Category: sermon-archive

FAITHFUL?

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴ “For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The one who had received five talents went off right away and put his money to work and gained five more. ¹⁷     In the same way, the one who had two gained two more. ¹⁸ But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money in it. ¹⁹ After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. ²⁰ The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ ²¹ His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²² The one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’ ²³     His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴        Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? ²⁷ Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! ²⁸  Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. ²⁹     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. ³⁰ And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Last week, we looked at the first of the three parables that Jesus told in Matthew 25 as illustrations of the commands for us to be alert and ready when he returns at his second coming. It was the Parable of the wise and foolish virgins. Only the young women who provided enough oil for their lamps were allowed into the wedding party in that parable. Those not prepared for the long wait were excluded from the party.

The parable did not explain one thing: what we Christians can do to remain ready. If it is simply a matter of keeping enough oil in our lamps, then obedience to Jesus would be easy. All we have to do is purchase some old-fashioned oil lamps and buy up all the olive oil we can get our hands on. That sounds too easy, and it is.

Jesus leaves the details of what we should be doing when he returns to the next part of his sermon, the Parable of the Talents. I want us to approach today’s text by asking three questions. We will look for the answers to each question in the text of the parable.

The first question is, “What is a Talent?”

Many books and sermons on this Parable assume that Jesus talks about talents, as in natural aptitude or skills. That is one definition of the word, and it seems to fit what Jesus is saying and preaches well. Preachers can get much mileage from encouraging their listeners to use their natural talents and skills for the Lord.

There are two problems with that approach. One problem is that it tends to gear us toward a doctrine of righteousness by works. The slaves in the parable who had worked the hardest were commended, and the one who did the least was condemned. It is hard to reconcile that message with the message of the New Testament that salvation is by grace—that it isn’t earned by what we do for the Lord.

I assume that Jesus knew all about this righteousness by grace. Why, then, did he give us this parable? I think that all three parables in this chapter essentially teach the same thing: that this age in which we are living is going to consist of true and false Christians. There are going to be wise and foolish virgins. Some will get to the party; others will be left out. There are going to be good and faithful slaves and evil and lazy slaves. The faithful ones will be commended by the Master when he returns. The evil and lazy ones will be condemned to the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ There are going to be true sheep and sheep lookalikes: goats. The Lord will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. The sheep get to inherit the kingdom and will have permanent life. The goats get the fire and the permanent punishment.

So, the point of all three parables in this chapter is that some who claim to be Christians saved by grace will be true Christians. Others will be just pretending. The second coming is when Jesus will sort them out and show those truly his.

The parable of the Talents illustrates that true Christians in this age are going to be working for their Master, and they are not going to hide. True salvation is always by grace, but true salvation produces Christians who put their faith to work. So, this parable does not prove salvation by works. It demonstrates that salvation works. It changes people’s lives and makes them want to invest in the Master’s service.

I mentioned two problems with the approach that sees Jesus talking about talents as in human aptitude or skills. The second problem is that the word talent in the text is not the same as our English word talent. The word that Jesus used referred to a unit of currency used by the Greeks and Romans in the first century. A τάλαντον was a unit of weight. They had silver talents worth about 6000 days’ wages. A gold talent was worth thirty times more than that. So, the amount of money Jesus is talking about is at least 16 years and five months’ worth of income. It could be as much as 493 years’ worth of income.

In the parable, the Master distributed eight talents: Five to one, two to another, and one to another. That’s either 131 plus years of income or 3,943 plus years of income. That’s a boatload of cash! You see, the Master distributed all his property to these three slaves. They were left with an enormous amount to manage in their master’s place.

So, let’s get back to the question. I didn’t forget it. The question is: What is a Talent? When Jesus left, he commissioned all of us to manage his kingdom while he was in heaven. He gave us the keys to that kingdom to let others into it. That is the commission of evangelism. He told us to make disciples of all nations. That is the commission of worldwide evangelization or missions. He gave us the commands we have been studying for many years. That is the commission of being salt and light to the world. The next parable in this chapter focuses on that commission. He gave us a new commandment that we are to love one another just as he loved us (John 13:34). That is the commission of sacrificial love to other Christians.

