"CRAVING APPROVAL"
Look Up:
Matthew 25:14-27
INTRODUCTION:
There are days when
I don’t feel like I accomplish anything useful for the Lord. Do you ever
feel that way? Maybe you had one of those days when you were in the car
driving most of the day or were flying from airport to airport—in and out of
terminals, or maybe the washing machine broke and you spent the day on the phone
with a repairman and clearing the laundry room so he could work, or you just
spent the day putting out fires or just answering emails, or you tended to a
sick child all day. Life has those kinds of days. So at the end of
those kinds of days, do we assume we have accomplished nothing useful for the
Lord? But how do we really know what we are accomplishing for the Lord?
You would think that kind of thing would be easily determined—like I did my
devotions, I was involved in a Bible study, I shared a witness with someone I
met, etc. But it isn’t that easy. You see, you could be gaining
His approval and not even know it. In this same chapter Jesus invites some
to come and take their inheritance of the Kingdom because they gave Him
something to eat and drink, because they invited Him in, because they clothed
Him, because they ministered to Him when He was sick, etc. Then came their
puzzled response? When did these things happen? When did we do that?
[Matthew 25:34-40]. You see, Jesus is aware of things that
you and I are not. Maybe when you bowed your head and asked a blessing
over your lunch in the terminal on that day when it seemed you were just
spinning your wheels something happened that you were not even aware of.
Maybe somewhere during the day when the washing machine wasn’t working or you
were tending your sick child, a person came to mind and you said a brief prayer
that made a difference that to this day you are not aware of. I remember
Jim Henry telling a story about the difference that was made in a young boy’s
life by simply patting his head when he entered the worship center one Sunday.
Jim never knew the impact of that until years later. A professor in
seminary invited me to have coffee after class one day and he didn’t realize
that that simple act changed my life. With just a word or two, he
encouraged me to do something with my life that I may not have done otherwise.
And he never knew that.
So how do we know if we are pleasing God or being useful to Him when we don’t
have the full picture and there are those days when we out there just trying to
live life? What do you think it takes to hear “Well done” from the
Lord at the end? That is a very important question to ask if we crave His
approval. And I hope we do!
Jesus lets us in on the answer in our passage today. He talks about
“Well done” and to whom it is said in a parable found in Matthew 25:14-27.
He throws another story alongside truth so that we might “get it”—see and
hear. The parable is called the Parable of the Talents. Here is the
background. In Matthew 24 Jesus talks about the signs of the end of the
age. He is talking about His coming again. Then He devotes every
parable in Matthew 25 to show how it will be when He comes. Some will be
prepared for His coming and some will not. When He comes, there will be an
assessment of His servants who have been entrusted with His property. When
He comes, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory and nations will be
gathered before Him and He will put some on His right and some on His
left—resulting in different fates. Today I am interested in this parable
that tells me about my assessment and how to receive the “Well done”
commendation from the Lord.
Matthew
25:14-27
The
parable tells about servants who are called together to have the master’s
property entrusted to them while He is away on a journey. So according to
the parable, we are the servants. The journey is Christ’s assent into
heaven and then His subsequent return. At His return comes the assessment
from Christ about how the servants used what was entrusted to them. In the
parable, the Lord’s assessment took two forms: “Well done servant”
and “Wicked and lazy servant.” I want to know what it takes to receive
the first assessment. Don’t you?
Entrusted
Property
One
servant was entrusted with 5 talents, another with 2 and another with 1.
How do we
understand the entrusted property? It is the resources that God has given
to us and made available to us. It is the talents and abilities, spiritual
gifts, the Gospel,
…that conforms to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which he
entrusted to me [1 Tim.
time,
money that have been given to us.
*Portray
the giving of this property with gold bars and money. These resources
consist of:
Talents and abilities that are from Him through natural birth.
Spiritual gift(s) that are from Him through spiritual birth.
Talents and abilities that are sanctified at spiritual birth.
The Gospel that is entrusted to us—as treasure in jars of clay [2 Cor. 4:7].
Time
Financial resources
Many of
these resources differ from person to person. The Gospel is the same, but
talents, spiritual gifts and financial resources differ with the individual.
But the Giver is the same. The same master entrusts.
Investment
Then the
parable says that the servants who were commended by the Lord, rather than
condemned, invested their talents and gained more.
The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money
to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained
two more [Matt. 25:16-17].
Faithfulness
Here is
the key question: How do we make our pile grow? How do we go
from 5 talents to 10 talents or from 2 to 4? What does He expect of us?
What do we do to hear the commendation “Well done”? By being faithful
and by faithfully using what He has entrusted to us. Notice what the
master said upon His return:
Well done, good and faithful servant [Matt. 25:21].
You have been faithful with a few things; [Matt. 25:21]
Notice
what Scripture teaches about the requirements of a steward [the job description
of a steward]—and a steward is one who have been entrusted with the master’s
property and assets.
Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove
faithful [1 Cor. 4:2].
The person who was entrusted with 5 talents and the person
entrusted with 2 talents heard the same commendation. Why? Because
they both proved faithful. It is a matter of our response of faithfulness.
The Lord entrusts. The Lord assesses and commends. We are to do one
thing—be faithful. When you are faithful, you give it your best.
You put your heart into it.
Prove faithful in the small things. Whatever the
assignment, prove faithful. You see, it is not the size of the task.
It is that I prove faithful in it. Watch how people do the small things
and you will know who to entrust with the bigger things. Watch how people
handle the little things and you will know who to call on for the greater
things. You see, it is a matter of character. Kids, if the teacher
asks you to clean the board at school, clean it like it has never been cleaned.
If someone gives you a task at work, do it faithfully. If you have a task
at church, do it faithfully. Those are the ones who hear “Well done.”
If you can’t be faithful unless it is something big, then you are not
faithful.
Prove faithful in roles.
The role of a husband, father. The role of wife and mother. The role
of a student—give it your best. Don’t dig a hole and bury potential.
The role of an employer/employee. The role of a single. The role of
a care taker. The role of a volunteer.
Prove faithful with your spiritual gifts. They are
capacities for service. Use them faithfully. Worship
team/teachers/greeters/etc.—you have gifts, but the important thing is
faithfulness.
Prove faithful with your money. The amount is not the
issue. Faithfulness in the use of it is.
Prove faithful with your time. Redeem it for Him.
Prove faithful with the Gospel. Be light. Be salt. Be a
witness.
Unfaithfulness makes a person useless. You can’t count on them.
Hence, they receives the judgment—“Wicked and lazy servant.”
Not only
do the faithful hear, “Well done”, but they also are invited into the joy of
the Lord [Matt. 25:21, 23] and given responsibilities of ruling [Lk. 19:17, 19].
Faithful people are enriched and they are given greater responsibilities.
How
faithful are you? Is there an area where you need to be more faithful?
Start today.
Faithful
people get the commendation from Jesus.
What would
it look like if we were all faithful?
Jesus has
told us another story. What will our story be?