Yesterday we looked at fear, how it paralyzes us and causes us to stumble and fall. But what was it that actually made the “wicked and lazy” servant so afraid? And what should we learn from it?

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. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.”

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, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.”

Matthew 25:24-27Matthew 25:24-27
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
24 The servant who had been given one thousand coins then came in and said, “Sir, I know that you are hard to get along with. You harvest what you don't plant and gather crops where you haven't scattered seed. ²⁵ I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!” ²⁶ The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don't plant and gather crops where I haven't scattered seed. ²⁷ You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it.”

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I knew you were a harsh man. Can you imagine going up to your boss and saying something like that? You boss puts you in charge of a big project, a budget to accomplish it, and leaves town with the expectation you will complete your job. He gets back, sees nothing done. And you respond, “I knew you were a harsh man. So I didn’t want to risk failure. But don’t worry, I haven’t wasted any of the money, it’s all right here.”

We’re not told that he was right or wrong about his opinion of the master. Maybe he had good reason to think the master was hard or had high expectations. From the servant’s vantage, it certainly seemed that the master gained advantage in situations that weren’t of his own making. Maybe he had just heard that the master had high expectations. Perhaps one of the other two servants, knowing the master well, had warned him saying, “Don’t mess this up. This is your chance to shine!” Or maybe it was all just in his head.

We don’t know. But we do know that his response was a mistake.

Stepping back for a moment: This whole thought process is important. Some have read this parable and taken the servant’s statement as definitive. And reasoning that the master stands in for God in the parable, they have reasoned that God is harsh, just like the master. We need to recognize that that is not what this parable teaches. And this kind of attitude towards God is dangerous, as we can see in the response of the servant.

The master points out his servant’s poor reasoning: “You mean to tell me that you had this idea I was harsh, and yet you did nothing? Did you fully think this through? Are you really expecting me to pat you on the back and say well done?” The master doesn’t tell the servant his view of the matter was wrong or right. That’s not the point. The master points back to task at hand: “You were supposed to produce. And you didn’t.”

God does care that we are productive. He has entrusted great riches with us: the message of salvation, his body the Church, our possessions. God has given all these as tools. He wants them used to advance the Kingdom of God. People are right to say that God doesn’t need us to accomplish his purposes. But he has decided to use us. It is his great pleasure and will to involve us in his plan for rescuing the world.

That God would use is is humbling, but encouraging. Each new day is a chance to praise God by our faithfulness and persistence. We don’t have to dread the failure and sin that has haunted us to this moment. Today, step out in faith, letting your choice to follow God transform you into the image of Jesus.

In the parable of the talents the final servant, the one who hides his talent in the dirt, gives his excuse for his failure in clear terms. I was afraid. A simple statement. Here’s your money. I didn’t lose it, at least…

Fear makes us do bad things. Unwise things. Wicked things. Often it just causes us to do less than we could, less than we should. In the case, Jesus describes a man paralyzed by his fear. Though many of us through experience read this man and critically agree that he was lazy and wicked, if we were honest, we sometimes fail in just the same way. We side with fear, saying that we can’t do what we’ve been called to do. We say with our actions that God really isn’t in control of our lives, and we’re not sure we can trust him.

Fear comes in many varieties. There is the fear of not having our needs met. There is the fear of failure, of not measuring up. There is the fear of bad things happening to our family, things we can’t control, or worse, things we maybe should have known but didn’t. There is the fear of the future, that huge expanse that often will not yield to our probing. There is fear of being lonely, ignored, discarded as unnecessary. Fear leads to worry and anxiety, even sin. Taken to the extreme, it is an attitude that says, “I don’t trust you, God.”

God has offered us his love and his presence. His son was sent to become like us, so that we could see in him someone who walked the talk. And he died and rose again to give us assurance that he would do the same for us. Without doubt, we have reason to expect that life won’t be perfect. That we won’t always be in control of the circumstances. But we have no reason to be paralyzed by fear.

What causes you deep concern? What makes you anxious? What bothers you to distraction? What do you fear? Today, spend some time in prayer offering that thing to  God. Our hope is in him alone.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

1 John 4:13-191 John 4:13-19
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
13 God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us. ¹⁴ God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him. ¹⁵ God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That's how we stay one with God ¹⁶ and are sure that God loves us. God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us. ¹⁷ If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won't be worried about the day of judgment. ¹⁸ A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows that we have not really learned to love. ¹⁹ We love because God loved us first.

