The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen: Working the Fields while the Master is Away

"Once, a man said, "If I had some extra money, I'd give it to God, but I have just enough to support myself and my family." And the same man said, "If I had some extra time, I'd give it to God, but every minute is taken up with my job, my family, my clubs, and what have you--every single minute." And the same man said, "If I had a talent I'd give it to God, but I have no lovely voice; I have no special skill; I've never been able to lead a group; I can't think cleverly or quickly, the way I would like to."

And God was touched, and although it was unlike him, God gave that man money, time, and a glorious talent. And then He waited, and waited, and waited.....And then after a while, He shrugged His shoulders, and He took all those things right back from the man, the money, the time and the glorious talent. After a while, the man sighed and said, "If I only had some of that money back, I'd give it to God. If I only had some of that time, I'd give it to God. If I could only rediscover that glorious talent, I'd give it to God."

And God said, "Oh, shut up."

And the man told some of his friends, "You know, I'm not so sure that I believe in God anymore."
-God is No Fool, 1969, Abindgon Press.

We’ve talked a great deal about stewardship, and using our gifts for God. That’s vital to understand. Your giftings are entrusted to you by God. And you must make use of them for his glory. But more so, we’re his legal representatives on Earth, God actually making our appeal to humanity through us, his church, that is a great responsibility. In fact, it’s much more than what we might realize.

I think this story quite well illustrates this point.

“So when man finds Jesus, it costs him everything. Jesus has happiness, joy, peace, healing, security, eternity. Man marvels at such a pearl and says, 'I want this pearl. How much does it cost?"

"The seller says, 'it's too dear, too costly.'

"But how much?'

"Well, it's very expensive.'

"Do you think I could buy it?'

"It costs everything you have -- no more, no less -- so anybody can buy it.'

"I'll buy it.'

"What do you have? Let's write it down.'

"I have $10,000 in the bank.'

"Good, $10,000. What else?'

"I have nothing more. That's all I have.'

"Have you nothing more?'

"Well, I have some dollars here in my pocket.'

"How many?'

"I'll see: Thirty, forty, fifty, eighty, one hundred, one hundred twenty -- one hundred twenty dollars.'

"That's fine. What else do you have?'

"I have nothing else. That's all.'

"Where do you live?"

"I live in my house.'

"The house, too.'

"Then you mean I must live in the garage?'

"Have you a garage, too? That, too. What else?'

"Do you mean that I must live in my car, then?'

"Have you a car?'

"I have two.'

"Both become mine. Both cars. What else?'

"Well, you have my house, the garage, the cars, the money, everything.'

"What else?'

"Are you alone in the world?'

"No, I have a wife, two children...'

"Your wife and children, too.'

"Too?'

"Yes, everything you have. What else?'

"I have nothing else, I am left alone now."

"Oh, you too! Everything becomes mine -- wife, children, house, money, cars -- everything. And you too. Now you can use all those things here but don't forget they are mine, as you are. When I need any of the things you are using, you must give them to me because now I am the owner." -Juan Carlos Ortiz, Call to Discipleship, (Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1975), pp. 42,43.

So too is a similar theme in our parable today. Our parable today is from Matthew chapter 21, the parable of the tenants, also called the parable of the wicked husbandmen, or the parable of the bad tenants.

It occurs in Matthew, but also is listed in Mark and Luke as well. So it must be very important, for it to be listed in each of the three gospels that list the parables of Jesus.

Our context is that Jesus has entered Jerusalem, in an event called the triumphal entry of Jesus. So Jesus is at the capital city of Israel. He is teaching in the temple, Herod’s temple, which was the second temple, reconstructed after Babylon had destroyed the first temple.

Jesus had carefully avoided Jerusalem, and avoided large crowds, but Jesus is teaching now in front of what must be hundreds and hundreds of people, and many Pharisees and Sadducees, after having just cleared the temple of the money changers and sellers. He taught there in the temple, healing people as well. Then he left the city, stayed in Bethany, and came back the next day, continuing to teach, included in these teachings, the parable we see today.

So let’s dig into the parable today, it begins this way: 33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.”

Fairly simple, we have a landowner, he setup a vineyard, and rented it out to tenants to produce his fruit, the fruit that belongs to him. He entrusts it to these people.

Understand that these people represent Israel, and in particular the religious leaders of Israel. It continues:

35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

Throughout the history of Israel, God had sent prophets to call the nation, it’s people, it’s leaders to repentance and to walk closely with God, he had sent people like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah, Elisha, many others, and they were persecuted by the leaders of Israel, often bullied, and even killed.

