Sermon Transcript

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Well, we've been working our way through a section of scripture found in Matthew 24-25. If you've been with us over these weeks, you know this is traditionally known as the Olivet Discourse. This conversation that Jesus had with four of His disciples—Peter, James, John, and Andrew—took place in the early part of the week leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection. The Bible tells us that every night during that final week leading up to the crucifixion, Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives. And on one of those occasions, His disciples asked Him questions about the end of the age. We've looked at some of the specific signs of the times in chapter 24, general signs, specific sings. We've talked about what Jesus says about the day that He will return. What angels wish they knew we talked about and so forth.

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And then we made the transition from chapter 24 to chapter 25. And as is often the case with Jesus, who is a master teacher, He is also a master storyteller. And He told two stories that relate to the end of the age. We looked at one of them last week. It was, at least in my Bible, called the parable of the ten virgins, or the ten bridesmaids we might say. Then following that is the story or the parable we want to look at today. It's called the parable of the talents.

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So, you have two stories that Jesus told as it relates to the end of the age; by the way, two of His 38 stories or parables that are recorded for us in the Gospels. And it's important for us to understand the context in which He told these stories because it will bring some new meaning to maybe a familiar story today.

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But He told these two stories to answer two questions. Last week the question was, are you ready? He not only said, "I will come," but from the analogy of the wedding and the bridal party and all that that we unpacked last week, we now know that He must come. That He is our heavenly groom who must return for His bride, the church. This week, though, the question is this- when He comes, will you be found faithful at His coming?

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And to raise that question as only Jesus can do by the telling of a story, He says this beginning in verse 14. You follow along as I read. " For it [that is, the kingdom of heaven] will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’" Wow, what a story, the parable of the talents as it known.

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Now, the first thing we have to do is define a talent because we may think of this in different terms than what Jesus intended. We think of a talent as a skill or an ability. You might have a talent in music or art. Or you might have an athletic talent. That's not what this is about. In this context 2000 years ago, a talent was a large sum of money. I suppose we can stretch the application of this into those three categories that we often talk about when we talk about the stewardship of life in terms of time and talent, where we mean a skill or an ability, and treasure. But I don't want to do that this morning because I think that goes beyond the intention of the text and beyond what Jesus is talking about. He is specifically and directly talking about money and our management of it.

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And the question that comes to my mind is this- what does any of this have to do with the second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of the age? Why would Jesus take the time to talk about something as mundane as money when the disciples had questions about the end of the age? That's what's going to become increasingly more interesting as we unpack. I'll just say it this way. From a big picture standpoint, part of what Jesus is saying is every financial decision is a spiritual decision, and it's also an eschatological response. Now, that's a mouthful, so let me say it again. Every financial decision is a spiritual decision and an eschatological response.

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Eschatology is the theology of last things. There have been times over the course of my ministry that I have lifted this story out of its context and taught what we might call a stewardship sermon applied to time and talent and treasure outside the context of the discussion about the end of the age. But that's really unfair to the text. Jesus is telling this particular story and the one before it in the context of a discussion about the end of the age and His second coming. I think what He is suggesting here is that not only is every financial decision a spiritual decision, but it also has something to do with our readiness for the end times and whether or not we will be found faithful with the little thing. That's what Jesus calls money, a little thing. Will we be faithful with the little thing He has entrusted to us when He comes? Understanding it in that context and in that light makes this story all the more powerful. To say it another way, does your financial life say anything about your readiness for his coming and that you see yourself as a steward who is to be found faithful with what the Father has entrusted to you, the entrustment of His property and His money.

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That aside, there are three principles that I see emerging from this parable that I'd like to talk about this morning. Some of this is review for some of you. This is going to change your world and your perspective on things. First principle is this- we are God's money managers. We, that is believers in Jesus Christ, are His money and property managers. Go back to verse 1 where Jesus introduces this story. He says it this way, "For it [that is, the kingdom of heaven] will be like a man going on a journey." Well, who is the man in this story? In the context, it's Jesus. He's been talking about leaving and coming again. "The kingdom of God is like a man going on a journey who called his servants,"—listen to this—"and entrusted to them his property." A little bit later in this story He specifically says, "My money." This is a very tangible trust that has been given to the servants. He goes on to say, "To one he gave five talents." That is a large sum of money. "To another two," a large sum of money, but less than the five, "to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away."

