The Wise And The Foolish

Passage: Matthew 25:14-30

Intro: We have talked a lot in the last few weeks about being “ready” for the return of Christ.

1. might wonder what that means.

2. “PJ, it’s Mother’s Day!!!”

3. absolutely, and mothers in specific and parents in general can take great comfort in the facts presented in this parable of the talents.

4. the principles in this well-known parable cover every area of the servants life; not just money, not just using abilities

5. we will focus on parenting today in honor of our wonderful moms and grandmas, but the principles are universal.

I. God’s Expectations for Good Stewards

1. steward is not a word we use a lot.

2. word not even in the passage, but the principles are.

3. still in context of 2nd coming, “again” in v1

4. master=Jesus going away for unknown time, “entrusts” some money to servants.

5. two things to get clear: “talents” are measure of weight, not persons abilities.

6. 2nd, word “entrust” is full of meaning.

7. “to turn over care to”

Il) used in turning Jesus over to the Jews

8. maybe best illustration is leaving our child in the care of a babysitter.

Il) I remember this; it involved a list!

And there was a “day of reckoning” when we came home.

9. when we entrust someone with something or someone, we want them to treat person like we would treat them.

10. in our passage, the Master has clear expectations which everyone understands and some fulfill.

-to realize full potential!

11. and in terms of the end times, Jesus has made those clear, has He not?

Il) a man named Garland has said, “When Christ returns, he will not ask if one had the date right but, “What have you been doing?”

12. for mothers, parents, what God expects from us in terms of our children is very clear.

PP Deuteronomy 6:6-7

PP Ephesians 6:4

II. Two Approaches to Stewardship: Wise and Foolish

1. now we saw this contrast in passage last week.

2. words not in this passage, but principle is.

3. but this poor steward takes foolishness to another level.

4. now the master entrusted quite a bit of money to these 3 servants.

5. the amount is not that important, though roughly 75 pounds of gold x 5 or x2 is quite a sum

6. but the response is what is important.

7. two servants went “at once” and put the money to work to realize potential, (like their master would have done)

8. They were joyous at the opportunity, confident in their approach, very active and involved.

9. the man with the single talent of gold or silver was foolish with it.

10. v18 (but=contrast) his response was the polar opposite of others.

11. sure it seemed wise to him, but as we are going to see in his explanation to the Master, his thinking was skewed.

12. the wise responded in accordance with revealed expectations, the foolish/wicked did not.

13. parenting, we have a lot in Scripture that instructs us. Which will we choose? It makes a difference.

III. Faulty Reasoning Causes Faulty Execution

1. now the two wise servants were rewarded when the master came home.

2. notice both received same reward, so expectation is realize potential, not quantity.

3. but most space reserved for the wicked servant.

4. while the wise servants came joyfully, confidently, he came with a list of excuses.

5. an extremely interesting grammatical clue we can’t overlook.

6. v20, “man who had received…” =aorist tense, point in time.

7. but v24, “man who had received”= perfect tense, means he had received it but made no use of it.

8. he was in a constant state of receiving, but never really took ownership of his task.

9. v25 powerful! “your talent”…”what belongs to you”

10. “it was never mine in any sense, I never owned it.” Potential unimportant

11. and when it is not yours in any sense, you don’t really care about it.

Il) rent a car, some people really abuse it. Why? Not really theirs.

Il) when I was 16, spent a week with cousin in Connecticut. Working for uncle, driving company pickup with manual transmission, which he ground mercilessly from gear to gear. Not his!

12. this servant never really accepted the entrustment. Why not?

13. he was afraid of his master; he misinterpreted his character.

14. it was a wonderful character, shown by response to the trusting behavior of other servants.

15. but this servant believed lies about the Master, and responded not with faith but with paralyzing fear.

Il) when we don’t take responsibility/ownership of our children, the response is one of two.

16. we abuse them like a rental car because we really don’t care what happens to them.