Jesus: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God
Isaiah 9: 1 – 7.
I. Introduction.
I have always had a kind of fascination with the figure of speech known as an oxymoron. This is when we place two opposite words side by side to make a point. This includes phrases like: pretty ugly; jumbo shrimp; deafening silence; holy war; United Nations; top floor; long shorts; Cooperative Baptists; organized religion…
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. This is the beginning of the Christmas season. As Christian men and women, we ought to use these next four weeks to prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus.
Since today is the first Sunday of Advent, I can tell you with all confidence that Christmas is only four weeks away! We can’t stop it. Christmas is coming. This means we have only four weeks to get ready for the two greatest oxymorons of all time.
First, we are preparing for Silent Night! Whoever wrote that song did not have small children in his home! In the past 13 years, Christmas Eve has NEVER been a Silent Night in our household.
Second, we are preparing for the coming of the King. Jesus came to earth as the earth’s rightful King. But, he did not come with the expected royal trappings. There was no pomp and circumstance surrounding his birth. The King came to earth as a lowly baby, born in a stable. He lived a humble life and died the death of a criminal. Jesus is a King whose life did not resemble the life of a traditional king.
The birth of Jesus is told in only two of the four Gospels. Matthew tells us part of the story, while Luke tells us another part of the story. Mark and John do not tell us anything about the story of Jesus’ birth. Both Matthew and Luke go to great lengths to connect the dots between the birth of Jesus and the prophecies of the Old Testament. They realized that Jesus’ birth was no ordinary birth. Rather, this was the fulfillment of something promised by God and hoped for by God’s people for hundreds of years.
It was no coincidence that Jesus was born of a virgin…It was prophesied long ago. It was no coincidence that Jesus would be the Incarnation of God…It was prophesied long ago.
Read Isaiah 9: 1 – 7.
II. Context.
In v. 1, Isaiah predicted that a light would one day shine across the dark land…Light is the only universal religious symbol recognized by all major world religions…Light = Good . . . Dark = Evil.
Symbolically, Isaiah was predicting a day when something good or pure would penetrate into the darkness of this world and transform the evil world into a good world…Like the sun rising in the east on a cold dark morning.
The original setting for this passage was probably a celebrative occasion…Jewish tradition interprets this as a song of rejoicing when Hezekiah became king of Judah…Israel and Judah had been divided for a little over 200 years…Both nations had their good kings & bad kings…At times, each had been controlled by other, wicked empires…Specifically, both had fallen prey to Assyria…But the people remembered the promise God had made to David back in the “good old days.”
Judah had a wicked king, Ahaz for the past 20 years…Ahaz had built altars to Damascus gods throughout the land…Ahaz encouraged people to worship in the “high places”…Ahaz had made a treaty with the king of Assyria…Ahaz became even more wicked as he got older.
Now, Judah’s only hope lay in the hands of Ahaz’ son, Hezekiah…At the time of his father’s death, Hezekiah was 25 yrs old.
And Hezekiah did meet the people’s expectations…He restored the Davidic rule by struggling to make Judah independent of Assyria…He restored the proper religious practices to Judah by tearing down all the high places and temples of false worship.
But Hezekiah’s fulfillment of expectations was incomplete to say the least…He could not unite the 2 kingdoms into one nation…His political & religious reforms only lasted a short time, until his son Manasseh became king…He could not bring the everlasting peace that Isaiah & the people hoped for.
This does not surprise you and me, because we have the luxury of 2600 years hindsight…As we look back through time, we know that Isaiah’s prophecies were not fully realized until Jesus Christ came into this world…We know this because, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel writers have interpreted Isaiah as pointing to Christ.
Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of the Messianic expectations…Only Jesus can claim to be the True Light penetrating this dark & evil world.
That is why the Gospel of John used several different occasions to describe Jesus as the True Light of the World…John 1: 5, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”…John 8: 12, “Jesus again spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.’”
But remember, Hezekiah and his 29 years as king were not the perfect fulfillment of the Messianic expectations…Once Hezekiah’s reign ended, the people were back in the same situation they were once in.
It was only after the birth of Jesus that we have true reasons to rejoice…Our slavery to sin & the eternal consequences of sin have been lifted from our shoulders like a yoke…Our battle against this evil world will one day cease.
III. Wonderful Counselor.
Counselor => Someone who gives advice or guidance…Specifically, someone who gives WISE advice—the kind of advice you want to receive…
In the past few weeks, the news media has given us daily reports about President-elect Barack Obama. One of the consistent stories has been Obama’s process of assembling his Presidential Cabinet. These men and women will be advisors and counselors to the new President. This is a newsworthy story, because we believe you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their advisors. If this is true about a President, it ought to be true about us. Who are your “advisors?” Who are your “counselors?”