Jesus continues and he says, 40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

Prophetic word from Jesus in this parable because he says he’ll deal harshly with the tenants who mistreated his prophets and himself. And he’ll lend the vineyard out to others who would what, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time, who will produce the fruit he requires of them.

Jesus was prophesying that the kingdom of God would pass over from Israel to the gentiles. Lucky for us, right? And indeed the gospel of Jesus Christ has spread throughout the gentile nations, from China to Russia to the Philippines to Kenya and the Sudan, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States.

Our job, as Christians has been, to care for the vineyard that belongs to Jesus while he’s away, leading people everywhere to their savior. That is the fruit required of us.

Additionally, we see Jesus quotes psalm 118, the stones the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

We don’t have time to delve deep into that, but suffice to say, the cornerstone sets the standard for every stone in the foundation of a structure, vital to every other piece of the structure, though Christ was rejected by Israel, he became the cornerstone of the body of believers today.

The parable concludes this way: 43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.”

We are the people who will produce it’s fruit, the fruit of the kingdom of God. That’s us in this parable. Israel rejected Christ. So the stewardship passed to us. That is a great responsibility. And a great blessing. It’s not easy. But it’s not too hard either. Tenants know how to care for a vineyard. Sometimes we can think the work of God is just so far beyond us. That’s not true. His yoke is easy, his burden is light. God gets us. He gives us work we are able to complete. And it’s good. It’s a bright harvest. Have you ever seen a ripe grape vine? It’s bursting forth with fruit.

That’s our calling, to humbly serve God, and care for the vineyard. Are you trustworthy with this great calling?

That is our great challenge today.

So how do we apply this parable to our time today? Clearly Jesus gave this parable to rebuke the Pharisees and Sadducees, and even Israel itself for failing to adequately care for God’s vineyard, in fact, they sought to steal it for themselves and their own glory. And when God sent servants to them, they persecuted them. God sent his only son to them, they murdered him and tried to steal the inheritance for themselves.

Isn’t that exactly what the Pharisees and Sadducees did? When God’s own son came to them in human form, they murdered him to keep the power and authority and respect they had. We have things in this world. And how often do we refuse Jesus some sort of access to what we have? Or, how often we have some theology that we like, and we twist God’s word just a little, because we want it to be our way, and not his way, because his way seems just a bit too hard, just a bit too mean, just a bit too angry? I’ve done that in the past. I prefer this. So I’m going to ignore what I don’t like. I want it this way. And we become just a little bit of a Pharisee in our hearts when we do that. Be cautious, all our abundance in the USA, it makes us arrogant and presumptuous. How often have we resisted the truth? How often have we taken our own ways? Stay humble.

Your duty is to the King’s vineyard. And the King is not messing around. Stay sober about your stewardship. I have struggled at times, with my mindset, getting too lazy, too focused on what I want, too self-centered. Even more, cavalier about sin. Sometimes I think God made me a minister because I’m so bad at this I need the extra help and focus of constantly being in God’s word. I don’t know that there's any sin that I’ve not tried or found myself uniquely weak toward. Have a sober fear for the Lord, and a sense of the seriousness of our duty as Christians. I will tell you that many, many, many Christians I’ve known do not take this thing seriously at all. They treat it like it’s sort of optional, just if I feel like I’ll do that, I’ll live that way, kinda, but I’m gonna hang on to my old ways, one foot in the world, one foot in the church. And that doesn’t work, plain and simple.

My only goal in life now, is to be found a faithful steward of the vineyard of God. Make that your goal too.

Instructions for Celebrating a 30 minute Christianized Seder Passover Meal

Jews across the ages have celebrated the Seder meal to celebrate the Passover when God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to the promised land. 

We Christians have indeed found the ultimate Passover as we are delivered from the wrath of God by the precious blood of Jesus Christ our savior.  

This is a brief 30 minute Messianic Seder Meal Plan. Feel free to modify as the Spirit leads. 

FORMAT:
Welcome – Opening Prayer

-Explain the Seder meal - The Seder meal is designed to remind us of the Israelites’ experience of Egyptian slavery, and how God redeemed them from Egypt. The Seder shows us that the Passover holiday is a commemoration of both suffering and joy. The Passover is also about celebrating becoming God's chosen.

As Christians we can celebrate this special ceremony, and let it remind us of how Jesus Christ became our Passover sacrifice, which delivers us from sin and judgment, and into love, acceptance, holiness and purity.

