Jesus'
Parable of the Three Stewards
Matthew 25:14-30By Gary
DeLashmutt
Teaching t08787
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Introduction
Briefly reiterate the theme of these three parables—what will happen when
Jesus returns to establish God's kingdom. As we saw last week, since Jesus
is returning we need to be ready for his return. The parable of the ten virgins
explained part of what it means to be ready (to establish a personal relationship
with Jesus before then). The next parable (the three stewards) explores further
what it means to be ready. This parable presents us with a perspective on
life that is radically different from what our culture teaches us. Let's take
a close look at each section of this parable (along with related scripture) and
explore this perspective in detail. We are stewards of God's resources.Read
25:14,15a. The owner of this estate was a multimillionaire. A “talent”
was a weight measure of silver worth roughly ten years' wages for a laborer (approximately
$500,000 today). Since he was going on a long journey, he entrusted all of his
liquid resources to ($4 million) three of his slaves according to his evaluation
of their financial savvy. The slaves were stewards—managers of his estate. It's
not difficult to understand how this situation corresponds to God's kingdom: We
are stewards of God's resources. The man clearly represents God (or Jesus).
Psalm 24:1 (read) declares that because God has created everything in the world,
he is its rightful owner. The stewards represent us—not owners (as our culture
teaches), but managers of God's resources. This is doubly true for us since God
has not only created us—he has also redeemed us through Jesus' costly death
(1 Corinthians 6:19b-20a). The talents represent whatever resources
God has entrusted to us (not only money and material goods, but intelligence,
physical and natural abilities, spiritual gifts, opportunities of all kinds, etc.).
Everything else in the parable flows from this basic premise. God gives
us considerable freedom (during this life) on how we manage his resources.Read
25:15b. The master didn't micro-manage these stewards. He didn't call them every
day or make them check in every week. He didn't send people back to check on them
periodically. He entrusted his wealth to them and they could do whatever they
wanted with his money while he was gone. This also corresponds to our situation:
God gives us considerable freedom (during this life) on how we manage his resources.
He entrusts us with incredible resources, and he gives us an amazing amount of
freedom to do whatever we want with them. The actions of the stewards during the
master's absence represent the two main ways we can manage God's resources.
Read 25:16-17. Two of them understood that they were stewards of a good and
generous master. They therefore got busy immediately and invested his money to
eventually gain a 100% return for him. This represents God's will for our
lives. He wants us to know him as the generous giver he is, and to realize that
he has given us the privilege of being his stewards. He wants us to use the amazing
freedom he gives us to creatively and diligently managing all the resources he
entrusts to us to advance his kingdom. How can you do this? There is no formula,
but here are some steps that will take you a long way down this path: Receive
Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. This is the most foundational step:
to bow to God as your Creator and to bow again to Jesus as your Savior. Give
your whole life to Christ. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago. Since
God has demonstrated his mercy through Christ, it only makes sense to voluntarily
present every aspect of your life to him, to be used in his service as he sees
fit. Learn God's kingdom priorities from his Word. The Word will
not only reveal God's priorities to you—it will also motivate you to love
them and live for them. Ask God for insight and guidance on your unique
stewardship role. Both generally (“Lord, guide my life into what you want
me to do”) and in each area of resources (“Show me how you want me to
manage your money”). Be involved with other faithful Christian stewards.
As models, they will inspire you to live this way. And they will give you much
wisdom on how to be an effective steward. Be faithful to the responsibilities
God gives you (outreach, financial giving, helping younger Christians, etc.).
God's willingness to expand your steward's role is contingent to this (Luke 16:10;
1 Corinthians 4:2). Regard this as a sacred trust versus “if I have
time for it.” Most American Christians are more faithful to their hobbies
than to the ministry God has entrusted to them! None of us
is perfect in this—I know I continue to waste God's resources more than I
would like. But the key question is: Are you moving in this direction? Are you
developing a stewardship conscience? As you move in this direction,
God will gradually grant you more and more guidance on your unique stewardship
role, and he will grant you more and more stewardship responsibility. And you
will experience an increasing sense of purpose and satisfaction because your life
is being invested in the one thing that has eternal significance—God's kingdom! Read
25:18. The third steward did not do this. For reasons that will come out later,
he simply buried his master's money in the ground. He rejected his stewardship.
