9/8/24 Sermon - Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

Well done, good and faithful servant

Matthew 25:14-30

Do you know how much 1 talent of gold is? Let me tell you.

1 kg of gold is $80,000. A talent is 30 kg, or about 2.4 million.

(change this to pounds?) 1 talent of gold if about 70 pounds of gold. 70 pounds of gold is 2.4 million.

If someone gave you 2.4 million, what could you do with that?

Unfortunately, some, like pro athletes, DO get that much.

But they burn it on cars, houses, partying, and wild living.  

Others inherit or obtain a fortune and they’re wise: invest it in stocks or business, save it.

What would you do if someone gave you a talent of gold? Or 5 talents (12 million)?

Maybe take a vacation? Hopefully invest or save a good chunk of it.

In our parable, a master gives his servants an immense amount of gold. Millions & millions!

And he gives each according to his ability, so different amounts for different people.

Then he leaves. He goes away on a journey.

What happens?

Two of the servants get to work.

They invest, trade, buy, sell. They increase their gold!

The one with 5 talents (13 million) earns 5 more. The one with 2 (5 million) earns 2 more.

They did something incredible with what their master gave them. They were faithful.

The one with 1 talent? Not so good.

He dug a hole! Put his millions in that hole and buried, like a pirate hiding treasure.

Then the master came back.

He was overjoyed with the first two servants!

Not so much with the first.

He rewarded the first two, but not the last.

Why was that? Why did they treat the master’s money, his gift, so differently?

Let’s examine it a little closer.

The first two loved their master.

He gave millions, and then left! He gave them so much and trusted them.  

So their attitude was like this:

1. They saw themselves as stewards of their master’s gold.

2. They wanted to faithfully use it.

3. They didn’t compare! The one with 2 wasn’t bitter because he had less.

4. They shared their master’s happiness.

The master’s joy didn’t depend on the amount they earned.

He wasn’t more pleased with the one who earned 5.

His words were the exact same:

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Ultimately, they loved their master, because they saw his love for them.

What the master cared about was faithfulness, that’s all.

Why did the third one behave differently?

Master, you are a hard man.

He was afraid of his master.

Afraid of the expectations laid on him. “I’m supposed to take care of all this money?”

Shame and fear for not being enough, either in his eyes or the master’s eyes?

Did he compare himself with the other two, with envy or jealousy or self-defeat?

Ultimately, he was afraid of the master and didn’t respect what was given to him.

Can we be like the third servant sometimes?

We live with this fear in our hearts of God, and of other people. 

We say to him, “You are a hard and mean and cruel God, sometimes.”

We feel that with expectations.

We feel like God, our parents, our family, just expect so much out of us.

There is this high standard and if we don’t reach it, we’ve failed.

Expectation leads to shame and guilt.
“I’m not enough. I’m going to fail. I’ll just disappoint them. Why can’t I do anything right?”

Then we start that terrible, horrible process of comparing ourselves to others.

They seem happier, better at life, more talented, they have more friends.

They seem so appreciated and loved by their family.  

When I compare myself to others, why do I seem to never match up?

Then maybe we’re a little jealous or envious?

Ultimately, we are afraid of God. We think he is a hard, cruel God.

That is not the kind of God you have.

Let me show you in our parable.
How much is a talent of gold? 2.4 million.

He gave one servant 12 million, and another 5 million, and then left.

The master in our parable was a gracious, loving, generous, adoring man.

That’s who God is for you.

Gracious, loving, generous, adoring.

He gives us more than 5 talents of gold, more than 350 pounds of gold, more than millions.

He gives us Jesus.

Jesus takes our sin away. He died in our place. He promises eternal life.

Jesus stands at our side and intercedes for us. He stands between God and us.

God isn’t scary. He’s not someone we need to fear.

He sent Jesus to us, our Savior! He holds us, protects us, strengthens us, watches over us.

He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you will share my happiness, because Jesus my Son has taken your sin away.”

That changes everything!

Now we can have the same attitude of joy and faithfulness as those two servants.

Last Sunday in our stewardship series we talked about the heart in Haggai 1.

God wants our heart, to put him first.

Today the focus is on faithfulness and proportionate giving.

What is faithfulness, exactly? This reading helps us talk about that.

1. What is faithfulness?

How much do I give? What do I do?

Those are the wrong questions!

It’s not about what I do. It’s about who God is.

He is a gracious, loving God who is pleased with us no matter what.

So we have joy!

Faithfulness is about working for God with joy and gladness in our hearts.

2. What is faithfulness?

It’s about showing up.

The first two servants doubled their money after a long time.

That’s a testimony to their slow, steady hard work rather than talent.

The master would have been happy if the third one had simply invested it with 1% interest!

Faithfulness is about showing up. Being average. Just doing your best.

We don’t need to be doctors, Olympians, or astronauts.

We won’t be the world’s most amazing parent or child or worker.

But in joy for God, we show up. We are average. We do our best.

And God couldn’t be happier with us, with small, steady, average work.

3. Let’s talk about money for a bit.

In our reading from 1 Cor. 16, Paul encourages small, steady, proportionate giving.

We set aside a little of our income, a fixed amount, every week, and give back to God.

That’s what I want to encourage you, to give a proportion of your income.

I’m not going to tell you how much. There are some slips of paper than give options.

Whatever is it, we give from the heart, with joy, with whatever God has blessed us.

God is happy if all you can afford us 1/2% or 1%.

He’d be just as happy with $1 or $1,000, if it came from the heart.

One final thought.

“Come, share your master’s happiness.”

When we faithfully work for God, in our family, jobs, or towns, we share in God’s word.

When we love others, we share in God’s word.

That happens as a church, when we pool time, resources, and money.

We share in the work of God, and share his happiness as well.

In Jesus, you are good and faithful servants.