Advice is a very unique thing. It is the ONLY thing in life we would rather give than receive. But often times, advice is a necessary thing. None of us has all the answers. No one can be an expert in every situation and circumstance of life. But usually, God places people in our lives who have been through similar circumstances. These people can help us to understand and help us to recognize the right and wrong things to do. Anyone can learn from his or her own mistakes. A wise person can learn from the mistakes of others.
Jesus is someone who has been where you are. He has faced temptation and overcome it without sin. He has faced pain and death beyond anything we could ever imagine, and he triumphed over pain and death. Jesus was disappointed by his friends. He felt the pain of broken relationships. He was disowned by his own family and betrayed by a close friend. Jesus has even wept at the grave of someone he loved.
On one hand, Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor, because he has been where we are. On the other hand, Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor, because of his nature. Jesus is no ordinary man. Jesus is God…Or, as Isaiah says…Jesus is Mighty God.
IV. Mighty God.
Make no mistake about it. Isaiah prophesied that Jesus is God. AND, Jesus himself claimed to be God. Now, what are we going to do about that?
I believe Jesus’ claims about himself leave us with only three options. We must decide: Was Jesus a Liar? Was Jesus a Lunatic? Is Jesus Lord?
A. Was Jesus a Liar?
Almost everyone who has ever read the Gospels says that Jesus was a good and wise teacher. In fact, that is what Gandhi said about Jesus. However, Jesus cannot be a good man if he was a liar.
When Jesus claimed to be God, he has forced us to choose between two options. Either Jesus is God, or Jesus is a liar and as a consequence, a bad person. To say Jesus is God is offensive to non-Christians. To say Jesus is a bad person is offensive to Christians. To say Jesus was a good person is an attempt to offend no one. But it is an offense to Jesus.
If Jesus were a liar, then perhaps we can find his motive for lying. Everyone who lies is motivated by some selfish reason. Lying is an attempt to gain money, fame, pleasure or power. But, Jesus got none of these from his claim to be God. Instead, Jesus lived a life of poverty, hated by the world, tortured and eventually killed. Jesus even shunned all attempts people made to enthrone him as a political ruler. Jesus spent his time with the poor and oppressed, not the powerful elite.
B. Was Jesus a Lunatic?
There are people in mental health institutions who believe they are God. Perhaps Jesus did not intentionally lie to us. Perhaps he genuinely believed he was God, but was wrong about it.
People who have what is known as a “divinity complex” demonstrate certain diagnosable characteristics. They are egotistical, narcissistic, predictable and unable to love others. These characteristics do not fit what history says about Jesus. Jesus demonstrated wisdom by the answers he gave to his critics. He considered the needs of other people. He was unpredictable in the ways he lived and responded to others. And, Jesus showed love for other people by the way he ministered to needs and eventually gave his life as a sign of God’s love for us.
C. Is Jesus Lord?
If Jesus was not a Liar or a Lunatic, then we should take him at his word. He is the Son of God, who lived as an example for us and died to give us forgiveness of sin. God sent his Son to search for you. All of our efforts to search for God will fail. But God’s effort to search for us will succeed in our answer to the question: Who do you believe Jesus is?
V. Conclusion.
Christmas is coming. That means Jesus is coming. Of course, there are lots of people who don’t really want to admit that. They change the word Christmas to the word X-Mas or Holiday. Some people exchange greetings like “Happy Holidays.” Sadly, they think they can keep Christ out of Christmas. But they can’t. Jesus is coming.
Wal-Mart cannot keep Christ out of Christmas. They cannot stop his coming. In fact, none of us can stop Christ from coming. He is coming either as our invited guest or an as unwelcomed intruder. But Jesus is coming.
Let’s welcome him as our Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Future Focus Committee Report and Motion
Below is a copy of my presentation to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting on Monday, November 10, 2008. This is the manuscript I prepared and had in front of me. The actual words that came out of my mouth were probably a little different.
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Before I present the recommendation from the Future Focus Committee, I want to say “Thank you” to Joy Fenner, Mike Masser, Jeff Raines, John Petty and Steve Dominy for appointing me to this committee. I want to say “thank you” first, because once the discussion begins, I might not feel as grateful.
Leonard Sweet tells a story about a church that extended a call to a new pastor. As the new pastor stood before the congregation to accept the call, he announced: “I am going to lead this church into the Twentieth Century.” The chairman of the search committee corrected the new pastor, “You mean the Twenty-FIRST Century.” The pastor said, “Slow down. Let’s go one century at a time.”
