Risky Faith
Sermon Notes
Now as for today we’re continuing our 4 wk teaching series called Sustaining Faith, and it’s a series about having a faith that doesn’t fade. We’ve all had moments where we started out strong in something, but we didn’t finish strong. We started out strong with things like our diets, our New Year’s resolutions, our short-term life goals, but as time went on our enthusiasm faded and we didn’t finish strong. Well this is a series about finishing strong, especially when it comes to our faith. In the first 2 wks we talked about having a focused faith and a deeper faith, but this week we’re talking about having a risky faith. The reality is both skeptics and believers have to sometimes take risks in life, to enjoy certain rewards in life. I mean if you want to enjoy riding a bike, you have to risk falling...If you want to enjoy success in sports, you have to risk stepping on the field...If you want to enjoy success in a career, you have to risk starting a business or going on an interview...If you want to enjoy getting married, you have to risk asking the person you like on a date and eventually risk asking if they’ll marry you. You can’t enjoy any of these things if you aren’t willing to take a risk. So sometimes you have to take risks in life, to enjoy certain rewards in life, and today we’re talking about taking risks when it comes to our faith. So let’s turn to Matthew ch 25 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle and keep turning right you’ll find Matthew. We’ll be in Matthew 25:14-30, and the title of the message is Risky Faith. The big idea of the message is that it’s better to risk doing something, than to waste your life doing nothing...It’s better to risk doing something, than to waste your life doing nothing...
Here’s your context. In Matthew ch 24 Jesus warns his disciples, he warns his followers about the end of human history, and he teaches them several things to expect during this time. But he also promises he’ll return, and in Matthew ch. 25 he teaches them a few things he wants them to be doing until he returns. It’s a few things he wants us to be doing too, and one of those things is to risk doing something, rather than wasting your life doing nothing. Let’s check it out.
Matthew 25:14-30 states, “It’s just like a man who’s about to go on a journey.” Jesus is the one telling this story, and it’s considered a parable. Now when reading a parable we aren’t supposed to take every little detail of the story literally, instead we’re to take the few truths the story is teaching literally. So as we read this story we’ll see some of the truths Jesus is teaching, and for now the implication is that he’s the man who’s about to go on a journey. He’s the man who’s about to be crucified on the cross, rise again, and ascend into heaven until he returns at the end of history. He's telling this story to teach his followers what to do, until he returns.
Again vs. 14, “It’s just like a man who’s about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent...” The word talentin this context refers to a large amount of money, and scholars estimate that a talent back then would equal roughly $600,000 today. This means the first servant received roughly 3 million dollars, the second roughly 1.2 million dollars, and the third roughly 600,000 dollars. So each of them received a large amount of money, but we have to be careful not to focus too much on the money. The point of this parable isn’t to focus on how much they’re given, it’s to focus on what they do with what they’re given. In fact scholars agree that the financial talents in this story is a metaphor for all the financial talents and physical talents our master Jesus has given us. So the point of this parable isn’t to focus on how much each of the servants were given, it’s to focus on what each of them does with what they’re given.
Again vs. 15, “To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey.” I want you to notice two things here, and the 1st thing is he gave. The master gave his servants their talents, just like God gave us our talents. Every financial and physical talent we have, is a gift that’s been given to us by God. I mean you did absolutely nothing in your mother’s womb to form the genetic makeup you have to accomplish the things you do. You did absolutely nothing to form the intelligence, ingenuity, creativity, athletic abilities you have to accomplish the things you do. So if you make a lot of money or a little money, it’s a gift from God. If you invent something, create something, do something that impacts somebody’s life, it’s a gift from God. If you hit a homerun or score a touchdown, it’s a gift from God. All of these things are gifts that have been given to us by God, since he’s the one who’s formed the genetic makeup allowing us to accomplish all these things. So the 1st thing I want you to notice is the master’s the one who gave his servants their talents.