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His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Matthew 25:21Matthew 25:21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
21 “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”

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The above Scripture is taken from the parable of the talents as recorded in verses 14-30 of Matthew 25.  If you are familiar with the story, you know it accounts the positive results of faithful service to the Lord, as well as the penalty for a lack of productivity on God’s behalf.  If you have never heard the account, I recommend you read the sixteen verses in their entirety.

I have had the incredible privilege of knowing many faithful servants of the Lord in my life.  When I was a child I met a missionary to Papua New Guinea, whose passion and devotion to reaching that country with the Good News of Jesus Christ was inspiring.  She came and spoke at our church and even invited my family to her home for dinner one evening.  I was probably no more than 10 years old when I met her and heard her stories of serving Jesus on the foreign mission field, but her love for God left a lifelong impression on me.   I still remember her name to this day, Ella May Sliker.

When my father was a pastor in a small community up north when I was 12, I remember a dear servant of God named Alta Hartman.  She was one of the first people I ever identified as a “prayer warrior.”  She lived all alone in a small apartment in this obscure town in the middle of Southeastern Michigan.  Every time I accompanied my dad to her humble abode, she would offer us something to eat or drink, and she would ask about our family and the church so she could pray very specifically for those who were special to her.  She had lived the largest part of her life prior to my meeting her, but even as the winter of her years intersected the spring of mine, I was impressed upon by her faithfulness to God.

Throughout my teenage and college and early adult years, I’ve encountered humble servant after humble servant in the Lord’s Kingdom.  School teachers, church custodians, pastors, missionaries, musicians, single moms,  husbands and wives who’ve been married for more than six decades, professors, personal friends, the list is long and detailed of all the faithful servants of Christ I have been privileged to know.  My life is still replete with relatives and friends who serve God faithfully every day.  Their lives have been and still are very productive for the Lord and my life has been enhanced in knowing them.

These wonderful people have seen the power of God at work in their midst.  Part of their reward for faithful service has been getting to witness lost and wayward souls come to salvation and redemption in Jesus.  They have seen marriages restored, relationships healed, addictions overcome, and a host of other transformations that God has orchestrated through their obedient sacrifices.  They have also produced a legacy of subsequent generations of faithful servants to Christ, who continue to partner with the Holy Spirit to this day to foster more transformation.

If you were to sit down with any of these faithful servants, and ask them why, why they chose to use their lives to serve Jesus with their one and only life, here’s what I think you’d hear.

There is no reward known to man that is more valuable, more worthwhile, more important than finishing one’s work on earth and hearing their Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  Come and share your Master’s happiness!” WOW!! Who wouldn’t want to hear God, our Master, say those words to them when we breathe our last breath and stand before Him at the crossroads of eternity?  Those words are the prize!  That sentiment from Almighty God to His servant are the goal!! They are the ambition for which we all should be aspiring, to please God with all that we are and all that we have so that He will acknowledge us as His good and faithful servant and share the reward of His happiness with us forever!!! We should do everything solely to please our Master. Period.

When I am done with my work here on earth, when this solitary life is over, I have one thing I want to hear more than anything else, “Well done, my good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master.”  Both Ella May and Alta, as well as many other faithful servants I’ve known, have already heard those words uttered to them and are experiencing the eternal happiness and joy of the Lord in His presence even now as you’re reading this.  They continue to receive the never ending reward for their faithful service to God.

The alternate ending for a life lived without God, is an eternity spent without Him either.  That is the ultimate penalty for the ultimate rejection.  I don’t want anyone to experience that, so I must strive to serve God faithfully all the more with each day He gives me.

I thank the Lord for all the faithful servants He has blessed my life with, and I pray that I will be found faithful to Him and a blessing to others as well.

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. 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.

Matthew 25:14-15Matthew 25:14-15
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
A Story about Three Servants ¹⁴ . The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. ¹⁵ The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country.

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The master decided to leave his wealth under stewardship, and he divided it in proportion to their abilities. But we need to be careful how we read that. This is a parable, and not necessarily allegory. Certainly the parable tells us that God expects us to profitable, to be fruitful with what he has given us. The comment here certainly makes clear that the master made a choice, not just randomly giving out his wealth to his servants.