To begin, we light the candles. And we pray: “May all who are enslaved throughout the world come to know freedom. May all who are free, appreciate the blessings of abundance. And may all of us dwell in the house of God and give thanks for our good fortune as we celebrate these rituals of Passover.”

“Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Creator of the universe, who gave us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season of joy.”

The Grape Juice is served. 

Blessing over the Grape Juice:

“Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Creator of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.”

The Story of Passover

This matzah is a symbol of affliction and poverty. The story of Passover tells us about the hardships and suffering that our ancestors endured. It reminds us of those who are in need today, so we say: “whoever is hungry, come share our food-and celebrate Passover. To those who are poor or oppressed; we pray for them and hope that the comin year will bring a better life for all.”

The Questions:

Why is this night different from all the other nights?

In what ways do you find this night different?

In 4 ways do I find this night different

On all other nights we may eat chametz and matzah but on this night, only matzah.

On all other nights we eat many vegetables, but on this night only maror.

On all other nights, we don’t dip even once, but on this night we dip twice.

On all other nights, we eat either sitting up or reclining, but on this night, we all recline.

Serve the flat bread. 

Taste the bread, it reminds us that when the Israelites prepared to leave Egyptian slavery for the promised land they could not make normal bread, but they made flat bread, to carry with them in their bags more easily. And I want you to break the bread before you eat it. It reminds us that Jesus Christ body had to be broken for us, broken to give us new life, broken because of our sins, broken to give us wholeness. Take it and eat.

Serve the Horseradish.

Horseradish (bitter herbs) Taste the bitter herbs that remind us of the bitter affliction of slavery in Egypt. And our past slavery to sin before Christ saved us.

Serve the Parsley with salt water to dip in. 

Taste the parsley dipped in salt water. Taste it remember the bitter tears of God’s people shed when they were enslaved. And it reminds us today of the bitter tears of our slavery to sin and death, before Jesus saved us. It reminds us of the tears Jesus wept in the garden of Gethsemane.  And the tears of our afflictions as we walk the road of Jesus in this life, carrying our crosses daily.

Serve the Haroseth.

Taste the haroseth. The mud the Israelite slaves had to use to make bricks to build the wealth of Egypt for the pharaoh. It also reminds us as Christians of the dust that we came from, the dirt of sin that we once dwelled in, and how Jesus saved us from the mud and filth of sin through which we deserved destruction.

Present the bone.

View the bone, hold it. It represents the Passover lamb, that was slaughtered by the Israelites on the night that the angel of death came throughout Egypt, killing the first born sons of the Egyptians, but passing over the doors of those who had slaughtered the Passover lamb and placed it's blood on their doors. 

In the same way Jesus became our Passover lamb so that the wrath of God would Passover us, because we are washed in the blood of Jesus. Not a single bone of Jesus was broken when he was nailed to the cross. 

Serve the eggs.

Taste the egg, it reminds us of springtime, the springtime of a new day for Israel as God led them out of Egypt and toward the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And as Christians it reminds us of new life, because we have been born again, like a chick is born, born new, of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus our savior. It reminds us of the empty tomb, that Jesus Christ rose again from the grave to give us new life. 

Closing Prayer:
Thank you God, for all the favors you have bestowed upon us! You led us out of Egypt, slavery, and oppression. You brought the plagues against the Egyptians, slew their firstborn, and brought us their wealth.

You split open the red sea, then drowned our oppressors. Thank you for taking care of us in the desert for 40 years. You fed us manna, gave us sabbath, then brought us to mount Sinai to give us the Torah and your commandments. Thank you, oh God, for bringing us to the Land of Israel, making us a great nation.

And thank you God for sending Jesus Christ, born to the virgin Mary. Thank you God for how he healed the sick and the lame. Thank you God that he spoke the truth, and gave us bread from heaven, his own flesh and blood. Thank you that he was crushed for us on the cross, to remove our sins, and give us new life. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who dwells with us now. Thank you that Jesus Christ will return to set up his kingdom on this Earth one day soon.

Names of God: Jehovah-rophe, God our Healer in the Bitter Waters of the Wilderness

"Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. 23 When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).

24 Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 25 So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.

It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”

27 After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water." -Exodus 15:22-27

A people had been shackled for so long, broken under the whip, they must’ve lost so much hope, figured nothing could change, that happens in life, when we get stuck, for years even, more, we start to lose hope and start to think I’m never getting out of here. I’m never getting better. I’m never getting over this. We lose hope and it seems impossible. Time has a way of doing that doesn’t it? Waking up.. having coffee, going through the day, trying to survive life, sitting alone at home, watching tv, not liking ourselves in our own skin. Things we wish were different but they won’t change. How much more so for Israel, in abject slavery for so long.