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This is one place among many in scripture where we can go to find the principle that we are God's money managers. We are property managers because of this. It all belongs to Him. That's the part that may rock some of your worlds. Because one of the most difficult transitions for many believers in Jesus is to move from an ownership mentality to a stewardship mentality. The ownership mentality says, "Get your paws off of my stuff. I work hard. I make all I can, I can all I get, and I'm going to sit on the lid. It's mine. It's mine, mine, mine, mine, mine." But for the believer in Jesus Christ, we wake up one day and we realize, no, everything we have in life—yes, the time, the talents, the gifts and the abilities and all of that, and the money—is on loan to us from God. We're simply His managers, His stewards.

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I've circled that word and underlined that word "entrusted." Money is two things. It's a test, and it's a trust. You say, "Well, I'm just trying to make ends meet so I can pay my bills." I get it. I get it. But in the larger picture in the kingdom of God, this little thing Jesus calls money…and I know it's a big thing to us. But this little thing called money is a test, and it's a trust. He has entrusted us His wealth.

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And again, I could go to many, many places in scripture. I'll just go one place, Psalm 24:1, that lays down this principle. "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it." That's just an all-encompassing and sweeping statement to say it all belongs to God. Even the mineral rights of the earth, I say. Haggai 2:8, the Lord says, "The silver and the gold is mine too." He claims title deed to this earth. His wealth is unfathomable and unsearchable and inexhaustible. And you and I have been entrusted with a little bit of it. Even if you're a five-talent person, it's just a little bit, a little bit of money compared to God's wealth. There's an old saying that there is a lot of money in this world tainted- 't ain't yours, and 't ain't mine. That's true. 'T ain't none of it ours.

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That's the biblical worldview to see yourself not as an owner, but as a steward, and to understand, therefore, that every financial decision is a spiritual decision. It's a kingdom decision. It's an eschatological response. "God, you have entrusted this with me. Now, in light of the fact that You are coming again, Father, how do You want me to manage Your resources so that we can maximize the impact of the gospel until You come?" That's the question here. We are God's money managers.

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Second principle that emerges is this- God expects a return on His investment. Look at it in verse 19. It says, "Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them." That's a sobering thought. Again, it ought to make us think twice about every financial decision that we make. Are we making it in light of the spiritual realities that we just talked about? Are we making it in light of the second coming of Christ? I know you have your family to take care of, and so do I. I know you have bills to pay, and so do I. But have you so arranged your financial management so as to put kingdom things first as a matter of priority? Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you." All what things? Check it out in Matthew 6. All those things we worry about- the clothes on our back, the food, all the things that we're just scurrying around worrying about every day. He says, "Put Me first." Have you put Him first in your finances as a response to this understanding that He is coming at any time? And when He comes, God expects a return on His investments.

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Now, does He expect a return like a Wall Street investor, a financial return? No, shift into kingdom thinking here. The return on the investment in the kingdom is a changed life, somebody who comes to faith in Jesus Christ. How? Because of a direct investment that you made or I made in gospel initiatives, starting with the church. People get all nervous when the preacher talks about money, and we tense up, "Here we go again." By the way, I'm just telling you what Jesus told in the flow of Matthew 24-25 here. I can't skip over this. But there is no reason to get tense about it. The question is, are we being faithful with what God has given to us, and are we managing that money in a way, knowing that the day of accounting is coming?

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By the way, there is a day of judgement that awaits unbelievers. And we're going to get to that next week. Jesus finishes out this Olivet conversation with His disciples in Matthew 25. In verses 31 to the end of the chapter He talks about the final judgement. Strap onto your seats, because it's a sobering part of the conversation here where He talks about the end of the age, the final judgement, and the separation of the sheep from the goats. It doesn't end well for the goats. But we're not there yet. But there is a day of judgement that awaits unbelievers.

