Getting the Kingdom 10, The Talents: "Kingdom Investment"

- As was the custom of that day, it is very likely that Jesus, over the course of his three-year ministry, told & retold his parables in varying detail.

- No one in the ancient world would've expected Jesus to tell his parables exactly the same way every time he told them, & neither would Jesus have expected his disciples to parrot his parables by telling them only through rote memorization.

- While they most certainly did commit his teachings to memory, Jesus would have expected his disciples to understand his parables, which simple memorization does not convey.

- If his disciples were going to teach his parables, then they had to both know & understand.

- Therefore, Jesus modeled this in his teaching through retelling his parables; this explains many of the differences we find between the Gospels in the parables of Jesus recorded for us; such as we find btw. Matt. 25 & Luke 19.

- As we begin our study of Matthew's account of this parable of Jesus, often called the parable of the talents or the parable of the three servants, let's review the basic outline of the parable.

- First, the master gives financial responsibility to these three servants based on their abilities.

- So he gives responsibility based on what he knows they can do not on what they can't do.

- Second, the master expected that each servant would put the money to work for them in some way so that it would grow while he was away.

- The first servant & the second servant were both able to double the money that they had received from their master.

- But the third servant buried the one talent he received in the ground, doing nothing with it.

- Third, upon his return, the master settles his accounts with his slaves.

- The master generously rewards the first two slaves, but the third slave, who buried his master's money out of fear, is condemned.

- Fourth, the master explains his actions in the giving of more to those who have & the taking away from those who do not have, then passes judgment upon the lazy slave.

- The focal point of this parable is upon the time between the first & second coming of Christ & how the responsibility of every believer is to be doing the work our Lord has left for us to do.

- Matthew taught his readers in Jesus' parable of the talents that Christian loyalty to Jesus is displayed by investing all of our life's resources, & abilities for the kingdom so that it will grow & God is pleased.

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- We've talked about the talent as a unit of measure before & its value depended on whether it was gold, silver, or copper.

- Because of the range of value, we have a range in application.

- Jesus was not referring to spiritual gifts as such; his point was that the Christian needs to invest all of his or her resources, & abilities in God's kingdom.

- If we are going to be ready for the return of Christ, then we need to be faithful in doing the work he has called us to do.

- Being faithful does not require that we attempt to do more than we are capable of doing.

- Jesus knows each one of us intimately & he does not expect us to do what we cannot do, he simply expects us to do what we can do with the resources he has given & the help he has promised in the person of his Holy Spirit.

- Remember: Jesus expects us to do with his help what we can do, not what we cannot do.

- In this parable, Jesus reveals the reason why his servants fail to do what he has called them to do.

- What is it that keeps us from investing in God's kingdom?

- Fear: fear keeps us from investing in the kingdom, but behind our fear is the refusal to take our Master's instructions seriously.

- If we are afraid of investing in the kingdom, then it shows that we do not care about our Master's plans.

- Our Master, Jesus, has entrusted us with the talents, skills, abilities, spiritual gifts, & other resources which he asks us to use for the building up of his kingdom.

- Jesus has not entrusted us with these things to keep them safe or to keep ourselves safe by hiding them, burying our heads in the sand as it were.

- Jesus has called us to do his work, which involves taking risks, facing danger, & even becoming dangerous ourselves.

- David wrote: The LORD is my light & my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? – Psalm 27:1

- Paul wrote to Timothy:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear & timidity, but of power, love, & self-discipline. – 2 Timothy 1:7

- Or, as Paul wrote to the Romans:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. – Romans 8:35-37 (Have any of us faced death because of our faith?)

- If we are "more than conquerors through him who loved us," then we have nothing to fear, but we are also without excuse.

- If we do nothing with the talents our master has given to us, then we are no more than lazy slaves & prove we do not care about our master's business...BUT...

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- When fear paralyzes us & we respond by burying our heads in the sand, & our talents, skills, abilities, & spiritual gifts along with our heads, then we need to respond to this warning from Jesus in one way – genuine repentance.

- Authentic repentance is worked out in real life.

- It starts with recognizing & admitting, to both ourselves & to God, that our fear is a cover-up for our lack of faith, a denial of the fact that we don't care about our master's agenda.

- But genuine repentance doesn't stop there; it must continue with us pulling our heads & our talents out of the sand & putting them to work for the kingdom of God.

- Why? Because we recognize that we are who we are & we have what we have, by the grace of God alone.

- Our talents & our resources come to us from God; they are his & so are we, therefore, we owe him everything.

- & it is out of gratitude to God for his work in our lives that we must go to work for him, for his kingdom, & for the world.

- Notice the grace of the master in this parable who gives all the money, plus the income gained to those two servants who obeyed him – such is the grace of God!

- Each time the master said to each of the first two servants in verses 21 & 23,

‘Well done, my good & faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- When we prove ourselves to our Lord in smaller things, then he calls us to bigger things, and not only that, but God celebrates & rejoices in our growth. 

- We serve a wonderful God! If you agree, then say it, Amen!

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.

- The reward for good work is the opportunity to do more good work.

- God has given us his resources, & expects us to us steward his resources well.

- When we work faithfully for the advancement of his kingdom, God is pleased & he will reward us accordingly.

- Continued refusal to do these things proves we are not God servants &, therefore, deserve to be condemned.

- Laziness has no place in the kingdom of God.

- When our master returns, he will settle his accounts with us.

- God has called us to use all the resources he has made available to us to advance his kingdom between the times of Christ's first & second coming.

- All that we have & all that we are is a gift from God, these are resources of his kingdom; and out of gratitude to him we must invest wisely in his kingdom.

- Like the first two servants in the parable, we want to hear the voice of our master, saying: ‘Well done, my good & faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

- When I invest in the heavenly race, God showers upon me ever more grace.