When the Baptist General Convention of Texas was formed in 1886 at the First Baptist Church of Waco, it was the merger of two Baptist bodies—the Baptist General Association and the Baptist State Convention. Our forefathers created the very best convention structure the Nineteenth Century had to offer.
In the Twentieth Century, there were three study committees appointed to study the work of the convention and make recommendations for change—1957, 1966 and 1995. These committees made numerous recommendations to the convention. Some of these recommendations were accepted, and many were rejected. The result was a large, bureaucratic, Twentieth Century convention structure.
The Future Focus Committee is the first study committee appointed in the Twenty-First Century. We believe our task is to move our state convention into the Twenty-First Century. Granted, the rest of the world entered the Twenty-First Century in 2001.
In our first Future Focus Committee meeting, we discussed two possible recommendations we might suggest at the 2009 annual meeting. On one hand, we could spend two years studying the convention and return to you with a recommendation to do nothing—to leave the Twentieth Century structures in place. On the other hand, we could return to this convention with recommendations for change.
We have rejected the first option. We will not return to you next year with recommendations to remain the same.
The circumstances which led to the formation of the Future Focus Committee can be described as a “perfect storm” of external and internal factors. External Factors include: rise of post-denominationalism; decline in baptisms and membership in all denominations; the loss of the World War 2 generation which includes the best stewards in all our churches; a national economic crisis; and the loss of investment income for our convention. Internal Factors include: a ten year decline in Cooperative Program gifts; a reduced 2009 budget that reflects our current economic reality; a loss of trust among our members; and decreased participation in convention activities—specifically a decrease in young adults’ participating in the convention.
However, there is one good Internal Factor we can report. We have a new Executive Director who has come in with a vision for our convention to identify and fulfill our Kingdom Assignment—to share the hope of Christ with every person in the state of Texas by Easter Sunday, 2010.
Our final report will be presented to this convention at the 2009 annual meeting. The final report will recommend changes for our convention. We will present only one change to be addressed at this annual meeting. In the first business session this afternoon, I will present a motion from our committee recommending that we change the name of our convention. This is the beginning of something new—a Twenty-First Century convention for all Texas Baptists.
We have prepared a handout to explain the committee's rationale for changing the name of the convention. You will receive this handout from the ushers as you leave the room--following the business session.
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On behalf of the Future Focus Committee, I move to restate the articles of incorporation to include changing the name of the organization to the Texas Baptist Convention and to amend the constitution to reflect this change.
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Before I present the recommendation from the Future Focus Committee, I want to say “Thank you” to Joy Fenner, Mike Masser, Jeff Raines, John Petty and Steve Dominy for appointing me to this committee. I want to say “thank you” first, because once the discussion begins, I might not feel as grateful.
Leonard Sweet tells a story about a church that extended a call to a new pastor. As the new pastor stood before the congregation to accept the call, he announced: “I am going to lead this church into the Twentieth Century.” The chairman of the search committee corrected the new pastor, “You mean the Twenty-FIRST Century.” The pastor said, “Slow down. Let’s go one century at a time.”
When the Baptist General Convention of Texas was formed in 1886 at the First Baptist Church of Waco, it was the merger of two Baptist bodies—the Baptist General Association and the Baptist State Convention. Our forefathers created the very best convention structure the Nineteenth Century had to offer.
In the Twentieth Century, there were three study committees appointed to study the work of the convention and make recommendations for change—1957, 1966 and 1995. These committees made numerous recommendations to the convention. Some of these recommendations were accepted, and many were rejected. The result was a large, bureaucratic, Twentieth Century convention structure.
The Future Focus Committee is the first study committee appointed in the Twenty-First Century. We believe our task is to move our state convention into the Twenty-First Century. Granted, the rest of the world entered the Twenty-First Century in 2001.
In our first Future Focus Committee meeting, we discussed two possible recommendations we might suggest at the 2009 annual meeting. On one hand, we could spend two years studying the convention and return to you with a recommendation to do nothing—to leave the Twentieth Century structures in place. On the other hand, we could return to this convention with recommendations for change.
We have rejected the first option. We will not return to you next year with recommendations to remain the same.
The circumstances which led to the formation of the Future Focus Committee can be described as a “perfect storm” of external and internal factors. External Factors include: rise of post-denominationalism; decline in baptisms and membership in all denominations; the loss of the World War 2 generation which includes the best stewards in all our churches; a national economic crisis; and the loss of investment income for our convention. Internal Factors include: a ten year decline in Cooperative Program gifts; a reduced 2009 budget that reflects our current economic reality; a loss of trust among our members; and decreased participation in convention activities—specifically a decrease in young adults’ participating in the convention.
