A Vision in Your Heart – A Bible in Your Hands - Matthew 25:14-30 - September 23, 2007
In 1428, at 16 years of age, Joan of Arc began her journey into the pages of history. To all outward appearances there was nothing remarkable about this young woman – she was a simple peasant girl from a similarly simple village in France – yet the story of her life is anything but ordinary. Joan’s entire existence – from birth till death - was spent in the shadow of a war between the French and the English – a war that had already ravaged her country for nearly 100 years. The very village where her family made their home had been leveled by marauding armies on more than one occasion yet each time the resilient villagers had rebuilt their homes and carried on. Joan’s life, too, was destined to be remarkable but it was also fated to be short. By the age of 19 she had been burned at the stake as a heretic. Yet in those last three years of her life this incredible woman transformed the hopes of a nation. At a time when women were considered second class citizens, Joan, with no military training or equipment of her own, went from being an unknown peasant girl to being the leader of the French army. She was wounded three times – once by an arrow to the shoulder – which she pulled out herself so she could ride back into battle – once by a stone cannon ball dropped on her helmet as she scaled a ladder while taking a city – and once by a cross bow bolt to the leg as she was riding into the fight. Yet none of these things deterred her from what she understood as her life’s mission. At 17 years of age she won for France it’s first victory in over a generation and in the months following that auspicious day, Joan won for the French, “an astounding series of victories that reversed the tide of the war,” and saw a king receive his crown. [Historian Stephen Richey].
Martin Luther King was a Southern Baptist preacher and a leader in the Civil Rights movement down in the United States in the middle of the last century. He had a way of helping people see what could be, rather than what was, and before his assassination he galvanized a nation with his “I Have a Dream,” speech – a speech in which he looked to the day when a person would not be discriminated against based on the color of their skin. It is a speech and a dream which still resonates with people today more than 40 years later and it has been called the greatest speech of the 20th century. And while he did not live to see that dream come to fruition he certainly helped to set it in motion.
Amelia Earhart was another remarkable woman who has found her way into our history books. In 1937, during an attempt to fly around the world, she and her navigator Fred Noonan went missing. To this day there are dozens of theories as to what happened to her and while her legacy is forever tied to the world of aviation her first impression of an airplane was less than inspiring. At the age of 10 she saw her first aircraft and described it as “a thing of rusty wire and wood and not at all interesting.” Yet at 22, having had her first flight, she was hooked for life. She took a job driving truck and working at a telephone company in order to pay for her flight training. Each day she would take the bus to the end of the line and then walk the remaining four miles to the airfield for her daily lesson. Yet despite these challenges, within 6 months she had bought her own aircraft and set an altitude record – and all this before she had even been issued her pilot’s license! And before she took off for the last time, on the flight that would captivate the heart of a nation, and ensure her place in history, this single minded woman had set numerous aviation records and inspired generations of women.
That is just a brief glimpse into the lives of three individuals who led extraordinary lives and who, in ways great or small, left an impact on the world in which they lived. And I share their stories with you this morning because I want to get us thinking about the power a single life has to transform the world in which we find ourselves. Because the truth is this: We’re each given one life to live and we’re each going to be held accountable for how we live that life. Our days here on earth are finite, they’re numbered, God holds them in the palm of his hands, and these days, in light of eternity, are incredibly short, they are remarkably brief, yet we will be called to give an account for how we’ve lived them.
