So What Do You Expect
12/10/95 Talent Day Numbers 32:48-52 James 4:13-17 Text Matt. 25:14-30
We are in the second week of the season of Advent. Part of the theme of advent, deals with the expectation that the Lord is coming. When we expect something to happen, we usually try to make our behavior conform to what we will expect to happen. If we expect the boss to come around the corner, we don’t usually pick up the comic strip and start reading a magazine. If we expect that something is going to be on a test, we don’t usually say, well I expect that to be on the test, so I won’t even bother studying it. No we want to look our best in the eyes of our boss and do our best on the tests that we take.
There are situations in life in which we expect one thing, but we either get more or less than what we had intended. Moses was leading God’s people out of Egypt to the promised land, but they had to go through the desert. The people had grumbled and complained so much that he was sick and tired of them. This day they happened to be grumbling about not having enough water. God told Moses, "Moses, I will give them some water, speak to the rock and water will flow out of it."
Moses fully expected water to come out of the rock. He called to the Israelites, "Listen you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock" He then took his staff and struck the rock twice and water gushed from it. Moses expected to have shown them a thing a two by his bold behavior. God, I really showed them who was boss.
But Moses had shown God something Moses hadn’t expected. God said, "I told you to speak to the rock, not strike it. Therefore you will not enter the promised land." You may say but God, it was only one mistake. You see Moses didn’t strike a rock. Moses struck God because the New Testament told us that the Rock was Christ appearing in a different form. Had Moses known the Rock was Christ, he would not have struck it. But realize this, we are always going to not know about some of the things around us.
There’s a song and a video that our young people listen to and watch. From what I gather, the song is saying don’t go chasing waterfalls, but stay close to the rivers and lakes that you are use to. In one of the scenes of a video, a young man expects to have a wonderful night of a sex with this beautiful young woman. No sooner than his moments of pleasure or over, his eyes change and you see death in them. Its obvious from the video that he has contracted aids. He had received a lot more than he expected.
Since we cannot know the future or have all the facts about each situation it is to our advantage to get to know the Lord, for the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We have talked about the love of God for so long, that we forget that we are called to fear Him. Why should we fear God? Because God has standards that He expects of us, and He’s already revealed the consequences of failing to measure up to those standards.
Each person here today is special and unique before God. God has put something in each one of us, that we have to offer to others and to offer back to Him. What we expect of God, will in a large way influence how we relate to each other as well as to what God requires of us.
Too many people plan to do all these things before they get serious about serving God. But James told us, we do not know what tomorrow is going to bring. We are all living only by the grace that God provides. Are you expecting to give God a full account of your life as it has already been, the good as well as the bad?
Are you expecting to be able to explain to God why you did what He said to do, why you didn’t do what He to do as well, and what you were one day intending to do. Somehow what we intended to do doesn’t count for much. God makes it clear that He has invested something in you, and one day, "He’s coming back to claim it."
Let’s look at what Jesus tells us we should expect to happen in our lives. Turn to Matthew 25:14 . He’s talking about what it’s going to be like when all of a sudden he comes back. Mat 25:14 "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.
Now in this parable, Jesus represent the man who is going away on a journey. After the resurrection from the dead, Jesus went to heaven, but before he got there he went to hell and conquered it. He has been recognized in heaven as the king of kings, but He’s coming back to make that recognition known here on earth. It’s referred to as the second coming. When he gets back, everybody that is living for Him, will be instantly transformed and taken to heaven, everyone that is not will face his wrath and the great tribulation that will come upon the earth.
Now I want you to notice that this man knew his servants and he knew them well. You do not trust a Talent of money with just anybody. A talent was worth more than a thousand dollars. He called these servants in and let them know, "fellows, I’ve got to go on a long journey, and I’m not quite sure when I’ll be back. I’m going to give you some money, and I want you to do your best to make a profit for me while I’m gone. I know that I can count on you.
Jim, here I’m going to give you five talents to handle. Renee, here I want you to take these two talents, and Bob here’s one for you to handle. Now some of us are already thinking that it would have been better if the master had taken the eight talents and given each one two 2/3 talents and that would have been fairer. Nobody would have had to work more than anybody else.