However, there is one good Internal Factor we can report. We have a new Executive Director who has come in with a vision for our convention to identify and fulfill our Kingdom Assignment—to share the hope of Christ with every person in the state of Texas by Easter Sunday, 2010.
Our final report will be presented to this convention at the 2009 annual meeting. The final report will recommend changes for our convention. We will present only one change to be addressed at this annual meeting. In the first business session this afternoon, I will present a motion from our committee recommending that we change the name of our convention. This is the beginning of something new—a Twenty-First Century convention for all Texas Baptists.
We have prepared a handout to explain the committee's rationale for changing the name of the convention. You will receive this handout from the ushers as you leave the room--following the business session.
==========
On behalf of the Future Focus Committee, I move to restate the articles of incorporation to include changing the name of the organization to the Texas Baptist Convention and to amend the constitution to reflect this change.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Texas Baptist Convention
Stephen Hatfield and I serve as co-chairs for a Baptist General Convention of Texas committee known as the Future Focus Committee. This committee was formed as a result of a motion made from the floor of the 2007 Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Amarillo. The motion which created our committee reads:
I move that the officers of the BGCT and the officers of the Executive Board appoint a study committee of no more than 25 members to consider the shared vision of the BGCT.
The committee would meet after the new Executive Director has been selected and make reports to the Executive Board at their regularly scheduled meetings. A final report will be made no later than the 2009 Annual Meeting.
The committee will study, analyze and project income for the BGCT and address relationships between the BGCT and its institutions.
The purpose of this committee is to determine the best use of resources to win Texas and the world to Jesus Christ and to encourage and support the ministries to which God has called us.
I move that the officers of the BGCT and the officers of the Executive Board appoint a study committee of no more than 25 members to consider the shared vision of the BGCT.
The committee would meet after the new Executive Director has been selected and make reports to the Executive Board at their regularly scheduled meetings. A final report will be made no later than the 2009 Annual Meeting.
The committee will study, analyze and project income for the BGCT and address relationships between the BGCT and its institutions.
The purpose of this committee is to determine the best use of resources to win Texas and the world to Jesus Christ and to encourage and support the ministries to which God has called us.
Stephen and I began meeting with the Baptist General Convention of Texas president (Joy Fenner) and executive director (Randel Everett) in March. This was within Dr. Everett’s first couple of weeks of employment as the new executive director.
In our first meeting, Dr. Everett presented us with a set of three questions to determine the mission and values of our state convention. What is the Baptist General Convention of Texas passionate about? What does the Baptist General Convention of Texas do better than anyone else in the world? What does the Baptist General Convention of Texas do that duplicates what others do as well or better than we do?
Stephen and I asked Dr. Everett to present these same questions to the full Future Focus Committee at our first meeting in May 2008. This began a lively exchange of ideas which could be categorized as our “dreams” and our “fears.”
One topic we have addressed numerous times in our committee meetings is the way church people in Texas view the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Sadly, many people do not understand our historic Baptist polity which places the local church at the top of the decision making process and organizational chart. As a result, many people equate the Baptist General Convention of Texas with the building which houses the Executive Board Staff in Dallas.
The “Baptist Building” in Dallas is not the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The Baptist General Convention of Texas is a fellowship of cooperating churches who together accomplish the work of evangelism / missions, Christian education and advocacy for the “least of these” among us.
In November 2009, the Future Focus Committee will make our final report to the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Our final report will contain a new vision for the future. This new vision will contain a clear description of our values as well as changes in the methods we use to implement our values. This final report is not complete. We have defined our vision and our values in our first three meetings. We will devote the remainder of our time to work out the details of implementing our vision and values for the future.
On Monday, November 10, Stephen Hatfield and I will make a recommendation from the Future Focus Committee to change the name of the Baptist General Convention of Texas to the Texas Baptist Convention. This recommendation has been reported in at least two news articles:
http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8752&Itemid=53
http://www.bgct.org/texasbaptists/Page.aspx?pid=5581&srcid=178
We believe Texas Baptist Convention describes who we are and the way we often describe ourselves in informal conversations. We call ourselves “Texas Baptists” and even used that terminology as the title of the sesquicentennial history of our state convention!
We also believe changing our name to the Texas Baptist Convention provides us with an opportunity to forge our own unique identity not tied to any national organization. As the Texas Baptist Convention, we can provide a mechanism for all Texas Baptist men, women and churches to cooperate around our shared vision and values regardless of national affiliation.