How could they believe that things would ever change? But then something happened so fast. Something that seemed so completely impossible, and then it just suddenly happens.

How much can we all relate to that? When God saved us, and changed us, how long had we waited, how long had we given up hope? For me it was years.

It feels like nothing will change. Then it suddenly does. And you can hardly believe it.

What did the Israelites think, as they walked on the bottom of red sea, on the dirt at the bottom of the sea, with walls of water on both sides. Did they look with awe and think, this isn’t happening, this can’t be happening, we’ve been slaves so long. How can this be? And yet its happening.

Israel had seen all the miracles of God, they saw the plagues fall on Egypt, and Passover them, they were kept safe, and yet, as they headed into the wilderness, into the desert, millions of people together in the desert, they traveled three days and three nights, not finding any water.

Think about that though, the human body can only survive three days without. I’m sure they probably had some water along with them, but not enough for so many millions to survive on.

But that would be scary, imagine not having water for 3 days, we can’t imagine not having water for one day. And our scripture today says God did that specifically to test them.

Then they find an oasis in the desert. And I’m sure they’re all so relieved at that moment, they see the palm trees, the grass, the waters, and think oh praise the Lord we found water.

Often times, this is the moment God will test us. I want you to see this in your own life. This is the moment we all face from time to time.

It looks like something good is about to happen. We can see it. We approach it. And suddenly it’s pulled away from us. It’s gone again.

Even the FBI and law enforcement understand this concept. With one journalist, who had gained access to classified information, and refused to give up the source, they arrested her, and put her in jail. Very scary experience. Shes in tears in her bed in jail afraid, of the inmates, counting the days, and she’s in there for several months. And finally she gets word, shes going to be released.

She is so relieved, so happy, shes won, they’ve relented, she gets her stuff together, gets out the doors, goes home to celebrate with family, as soon as she gets home, the police arrive, and re-arrest her. And she’s back in. They would do that strategically to weigh on the emotional faculties of the individual, with the goal of recovering the confidential information.

Something similar you could say is happening here. They arrive at marah. And they gather around the pool. And they realize, the waters are bitter, they are poisonous, no one can drink the waters. They are in big trouble.

The people go crazy and complain to Moses, what are we going to do? We’re going to die in the desert. We laugh at the Israelites thinking why don’t they trust God? But how often do we do the same thing? Where is our faith when life is hard?

It even says the people began to turn against Moses, like outright rebellion. What is your response when you thought you had finally found hope and it’s taken away again? We go through that don’t we. We have to try and respond better than the people who rebelled against Moses. Can we respond with faith when everything is taken away and we’re left back at square one?

Then we see that Moses calls out to God. And God answers. God shows Moses a tree, a branch, wood, and he tosses it into the water, and the bitter waters became pure. God was testing them. How would they respond? They responded with rebellion.

Then it says in verse 25-27: "It was there at Marah that the LORD set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the LORD who heals you.”

27 After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water."

Despite marah being bitter, just near by the was the oasis of Elim with twelve springs, one spring for every tribe of Israel. Amazing.

But this is where we find our name of God for today, God said I am the Lord who heals you, Jehovah-rophe.

The bitter water of marah really to us represents how we are marred in sin. We are marah, marred in sin, bitter in sin, dirty, undrinkable, filthy, covered in sin.

And just as Moses tossed the tree into the waters, we must come to a tree to be saved, the tree of the cross of Jesus Christ. Then there Jesus heals us and makes us new, as pure as the waters of marah that were purified by God through Moses.

The Lord says I am the Lord who heals you. Jehovah rophe. Only God can heal us. Only God can turn our bitter waters pure. Who else could do such a thing? There was no solution before to our problem. Only God could solve it.

The people continue to rebel against Moses in their journey through the wilderness, and many were bitten by snakes and became sick from the poison. But God made a way for them to be healed, he had Moses craft a bronze snake, and lift it up on a pole, and the people would look upon it and be healed. And Jesus compared these events to himself, when he spoke to Nicodemus and he said, just as Moses lifted up that bronze pole in the desert so also the son of man must be lifted up, on the cross, so that everyone who believes may have eternal life. (John 3:14-15).

He is the healer in the Old Testament. And Jesus became our healer in the New testament. Jesus traveled near and far healing people who were lepers, healing people with deformities, healing people who couldn’t walk, who couldn’t see, and healing broken hearts, driving out demons, and speaking the truth. God is our healer.