But here is where we must be careful in application to our own lives. What if we haven’t been blessed with a wide range of possessions, talents or experiences? Are we to read this parable to say that God expects us to fail, so he hasn’t risked much on us? Short answer: NO. And this is not just an imagined problem. Many Christians have given up serving thinking they have nothing to offer. They begin ministry and service from the standpoint of defeat. We must find in this parable God’s concern for our diligence in the Kingdom, without reading too much into it that wasn’t intended.

And what if we have been given lots of skills, a wealth of possessions, or a bunch of life experience from which to serve him? Should we read this parable to say that this is a sign that God is happy with us? That he expects us to succeed? Once again, no. There are many whom God has blessed, but who have shown themselves to be lazy or even wicked.

So what is the point? We are to be diligent, to make our master a return on his investment. We are to use whatever we have been given. This doesn’t require us to compare ourselves to one another. The first two servants, given 5 and 2 talents respectively, are both given the master’s commendation. The one receiving two talents could have said, “Why wasn’t I given 5 talents?” But the amount wasn’t the issue. Being productive was.

prayer

God, help us to faithfully serve you. We want to please you, to thank you for the opportunity to serve, to thank you for your show of faith in our ability to please you! Root sin out of our lives so that we can be filled with power to accomplish your will. Help us to work together in unity as a body. Live among us, Jesus, so the world sees you when they look at us.

We will love you with our whole being, God – heart, mind and soul. And we will serve you with all the strength you give us. Amen.

That’s a stressful word for most people. It means that you will be held responsible for your actions or labor and will be judged accordingly. It also conjures up images of punishment or rewards. No matter how you feel about that word, it is a very real part of life on every level and even in the life to follow.

As a public school teacher I’m held accountable by federal, state, county and local guidelines. I think ultimately, no matter how difficult or senseless some standards may seem to me, I am a better teacher because of them.

God instituted accountability from the beginning of creation, even in the garden of Eden. We know how that turned out.

Accountability is a very serious issue with God and a most important one too.

In the parable of the loaned money (Matthew 25:14-30Matthew 25:14-30
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
A Story about Three Servants ¹⁴ . The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. ¹⁵ The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country. ¹⁶ As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the five thousand coins used them to earn five thousand more. ¹⁷ The servant who had two thousand coins did the same with his money and earned two thousand more. ¹⁸ But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master's money in the ground. ¹⁹ Some time later the master of those servants returned. He called them in and asked what they had done with his money. ²⁰ The servant who had been given five thousand coins brought them in with the five thousand that he had earned. He said, “Sir, you gave me five thousand coins, and I have earned five thousand more.” ²¹ “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!” ²² Next, the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, “Sir, you gave me two thousand coins, and I have earned two thousand more.” ²³ “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!” ²⁴ The servant who had been given one thousand coins then came in and said, “Sir, I know that you are hard to get along with. You harvest what you don't plant and gather crops where you haven't scattered seed. ²⁵ I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!” ²⁶ The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don't plant and gather crops where I haven't scattered seed. ²⁷ You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it.” ²⁸ Then the master said, “Now your money will be taken away and given to the servant with ten thousand coins! ²⁹ ; ; . Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don't have anything. ³⁰ ; . You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”

WP-Bible plugin), Christ talks of a master who divided his money with three servants. Each was given according to his ability to handle the money. The master only expected them to do what they were capable of doing. No unfair expectations here. The first two doubled their money through wise investing but the third servant buried his in the backyard. He had nothing more than the original amount to offer back to his master. He was punished severely for his laziness while the other two industrious servants were greatly rewarded.

God does the same with us. We are each given gifts of finances, talents, time, intelligence, etc. We are given different gifts depending on the different abilities God has placed within each of us. During our time on earth we are to invest our gifts by using them in God’s service. So many times I’m afraid I make excuses just as the lazy servant did. I’m often self-centered and hide my gifts for my own personal use.

The message of this parable is very sobering. Christ is coming back and whether we live to see that or enter God’s presence through death we will be held accountable. We are responsible to wisely use the gifts He has given us. No matter how limited we may feel, there are things in our possession (mental, physical, financial, and spiritual) that we can use in God’s service. The question is never how much we have, but rather how well we use what we do have. And we would do very well to remember that everything we have is not ours in the first place. We are only the caretaker. God is the owner. Don’t let Him find you lacking.

To end on a high note, always remember when serving Christ that the blessings God has in store for us far outweigh the expense of serving Him. The sweetest sound we hope to ever hear are the words “well done faithful servant”.