This proposal is not the sum total of the Future Focus Committee’s accomplishments. It is one part—the first step—of a broad strategy which is currently being worked out in detail. The full details will be presented in our final report at the 2009 annual meeting. Our goal is to have this final report in written form before the September 2009 Executive Board meeting. This will ensure enough time for our report to be printed and reviewed by all messengers before the annual meeting.
The name change will be presented on Monday, because it requires two votes at consecutive annual meetings before it can be implemented. Therefore, we need to begin the process of changing the name at this annual meeting in order to adopt the complete report at the 2009 annual meeting.
Stephen Hatfield and I urge all Texas Baptists to participate in the 2008 annual meeting in Fort Worth to voice your point of view and to vote your conscience. Since, this name change will require two votes at consecutive annual meetings, we will not actually adopt the name change until next year. An affirmative vote on Monday does not change the name of the convention. However, a negative vote on Monday prevents us from adopting the name change as a part of the Future Focus Committee’s final report in 2009.
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008: Good and Faithful Servants
Good and Faithful Servants
Matthew 25: 14 - 30.
I. Introduction.
How should Christians respond to a struggling economy? What about the church? How should our church respond to the economic pressures we are facing?
I told you a week ago that the church is not exempt from economic woes. We depend on all our members to give voluntarily to support the work of the church. We don’t send you a bill every month. We don’t turn your family over to a collection agency if you have missed a payment. However, we do experience financial ups and downs as the economy goes up and down.
But Christians are not like the rest of the world. We are not like those who have no hope. We don’t worship the “golden bull” of Wall Street. We worship Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy.
If our greatest treasure is a heavenly treasure, then we ought to face economic uncertainty differently than the rest of the world. I have already answered the question for us this morning, but it is worth repeating. How should Christians respond to a struggling economy? How should our church respond? We should respond by being faithful to the work Jesus left us to do.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read a story Jesus told us about being faithful.
Read Matthew 25: 14 – 30
Matthew 24 contains one of Jesus’ extended teachings known as the Eschatological Discourse. “Eschatological” is a word they teach us in seminary. Specifically, they teach us never to use words like “eschatological” in our sermons. It basically means, “end times.” Therefore, we ought to read this section of Scripture with the knowledge that Jesus is teaching us about the “end times.”
This does not mean Jesus gave us a timetable or a checklist to follow. No. Jesus never told us exactly what we could expect at the end of time. Rather, Jesus simply taught us two things. On one hand, the world we live in will not last forever. It is temporary and by nature will one day come to an end. On the other hand, Jesus taught us that we would have to wait. In fact, this is the primary thing Jesus taught us about the end of the created order. It will not happen when we think it will happen. We need to be prepared to wait for the end to come.
Throughout all Christian history, we can find evidence of men and women who thought they knew more about the end of the world than Jesus knew. Men and women have made predictions. And each time, those predictions have proven false. Perhaps if we spent more time listening to Jesus’ actual teachings about the end of the world, we might actually follow his advice. Wait. Be patient. Stay busy.
This parable is one of five parables in this section of the Gospel of Matthew. These parables are part of a longer discourse, spoken by Jesus to teach his disciples about the coming day of judgment. In Matthew 24: 3, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them the signs of the time so that they would know when the final judgment would come. But Jesus surprised everyone in Matthew 24: 36, by saying that there were no signs. He said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
The five parables all focus on several common themes.
1. Judgment Day is really coming…It will come suddenly and unexpectedly.
2. It seems that judgment has been delayed by the master staying in a foreign country longer than anyone expected.
3. The characters in the parables are divided into two groups…Those who are ready…Those who are not ready…
4. Those who are ready will be rewarded in judgment.
5. Those who are not ready will be punished in judgment.
The theme of this parable is “Being Ready” for the Lord’s return. The parable defines readiness as “Responsibility”—especially responsibility with the Lord’s resources while he is not physically present on earth.
The master entrusted his own money to his servants so they could take care of it while he was away. He gave to each one according to his ability. Therefore, the fact that he gave five talents to one, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third indicates that he trusted them differently. He trusted one more than the others and one less than the others.
Many have interpreted this parable in terms of human abilities because of the use of the English word “talent.” However, this parable is actually about money. The talent was the monetary measurement equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual daily wage of a working man—it was the minimum wage of the First Century. If a man worked six days a week with no time off, he could earn one talent in about 20 years.
Since we do not trade in either denarii or talents, let’s estimate dollar amounts for this parable. Minimum wage is $6.55 per hour, or just over $13,000 annually. This means that in 20 years, a minimum wage employee would make a little over $200,000.