That being said I’m going to ask you to open your Bibles with me this morning to the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew 25 and we’ll begin reading in verse 14. And what we’re going to read in that chapter is a parable that Jesus gives to his disciples which describes for them the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a parable that is sandwiched between two others in this chapter – both of which will be familiar to you. The first is the parable of the 10 virgins with their oil lamps which teaches us that we must always be prepared for the return of Christ – that we must not grow lazy but must always be on watch that we might be ready when he comes again. The second is the parable of the sheep and the goats in which we learn that the day will come when Jesus will separate his faithful followers from the pretenders to that title and the unbelievers which will populate the world. And he’ll divide all the peoples of the world into two groups – those who will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven and those who will not. And right in between these two parables we find our verses for today – verses in which Jesus gives us some clues as to how we are to live our lives while waiting for these things to come to pass. Let’s begin reading in Matthew 25, verse 14 …
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” [Matthew 25:14-18]
Now we’re far more used to speaking in terms of dollars and cents rather than in terms of talents. But a talent was simply a measurement of money the equivalent of about $1000.00 – and while that might not buy a whole lot today it was certainly a significant amount of money for that day and age. So to the one servant the master gives $5000.00, to the second $2000.00 and to the third, $1000.00. And it’s important for us to understand that he didn’t distribute this trust randomly. Instead the master gave to each one according to their ability. So the $5000.00 was not more than that servant could handle, nor was the $1000.00 beneath the ability of the third servant to manage properly. Each was given to, by the master, according to their ability to handle what was entrusted to them. And we need to understand that because when Jesus is talking about these talents he isn’t simply talking about money. Money’s a part of it to be sure – but in this parable God is the man who is distributing the talents and we’re the servants to whom these things are given. And so much more than just money is at stake here – we’re talking about everything that makes you who you are today. Because you’ve been formed, you’ve been shaped, you’ve been molded by God and he’s created you for a purpose – for His purposes. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God has created you. He’s given to you a unique personality. He’s given you interests and abilities and passions and skills and spiritual gifts. These are the talents that he has entrusted to you. And he’s given them to you for a reason – to do the good works which he has prepared in advance for you to do. And the question before us is this: If God has entrusted these things to us, how are we going to use them to His glory? And that’s not just an academic or a rhetorical question. It’s a question that we’re each one day going to have to give an answer for when we stand before the Lord. [Hebrews 9:27 and Romans 14:12]. Let’s keep reading beginning in verse 19 …
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
“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 man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
“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!’
“Then the man who had received the one talent 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 talent 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 talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [Matthew 25:19-30]
Friends, one day the master is going to return. And you can catch a tiny glimpse of what that might be like if you’ve ever been away for a while and asked someone to watch your house, or the farm for you, while you’ve been gone. You come home from your travels, and you expect to find things in at least as good a shape as you left them. You’ don’t want to find the front door swinging open, the windows smashed, or the cattle scattered across the country. You want to find the responsibilities you’d entrusted to others to be well taken care of when you return. Well in a similar way the day will come when our Master will call us to stand before him and he’ll look to see what we’ve done with what he’s entrusted to us. And if he finds that we’ve made an effort to build on what he’s given to us we can look forward to hearing those words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant, come and share your master’s happiness.” And we’ll enjoy the reward he has for us. Now some might be tempted to look at their lives and think, “I have so little to give to the Lord, what possible blessing could there be for me?” But I want to help you understand that it doesn’t matter what we’ve been able to accomplish or build in comparison with someone else – it simply matters how we’ve used that which God has entrusted to us because he’s given to us according to our abilities. So the widow barely getting by in Ethiopia has the same opportunity to hear those words as does the millionaire living in her mansion here in Canada.
The trouble is, not everyone’s going to hear those words, because so many have forgotten that the master’s coming back. They’ve forgotten that everything that they’ve been entrusted with – whether much or little – has been given to them for a reason – it’s been entrusted unto them so that they can help build the kingdom. And because they’ve forgotten that the Master will return they’ve hidden their talents, they’ve buried them in the ground and taken them out of circulation. And when the Lord returns they’re going to hear the words spoken to the third man who the master called a, “wicked, lazy servant.” But those who have been faithful and diligent will hear those welcome words, “well done … come enjoy your master’s happiness.” Those are words that we all long to hear and so we seek to be faithful in building the kingdom. And that building of the kingdom happens in so many different ways. For example, if God has given you a heart for hospitality and you stand at the doors of our church on Sundays as an usher, and welcome people in with a genuine warmth and love and truly make them feel the love of God through your welcome of them here, then you’ve helped to build the kingdom. If you’ve been given the gift of preaching or teaching and you stand in this pulpit, or in one of our classrooms and use what God has given to you, then you’ve helped to build the kingdom. If God has filled your heart with compassion for others who are in need, and you take a meal to a neighbor who is hurting, and enter into their life and show them God’s compassion, then you’ve helped to build the kingdom. There are kingdom building opportunities that come our way each day. We just need to learn to recognize them. We need to understand who we are and how God has made us and what he has called us to do – and then we must be faithful in these things he’s entrusted to us. So what is it that God has called you to do?