The talents in the parable represent all that Jesus wants to do through us as we await his return. He wants us to bless others as he has blessed us. Now, let’s look further into the parable.

The second question is, “Why were the two slaves commended?”

The slave who had been given the five talents went to work right away and fulfilled the commission of his master. He gained five more. The slave who had been given the two talents went to work right away and fulfilled the commission of his master. He gained two more. Jesus commended them both for being excellent and faithful slaves. They did what he had commissioned them to do.

Here is a vital distinction we all need to recognize. The slaves were not commissioned to spend the money they had been given—that was not the work. The commission was to invest it.

I witnessed a missionary friend who decided he wanted to bless a young couple, so he gave them the money to buy all the products they needed to start a small retail business. The couple later came to him and told him they were in trouble. They had run out of products to sell. The missionary asked them what they did with the proceeds they had earned from selling the products they had been given. They said they used it to pay bills. That illustrates the difference between spending money and investing money.

Jesus is not calling us to merely enjoy all the blessings that he has given us. He has commissioned us to invest his blessings and to build his kingdom while he is away. In the parable, the two slaves whom Jesus commended were not praised for being decent private folk. They were commended because they took their initial gifts given to them by grace and invested them so that the Master’s holdings increased because of their hard work. That is why the Master called them good and faithful slaves.

The final question is, “Why was the one slave condemned?”

Hear me now; the message gets a little less comfortable here. The slave was not condemned because he refused to gather with all the other slaves for a worship service once a week. He was not condemned for refusing to boast to everyone about how blessed he was. He was not condemned because of the size of his original gift—it was small only compared with that of the other slaves. He was not condemned because he was given little. He was condemned because he chose to do nothing with the gift.

In the parable, the master takes away the one talent he had given and gives it to one of the other slaves. The other slaves had been obedient to their master’s commission. This slave also loses his status and is thrown into the outer darkness. He loses everything because he fails to follow his master’s instructions.

This parable teaches that authentic Christians will prove what they profess by what they do. It is not works righteousness, but God’s grace at work. It is a good seed producing a crop that, in turn, makes it possible to plant more good seeds. It is a tree that keeps growing until it fills the whole earth. It is good slaves doing what their master commissioned them to do.

LORD, thank you for the tremendous blessing of citizenship in your coming kingdom. While we have time, we want to invest our lives in shining the light of that kingdom and growing the population of that kingdom. LORD, make us people unsatisfied with merely spending your gifts. Please give us the wisdom to invest them. May your kingdom come, and your will be done. Amen.

WISE?

Matthew 25:1-13 NET.

¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of the virgins were foolish, and five were wise. ³ When the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take extra olive oil with them. ⁴ But the wise ones took flasks of olive oil with their lamps. ⁵ When the bridegroom was delayed a long time, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. ⁶ But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ ‘No,’ they replied. ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. ¹¹ Later, the other virgins came too, saying, ‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ ¹² But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!’ ¹³ Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel consists of three parables that Jesus taught on the same occasion as his teachings about his second coming. We will not find much new instruction in this chapter, but we will find some helpful illustrations about how to obey the commands that Jesus gave in chapter 24.

The command is to Stay Alert (13).

The command is the same as the one Jesus gave in 24:42-43. The reason for the command is the same. Jesus tells us that his coming will be sudden, and there will be no advance warning. That is why his servants must always be ready for him to arrive.

I won’t spend much time elaborating on this because I have already done that. Today’s text gives us another illustration. He used a parable to do that.

· Parables are not a topic themselves. They were used to illustrate and explain something that had already been taught.

· The word parable means something placed alongside to explain. It is based on the combination of the Greek verb ballō, which means to place or through something, and the preposition para, which means alongside.

He tells a story about ten young ladies waiting to attend a party. The parable explains what it means to stay alert and be ready for Christ’s return.

· Not everyone is as ready as she thinks she is. All the young ladies thought they were prepared for the big party, but only some were. For parties, that does not really matter. But for the second coming, it matters. We cannot afford to be unprepared for that. The problem these five foolish virgins had was thinking that they had plenty of time to get their lives in order. They didn’t. They thought they were OK, but they were not.