Yet God also tests us, just like Israel at the waters of Marah. He purifies us like gold, removing the impurities. And these tests show what’s really in our hearts. And show the work that God is doing and the progress being made as he conforms us to the likeness of Jesus. But it all starts of God. Of us recognizing we can’t fix the problem ourselves, but must turn to God our healer to make us well.

That is your challenge today. To Turn to Him for your help, and not rely on self to cleanse those filthy waters of your heart. Only God can do that. So invite him to. Admit your sinfulness, and receive Christ’s healing. He will also heal more than just your sins though. He will heal your physical health problems. He will heal your broken heart, your depression, your anxiety, your troubled emotions. Reach out to Him for healing. Also recognize he doesn’t always heal us right away. He often tests us. And allows us go through struggles to build our faith in Him. So if you’re in the wilderness, continue to trust God your healer, who is with you in the difficulties as well. Amen.

The Parable of the Talents: Well Done Good and Faithful Servant!

"Time is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all is possible; without it, nothing. The supply of time is truly a daily miracle, an affair genuinely astonishing when one examines it. You wake up in the morning, and lo! your purse is magically filled with twenty-four hours of the unmanufactured tissue of the universe of your life! It is yours. It is the most precious of possessions... No one can take it from you. It is not something that can be stolen. And no one receives either more or less than you receive. Moreover, you cannot draw on its future. Impossible to get into debt! You can only waste the passing moment. You cannot waste tomorrow; it is kept for you. You cannot waste the next hour; it is kept for you.

You have to live on this twenty-four hours of daily time. Out of it you have to spin health, pleasure, money, content, respect, and the evolution of your immortal soul. Its right use, its most effective use, is a matter of the highest urgency and of the most thrilling actuality. All depends on that. Your happiness -- the elusive prize that you are all clutching for, my friends -- depends on that.

If one cannot arrange that an income of twenty-four hours a day shall exactly cover all proper items of expenditure, one does muddle one's whole life indefinitely. We shall never have any more time. We have, and we have always had, all the time there is."
-Arnold Bennett, Bits & Pieces, March 4, 1993, p. 18-20.

Our Parable today occurs in the book of Matthew in the 25th chapter, just before our parable from last week, the parable of the sheep and the goats. In the chapter 25 as we talked about last week, we’re looking at parables in regard to the final judgment. This parable is no different. We’re being taught by Jesus here, how we should be prepared for his second coming.

At the beginning of the chapter, we see the parable of the ten virgins. Five are wise, and five are unwise, the wise are ready for Christ’s return, the unwise are not. In the parable of the sheep and goats, the sheep have served Jesus faithfully on the Earth by meeting the practical needs of those around them, the goats have not.

And in our parable today, we see servants of a master, some who are wise, and one who is not.

And the question we should each be asking ourselves is, as I make decisions in my life, and exercise my free will, which path am I choosing? Am I choosing the wise path or the dead end path? It all comes down to how we decide to respond to Christ and what he commands us to do and be.

Let’s take a look at our parable, from Matthew chapter 25, verses 14-30. As a side note, this parable also occurs in Luke 19:11–27, in a slightly different form.

The scripture says this: “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.”

Pause there. I’m reading from the NLT. The NIV renders it as “bags of gold” while the NASB renders it “talents.” I understand why the NIV and NLT are rendering it that way, but I want to consider the word talent. What is a talent? A “talent” or talentan in the Greek, was a unit of measurement for about 80 lbs, and in particular a talent was referencing a weight of 80 lbs of silver. That may be why the NIV renders it silver. But as a unit of currency, it would be referencing an amount of 6,000 denarii. To understand that value, one denarii in the ancient world was equal to one day’s wages. A single talent then, is actually valued at about 20 years of labor. So, say you made 30,000 a year, the amount of 1 talent would be $600,000.

So, it’s apparent what God gives us, is of extreme value. What does he give us? We’ll get there in a minute. But consider the amounts he’s giving, to the first servant, he gave 5 bags of silver, five talents, so if we’re going off our base scale here, 30,000 a year, about 2.5 million dollars.

I also want you to notice that it says he divided in it proportion to their abilities. Very important.

Then it says, “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money."

So the three servants make their various choices with the money they’ve been entrusted with, the first earned five more, the second two more, and the third hid the money. 

It continues, “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!