And of course, this is what our culture tells us to do. “You are the
sovereign owner of all you control, and you have the right to use your resources
to advance your own agenda.” And during this life, God gives you the freedom
to operate as an owner. You can use your God-given financial resources to amass
things solely for your own pleasure. You can use your God-given intelligence and
beauty and natural talents to get people to praise and serve you. You can use
your God-given time and opportunities solely for play and recreation. But with
this freedom comes total responsibility and eventual accountability, as we will
see . . . When Jesus returns, he will call us to give
an account for how we used his resources.Read 25:19. The master was probably
gone longer than they expected—but the day came when he returned. And when
he returned, he brought the three stewards into his presence and said to them,
“Show me what you did with my money while I was gone.” In the same
way, the Bible clearly teaches that one day Jesus is coming back. And when
he returns, he will call us to account for how we used his resources (read
Romans 14:10,12). On that day, the philosophy of life that says that this
life is all that matters, and that we are accountable only to ourselves will
be exposed for the lie that it is. On that day, it will be clear that this life
was a preparation for the next life—and that Jesus' evaluation of our lives
will determine our place in the next life. On that day, those who were mocked
for wasting their lives as Jesus' stewards will be glad for everything they did
for him. And those who lived this life as owners will regret that they wasted
their lives (Mark 8:36). That is why Jesus often said, “The first shall
be last, and the last shall be first.” Jesus will richly reward those
who managed his resources well.Read 25:20-23. God is so generous. He offers
us a free gift of complete forgiveness and eternal life. Then he gives us the
privilege of being his stewards in this life and experiencing the excitement and
satisfaction of this way of life. And then to top it off, when Jesus returns he
will richly reward those who managed his resources well. Notice the three
ways he will do this. “Well done, good and faithful slave . . .”
The God of the universe, who deserves all praise, will praise and commend us!
God will create a “Hall of Fame” that details every way that we served
him and how that service contributed to his kingdom. God will bestow his “Medal
of Honor” on us that will mark us for all eternity. “ . . . you
were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things . . .”
Heaven will not be floating on clouds in a diaper strumming a harp. God's eternal
kingdom will involve work and progress and responsibility—without any of
the pain and drudgery of sin. Who will God put in charge of such awesome roles?
Those who have been faithful stewards in this life! “ . . . enter
into the joy of your master.” When a team wins a championship, who has the
greatest joy over it? It is the ones who gave themselves most to the goal before
the championship was won. In the same way, God will fill every believer's heart
to overflow with his joy on that day—but some will have greater capacity
for this than others. The more that we have allowed God to shape us as his stewards
in this life, the greater our capacity for entering into his joy in the next life. There
is another wonderful thing I want you to notice. Even though one of these stewards
presented his master with two and a half times more money than the other steward,
they received the exact same reward. In other words, God's basis for reward will
not be how we served him compared to others, but rather how faithful we were with
the resources he entrusted to us. It will totally fair in that sense.
This is one reason why Jesus says that on that day, “many who are first
will be last, and many who are last will be first.” There is an important
lesson here: Don't focus less on how your resources compare to others. That
will lead to arrogant apathy or to envious despair. Focus on how you can use
your resources for God's kingdom. Jesus will banish those
who reject minimal stewardship.Now we come to the third steward. Read
25:24-25. What a fascinating statement! In spite of the master's obvious generosity,
this steward accuses him of being a dangerous, grasping shyster. He then plops
the one talent down and blames his failure to invest it on how afraid his master
made him. The master's response exposes the steward as a liar
and reveals the true reasons for his failed stewardship. Read 25:26-27. He says
(see Luke 19:22), “If you really believed I was that way, you would have
at least put my money in the bank where it would be safe and gain interest. The
fact that you didn't do this proves that you are wicked (for maligning me) and
lazy (for failing to work for me).” We don't know what his plans were—we
just know that he really didn't know the master personally and that he refused
to be even a minimal steward. He then pronounces the steward's doom (read
25:28-30)—complete forfeiture of any role in his estate and (here Jesus goes
beyond the parable) eternal condemnation. We learn here that
Jesus will banish those who reject their minimal stewardship responsibility.
God is so gracious/generous that he requires very little on your part to admit
you into his eternal kingdom. He loves you so much that he has already done the
hard part by sending his Son to pay for your sins (John 3:16). But you do
have to admit that you need Christ and put your trust in him. If you do this,
God will receive you into his kingdom—even if you never do anything to serve
him after that (1 Corinthians 3:15). Maybe this is what “putting
my money in the bank” represents. But to refuse to do even
this is to say that God is not loving, or that you don't need his forgiveness.
And that something God cannot forgive. That is such a total rejection of your
stewardship that it will land you in hell unless you change your mind. If
you've never “put it in the bank” by receiving Christ, why not do so today?
Copyright
2001 Gary DeLashmutt
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