The 2nd thing is the master gave these talents based on each one’s ability. In the original Greek language the word for abilities is dunamis, and it means capabilities or power. So a better translation of the original Greek is the master gave them talents, based on each one’s capabilities or power. What Jesus is saying is God’s given each of us the exact talents, capabilities, power we need to accomplish his kingdom purposes. This should be liberating for us because it means we don’t have to compare ourselves to other people. We don’t have to compare our talents to other people’s talents. We don’t have to feel inadequate, less capable, less empowered than anybody else, especially when it comes to accomplishing God’s kingdom purposes. So the question isn’t has our master Jesus given us certain talents, and the question isn’t has our master Jesus given us the capabilities and power to use those talents? Instead the question is, what are we doing with the talents, capabilities, and power he’s given us? Let’s see what each of these servants do.
Vs. 16, “Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. 17 In the same way the man with two earned two more. 18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.” So the first two servants did something with the talents their master had given them. They put their talents to work. But the third servant didn’t put his talent to work, instead he buried his talent. He hid his master’s money, meaning he buried his talent. Instead of using his talent, he wasted his talent.
Vs. 19, “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ 22 The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’”The master celebrates these servants for being faithful in using their talents. He celebrates them for being faithful in putting their talents to work, and he celebrates both the same way regardless of the amount of their fruitfulness. He cares more about their faithfulness, than the amount of their fruitfulness. He calls both faithful servants, and he invites both to share in their master’s joy. What we’re learning here is that the master’s a loving man who cares about his servants. We see his love being displayed when he gives them talents, and when he invites them to share in his joy. He wants them to be faithful in using their talents, so they can share in the joy of his kingdom’s fruitful expansion together.
Vs. 24, “The man who received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, 27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30 And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” Notice the difference in the master’s response to this lazy servant, compared to the faithful servants. He doesn’t celebrate this lazy servant or invite him to share in the joy of his kingdom’s fruitful expansion. It’s because this servant’s lazy and didn’t do anything to help expand his master’s kingdom. Instead of using his talent, he buried it in the ground and wasted his talent. But he isn’t just lazy, he’s also a liar. He calls the master a harsh man, which isn’t true based on what we’ve seen. The master hasn’t been harsh to his servants, he’s been loving to his servants giving them talents and invitations to share in the joys of his kingdom. So this servant’s lying when he says the master is a harsh man, but he’s also lying when he says he was afraid of the master. I mean if he was really afraid of the master, he would’ve at least taken his talent to the bankers to collect interest. He would’ve at least invested his talent, did something with his talent, instead of burying and wasting his talent.
So the issue isn’t the master, it’s the servant. The issue is that the servant doesn’t love the master, he loves himself. He doesn’t want to serve the master, he wants to serve himself. He doesn’t care about seeking to help expand the master’s kingdom, he only cares about seeking his own self-interests and self-preservation. The issue isn’t with the master, it’s with the servant. The different responses of the master are the result of the different hearts of the servants. The other servants had good and faithful hearts, but this servant had an evil and lazy heart. The other servants loved the master, but this servant didn’t really love the master. Jesus is saying this is what it’ll be like in the end of history when he returns. He’s saying those who love him and faithfully serve him will get to share in the joy of his kingdom, but those who don’t love him and faithfully serve him will have all their joy taken away in eternal hell, where there will be lots of weeping like vs 30 says. Jesus wants to share his joy with us just like the master wanted to share his joy with his servants, but only those who love Jesus and want to faithfully serve Jesus will get to share in that joy. This is a parable about what Jesus wants us to be doing until he returns, which is to love him and faithfully serve him until he returns. He wants us to do two things...
