Faithfulness
Use the material to go deeper into this Series on your own, or with your small group.
Series Materials
Sermon Questions
Good morning Chapel family. Yesterday was truly an amazing day. To see more than 300 Chapel people, spread across 15 locations in North Jersey, sacrificing their time, getting dirty, cleaning up parks, giving out food and clothing, knocking down walls, painting walls, meeting new people, praying with people. It was an incredible day, and by God’s grace I think we represented Jesus really well. Can we just give God praise for what happened yesterday? You all know that our mission is loving God, loving people and serving the world; yesterday was an awesome example of serving the world.
And you know what I’m really excited about? The benefits of WeServe did not end yesterday. Because new relationships have formed; some of you were so captivated by what you experienced that you’re going to start serving with that ministry regularly; some of you are a little less intimidated to spend time in Paterson. So I really think God is going to use what happened yesterday to make all of us a little less self-focused and a little more connected with our urban friends. Amen?
Alright…we are taking this fall to walk through the famous New Testament teaching on the Fruit of the Spirit. According to that teaching in Galatians chapter 5, there are basically two ways we can live: we can be driven by the flesh or we can be driven by the Holy Spirit. Living by the flesh is what comes naturally, and it comes out as envy and anger and selfishness and sexual immorality and all kinds of things that might feel good at the moment, but ultimately they destroy relationships and make us miserable. Living by the Spirit comes out as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It’s a beautiful vision for life! But living that way requires supernatural help.
In other words,
The pull of sin is strong But the living Christ is stronger So open yourself to his Spirit And you will bear his fruit
So this series is all about learning to open ourselves to the Spirit of Jesus—the Holy Spirit—so that we actually become more and more like him.
So today we come to the seventh fruit, which is faithfulness. And I’m going to jump right into today’s Scripture. Matthew 25, starting in verse 14. Let’s hear the Word of God….
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “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!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “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!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ This is the Word of the Lord.
This parable is one of several parables that Jesus told in Matthew 24 and 25, all about how we should live in light of the reality that Jesus will return one day. So all these parables have this sense of urgency—like, this day counts; because you don’t know how many days you have left. You could find yourself standing before Jesus at any moment, so be ready. Don’t let that day catch you by surprise. This particular parable focuses on what it means to be faithful—so that when we do stand before Jesus as our judge, we’ll hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Can you even imagine hearing those words from Jesus?
So let’s talk first about Where Faithfulness Starts. The parable begins with this man who’s getting ready to go on a journey, so he calls his servants and entrusts his wealth to them. The man is obviously rich, because the amount he gives out would total about two million dollars in today’s money. This is not pocket change. Even the guy who only gets one bag of gold is receiving a the equivalent of over $100,000 from the master.
But the point is not how much they get; the point is that all of this money belongs to the master, and even when he places it in the hands of his servants, it still belongs to him.
So…what is Jesus trying to tell us? I would say, very simply, this: God has entrusted different amounts of valuable things into our hands. God has entrusted different amounts of valuable things into our hands.
Like what? Well, like physical resources. Some people are born into money; some people are blessed in their ability to make money, so God entrusts a lot of wealth—money, homes, businesses—into the hands of some people. What does it mean to be faithful in the way we use those physical resources? But that’s not the only valuable thing God entrusts to people. He has entrusted me with a wife, and four children, and friends. What does it mean to be faithful in the way I manage those precious things?
So the bags of gold represent wealth; they represent relationships. But I think more than anything, they represent the abilities and talents that God gives us. In fact, the Greek word for a unit of gold was
talonton. We talk about an ounce of gold; they talked about a talonton of gold. That was how they measured it. And that’s actually where we get the English word, “talent.” Some of you grew up calling this parable “The Parable of the Talents, so you always thought of this in terms of the different talents and abilities that God gives to people—and that’s accurate. So for the rest of the sermon, as we talk about faithfulness, I’m going to focus mostly on how we use the gifts and talents that God gives us. Everybody with me?