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There is a day of accounting for believers in Jesus Christ. When He comes, if I could just stretch the analogy a little bit, heaven's accounting team is coming. And they're going to up the books, your books and my books, and they're going to settle the accounts with us. Have you been faithful with what God has entrusted to you? Faithful to, as a matter of first priority, invest in the kinds of gospel initiatives that produce a return on the investment. Here in the language of the parable, the guy who had five created five more. The guy who had two, two more. Lives that have changed. Will there be anybody in heaven that'll come up to you and say, "Thank God that you gave generously, because I was a life that was changed as a result of the outreach of that ministry."

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Now, I mentioned earlier today is the day, the 39^th anniversary of Atlantic Shores Baptist Church. Most of us, if not all of us…some of you were here at the very beginning. But most of us are here because of an investment, a financial investment that other people made to start this church. And your life was changed, perhaps, through the ministry of this church. Or you came to this church as a believer, and you're growing in your faith because somebody else paid for that seat. Somebody else paid for these buildings. Somebody else at their time reached forward to what lies ahead. They made a gospel investment. And aren't you glad they did? Will there be anybody who comes up to you in heaven and says, "I'm here because of a gospel investment that you made"?

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Now, by the way, let me just go back to this notion of the talent, because I might have lost some of you at that time when I said a talent is a large sum of money. Some of you might have checked out right there and said, "This really doesn’t apply to me. I'm not a wealthy person." Let me beg to differ with you, because a large sum of can be at any given time…maybe you have a lot of money in your bank account. And if God has blessed you with that, use it for kingdom purposes. But maybe it's a large sum of money over a long period time.
 

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So do the math. Let's suppose you started earning a living at age 25, and you earned $25,000 a year. You work for 40 years until you're 65. Do the math. One million dollars passed through your hands. Now, $25,000 is not much today. It might even be below the poverty level. I remember many, many decades ago when I graduated from college, my first job out of college I went to work for a Fortune 500 company in the paper industry. I was in New York City. They paid me a whopping $22,000 a year. Yeah, that seemed like a lot of money for a college graduate back then. They had to (0:19:00.1) subsidize our housing in New York, but still, that's not much by today's standards. Okay, so double that. Maybe on average for 40 years, $50,000 a year has come into your household. That's a lot of money passing through out hands over a lifetime.

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Here is the question of the story. What are you doing with that? When the Master returns and settles accounts and opens up the books…and numbers don't life, do they? He's going to ask, "What have you done with the money that I've entrusted to you that has impacted the kingdom of God?" And two of them were found faithful. One was found unfaithful. We might say lacking in faith. Why? Because he said, "I was scared, and I took the one talent, that measure of a large (0:20:00.0) sum of money, and I stuck it in the ground." And the response that comes to him is a very harsh response. The master speaks to him like he's an unbeliever and casts him into a place of outer darkness.

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You see, a glimpse inside your financial life and my financial life says something about our relationship with God. You certainly can't buy your way into heaven. I'm not suggesting that, but it says something about whether you have made that transition from an ownership mentality to a stewardship mentality. And it might even suggest whether you're a believer in the first place, because I believe in time, if not immediately…and it was immediate with a guy named Zacchaeus. Study his story. But in time, certainly, that transition should take place.

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John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, used to say that in salvation there is the conversion of the mind (the intellect), the conversion of the heart (our emotions and all that), and what often lags behind much longer is the conversion of the wallet and the prioritizing. But it's some indication, at least in the story, that this guy, because of the way he was unfaithful in the management of his resources, he wasn't managing his money with an understanding that the master was coming back. And he was an unbeliever. That's a sobering thought. We all have to check ourselves to make sure that we are in the faith.

