Parables and Possessions: Know the Generosity of Jesus

This sermon is adapted from a stewardship sermon series written by Reed Lessing, "Parables and Possessions."

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Our text for today is Matthew 25:14-30.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!

You had one job. That’s the name of a website featuring people who had one job but didn’t do it right. One showed a sign in a dollar store: “Open 9 days a week.” One shows the refrigerated dairy case stocked full of fruit juice. You had one job. That’s the big idea in today’s parable. And what’s that one job? Know the generosity of Jesus. Know the generosity of Jesus, not just with my head but with my heart. Not just with my mind, but with my emotions. Not just with my mouth but with my bank account. That’s the huge idea in today’s parable that teaches us about money management. Know the generosity of Jesus. Let’s take a look.

First, The Financial Model. It’s all a gift. Jesus says, “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away” (Matthew 25:14–15).

The Lord distributes these talents to “each according to his ability.” He gives each of us the gifts that are exactly right. In every case He provides the correct combination of resources, abilities, talents, responsibilities, and opportunities, so that all of us can be of real service to Him in His kingdom.

These verses have two key words. The first is “entrusted.” When we put money into a bank, we don’t outright give our money to the bank. We entrust our money to the bank. Just so, when the lord entrusts the slaves with his money, he doesn’t outright give it to them. He entrusts it to their care. The Lord still owns the money. The slaves just manage the money. The first two slaves agree. In Matthew 25:20, 22, they both use the word “entrusted” when they talk with the Lord. The third slave? He doesn’t use the word “entrusted” at all, even though when he talks to the Lord, he uses three times as many words as the first two slaves. Thirty-one words compared to ten!

The second key word is “talent.” Our English word “talent” refers to a person’s ability to do something with remarkable success. But in the New Testament, a talent is a monetary unit—like a dollar or a peso. One talent is equivalent to twenty years of wages. Five talents, then, the amount entrusted to the first slave, is the equivalent of one hundred years’ worth of wages, an astronomical amount of money. The financial model? It’s all a gift—a gift entrusted to us.

Considering the fact that the talent, as Jesus uses the term, is money, it is surprising how seldom this parable is applied to our stewardship of money. We are quick to apply it to our skills and abilities, and even to our time, but surely Jesus also has something to say here about how we spend our money. It is not only the envelope we put into the offering on Sunday that concerns Jesus; the money we spend on groceries and recreation during the week, in fact, all the money God entrusts to your care is also part of Christian stewardship. Whether you have been given five talents or two or one, God is looking for faithfulness.

 That’s Christ’s financial model: It’s all a generous gift—a gift entrusted to us. That’s the consistent message of the Bible. Psalm 23:5, “My cup overflows.” John 10:10b, “I have come so that you may have abundant life.” 1 John 3:1, “Behold, what manner of love the Father has lavished upon us.” “Overflows.” “Abundant.” “Lavished.”  “All and all and all are free.” The Financial Model. It’s all a gift—a generous gift entrusted to us.

 Next, The Financial Mission. It’s all about God’s kingdom. Jesus says, “He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more” (Matthew 25:16–17). He went “at once.” The first slave is so thrilled that he wastes no time. He immediately throws himself into investing in God’s kingdom.

The financial mission? It’s all about God’s kingdom. At our church, tithes and offerings support kingdom work for our Sunday School, music ministry, youth ministry, senior adult ministry and so much more. The Financial Model? It’s all a gift. The Financial Mission? It’s all about God’s kingdom.

            Then we have The Financial Meaning. It’s all accountable. “After a long time the Lord of those slaves came and settled accounts with them” (Matthew 25:19) This is the ongoing theme in Matthew 24–25—the last of our Lord’s five teaching blocks in Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew 24:48, the Lord is delayed. In Matthew 25:5, the bridegroom is delayed. “After a long time the Lord of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.” And what will he say?

“You had one job! Know the generosity of Jesus.”

The first two slaves do their one job. How can we tell? When people know, with their heart and head, the generosity of Jesus, they faithfully manage money entrusted to them. Christ responds to the first two slaves, “Well done, good and faithful slave. Enter into the joy of your Master.” That’s the glad news!

Here’s the sad news. If we don’t know the generosity of Jesus (with our head and our heart); if we ignore the generosity of Jesus; if we reject the generosity of Jesus, we’ll never faithfully manage money entrusted to us. “He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed’” (Matthew 25:24). You had one job! Know the generosity of Jesus! “I knew You to be a hard man.” Really? “Reaping where He did not sow and gathering where He scattered no seed.” Really? That’s Jesus? No way!

This is Jesus! Betrayed by Judas, mocked by the crowds, denied by Peter, forsaken by the ten, unjustly accused in a kangaroo court, sentenced to death by a weak-willed Roman governor, crowned with thorns, and scourged by muscle-men just short of death.