Therefore, the servant who was entrusted with one talent actually received $260,000; the servant who was entrusted with two talents received $520,000; and the servant who was entrusted with five talents received $1.3 Million. All three of these servants were trusted to take care of large sums of money—a fortune.
The issue at stake here is not properly understood in the amount of money. The issue is how responsible, or faithful, were the servants with what they had received. At stake here is what the servants will do when no one is looking.
Since this is a parable about the coming judgment that teaches us how important it is for us to be ready, we might expect the story to tell us about a wealthy master and his TWO servants. But that is not the case at all. This is a story about a wealthy master and his THREE servants. We might expect the parable to illustrate its point by telling about one servant who was ready and one who was not ready. But with three servants, the story gets a little more complicated.
II. The Successful Servant.
We believe that the three servants were each highly respected and trusted members of their master’s workforce. However, we also believe that the master did not trust them equally. If the master had trusted all three servants equally, then he would have divided his wealth into three equal parts to distribute among the three. This servant was trusted more than any of the others and received the most money.
Then the servant went to work with his share of the money and invested it wisely. We don’t know what he did with the money. All we know is that he was willing to take a pretty big risk in order to double the money from $1.3 Million to $2.6 Million.
When the master returned, he was pleased that the servant had earned an additional $1.3 Million. He rewarded this servant by commending him in front of all the other servants and inviting him into the master’s happiness—perhaps this is a special celebration, or at least it is a special, joyful relationship between the master and the servant.
From the world’s point of view, this servant received the most money…he made the most money…Therefore he was the most successful of the three…Is this God’s same view of what it means to be successful?
III. The Excellent Servant.
This servant was trusted a little less than the first. He received a little less than half of what the first servant received.
Just like the first servant, this servant also went to work investing his master’s money. And the same thing happened. We don’t know how he invested it, but it doubled his money…$520,000 became $1 Million…
It is always good when you can double your money. But even after his investment has doubled, it is still less than half of what the first servant has…$520,000 became $1 Million…But that is a far cry from $2.6 Million dollars… This servant was not the most successful of the three, but he did do his best with what he had been given.
In the world’s eyes, this servant was not the most successful. But he definitely did an EXCELLENT job. If we call the first servant the Successful Servant, then perhaps we can call this servant the Excellent Servant.
What was the master looking for? Was he looking for Success? Superiority? If so, then only the first servant would have pleased him. Verse 23 clearly states the master’s pleasure with this servant.
Read Verse 23… Does that verse sound familiar? This is exactly the same reward the first servant received… Read Verse 21
Since these two verse are exactly alike, I believe this is the key to interpreting the parable. God has not called us to be the most successful. God has not called us to be better than everybody else. NO! God has called us to do the very best we can possibly do with the resources and gifts he has blessed us with.
IV. The Servant Who Failed.
We often look at this servant and think that he wasn’t trusted. In fact he was trusted and was blessed with 20 years worth of salary—$260,000 in today’s money.
He had the same amount of time and the same amount of opportunity to act responsibly with the master’s money. Yet he failed.
Why did this servant fail? Because he acted out of fear of his master… Read verses 24 – 25. The other 2 acted out of love for master, they wanted to please him. This servant was afraid and wanted nothing more than to save his own life.
He didn’t think about his master. He didn’t think about the other servants. He only thought about himself and how he could continue to live the life he had always wanted to live.
There are times when we act like this servant. Anytime we respond to God out of fear of punishment, we fail just like this servant failed. Anytime we give a tithe to the church so that God has his share and will not be angry, we fail like this servant.
But anytime we give 100% of our time, money, abilities, etc—out of a desire to please God, we succeed like the first two servants.
V. Conclusion: Faithfulness and Stewardship.
The words the master spoke to the first two servants were identical: “Well done good and faithful servant.” The words spoken to the other servant were different: “You wicked, lazy servant!” In fact, I would argue that we should interpret these words as opposites.
For example, it is obvious to us that wicked is the opposite of good. But how often do we think of lazy as the opposite of faithful?
When we read this parable literally, we learn about how Christians ought to be faithful with the financial resources God has given us. And that is an important lesson for us to hear and remember in our current economic situation.
However, we can also read this parable spiritually. Jesus is coming back. He hasn’t come back yet, but he is coming back. How will we live and work in the meantime? How will Jesus find us upon his return?
Will Jesus find us good and faithful? Or will Jesus find us wicked and lazy?
Again, notice that in verse 21 and verse 23, the master’s joy was the same in each case. God does not require us to be the most successful. God is pleased with us when we are faithful, or excellent, with what we have been given.