So: this story of a wealthy man giving different amounts of gold to his servants represents the spiritual reality that God has entrusted different levels of valuable things—especially talents and abilities—into our hands. Into your hands. You’ve got some!
So where does faithfulness start? It starts with recognizing that God owns it all—every ability and relationship and dollar that you have comes from him, and even when he’s placed it into your hands, he still owns it.
Did you notice on what basis the master decided to give different amounts to the different servants? What does it say in verse 15? Each according to their ability. He knew his servants so well—what they could handle and what they couldn’t—that he gave each one just the right amount. Let me ask you a question: can you trust that God has given you just what you need? Can you trust that God has put you together—through your genetics and your upbringing and your experiences—that God has given you the right amount of everything you need? You say, “I wish I was more athletic!” Apparently God doesn’t agree. You say, “I wish I had more musical ability!” Apparently God is fine with the number of musicians he already has. You say, “I wish I had more money!” Maybe you wouldn’t handle it that well, at least not at this point in your life.
I’ve shared with you that when I started college, I really wanted to be a doctor. Probably for mostly selfish reasons, but I wanted to be a doctor. And then, sophomore year, I ran into organic chemistry. Actually, it ran into me—like a buzzsaw. As much as I studied, I just couldn’t get it. I got a D, and I knew that wouldn’t look good on my med school applications, so I took it again. I got a C, but I think the professor was just being nice to me. It was so frustrating—I so wanted to be better at science! Apparently God disagreed. The master didn’t give me many bags of science gold. I think my science bag only had like 39 cents in it.
And it took me a while to realize that God wasn’t calling me to be faithful with something I didn’t have; he was calling me to be faithful with what I did have. Can I tell you about one of the best days of my life? I sat down across from my academic advisor, and told her I was switching from pre-med to psychology. It was hard to do! Because that had been my dream, but I made the decision. And I’ll never forget, after that meeting, walking across the campus of Virginia Tech—it was a beautiful, warm, spring day. The grass was extra green that day. The birds were singing. Because I knew I had just made a decision that honored my God-given wiring. I was letting go of what I wanted to do, and I was a step closer to what God wanted me to do.
So faithfulness starts when we recognize that God owns it all, and he places valuable things into different people’s hands according to his wisdom. Which means: stop comparing yourself with other people. Stop envying other people’s gifts and abilities. “Why does that guy get 5 bags of gold? I got one lousy bag!” “He hardly had to study, and he aced organic chemistry—it’s no fair!” Stop that. It’s a waste of time. You know what else this means? Stop pouring yourself into things that you’re clearly not gifted for. At first, I thought my problem with organic chemistry was that I just wasn’t trying hard enough. So I studied harder. And I came to a point where I realized, “I probably could be a doctor. But it would be a grind. It would be like running uphill for the rest of my life. So maybe there’s a message
I’m supposed to be getting from all this.” And there was. And like I said, accepting that message was one of the best days of my life.
So: stop comparing and envying; stop trying to be someone you’re not; trust that the Master, in his wisdom, has given you exactly what you need—exactly what you’re supposed to have. That’s where faithfulness starts.
So where do we go from there? Point number two: What Faithfulness Looks Like. As I read this parable, I see three principles. I’ll call them “Three Laws of Faithfulness.”
Here’s the first one: The Law of Action. It’s obvious that two of the servants were faithful, and one of them was unfaithful, right? So what was it that the two faithful ones did, that the unfaithful one didn’t? Look at verse 16: The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work. And the guy who got two bags did the same thing. So they didn’t waste any time; they took what they’d been given and they took action with it. It says they “put it to work”—maybe they bought heads of cattle or farming equipment or more seed for their crops. Maybe they hired another farmhand to help with the harvest. In some way, they took what they’d been given and they took action with it. In contrast, what did the third guy do with his gold? Buried it. Took zero action.