This is Jesus! God in the flesh, betrayed for you. Abandoned for you. Bleeding for you. Crucified for you. This Jesus did it all for you—for you and for your salvation! This is astounding! This is astonishing! This is true!

You had one job. Know the generosity of this Jesus!

And if we don’t?

Then comes The Financial Mistake. It’s all a waste. The third slave says to his lord, “I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground” (Matthew 25:25). The third slave ends up doing what with the money? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Why? Because he was afraid. He was afraid of his lord because he thought him to be a harsh and greedy man. He didn’t really know his master. When we don’t know Jesus; when we don’t know the generosity of Jesus; we live in fear and fear causes us to misuse money. We fail to invest God’s gifts trusting Him to bring a return. People make risky investments, they gamble, stockpile, and become greedy. Fear causes us to completely misuse money. To misuse money means we waste our lives.

Sometimes, we imagine that it is sincere modesty and humility that cause us to refuse to be of any service to God and His Kingdom. We say, “I’m not qualified. I’m not well enough acquainted with the Scriptures. So let someone else serve on the church council. Let someone else teach Sunday School.” It is one thing to be humble and modest, but it is another thing to use false modesty as a cloak for laziness, selfishness, or indifference. We can count on God to give us the necessary wisdom and courage, so we can go ahead with confidence and to the work He has given us to do.

Notice that the master pronounces the same verdict upon both of the servants who doubled the talents entrusted to them, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. Come and share They had been faithful with their respective talents, and that was all their master asked of them. It is for their faithfulness that they are commended rather than for their accomplishments.

Jesus had a reason for making the servant with only one talent the unfaithful one. If it has been one of the servants with more talents, we would be too inclined to say, “What a shame! What a terrible thing that a person richly blessed should be so ungrateful to God! But, of course, my gifts are not very numerous or great, so the Lord surely cannot expect much from me.”

Most of us would place ourselves into the category of the servant who received only one talent. That may be where most of us belong. But that surely is no excuse is no excuse for being unfaithful with the talent God has given to us. It will not do it at all for any of us to say, “I can’t do much; so, it is all right if I don’t do anything. It won’t really make any difference.”

It may be true that the work of God’s kingdom will get done without the support of those who have extremely limited means and talents. But we need to realize that God calls upon us to serve Him with our individual talents, not because He cannot get along without our help, but rather because faithful service to Him is of greater value to those who do the serving. As Jesus said on another occasion, “It is more blessed to given than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

An unused talent cannot be kept for long. Like an unused muscle, it gradually wastes away. In the kingdom of God, an unused talent is confiscated and given to someone else. God will see to it that His work will be done and that His kingdom will come. If we are negligent or indifferent toward the opportunities that God gives us to serve Him in His kingdom, He will surely give those opportunities to someone else.

Martin Luther’s explanation of the Lord’s Prayer in his Small Catechism says it very well: “God’s kingdom certainly comes by itself even without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may also come to us.” And: “God’s good and gracious will certainly is done without our prayer, but we pray in thus petition that it may be done among s also.” We cannot stop God. We cannot prevent Him from doing His gracious work in our world. But we can deprive ourselves of the blessed opportunity to share in that work. Luther concludes his explanation with this brief prayer: “From this preserve us, heavenly Father!”

That’s the point of the parable. The parable isn’t about doubling investments. The parable isn’t about accumulating wealth. The parable is about knowing Jesus, the mercy and grace and love of Jesus. Then we cheerfully, faithfully, and generously use the money entrusted to us to invest in God’s kingdom.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking, “When I make a million, then I’ll invest in God’s kingdom. When I win the power-ball lottery; when my second uncle, four times removed, leaves me a ton of cash, then, then, I’ll invest in God’s kingdom.” No. I won’t. If I’m selfish with my few dollars, I’ll be selfish with my million dollars. The issue isn’t what I would do with a million. The issue is what I’m doing with the money entrusted to me right now. My financial decisions will never change until I get my one job in this life right—know the generosity of Jesus.

Jesus, the Lord of love and mercy, coming on the Last Day to renew the heavens and the earth. Jesus. The Alpha and the Omega. The First and the Last. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. The Good Shepherd. The Light of the World. The Bright Morning Star. The Son of God and God the Son. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

What a joy it will be on the last day to stand before the crucified and risen Jesus with robes washed white in His blood, rejoicing that the Holy Spirit empowered us to put His money to work—cheerfully, faithfully, and generously. All for His glory and the growth of His kingdom!

Christ will then speak words related to our use of money. What we long for Him to say is this. “Well done good and faithful slave! Enter into the joy of your Master.”

How will that happen? We had one job. Know the generosity of Jesus. For to know the generosity of Jesus changes absolutely everything. Including the way we use money. Go in the peace of the Lord, trust in the Lord and love your neighbor. You are God’s faithful servant. For Jesus’ sake, you are forgiven for all your sins.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.