The parable provides a good lesson in stewardship. Stewardship is an old KJV word which describes the concept of a person of lesser social standing taking care of the property of a person of a higher social standing. It is the same concept in our relationship with God. God does not need our money, our abilities, our time, etc… However, he asks that we use them for his glory and his kingdom until he returns.
God asks that we be faithful stewards. God honors us for our excellence in service. God does not demand that we advance to the top.
What has God entrusted to your care? I didn’t ask how much or what you thought you deserved. What are you doing with God’s gifts to you? Are you faithful, responsible, excellent enough to be trusted with more?
Matthew 25: 14 - 30.
I. Introduction.
How should Christians respond to a struggling economy? What about the church? How should our church respond to the economic pressures we are facing?
I told you a week ago that the church is not exempt from economic woes. We depend on all our members to give voluntarily to support the work of the church. We don’t send you a bill every month. We don’t turn your family over to a collection agency if you have missed a payment. However, we do experience financial ups and downs as the economy goes up and down.
But Christians are not like the rest of the world. We are not like those who have no hope. We don’t worship the “golden bull” of Wall Street. We worship Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust cannot destroy.
If our greatest treasure is a heavenly treasure, then we ought to face economic uncertainty differently than the rest of the world. I have already answered the question for us this morning, but it is worth repeating. How should Christians respond to a struggling economy? How should our church respond? We should respond by being faithful to the work Jesus left us to do.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we read a story Jesus told us about being faithful.
Read Matthew 25: 14 – 30
Matthew 24 contains one of Jesus’ extended teachings known as the Eschatological Discourse. “Eschatological” is a word they teach us in seminary. Specifically, they teach us never to use words like “eschatological” in our sermons. It basically means, “end times.” Therefore, we ought to read this section of Scripture with the knowledge that Jesus is teaching us about the “end times.”
This does not mean Jesus gave us a timetable or a checklist to follow. No. Jesus never told us exactly what we could expect at the end of time. Rather, Jesus simply taught us two things. On one hand, the world we live in will not last forever. It is temporary and by nature will one day come to an end. On the other hand, Jesus taught us that we would have to wait. In fact, this is the primary thing Jesus taught us about the end of the created order. It will not happen when we think it will happen. We need to be prepared to wait for the end to come.
Throughout all Christian history, we can find evidence of men and women who thought they knew more about the end of the world than Jesus knew. Men and women have made predictions. And each time, those predictions have proven false. Perhaps if we spent more time listening to Jesus’ actual teachings about the end of the world, we might actually follow his advice. Wait. Be patient. Stay busy.
This parable is one of five parables in this section of the Gospel of Matthew. These parables are part of a longer discourse, spoken by Jesus to teach his disciples about the coming day of judgment. In Matthew 24: 3, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them the signs of the time so that they would know when the final judgment would come. But Jesus surprised everyone in Matthew 24: 36, by saying that there were no signs. He said, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
The five parables all focus on several common themes.
1. Judgment Day is really coming…It will come suddenly and unexpectedly.
2. It seems that judgment has been delayed by the master staying in a foreign country longer than anyone expected.
3. The characters in the parables are divided into two groups…Those who are ready…Those who are not ready…
4. Those who are ready will be rewarded in judgment.
5. Those who are not ready will be punished in judgment.
The theme of this parable is “Being Ready” for the Lord’s return. The parable defines readiness as “Responsibility”—especially responsibility with the Lord’s resources while he is not physically present on earth.
The master entrusted his own money to his servants so they could take care of it while he was away. He gave to each one according to his ability. Therefore, the fact that he gave five talents to one, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third indicates that he trusted them differently. He trusted one more than the others and one less than the others.
Many have interpreted this parable in terms of human abilities because of the use of the English word “talent.” However, this parable is actually about money. The talent was the monetary measurement equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual daily wage of a working man—it was the minimum wage of the First Century. If a man worked six days a week with no time off, he could earn one talent in about 20 years.
Since we do not trade in either denarii or talents, let’s estimate dollar amounts for this parable. Minimum wage is $6.55 per hour, or just over $13,000 annually. This means that in 20 years, a minimum wage employee would make a little over $200,000.
Therefore, the servant who was entrusted with one talent actually received $260,000; the servant who was entrusted with two talents received $520,000; and the servant who was entrusted with five talents received $1.3 Million. All three of these servants were trusted to take care of large sums of money—a fortune.
The issue at stake here is not properly understood in the amount of money. The issue is how responsible, or faithful, were the servants with what they had received. At stake here is what the servants will do when no one is looking.