· The thoughtless had lamps, but they started going out. Some people trust their ministries to get them into the party. Jesus had told his disciples that they were the light of the world. The lamps seem to speak to that reality. But sharing God’s glory by influencing the world around us is not our qualification. Nobody does enough for their works to count toward their eternal destiny.

The wise virgins kept shining (8-10).

· The Christian life is a marathon, not a short sprint. We all know people who make great starts trying to live the Christian life but then get sidetracked by some failure. The intelligent virgins in Jesus’ story were ready to wait for as long as it took. They did not have a plan B. The thoughtless virgins were OK with waiting for a while, but if the party were delayed too long, they would think of other options. Like Sarah, in the Old Testament, when the promised baby did not come, she introduced her maid, Hagar, into the picture—lousy choice. We must stick with plan A, no matter how long it takes.

I also see in the story that there was a time when all of the ladies waiting fell asleep. I can’t prove it, but I think Jesus was alluding to death here. The Bible often refers to death as sleep. We all have a limited time to invest ourselves in the Lord’s work because our lifespans are limited. We are mortal. If there is something we can do for our Lord to reach the lost with his gospel, then we had better not put it off. After we die, our time to shine will be over.

The wise virgins knew the Lord (11-12)

· The real difference is not the oil but the relationship. Some people get hung up on the symbol. I’ve been taught all my life that oil was a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and it was. But in this parable, the oil stands for the preparation itself. When the bridegroom explained why he was denying them entrance, he didn’t blame it on their lack of oil. He said he didn’t know them. The question we should be asking is not what we can bring to the party. The question is will the host recognize us?

It isn’t even whether we know the Lord. The foolish virgins thought they knew the host of the party. But he didn’t know them. Our theology is what we think we know about the Lord. Our standing is based on what he knows about us. We can have an immaculate theology and be evil people inside. What matters is what Jesus knows about us.

· Those who were ready went in, and the door was shut. This tells me that the grace the LORD offers us today to come to him is a limited-time offer. If we fail to respond to his invitation today, we will not get a second chance on the coming day.

Here are some practical suggestions for living ready today:

 Invest yourself in the coming kingdom. Jesus gave another parable – that of the talents — to encourage us to invest ourselves in the kingdom that will appear when the king does.

• We invest in the kingdom by getting into the word of God, which describes it.
• We invest in the kingdom by fellowshipping with the King.
• We invest in the kingdom by fellowshipping with other kingdom citizens.

• Serve Christ by serving others. The parable of the talents and that of the sheep & goats encourage us to serve others and meet other people’s needs. That is one way to prepare for eternity. The light shining from our lamps is light that helps others to see the God we belong to.

• Resist shortcuts to righteousness. The intelligent virgins were willing to pay the full price of admission. They knew they would only have one chance of joining the party, so they invested in the extra oil they would need to be ready when the bridegroom appeared.

• Eliminate distractions. In the parable of the sower, Jesus taught that some people would make a good start in the kingdom but then be sidetracked by other desires and worries. The intelligent virgins stayed on target.

• Be real. The parable of the sheep & goats shows us that not everyone who looks and sounds like an authentic Christian is really an authentic Christian. In fact, there was a long period when all ten virgins appeared to be ready for the party.

Sometimes, Jesus’s words are designed to comfort the troubled, and sometimes, they are designed to trouble the comfortable. I hope you have been troubled this morning; I know I have. Let’s recommit ourselves to living ready for our Lord’s return.

LORD, we are in this for as long as it takes. We commit ourselves to living ready today and every day until you burst through the clouds. Show us how to make ourselves ready for your coming kingdom.

STAY ALERT

Matthew 24:42-44 NET.

⁴² “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Just these three verses remain, and we will have covered Matthew 24. Three years ago, I spoke on verses 45-51, so I won’t cover that ground again. But these three verses are significant because they focus on Jesus’s commands. Jesus wasn’t very interested in answering the questions that the disciples had. He didn’t want to entertain them or encourage their curiosity. His purpose was to prepare them for a lifetime of ministry as representatives of his coming kingdom.