A few years ago, an older couple from The Chapel took me out to lunch. So we settled into our booth at the Cheesecake Factory and we had some small talk. But as soon as the food was served, they told me why they wanted to talk with me: they felt there was a gift that God had given me, that I was burying. So this was sort of a confrontational, challenging kind of lunch. I was beginning to regret saying yes to their invitation. So they said, “It’s obvious that God has gifted you as a writer, and we cannot understand why you’re not writing—articles, books, devotionals—you need to start writing.” And I was sort of a combination of flattered and defensive. So in my defensiveness I started giving them reasons why I didn’t put my time into writing—“I don’t have time for that; I’m not sure what I would write about.” They told me to stop making excuses. Can you believe the nerve of those people! Daring to question their pastor? Actually, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them taking the time to do that. It’s because they loved me. And you know what? They were probably right. And in this next season of life, I do plan to write more. I believe that’s a gift I really should develop. And they saw that.
So whatever God has given you, take action with it. That’s usually involves lots of risk—risk of failure, risk of ridicule—maybe that’s why I haven’t written more—I’m afraid to fail. But Jesus seems to think those are risks worth taking.
Okay—next one is The Law of Proportion. When you think about the two faithful servants—the first one and the second one, did you notice, when the master returns, how his words to the second servant differ from his words to the first servant? They don’t. The master says the same exact thing to the first and second servant. To both, he says “Well done, good and faithful servant.” To both guys! Don’t you love the fact that the master is just as happy with the guy who produced two bags of gold as he is with the guy who produced five bags of gold? I love that! In other words, God only expects us to be faithful with what he’s given us, and no more. There are times you look around, and you see people who’ve accomplished a lot more than you have, right? But that’s okay. They’re not you. It’s possible they had a lot more raw material to work with. And God only expects you to take action with what he’s given to you.
Even if you only feel like you have one bag of gold! Be faithful with that. Have you ever heard of Franz Mohr? No one has. For years, Franz Mohr was the chief technician for Steinway & Sons pianos. He passed away about six months ago, and there was a beautiful obituary in the New York Times. So
wherever famous piano players went, Franz Mohr traveled with them—to Carnegie Hall, to the palaces and homes of international leaders. He also serviced and tuned the personal pianos of the world’s most famous performers. He was a tremendous musician himself, but he never played for an audience, and he never resented taking a back seat to the celebrities. In the obituary, it quoted his boss, Henry Steinway, who said, “To understand Franz, one must understand...that his Christian faith is at the core of his being and affects everything he says and does.” And Franz Mohr himself said he loved being a “faithful plodder” who strove to be “faithful in the little things.” That’s what Jesus is talking about. He played his part, and he did it really, really well. So just be faithful with whatever God has given you.
And then third: The Law of Reward. One more identical thing that the master says to both the first and the second servants: Come and share your master’s happiness! There was an incredible reward for living a life of faithfulness. Now, this doesn’t mean the first two guys earned their way into heaven—and we’ll talk about that in a minute. But this parable is reminding us that when we live our lives by faithfully serving God with what he’s given us—not perfectly, because no one is—but the best we can, we’ll be able to stand before Jesus one day and actually hear his words of commendation. As painful and frustrating as this life sometimes is, there will be a day when the pain and frustration will end. Anybody looking forward to that? And we’ll be welcomed in to share in the pure joy of our master’s happiness. So if your life seems dark now, never forget the reward is coming. And keep being faithful. Keep doing what God has called you to do.
Back in 1812, there was an American missionary named Adoniram Judson who showed up in Burma, now known as Myanmar. It was hard. He was imprisoned and tortured, and kept in chains several times. After the death of his first wife, he was so depressed that he sat by her grave for months. But he kept being faithful. He served the people, he shared the gospel, and he worked passionately on translating the Bible into the Burmese language. He died in 1850, 38 years after he arrived. At that time, there were around 20 professing Christians in Burma, and no churches. Needless to say, his reward for faithfulness didn’t come in this life.