22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’
23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

The master was gone a long time, and in the parable of the talents in Luke, it’s similar, in fact the parable is explained as being told, because they were near Jerusalem, and many of them were expecting Jesus to immediately take power and overthrow the romans and claim his seat as king of the nation. And Jesus tells them the parable to explain how it’s actually going to work.

The master is gone a long time. Then, he finally returns, the moment we’re all waiting for. This is the moment I’m building my life for. I hope you are too. The moment when either you die of old age, or Jesus returns, whichever comes first, and we stand before God to explain our lives.

For the first two servants, this day is everything they could’ve hoped for. They received the money they were given, and made use of it in the world, and brought a return to their master.

They are returning double, they were given 2 talents, they returned 4 talents, they were given 5, they return 10.

It’s interesting though in Mark 4:20 in the parable of the soil, it says, "And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!””

Our harvest can be very plentiful indeed!

How does the master respond to the servants who have completed their mission? He says to them “well done good and faithful servant.” We as Christians sometimes we teach only one of those two qualifiers when we share the gospel. We say OK, you need to make sure you’re a faithful servant of Christ. Put your faith in God. Just have faith. We leave out the “good” part, and forget to call people to pure holy living. Other only teach the good part. Just focus on being good, check off the boxes, faith isn’t as important, do good works, be good, and you’ll be fine, we leave out faithful.

But Jesus says well done good and faithful servant. We protestants like to leave out the “good” part, well just believe in Jesus. No, believe in Jesus while perfecting holiness in reverence for God. Good and faithful servant.

The master continues and says, because you’ve been trustworthy in a little, I’ll put you in charge over much.

In fact in this parable in Luke, it says in verse 17, “17 “‘Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward.’ And for the second servant he says, you will be governor over five cities. That is a massive reward. From working with money and investing it, to being in charge of entire kingdoms. That is a huge gift.

It's a great reminder that Christ is watching to see how we’re trustworthy with the little we have in this life.

Alright we’re done, right? Everyone goes to heaven right? Everyone does the right thing. Many preachers today like to edit out the difficult parts of the scriptures, and they create an idol out of God when they do that. It’s disgusting, to twist the scripture to change God’s character to fit what we would prefer. What a shame that is, to twist God’s character to suit our wants and desires. That should offend you. It offends me. It offends God more so, and I would not want to be that preacher on judgment day, trying to explain to God why he twisted his character and only preached the feel good verses.

No, the parable doesn’t end there. There’s a third servant, let’s see what happens next.

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

The servant actually insults his master, calling him harsh, and basically insinuating that he didn’t do any of the work himself so why should he get the harvest kind of thing. Nasty, rude response. So he didn’t do anything with the money, he hid it underground and gave it back later.

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
-Matthew 25:26–30

I think we get a clue to what Jesus is talking about in verse 29 he says to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.

I think there is a temptation to take what Jesus has given us, our time, our talents, our abilities, our wealth, and to hide it away. We’re afraid we wont do a good job, that we’ll play off key, that we won’t do it right, that we’ll fail, so we just don’t do anything at all with it. We’re afraid to, of God, and of how he’ll view our work. So we just hide it away and don’t use it.

And for that servant they are called wicked and lazy. The opposite of good and faithful. Instead of good, wicked. Instead of faithful, lazy. Good to know the opposite so we can avoid it.

There will be accountability for those who fail to serve Christ in this life. If we reject his calls to service, if we don’t use the gifts he’s given us, we’ll be held accountable.

And if we do use those gifts and talents for His glory, we will be rewarded. It even says, that the master says, let’s celebrate, he’s so happy, he throws a party for them, because they did well, he says let’s celebrate.

Time to celebrate. Time for perfect existence. Time for a garden perpetual. A garden unending. A peace that never ends. Time to wander the streets of gold, the valleys of golden wheat, the blue mountains, the endless houses, and parties and get togethers and worship times, the moments so balmy they seem like euphoric dreams. The joy and contentment so sweet, sweeter than any dessert, magic nights in the city of God, talking on porches, running and playing with animals, flying through the sky to view the beauty, seeing the infinite God taller than a skyscraper, parts of him moving in and out and shifting and spinning wheels and creatures and angels crying out, and a rainbow, and a sea of glass shifting in the air, glowing stones, lightning and thunder, clouds, and glory, everyday, perfect life, perfect joy, no more controversy, no more rebellion, no more sin.

Well done good and faithful servant. You don’t need me to tell you about talents you know what yours are, use them build for that future which is more real than this life, more real than anything in this world, is that future. Make sure you spend your eternity there build now for there. Amen.