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Text: Matthew 25:14-30
Parables are simple stories that illustrate spiritual truths. Our job as Christians is to study them to find those truths, while being careful not to over-interpret them and make them say things they don’t say.
Who is the man traveling? I believe it is Jesus. (John 14:3)
The far country? Heaven.
Who were His servants? I believe that the servants are you and I, in the context of time. We can take this personally.
What are the talents, the goods? I believe these are the gifts of ministry, responsibilities of service in the Kingdom of God… at least I’m comfortable with this interpretation for now. (Ephesians 4:7,8, 11-13)
With these gifts/responsibilities, God also gives grace to fulfill them.
Jesus ascended to Heaven with a certain promise to return, and gave His followers responsibilities, and the grace, the power to do them. God never asks too much of us. As He gently places these responsibilities on us, we can say, “Yes, Lord, by Your grace”.
The table is set, the gifts are given, the Master is gone. What happens now? What are we doing with what God has given us?
This is the time where we make the decision… what will we do with the gifts God has given us? Now is the time we are making that decision.
Stewards take care of the property of others. Take for instance the story of Joseph. A good steward does it with utmost carefulness and wisdom. Everything that we have is a gift of God.
Are we looking forward to judgement?
Also, note that for the two faithful stewards were given the same reward… the amount you are given has no impact on your reward.
Judgement is 100% God’s territory. It is so easy for us to be judgmental. We don’t know each other to the level of being able to correctly judge. My responsibility in the Church is to encourage and to be faithful.
(Matthew 13:23)
The size of our field or the seeds we have been given are not the important factor. Our reward is based on our faithfulness with what we are given— the rate of yield, or the return on investment.
Jesus made a very big investment… He is looking for a high yield. Jesus raised us up to bring forth fruit.
Moving back to our parable… (v.24-30)
Where did the servant fail? I believe the number one reason for his falling short here was His improper view of God. He believed God was a hard Master, and capricious.
Let us be willing to invest everything for the Kingdom.
Heaven or Hell, which is it? Our works will tell us. They are directly tied to our love for God.
I believe that God placed each of us in this time, in this generation to fulfill His purposes. In the body are so many systems— if any one of them would become flawed there would be pain, there would be sickness. The Church is the body of Christ.
(Ephesians 4:15,16)
(Romans 12:4,5)
Every part of the body is important. Everybody counts. It hurts when somebody leaves. When somebody falls into sin it affects us all; When somebody prays it affects us all.
We are loved with an incredible love… let us serve in a relationship with God, not merely from fear of judgement.
(Ephesians 5:15-17)