The kingdom of God is not based on what is fair, but on what is best. The man knew each of the servants. He entrusted His money to them based on their ability. They had already demonstrated to the master what kind of servants they were. The master wasn’t interested in being fair, He was interested in getting as much of a return as possible. He expected that based on who I gave to what, I can get the most for my money.
The amount of money that was given to them, was not nearly as important as to how well they heard the master’s instruction to make this money grow. It’s funny how when people are intent on doing something for God, they don’t sit back and say what’s fair and what’s not.
Most of you were given either $5 or $3. For some of us it wouldn’t have mattered whether we were given .50 or .30, we would have still worked just as hard, put in more of our own money and still turned in a good sum of money. Some of us could have been given $50 & $30 and we still would not have worked. Some of us who were given nothing, simply got busy and determined to do something for Talent Day because our desire was motivated by wanting to make a difference for God, rather than did they treat me fair by giving me $5 or $3.
Some of us who intended to do nothing, will still say, but nobody ever gave me any talent money so that’s why I didn’t do anything. It’s all a matter of what did we expect to happen. Now if we had expected Jesus to be here in person to receive our gift, we might have made a little extra effort. But since its collected by the ushers, well that’s another story.
Well you know something, Jesus was and is here to receive your offering, for He said where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them. Most of us gave, because we expected the Lord to be pleased with our efforts and we wanted to see another goal of our church to become handicap accessible become a reality.
Well let’s see what happened to Jim after his master left town. You can always tell what kind of worker a worker truly is when the boss leaves town. Mat 25:16 The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. Before Jim could get out the door, he had already made plans for what he was going to do to make this money grow.
The verse says he went at once and put his money to work. Jim was a multi-talented person. He had more going for him than Renee and Bob. It made very good sense for his Master to give him over half of his property. Jim had established a track record.
There are people like Jim in the church who God has given more talents and spiritual gifts to than He has to others. You know who they are. They’re the faithful ones who are constantly volunteering, faithful in giving, eager to serve, searchers of the Scriptures. When they’re in charge of a program, it gets done and its done well. They receive praise and recognition. Unfortunately, those who are doing very little, are the first ones to criticize the Jims in the church.
Why are they always up front? Why are they always in charge? Why do they get so much praise? They must be in the pastor’s little click. Saints we’re not in the business of building clicks at Glenville New Life Community Church. Our goal is to recognize people who are giving their all to the cause of Christ and recognize them for the tremendous efforts and sacrifices they are making.
What about Renee. Now most of us in the church are going to be like Renee. We’ve got several things that we can offer, and our desire is to make the most of what it is that God has given to us. We may not be able to enter the same level of limelight as others in the body of Christ, but our joy comes in knowing that we did what God required of us. We too are faithful in our giving, in our service, and in our devotion to the Lord, because we expect God to be just as pleased with our lives as He is with anyone else.
Look at verse 25:17 So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. Renee didn’t go out at once, because she needed a little more time to figure out just what would be the best way to handle this situation. Her focus was not the three more that Jim had received, but on the two that she had the opportunity to work with for her master. When she discovered where she fit in, she immediately got busy and earned two more.
What about Bob. Well Bob was mad. Where does this man get off giving them more money than He gave me. I can’t believe he gave Jim 5, Renee 2 and me one. So He doesn’t have any confidence in me. That’s fine with me, I’ll show him that I don’t have any confidence in him. The fool might not even make it back. I’m not going to be killing myself over somebody who treats me like this. Just in case he doesn’t come back, I’ll put that money where nobody will be able to trace it. Mat 25:18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
Jim expected to have to give an account of that money and so did Renee. They expected to receive something from their master in return for their hard work. Surely if he was generous enough to trust his property to them, he would be generous enough to reward them for their hard work.
Jesus has entrusted us with everything that we have. He’s entrusted us with wealth, with health, with gifts, with the ability to speak, the ability to teach, the ability to encourage, the ability to work and the ability to obey His word. What are we doing with that which he has entrusted to us.
