Good & Faithful Servant of the Lord
Matthew 25: 14-30
nOTE: Some materials of this sermon are taken from sermoncentral. com
Introduction
The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector which we have examined last Sunday teaches us how to approach God in a way that is acceptable to Him. The Pharisee approached God on the basis of his own merits. He forced upon God the truth of his own righteousness. He thought his righteousness –his good deeds, would force God to respond. His prayer was not accepted because of his distorted sense about himself and about God. The tax-collector, on the other hand, drew to God on the basis of God’s grace and mercy. He was accepted, not because of the bad things he did, but because of his humility and honesty.
This week our study will fall on the parable of the talent. This parable is so rich with spiritual insights that I have to stick on this passage for 2 or 3 Sundays. When taken by context, this parable is a warning to all believers to prepare for the second coming of the Lord. It also talks about what it takes to be a good and faithful servant of God. This parable also gives a clear picture of a person who lost everything by doing nothing. The third servant is a person who could teach you how to become a failure.
First of all, I’d like to start our study on this parable with the question that I’d like to ask this morning: “What does it take to be a good and faithful servant of God?” I believe every true believer wants God to find and commend them the same way the Master in this parable found and commended the first two servants who were doing the task given to them. We want God to find us doing good and faithful, right? This parable teaches us how. This parable teaches us amazing principles to live by if we would want to be found good and faithful servants of God. We need to realize that:
A. What We Have Is Not Our Own (v.14)
Verse 14 says, “"For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” The master in the parable called his 3 servants and gave each “his goods.” But the purpose of giving is not for the servants to have possession of the property but to manage it. It means that what these servants were given was not for them to own, it still belonged to the master. They were managers, not owners, of their master’s property. The master here is God. He owns everything. The biblical word for our position over everything we have is steward.
In Psalm 24, the Word of God reminds us, “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.” And in Haggai 2:8 we find, “’The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of hosts.” These verses clearly tell us that everything belongs to God. It’s not my time; it’s not my money; it’s not my abilities; it’s not my life –it’s all God’s. Everything I have is on loan from God. Now, until we recognize this truth, we will not be good managers of what has been entrusted to us.
The servants understood their true status over the “goods” given to them –that they were managers not owners of their master’s property. And so they went off immediately to put the money to profitable investments. However, the servant who received the one talent failed to recognize the implication of his position being a steward. While he was aware that the wealth entrusted to him was not his, he failed to realize the intention of the master for giving his goods to his care and management. And being a steward, he was expected to exercise proper management of what was entrusted to him. His action actually reveals his indifference and antagonism towards the truth that he was a steward, embittered that what had been entrusted to him was not his.
Faithfulness to God with our abundance always starts, first, in understanding and in recognizing that God owns everything we have, and second, in understanding the intention of God for giving us His resources. The author of Proverbs tells us to faithfully honor God with our abundance, and it always starts in understanding and recognizing our true position over the things God has given us. Apart from that humble recognition we are likely to misuse and mismanage the resources we have in our hand. We will likely to use them for our selfish desires instead of for God’s glory and honor. And like the third servant, we would likely be doing nothing to God’s resources for something profitable to His sight.
B. We Are What We Believe Of God(v.20-25)
The third servant hid the money and returned the entire amount to the master. He hadn’t lost it or spent it. It was all there, but the master was furious. Why does the master react that way? Isn’t the exact amount of his money there? Actually, the problem is not that the third servant did not invest the money. The true problem with this servant is his view of his master. His true character was revealed as soon as he opened his mouth. Notice that he talked more than the other two servants combined. The first two servants use a mere sixteen words each to report their gains, but the lazy servant used 51 words in an attempt to justify why he had basically done nothing.
In verses 24-25, the lazy servant said: “‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. And so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.” First of all, he thought his master as harsh and hard, just looking for an opportunity to punish. The master did not agree to the allegation the servant made against him. It was the servant’s view of the master that was at fault. And because of this distorted view, he resorted to inactivity. He thought that the safest thing to do is to do nothing.
Second, he accused the master as someone who takes advantage over other’s hard works. But again, his view was faulty. The master agreed what the servant said about him but not how the servant understood and thought of it. The master was not someone who took advantage of others, he had just the right to get the profit of his money. He may not have sown or scattered any seed, but the field and seed were his. There’s no wrong for the master to reap gains from his own property. Another thing that refutes the wrong view of the servant is the master’s spirit of generosity. Actually, he did not get the profit gained by his two good servants, he instead commended them and entrusted them with more resources. In like manner, it is always fair and right for God to ask something from us because He owns our lives and everything we have. When we are asked to give for the Lord’s work, it’s not that God is selfish. Actually, giving is a test to see if we deserve greater resources in our care. As we give Him our best, He will give us even more to our care. If we are faithful, He is thousand times more faithful.
Tozer said: “What we think about God is the most important thing about us. If we view God as a tyrant then we’ll filter everything through this lens. Some of you may be secretly angry with God because you think He did something, or didn’t do something that you think He should have. As a result, your view of Him is twisted. Your preconceived notions prevent you from seeing Him as a God of grace, and as a result you refuse to serve Him with what He’s given you.” That’s exactly what happened with the third servant here. What we believe and how we see God will determine how we live our lives. If we don’t see Him as a holy God, we would likely be living in sin. It has been said that: “We are what we believe.” Therefore, to see God and believe Who He is as revealed in His Word is very, very, very important.
Do you see God as someone who deserves your wholehearted service? Do you see God as someone who deserves your best? Our view of God is the heart of our christian life. If it is distorted, everything of our christian living is distorted.
C. What We Do With What Had Been Given To Us Has Benefits Beyond This Life
Verse 28-30 say, “Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The servant who received the one talent was punished because he did not use responsibly what had been given to him. His punishment includes the taking of what has been given to him, the master’s proclamation that he is worthless, and the command to bind and throw him outside the city.
Now take note: the condemnation the master pronounced here is the same condemnation that unbelievers and the wicked will receive on the judgment day. But I believe our Lord is not teaching here that there are some believers who will be condemned as such. It’s my firm belief that there’s no such as Christians who are doing nothing. Jesus however is teaching here that there are benefits with what we do with what had been given to us. Doing nothing about salvation and righteous living will have the most severe punishment.
On the other hand, the servants who had used responsibly with what had been given to them and had used it for something profitable to their master received fabulous rewards. They received the commendation, praise, trust, and the privilege to share the joy and glory of the master. What is wonderful here is that, all of these rewards that the good servants had received in the parable are actually the rewards which are in stored for the believers and followers of Jesus. God would like us to realize here that there are so much that are in stored in eternity for them who lived their life for the Lord. We have all the reason to be faithful to God. And as true servants of the Lord, let’s strive to be found serving Him to the limit of our capacity, so that when he returns, God will find us worthy.
Conclusion:
When the Lord returns He is going find that some people lived by his teachings, applied them in their daily lives, invested them in the world. He is going to find that some did not mind about faith and about salvation. He is also going to find that some merely talked about their faith, but they didn’t even do that. They didn’t do anything. Which do you belong?