And seeing and understanding that requires a degree of what we might call vision. Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King, and Amelia Earhart all had a vision for their lives – a vision for what life could be. Joan was said to have had literal visions, beginning at about 12 years of age, in which she was told it was her destiny to see the throne restored to the rightful king of France. That vision, that purpose, gave meaning and focus to her life. She believed she knew why she was here, what her purpose in life was, and as impossible as that must have seemed to a 16 year old peasant girl, she let nothing deter her from the vision she had for her life. Martin Luther King had a vision for a world in which all people were equal regardless of the color of their skin. “I have a dream,” he said and then he gave his life in service to that dream. It was a vision for what could be that guided his life. Amealia Earhart, who at first thought an airplane “a thing of rusty wire and wood and not at all interesting,” discovered that that very thing was to become a part of the vision for her life and she would eventually pursue it as her one true passion. So let me ask you this: What vision do you have for your life? What are you thinking to build with the hours and the days that you’ve been granted? And it’s a good question to ask because we can spend our lives building into a lot of things but not all of them are worthy of our Lord.
Therefore it’s important that we live life with some kind of vision in mind – a God focused vision if you will. If we don’t we will find that we wander through life disillusioned, and discouraged and wondering what it’s all about and what it’s all been for. We will struggle to see meaning in our existences and without that meaning in our lives it’s easy to become disillusioned, bitter, depressed and lukewarm in our faith. I want you to take a moment and do something this morning. If you have your sermon notes in front of you look to question #5 for a moment. “What are three things that you would like to have characterize your life by the time it draws to an end?” Another way to ask that question is “What are three things that you would like people to remember about you when you’re gone?” Think about that for a moment and then write your answers down. … What am I asking you to do here? I am asking you to dream – to dream of what your future will be like, catch a glimpse of the possibilities that exist and you might just find that something on that list of yours is worth making a part of the vision that you have for your life. Because for a Christian, having a vision for your life, is having a realistic dream of what your life can become under God’s direction.
The servants in our parable this morning knew their master’s business and they knew they were to be about it while their master was gone. As believer’s we know our Master’s business as well, don’t we? We know that every good gift and resource with which we have been blessed is not for our glory but for God’s, that we’re really just stewards of it for a time, but what we tend to forget – and we tend to forget it because we don’t have a good solid vision for our lives that’s focused on God to keep us going in the right direction, is that one day the master will return and we’ll be called to give an account for how we’ve handled the talents that God has given to us.
And so as we begin our ministry together I want to invite you to dream … and I want to invite you to think about what God’s vision for your life might be in this coming year. And as you begin that process here are four things that we should know about vision.
1) Having a vision helps you set goals for your life. One day a man bought a new hunting dog. Eager to see how it would perform he took it to the woods to track a bear. No sooner had they gotten out of the truck and the dog had picked up the trail and headed off into the bush. But shortly after he was out of the hunter’s sight he stopped short, put his nose to the ground, and headed off in a new direction because he had caught the scent of a deer that had crossed the bear’s path. A few moments later he stopped again and set off in yet another direction, this time following the scent of a rabbit. And on and on it went, with the dog getting ever more excited with each new track it found until it finally cornered it’s quarry. Eventually the breathless hunter caught up with his hound, believing it had treed a bear, only to find it triumphantly barking down the hole of a field mouse. Folks, sometimes we as Christians are like that poor dog. We start out with high resolve determined to keep Christ first in our lives. But soon our attention is diverted to things of lesser importance and one pursuit leads to another until we’ve strayed far from our original intentions.