That is why Jesus gave them orders. The most important thing about the coming kingdom is not when it is coming. The most important thing about the coming kingdom is that when it comes, it will come upon the world suddenly, like a flood. Most of the world will not be ready. So, Jesus focuses on giving us commands that will help us welcome the coming kingdom.

The commands are for us to stay alert and be ready (42a, 44).

The command to stay alert uses the Greek word γρηγορέω. That is the word that Jesus used two chapters later when he was in the garden of Gethsemane just before his arrest. He told his disciples that he was deeply grieved, even to the point of death. He commanded them to stay with him as he prayed and stay awake. When he told them to stay awake, he used the word γρηγορέω.

But the disciples could not stay awake for even one hour. Jesus told them to “keep watching and praying,” and the word he used for “watching” was γρηγορέω.

He told them to keep watching so they would not succumb to temptation. Even a Christian who has every intention of following Christ can fall into temptation. Even the disciples of Christ who had committed to following and serving him could not stay awake for even one hour during the most critical and crucial test of their lives. That highlights the importance of staying awake and alert during this age.

The Apostle Paul embraced the same theme as he ministered to Gentile believers. He told the Corinthians to Stay alert (γρηγορέω), stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13). He told the Colossians to be devoted to prayer, keeping alert (γρηγορέω) in it with thanksgiving (Colossians 4:2). He told the Thessalonians that we must not sleep as the rest but must stay alert (γρηγορέω) and sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

One thing that Paul and Jesus had in common is that both commanded that people stay alert in prayer. This is an area of most of our lives where we are in constant danger of becoming spiritually crippled. The devil knows that if he can cripple our prayer life, then he will render us practically useless for Christ and his kingdom. He attacks us relentlessly to keep us from staying awake in prayer.

You all know that I just came back from vacation. I was gone for three weeks in July. During those three weeks, the weeds attacked my garden with ferocity. I am still pulling gigantic weeds from my garden. All it took was a few days of distraction and neglect and now I have a tremendous job on my hands.

That is what happens when we take time off from our task of diligent prayer. Jesus taught about that in his parable of the sower. In that parable, some of the seeds fell among thorns. Jesus said that these are the ones who hear the word, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature (Luke 8:14).

Seeds are designed to germinate, grow, and produce trees, fruits, and vegetables. But weeds can interfere with that process. To be fruitful, the seeds have to mature. But some seeds are kept from that purpose by weeds. They are choked out before they have a chance to be fruitful. Jesus identified the weeds in his parable. They are three things: worries, riches, and pleasures of life.

Worry is a weed. It distracts us from taking in the word of God and being fruitful in our Christian lives. Don’t expect a crop to appear if the weed of worry is allowed to stay in your garden. Jesus commanded us not to worry about tomorrow. He said today has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34). Jesus commanded us not to worry about what we will eat, drink, or wear. We worry about these things, and worry distracts us from having meaningful prayer lives, hindering our spiritual growth.

The solution to this problem is a strong prayer life that focuses on trusting our heavenly Father for daily bread. Instead of allowing our fear of tomorrow to choke out our spiritual lives, we must come to God regularly and declare our trust in his provision. We can cast all our cares on him because he cares for us.

Greed is also a weed. The lust for riches distracts us from the rest we can currently have in God, our provider. When God rescued the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt, he commanded them to remember the Sabbath day and keep it sacred. They had been slaves. Work was all they knew how to do. But God rescued them from their slavery in Egypt. They now had the privilege to focus on something besides work. But he knew they would be tempted to replace their former slavery with a new slavery. They could replace Pharaoh with Ego. They could work themselves to death trying to get ahead. So, God told them to stop what they were doing once a week and rest in the finished work of their salvation.

In the New Testament, Jesus met two men who had been workaholics. We don’t know the name of one of these men. We usually call him the rich young ruler. Jesus told him that he could have eternal life. All he had to do was sell everything he owned, give it away, and come and follow him. But that man went away disappointed. He was not willing to give away everything. His greed was keeping him from eternal life. The other workaholic was Zacchaeus. He could see that what Jesus had to offer was better than what he could seek on his own. He had been a greedy cheater, but when he met Jesus, he stopped being greedy. Zacchaeus is proof that you don’t have to be poor to be a Christian, but you have to surrender your greed. If you don’t pull the greed weed, then the word of God will never take root in your life.