So a few years ago, there was a ceremony celebrating the 150 year anniversary of the translation of the Burmese Bible. There was an American leader who was about to get up and speak, and he looked down at the Burmese Bible he was holding and he noticed in small print on the first page these words: “Translated by Reverend A. Judson.” So he turned to his Burmese interpreter, and he said, “What do you know of this man?” And this interpreter, named Matthew, actually started weeping. And he said, “We know him. We know how he loved the Burmese people. How he suffered for the gospel because of us, out of love for us. He died a poor man, but he left the Bible for us. When he died there were few believers, but today there are over 600,000 of us, and every single one of us traces our spiritual heritage back to one man: Reverend Adoniram Judson.”
And he never got to see that—he wasn’t here long enough. But God saw it. And it’s the same for a lot of us. Because we are called to faithfully invest our lives in things that are hard, and there’s not much immediate fruit. Right? Anybody live there? And it’s so tempting to quit. But God says, “Don’t grow weary in doing good.” Because one day—whether in this life or the next—your reward will come, and it’s going to be so sweet.
And that brings us to the final point: What Faithfulness Reveals. The parable actually ends in a disturbing way, doesn’t it? Verse 24: 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and
gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26a “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!
So obviously this guy was not faithful—he buried his gold. But the question is, why? What does his unfaithfulness reveal about his heart? Look what he says about the master. He accuses him of being a “hard man.” The Greek word for hard is the word skleros—it’s where we get our work sclerosis—as in sclerosis, or hardening, of the arteries. So he says, “You’re a hard man—you’re stingy and harsh and demanding. You’re also unreasonable—you try to harvest where you haven’t even sown any seed. You’re basically impossible to please. So I was afraid! I was scared I could never please you, so I dug a hole and buried your gold. Here’s your money back—you can count it—it’s all there.” I think he was also a little resentful that he only got one bag, and so returning it untouched was an act of spitefulness, like, “Here’s your one dumb bag of gold back.”
And all of that reveals something about the man’s heart. You know what it is? He never really knew the master. Because nothing he says about the master is true! And especially, since we know the master represents Jesus—who came to this earth, and then went away and promises to return one day—nothing this unfaithful servant says is true about Jesus! So if we share this guy’s attitude—if we resent Jesus for what he’s given us; if we accuse him of being stingy and demanding; if we’re afraid of him; if we refuse to put his gifts to work—when that’s our heart toward Jesus, it shows we don’t know him at all! Maybe we got a warped view of him from some dysfunctional church or from some confused parent or from popular culture. But when that’s our view of Jesus, we don’t know him.
So in the parable, when this guy is thrown out into outer darkness, out of the presence of the master, that clearly represents hell—the Bible commonly uses that phrase for hell. But it’s not because his unfaithfulness earned him a place in hell; his unfaithfulness just revealed the reality of his heart: this was a man who never knew Jesus Christ. And the difference between heaven and hell is whether or not we know Jesus.
So as we near the end of this message, I have to ask you: do you know Jesus? I mean, do you know him as he really is? Because here’s the good news: not only is he the opposite of everything this guy accused him of being—he’s not hard and stingy and demanding; just read the Gospels—he’s tender-hearted and generous and compassionate and forgiving. So instead of being paranoid of him, we should be drawn toward him. But not only that; this Jesus who calls us to be faithful has been amazingly faithful to us, even though it cost him everything. His mission in life was to die on a cross so we could be forgiven and reconciled with God, and he was faithful till the end.
That’s the real Jesus. That’s the Jesus who opens his arms to you and says, “Come to me. All you who are weary and heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest for your soul.” So if your soul is weary and burdened, come to him. Come to this faithful Savior who died for you and lives for you. That’s how you come to know him—you just open your heart to him, and believe. Stop trying to be good enough, and just accept him. That’s where it all starts.
And then, out of gratitude to him, out of love for him, take what he’s given you and serve him faithfully. No matter how many bags of gold you’ve got, use them well. Stop comparing yourself with other people; stop wishing you had gifts you don’t have; just take joy in who you are—what you’ve got—and roll up your sleeves, and be faithful. Faithfully serve in your work; faithfully serve at The Chapel; faithfully serve in Paterson. Not because you have to, but because you get to serve this amazing Savior. And one day, your time will be up! And you’ll hear those incredible words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”