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So, we are God's money managers. Let me move on. God expects a return on His investments. And thirdly and finally, God will reward the faithful. I love this part. Let's just go to verse 23. He says to the man with five talents…we'll just land upon this interaction. "His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful,"—here it is—"over a little." He had the largest portion, right? He had the most money entrusted to him, but from heaven's perspective it was still a little thing. "'You've been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’"

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He rewards the faithful, not the successful. Let's draw a distinction between the two. On earth, faithfulness is underrated. We talk about success. Have you been successful? But not in the kingdom of heaven. You let the measure of success and the results up to God. Our job is to remain faithful day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out, decade after decade throughout our lifetime to be faithful to the end. What is underrated on earth is highly rated in heaven because God is faithful, right? It's one of His characteristics. He is faithful when we are not faithful, and He cannot life against Himself, the scripture says.

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There are three rewards that I see in this little bit of conversation. Let's write these down. First are words of affirmation. I love this. "Well done, good and faithful servant." Don't underestimate the power of words of affirmation. Some of you grew up in a home where you never heard your mother or your father or anybody say, "Good job." And you're still living with that thing that's missing in your life, that affirmation that comes from a parent. Employers, don't underestimate just the power of, "You're doing a good job. Keep up the good work." It just kind of lifts us to a new level.

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When Jesus was baptized early on in His ministry, you remember the story? The Bible says that as He came up out of the water, the Spirit of God descended from the heavens, and those in attendance heard a voice, the Father saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." There's a Father's Day message in that. The words of affirmation. We live to hear these words from our heavenly Father, from Jesus even when He returns. "Well done. Good job. I know it's been a struggle. I know it hasn't always been easy, but you've remained faithful to the end. You've put me first in your life and first in your finances all the way to the end. Good job. Well done." Words of affirmation.

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Secondly, greater responsibility. That's part of the reward. He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much." Now, I can hear what some people are saying. "Pastor, I don't want more responsibility in my life." Well, you do in heaven. We're not just going to be floating on clouds and strumming our harps in heaven. No, we will worship like we've never worshipped before. We will work with purpose and intension and experience fulfillment in the work that God gives to us and the responsibility that He gives to us. We will do that joyfully and with great fulfillment. It is a reward in heaven for the Lord to say, "This little thing called money that was such a big thing to you in your life, no, it's just a little thing. It was a test. It was a trust. Well done with that. Great job investing that in gospel initiatives. Look at your reward here, these people who are in heaven because of your investment. Because you were faithful in this little thing, I've got all this that I want you to be responsible for."

0:25:49.0

And then lastly, I just call it celestial joy. "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much." And then He says, "Enter into the joy of your master." The door opens up, and we walk into heaven and experience joy like we've never experienced anywhere in this life, celestial joy. It's heaven. What a reward system. We have all kinds of credit cards and different things where we get rewards for this hotel or this rental car or this airplane rewards. God has a reward system too, and there is much more to it than just this. He loves to reward the faithful.

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There is a day of judgement that awaits unbelievers, a day of accounting that awaits believers. I understand that to be what's called the judgement seat of Christ. There is the great white throne judgement at the end of the age for unbelievers, but the judgement seat of Christ where rewards will be handed. And this is certainly part of it.

0:27:07.5

The other principle that we can apply to the one man who took his one talent and buried it in the ground, it was kind of a use it or lose it prospect, wasn't it. He wasn't faithful. He wasn't full of faith; he was full of fear. And what he was entrusted with was eventually taken away from him and redistributed over here. And the Bible says in verse 30, "Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," language that is used elsewhere to describe the place of eternal punishment, a place called hell. That weeping and gnashing of teeth is just the ongoing regret. "I heard the message over and over and over again; I just didn't do anything about it." And they live with that regret- not only the regret of not being found faithful, but the regret of rejecting Christ for all of eternity.

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That doesn't have to be our future, does it? The message today is be faithful. Be faithful. Some of you have been doing a great job of that. You figured this out years ago in your Christian life. For other of you, this may be brand new. Maybe you need to sit down as a couple or even as an individual and reorder some priorities in your finances and begin investing as a matter of priority in gospel initiatives. You do that, I promise you this. God will take care of the rest of it. "Seek first the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added unto you." Order your finances in a kingdom direction, and pray, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Are you ready? That was last week's story. Will you be found faithful? That's this week's story. Next week as we finish, we'll talk about the final judgement, a very sobering message on which Jesus ends.

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