Selfishness is also a weed. A focus on the pleasures of this life can keep us from experiencing eternal life. When we pray to God, we have to make sure that self gets off the throne. If self stays on the throne, God leaves the palace. That is why it’s hard for a selfish person to pray. Oh, you can pray a selfish prayer. But it doesn’t accomplish anything. It ends up sounding like the prayer of the self-righteous Pharisee: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’ (Luke 18:11-12). God knows what we are really like. He doesn’t need us to rehearse our accomplishments to him in our prayers. Prayer needs to focus on who God is. It is his kingdom we are to seek.

Staying alert in our prayer lives means not allowing the weeds of worry, greed, or selfishness to distract us from his kingdom.

Jesus’ second command in today’s text is to be ready. We must be prepared for the second coming. The word for ready is ἕτοιμος, which Jesus had previously used in his parable of the wedding banquet. A king had planned a wedding banquet for his son, and when everything was ἕτοιμος, he summoned those who had been invited.

The real question for us is not what date Jesus will come, but will we be prepared for him when he comes? That is what we are commanded to do. I just finished a book about King Charles III of England. It focused on his transition from Prince to King. What struck me as I read it were all the things that he had experienced all his life that make up who he is and how he will rule as king.

You and I are destined to be part of Jesus’ coming reign. We are not just waiting for Jesus’ kingdom to come; we are part of that kingdom now. If we are not declaring the Lordship of Christ by how we live today, we should not expect to do that after he comes. The command to be ready entails transforming our lives today.

Why did Jesus command us to stay alert and be ready?

The reason is that we do not know the time (42b).

We do not know what day our Lord will come. We know that he is coming, but we cannot put the date on the calendar. If we do put a date on the calendar, we will probably be wrong. Numerous people have ventured a guess, but their guesses have all proven to be wrong. We have not been commanded to guess at the date. We have been commanded to be ready on this date.

Since we don’t know the time, we need to be ready at any time. We must be prepared on Sunday, August 18^th, at 11:45 a.m. If he comes right now and we are not prepared, we are guilty of directly disobeying his command. No one wants to be caught disobeying a direct command of the king. It doesn’t bode well for people if they are invited but are not ready when the banquet is set.

His coming is compared to a break-in (43).

Jesus said he was coming like a thief. A thief does not call you and say, “I’m coming.” No, a thief wants to take you by surprise so he can steal your stuff. If you are ready for him, the thief will skip your house and find a home where the owner is unprepared.

Since we don’t know the time, we must live like now is the time. We have to ask ourselves every day whether we are ready for our Master to return to his slaves.

Jesus doesn’t say this to make us afraid of his coming. He says it to remind us of who we are. He knows that the longer he delays his return, the more we will be distracted by the world, the flesh, and the devil. Jesus is not the thief. He is the good shepherd who cares for his sheep. He loves the sheep and lays down his life for them. All who have come before him are thieves and robbers. The sheep did not listen to them. They are tuned in to the sound of the good shepherd’s voice.

The thieves come only to steal, kill, and destroy, but the good shepherd comes so that the sheep may have life and may have it abundantly. The second coming of Christ is not a terrible event we are to fear. It is a glorious event that we anticipate with joy and confidence. We cannot be who God wants us to be for eternity unless Jesus returns.

As it is now, we are aliens and strangers on the very planet that God plans for us to inherit. We are like sheep being led to the slaughter for his and his kingdom’s sake. Following Jesus means taking up our crosses and following him to death. But we choose to surrender our hopes, worries, greed, and selfishness in this life. We have bet everything on his promise of a coming resurrection. If there will be no resurrection, then we are the most to be pitied.

But since there is a resurrection, everything we do to join his coming kingdom and every sacrifice we make to stay prepared for that day is worth it. Like Paul, we strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of us.

Let the world be caught off guard. But we will not be caught off guard. Let the world keep being distracted by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life. We will stay alert. We will remain focused on our coming king. We will be ready for him when he comes. We want to hear “well done”! We want to be there for our Master and enter his joy.

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