#1 Use our talents = Jesus is making it very clear that he wants us to use our talents, instead of burying our talents. He wants us to use our financial and our physical talents, to help with his kingdom expansion. Remember he’s the one who’s given us our talents, and he expects us to use them. He expects us to use our financial and physical talents in ways that honors him and points others to him. He wants us to use our talents in ways that’ll help transform people’s lives and our cities. You can use your talents to help with Christmasfest, or to help with other ministries in or outside the church. You can pray asking Jesus how he wants you to use your talents to live out our code to love the few so we can love the many. You can ask how he wants you to love a few people with your time, talents, and treasures, in such a way that they can’t ignore his love for their lives. If you’re a great host, great gatherer, great at bringing people together, then use that talent to bring your Christian and non-Christian friends together for parties, games, fun activities. It’s a talent for bringing joy into people’s lives, but also a talent for bringing people together so relationships can form, conversations can start, and hearts can soften allowing your non-Christian friends to be more receptive to hearing about Jesus and accepting invitations to church. If you’re a great caregiver or problem solver, then use that talent to meet your friends for coffee, for lunch, to shoot hoops or play golf, so you can help them with their problems and point them to Jesus as their greatest problem solver. If you’re a creative thinker, a great entrepreneur, then use that talent to think of a ministry you can start or something you can do to help reach more people for Jesus. The point is Jesus wants us to use our talents like the good and faithful servants, instead of burying and wasting our talents like the lazy servant. He tells this parable so we’ll ask, what are we doing with our talents?...What are we doing with the talents he’s given us?
#2 Risk doing something = Jesus wants us to risk doing something for his kingdom, instead of wasting our lives doing nothing like the lazy servant. The bible’s full of examples of people taking risks doing something for God’s kingdom. Noah took a risk when he built the ark. Moses took a risk when he told Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. David took a risk when he fought Goliath. Esther took a risk when she spoke to Xerxes. All the Apostles took risks when they left their homes and careers to follow Jesus, and they also took risks when they told others about the resurrection of Jesus. They were living in a hostile culture where the Romans and Jews had just crucified Jesus, and they were next on the hit list. So they took risks every time they preached, prayed, worshiped, gathered for small group, shared their faith in Jesus with others. We know historically many people in the early church were persecuted and killed for risking sharing their faith in Jesus with others. But they did it because they loved Jesus and they knew Jesus didn’t die on the cross so his followers could sit comfortably in their holy huddles every Sunday. He didn’t die on the cross so we could waste our lives doing nothing, instead he died so we could be forgiven of our sins, be raised to life, and be empowered to help with his kingdom expansion.
So we need to ask what are we doing with our talents, but we also need to ask what risks does Jesus want us to take for him and his kingdom? What risks is Jesus wanting you to take for him and his kingdom?...Is he wanting you to take a risk by starting a new ministry to reach more people in our city?...Is he wanting you to take a risk by changing your career so you can be more active in ministry, or so you can be in full time ministry?...Is he wanting you to take a risk by sharing Jesus with your friends, or by inviting more people to church?...Is he wanting you to take a risk by giving more financially to support the ministries of the church, even if it means having to sacrifice some of your comforts in life?...What risks is Jesus wanting you to take for him and his kingdom?...Jesus wants you to risk doing something for his kingdom, instead of wasting your life doing nothing. He wants you to take risks and have big dreams, because he’s a big God who has big plans. So in the words of D.L. Moody, “If God be your partner, then make large plans!”
Let’s have the worship team come up and get to the big idea...The big idea is that it’s better to risk doing something, than to waste your life doing nothing...This parable teaches if you really love Jesus, then you’ll use your talents and risk doing something to help with his kingdom expansion, rather than burying your talents and waste your life doing nothing. It’s because when you love someone you’ll not only risk your life for them, you’ll be willing to sacrifice your life for them, which is exactly what Jesus did for you. He loved you so much that he didn’t just risk his life for you, he sacrificed his life for you. He gave up his life, for your life. Those who love him and want to faithfully serve him, will get to share in the joy of his eternal kingdom with him.
Look the reality is your faith can’t grow, if you don’t ever take the kind of risks that’ll require you to have faith. It’s because faith is like a muscle, you have to stretch it for it to grow. Just like you need weights to stretch and grow your muscles, you need risks to stretch and grow your faith. Taking risks can help prevent you from becoming comfortable and lazy like the lazy servant in the text. The more risks that we’re willing to take to help grow our master’s kingdom, the more we’ll grow in our faith personally and as an entire church, giving us a stronger faith that doesn’t fade. So what risks does Jesus want you to take to help grow your faith, grow our church, grow his kingdom?...What risks does Jesus want you to take to help accomplish our vision to be a place for skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community, so we can reach people and reach the world with the gospel?...If Jesus is your partner, then make large plans!