be fruitful, only to be faithful.” Have you ever heard that? Well, it’s wrong. The Lord expects fruitfulness in our lives. “I have appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” said Jesus. The master here multiplied his blessing on his servants after they had shown their faithfulness. But how did he know they had been faithful? It’s because they were fruitful.
So fact 2; those who are faithful will be fruitful and will be rewarded. Conversely, fact number 3 is this: Those who are lazy and unproductive will be condemned.
Listen again very carefully to v24-30. Jesus is giving a sober warning and he is deadly serious.
“Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
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. Take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.’
For those who have will be given more, and they will have an abundance. As for those who do 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.’”
According to Jesus, one of the distinguishing marks of a true Christian is generous service. He says here that eternal destruction comes to those who never lift a finger, who never give a bean and who invest nothing of what they’ve been entrusted into the Lord’s work. Zero service, zilch giving and idle prayerlessness are sad outcomes of a life that is completely unchanged by grace.
How can anyone call themselves a Christ-follower and not have a heart for giving, for serving, for sharing, for praying, for being a blessing to others?
Three Choices
So then there are three choices open to us concerning the investment of our time, our talent, and our treasure.
Choice 1; do a lot with a lot. That’s what the first servant did, doubling the abundance that what he was entrusted with.
The church has had many five-bag heroes down the years who have done a lot with a lot. Martin Luther King won civil rights for blacks in the USA. William Wilberforce abolished the slave trade in Britain. Mother Teresa saved countless lives in the slums of Calcutta.
Choice 2; do a lot with a little. That’s what the second servant did, doubling the relatively small amount that he was entrusted with.
Note the principle here. We are 100% accountable to God whatever our level of giftedness. Some people think: “O, because I only have modest gifts I have less responsibility.” No! In this story, the master came back and asked those who had received much and those who had received little exactly the same questions.
Thank God for Christians who do a lot with a lot. Thank God for Billy Graham and Hudson Taylor and Nicky Gumbel and Bono and Mike Pilavachi.
But there are many more Christians who have done a lot with just a little. I read about a woman this week who was preparing a box of supplies to be sent to a Christian mission in India. A little girl gave her a penny and the woman used it to buy one tract explaining God’s plan of salvation. Eventually, that little tract was put into the hands of a community leader and was instrumental in leading him to faith in Christ. The man told his community about his faith. Many of them believed. A church was established there and over 1,500 local people became Christians - because one person was willing to let God do much with the little she had.
One day every person who trusted Christ as a result of the chain of events that that little girl’s gift started will say, “Thank you for doing a lot with a little.”
The third choice, which is no option at all, is to do nothing.
You might be thinking, “Why was the third servant treated so harshly? At least he gave back what he had originally been given.”
But Jesus is teaching us here that God does not expect to find us at the end totally unchanged from the way he found us at the beginning. He expects us to discover, develop and deploy what he has placed in us by grace.
Those who have not been given much in the way of time, talents, and treasure can be tempted to think, “When I have more, I’ll start giving more. But for now I’ve got hardly any time, I’m not good at doing very much and I’m always skint so I’m not in a position to invest more at this time.
That won’t wash with Jesus! He says here that faithfulness and fruitfulness are nothing to do with whether you started with a lot or a little. Being a good steward or a wicked and lazy steward doesn’t depend on how much you have.
You can be a wicked and lazy steward with a lot or a good steward with a little. You can be a wicked and lazy steward with a little or a good steward with a lot.
The point is this: not everyone is going to hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness” on the Day of Judgement.
Ending
I began by talking about Pam’s stepmother and Mark’s father. Well, I want to finish by saying that I lost a father this week as well. He was a spiritual father. Owen Thomas was vicar of Saint Stephen’s Canonbury in North London where Kathie and I were based when we were first married and he preached at our wedding.
Owen was one of the most significant people in my life when I was a young believer. He had an unflinching faith in the power of the gospel and his consistent Godly character left an indelible mark on me. I praise God for a long life well lived.
His son Andrew wrote to me this week and said, “It's a real privilege to have been up close and personal to such a man of God, for all my life. I will miss him terribly.”
One of the things I will remember Owen for was his passion for talking to anyone and everyone about the Lord.
A tramp would come to the door asking for a meal so Owen would cook him up something tasty and say, “You know my friend what you really need is Jesus.”
An engineer would come from BT to work on the phones line so Owen would show him around and when he was done he’d say, “Thank you for fixing the phones young man but, you know, what you really need is Jesus.”
A woman would come round from the Choral Society asking if anyone from the church would be interested in their performance of Handel’s Messiah. Owen would give her a spontaneous rendering of the Halleluiah chorus, say he’d put a notice in the church notice sheet and then say, “But what you really need is Jesus.”
Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness!
Jesus is coming – get busy!
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 19th December 2010 (with thanks to Rob Duncan for the outline and several of the illustrations)
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