Introduction: The order of the lessons is backwards, right? We
enjoyed the lesson about the weekly day of rest, then we learned
about that eternal vacation, Heaven. Last week we started to get
back to work with “discipleship,” and now (horrors) “stewardship!”
Shouldn’t we be ending on a rising note? Or, is stewardship a rising
note? Whenever some official shows up at my church to discuss
stewardship, it almost always means they want more money or more work
out of me. But, I think we will discover this week that the Bible has
a more positive approach to the idea. Let’s plunge into our Bible
study and learn what is great about stewardship!
- Winning at Life
- Read Matthew 25:14-15. On what basis did the master give
more money to one servant than another? Was it just
favoritism? (No. The servants varied in their natural
abilities. He gave the servant with more natural ability
more money.) - Was that unfair? Shouldn’t everyone get the same
amount of money? - Or, was it unfair to the servant with more
natural talent because he now had a greater
challenge? - Read Matthew 25:16-18. Is there any argument in favor of
the approach of the “one talent” guy? What about the
recent fall of the stock market? What about the worries
over our banking institutions? Might not a hole in the
ground be the safest way to conserve capital? - Is there any reason to believe that the one talent
fellow was not proceeding in good faith? (Yes. If the
master wanted his money preserved by hiding it, he
could have hidden it himself – and not taken the risk
of letting the one talent guy know where it was.) - Read Matthew 25:19-23. Why does the guy who only produced
two more talents get the same praise as the guy who
produced five more talents? Is that fair? (They both
doubled what was given to them. This shows that, since the
master allocated the money based on natural ability, the
master does not impose a penalty for a lack of natural
talent. The question is not what talents you have at
birth, the question is what you do with your talents.) - Read Matthew 25:24. This reveals the mind-set of the one
talent fellow. Why does he call his master names (“hard
man”)? - Isn’t it true that one person should not make a
profit from the hard work of another person? Isn’t
this called “exploitation?” - Read Matthew 25:25. Wait, has the one talent man changed
his story? (Yes! He is now claiming he was fearful. First
he claims his master is a capitalist, and then he claims
fear.) - Read Matthew 25:26-27. How does the master analyze the
problem? Is the one-talent guy fearful? Does he have a
legitimate complaint about capitalists? (The master calls
him “wicked and lazy.”) - Is the master right about him being “wicked?” I
thought the one-talent guy was claiming a moral
objection. (So much for the idea that capitalism is
evil in God’s eye! The “wicked” term no doubt has to
do with the servant having an obligation to advance
the cause of the master. “Lazy” applies because he
did almost nothing.) - Read Matthew 25:28-30. Why should the ten-talent guy get
the little money that the one-talent guy has? Now, the
ten-talent guy has “an abundance” while the one-talent guy
has nothing. Is this fair? (We will compound the mystery
in the next section when we read Matthew 25:34-40.) - Let’s step back a minute and consider this story. What is
Jesus teaching us? Is it about money, talent, and time?
(This is a “kingdom parable.” All of the stories in this
chapter have to do with the means of getting to heaven.) - When the “stewardship guy” comes around, my reaction
is that he will end up with more and I will end up
with less. What does this story teach us about
stewardship? (The story refers specifically to money,
but I think it symbolizes all kinds of natural
talents. The means to “more” is to put your money
and talents to work ( Matthew 25:16). The great thing
is that it does not matter how much talent you are
given at the beginning. What matters is what you do
with it. If you are faithful, you will be rewarded
with more. Stewardship is about having more.) - Considering the Poor
- Read Matthew 25:31-40. Would the one-talent guy,
especially after he had been thrown out by the master
without his money, qualify as (verse 40) “one of the least
of these brothers?” - Let’s assume that you are the (now) eleven-talent guy
(the master just gave you the talent of the lazy and
wicked guy), and you bump into the (now) no-talent
guy. Does Jesus teach that you should give money to
the no-talent guy? - Would that not veto the decision of the master?
- Do you think it makes a difference that the
story does not mention money? The hungry get
food, the thirsty water, the stranger an
invitation, those needing new clothes got
clothes. Why does no one get money? (The
preceding talent story specifically mentions
money. This story mentions money not at all. If
we are right that giving the(now)”no-talent” guy
money after the master took it away would be a
problem, then supplying the needs of the no-talent guy would make sense.) - Is it possible that even though Jesus refers to money
in the first parable, it is symbolic and has little
to do with money? (If you look at Matthew 13:12, you
will find the same “give more to the diligent, take
from the lazy” statement in a clearly spiritual
context.) - Is it possible that when the eleven-talent man gives
help to the no-talent guy that he is still investing
his talents? (We are not told how the talents were
invested. If this has a spiritual application, then
it makes sense that the talents are invested in
kingdom business.) - I’ve asked several questions to make you think about what
Jesus is teaching us. What lessons can we be sure about in
these two parables? (That God wants us to be diligent in
working for Him. That a part of our work is helping those
in need.) - Nature of Talents
- We have found that Jesus told parables that equate our
talents (about which we must be diligent) to money and
goods. Do our talents also include our natural abilities?
(Look again at Matthew 25:15. “According to his abilities”
must refer to natural abilities. The natural abilities
were key to the amount of money given by the master.) - Read Matthew 24:45-51. Here is another traveling master
story. What resource is the servant required to account
for here? (Responsibility and time. Because the “master is
staying away a long time” the servant believes he has time
to abuse those within his care and to waste his own time.) - Is time a talent about which we have to be good
stewards?(Yes. However, the fact that God created a
need for humans to sleep shows that some balance
between work and rest is required.) - What percentage of your time is spent promoting
your interests as opposed to the interests of
others? - What percentage of your time is essentially
wasted and helps no one? - How does abusing others and wasting time work
out for this servant? (Not well. Another
“weeping and gnashing of teeth” ending.) - Friend, we see that diligent followers of Jesus prosper
and the lazy, wasteful followers cry and gnash their
teeth. I’m going to interpret “gnashing” as regret for
the decisions made in the past. You have decisions to
make for the future, will you decide to be a faithful,
diligent servant of Jesus? - Next week: Community.