Since this is a parable about the coming judgment that teaches us how important it is for us to be ready, we might expect the story to tell us about a wealthy master and his TWO servants. But that is not the case at all. This is a story about a wealthy master and his THREE servants. We might expect the parable to illustrate its point by telling about one servant who was ready and one who was not ready. But with three servants, the story gets a little more complicated.
II. The Successful Servant.
We believe that the three servants were each highly respected and trusted members of their master’s workforce. However, we also believe that the master did not trust them equally. If the master had trusted all three servants equally, then he would have divided his wealth into three equal parts to distribute among the three. This servant was trusted more than any of the others and received the most money.
Then the servant went to work with his share of the money and invested it wisely. We don’t know what he did with the money. All we know is that he was willing to take a pretty big risk in order to double the money from $1.3 Million to $2.6 Million.
When the master returned, he was pleased that the servant had earned an additional $1.3 Million. He rewarded this servant by commending him in front of all the other servants and inviting him into the master’s happiness—perhaps this is a special celebration, or at least it is a special, joyful relationship between the master and the servant.
From the world’s point of view, this servant received the most money…he made the most money…Therefore he was the most successful of the three…Is this God’s same view of what it means to be successful?
III. The Excellent Servant.
This servant was trusted a little less than the first. He received a little less than half of what the first servant received.
Just like the first servant, this servant also went to work investing his master’s money. And the same thing happened. We don’t know how he invested it, but it doubled his money…$520,000 became $1 Million…
It is always good when you can double your money. But even after his investment has doubled, it is still less than half of what the first servant has…$520,000 became $1 Million…But that is a far cry from $2.6 Million dollars… This servant was not the most successful of the three, but he did do his best with what he had been given.
In the world’s eyes, this servant was not the most successful. But he definitely did an EXCELLENT job. If we call the first servant the Successful Servant, then perhaps we can call this servant the Excellent Servant.
What was the master looking for? Was he looking for Success? Superiority? If so, then only the first servant would have pleased him. Verse 23 clearly states the master’s pleasure with this servant.
Read Verse 23… Does that verse sound familiar? This is exactly the same reward the first servant received… Read Verse 21
Since these two verse are exactly alike, I believe this is the key to interpreting the parable. God has not called us to be the most successful. God has not called us to be better than everybody else. NO! God has called us to do the very best we can possibly do with the resources and gifts he has blessed us with.
IV. The Servant Who Failed.
We often look at this servant and think that he wasn’t trusted. In fact he was trusted and was blessed with 20 years worth of salary—$260,000 in today’s money.
He had the same amount of time and the same amount of opportunity to act responsibly with the master’s money. Yet he failed.
Why did this servant fail? Because he acted out of fear of his master… Read verses 24 – 25. The other 2 acted out of love for master, they wanted to please him. This servant was afraid and wanted nothing more than to save his own life.
He didn’t think about his master. He didn’t think about the other servants. He only thought about himself and how he could continue to live the life he had always wanted to live.
There are times when we act like this servant. Anytime we respond to God out of fear of punishment, we fail just like this servant failed. Anytime we give a tithe to the church so that God has his share and will not be angry, we fail like this servant.
But anytime we give 100% of our time, money, abilities, etc—out of a desire to please God, we succeed like the first two servants.
V. Conclusion: Faithfulness and Stewardship.
The words the master spoke to the first two servants were identical: “Well done good and faithful servant.” The words spoken to the other servant were different: “You wicked, lazy servant!” In fact, I would argue that we should interpret these words as opposites.
For example, it is obvious to us that wicked is the opposite of good. But how often do we think of lazy as the opposite of faithful?
When we read this parable literally, we learn about how Christians ought to be faithful with the financial resources God has given us. And that is an important lesson for us to hear and remember in our current economic situation.
However, we can also read this parable spiritually. Jesus is coming back. He hasn’t come back yet, but he is coming back. How will we live and work in the meantime? How will Jesus find us upon his return?
Will Jesus find us good and faithful? Or will Jesus find us wicked and lazy?
Again, notice that in verse 21 and verse 23, the master’s joy was the same in each case. God does not require us to be the most successful. God is pleased with us when we are faithful, or excellent, with what we have been given.
The parable provides a good lesson in stewardship. Stewardship is an old KJV word which describes the concept of a person of lesser social standing taking care of the property of a person of a higher social standing. It is the same concept in our relationship with God. God does not need our money, our abilities, our time, etc… However, he asks that we use them for his glory and his kingdom until he returns.
God asks that we be faithful stewards. God honors us for our excellence in service. God does not demand that we advance to the top.
What has God entrusted to your care? I didn’t ask how much or what you thought you deserved. What are you doing with God’s gifts to you? Are you faithful, responsible, excellent enough to be trusted with more?
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