Are we seeking opportunity to use these things for service, or have we simply dug a whole and buried them in the ground. Are we expecting others to do the work of reaching others for Christ, while we merely sail along for the ride. Do we expect others to pay for the work of the church, while we take our tithes and bury them in new cars, fine homes, designer clothes etc.
Some of us are expecting Jesus to return almost any day and we are prepared to give him an answer for what He’s entrusted to us. Look at Matthew 25:19 "After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. Two things I went you to notice, the master did return, and he did settle accounts with them. Jesus is definitely coming back, and the word of God says all of us must appear at the judgment seat of Christ.
Look at what happened to Jim and Renee in the next few verses. Matthew 25:20 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 one 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!’
There are no greater words that can fall from the lips of Jesus Christ, than for a person to hear, "well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness." Jesus is just as pleased with the two talent person as He is the five talent person. What He expected out of them both was to be a good and faithful servant.
It doesn’t matter who we are today and what limitations we have, that does not keep us from becoming good and faithful servants. If Jesus were to come back today, what would you expect him to say based on your service and dedication to him in comparison to your service and dedication to yourself.
Jim and Renee were both better off when the master returned than they were before He left. They received promotions, more responsibility and the joy of their master. They obtained more than they had expected. But what about Robert. Well he was disappointed on two accounts. The first being that his master did show up, and second he had to go face him. Look at Matthew 25:24 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. ’Master,’ he said, ’I knew that you are a hard man,
Let’s stop right there for a moment. Notice that this guys first words are about himself. Master, I knew that you. In contrast notice how the first two servants both started off with Master, you entrusted me. We will always get outside of God’s will for our lives when we are more concerned with what we think than we are what God has told us to do..
There servant said, "I knew that you are a hard man harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed." He’s saying look, I know you are a hard and harsh kind of a person. You basically use people to get something for nothing, and you get upset if they lose what you give to them to work with.
Now why didn’t the other two servants have the same view of the master. Why after hearing how he treated the first two servants we don’t have the impression of a hard, tough overbearing person.
Do you realize that we tend to see what we want to see, so that we can justify ourselves. Our bosses, our pastors, our spouses, our children, our parents, and our friends are not necessarily the people we see them as being. Even our God is not the god that many of us have tried to make Him to be. We often times see people in the way that will put us in the best possible light.
This servant didn’t see that his master was not required to entrust anything to him. He didn’t see that his master was giving him the opportunity to receive more responsibility and prestige. He didn’t see that the master required no more of him than he did of anyone else. No, he had made up his mind that his master was unfair and that’s all to it. He therefore expected His master to treat him unfairly. Many of us have some images of others of God and of each other that we must let of, if the relationships between us and them is to improve.
This servant whom we’ve named Bob became a prisoner of his own warped mind. Look at verse 25:25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ He had nothing more to give to his master, than what his master had given him. The only difference was that time and opportunity was now gone. He expected a rebuke at best and then assumed everything would be all right. But it wasn’t so.
Look at the next verse "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.
The master is saying, you’re lying. You’ve always been lazy. If you had of wanted to have given me something, you would have put the money in the bank. No you were hoping that I wouldn’t come back and there would be no way for anybody to trace what happened to my money. I see right through you.
Look at verse 28 "’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. Expect to gain more if you’re actively working for God. Expect to lose what you have if you’re simply counting on a miracle that God might be upset with you for your disobedience but not too upset. Just as Moses got more than he bargained for when he struck the rock, so the servant got more than the mild rebuke he was expecting.
Look at verse 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ The place of darkness, with weeping and gnashing of teeth is hell in the Bible. The servant who called his master evil spent eternity in hell. As you look over your life this morning, where do you expect to spend eternity. What does you life say about where you expect to spend eternity? What does Jesus say about where he expects you will spend eternity.
Jesus is coming back. When He gets back here, the good news is that everyone of us will have the opportunity to give an account to Him of what we have done with what we He has given to us. We will be able to demonstrate just how much love we have for Him through showing how well we have done what He told us to do. There’s a heaven, and there’s hell. Where do you expect to go from here?’ If you do not have Jesus Christ in your life, you don’t even an option. Hell is waiting. If you do know Christ, heaven is a certainty, but how will you come out at the judgment seat when you give your account. What do you expect once you’re there.’