If vision sets the destination for your life, the goals you set help you to understand how you’re going to get there from where you are at. And if your vision for your life begins with God in a place of first importance you’re going to have to set some goals, some benchmarks if you will, that are going to help you keep Him where he belongs because it’s not going to be long before everything else in your life is going to clamor for first place as well. Some folks choose for themselves a life verse – a passage of Scripture that speaks to their heart and their understanding of God’s purpose for their lives and they make it a daily part of their time with God so that they are constantly reminded who they belong to and what it is they are living for. And if your vision for your life includes a close walk and a deep fellowship with God you’re going to have to set yourself a goal of spending a significant amount of time in the reading of the Bible and in prayer because that’s how God has chosen to reveal himself to us in our generations. If the vision for your life includes the idea of wholeheartedly living for God then the goals you set for yourself, financially and personally are going to reflect that. The vision you have for your life will determine your goals for this coming year.
2) Vision is foresight. A man was walking down the street when he noticed three men hard at work on what had the appearance of becoming a rather large building. “What are you doing,” the man inquired of each of them in turn. “I’m mixing mortar,” replied the first man. “I’m helping put up a stone wall,” replied the second. But the third man had the foresight to look farther down the road and he answered by saying, “I’m building a cathedral to the glory of God.” Like this last man we need to have the foresight to know what it is we’re attempting to build with our lives as early as possible in that journey. As I’ve said the last two weeks – we need to begin with the end in sight. How is it that we are going to invest the talents that the master has entrusted to us so that when He returns we can show him that we didn’t hide these wonderful gifts in the sand. Jesus tells us that we are to be the salt of the earth and the light of this world – so how are you going to spice up your little corner of the earth and how will your light shine to show others the way to God? I blew it the other night. We went for a walk as a family, spent some time together enjoying the evening when suddenly a car pulled up in front of us and out got two young men with black dress pants on, white shirts and ties and I knew instantly who they were. Now they were there to visit someone else, but they introduced themselves to us, we exchanged a few words and then the one fellow asked me if I knew anyone who needed to be happy because they wanted to go visit them and share with them their beliefs so that they too would be happy. And the first thought that came to my mind was that if I knew someone who needed cheering up they weren’t the ones I was going to send to do the job. But it wasn’t until we had walked on and they had entered this other house that it came to me that I had missed a perfect opportunity to jump into something deeper with them because all I would have needed to say was something like, “Do you believe the highest goal of humanity is really the pursuit of happiness?” But I didn’t because I didn’t have the foresight, the ability to look ahead and see what God might be doing, in that particular situation. We need to discipline ourselves to look for those doors that God might be opening. Because there is an incredible potential wrapped up in each and every one of our lives waiting to be unleashed, waiting to be fulfilled – not to our glory but that we might be found useful to the Lord. But far too many of us will never see that happen. Why? Because we don’t have a dream for our lives. We don’t have a vision for what our lives could be. We don’t live with a single minded purpose. We don’t see the possibilities. We don’t see beyond the moment. We don’t set our hearts on the things of the kingdom of God. We must develop foresight as we seek to walk with the Lord.
3) Vision is a portrait of conditions that do not yet exist. Vision is looking to what’s possible in the future without getting bogged down in the circumstances of the present, nor the failures of the past. Martin Luther King had a portrait of conditions that did not yet exist in mind when he wrote his, “I have a Dream,” speech. None of what he ‘dreamed’ of in that speech was yet in existence but he looked to a time when it would be the reality for all people.
4) And finally, Vision is seeing the invisible and making it visible. It’s having a picture in mind of what can be and working to see that it comes to be. Joan of Arc, in her visions, saw what could be – a France free of the English invaders and a French King on the throne of France – and then she worked relentlessly to make it into a reality.
So as you reflect upon the parable of the talents in the days to come, ask yourself these questions: Which one of those servants are you most like? Which one of those servants would you like to be? And how are you going to get from where you are to where you want to be? And let me encourage you to go to God on this one and to dream big dreams because “The Christians that have turned the world upside down have been men and women with a vision in their hearts and a Bible in their hands.” – T.B. Maston.
Let’s pray.
