God is funny. My very first job was in a little Methodist church in the town that I grew up. I worked in middle school as an assistant to Mr. Herman White, our church's custodian. He'd probably been the custodian there for 30 years. Herman was nearing retirement and he had large, callused hands, an indication of how serious he was about making sure that everything at that church was clean and working properly. Herman was gentle, but firm, and I learned that my very first day. He entrusted the lower floor of the building to me. He would clean above and I was to vacuum below. He walked me through the task, he showed me where the cleaner was, and then he left. And he made it clear he was going to come back and check my work. In that way, Herman White was a little like Jesus. That's exactly what Jesus is saying here. The master has stepped out and he's going to come back. My favorite chapter of the Bible, right here. This chapter changed my life. Matthew 25, Luke 15, two best chapters of the Bible. Matthew 25, these three parables make it plain: Jesus is the master. He was here. He's stepped out for a while, and he's going to come back. In the first parable in Matthew 25, 10 bridesmaids wait on the bridegroom to return. Five take oil for the lamps, five don't. When the groom returns, five are ready to enter the wedding feast, and five are locked out because they're unprepared. In the third parable of Matthew 25:31-46, the king comes back at judgment time, and he separates the sheep from the goats, based on one thing: compassion. Hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, sick, and imprisoned. The people who enter eternal life, and some are judged and sent to eternal punishment when the king returns and judges the people. Jesus makes it plain. He is the master, he's stepped out for a while, and he's going to come back and inspect our work.
Now, while he's away, what's his is yours. While Herman was away, he entrusted the care of the bottom floor of the church to me. It was mine. But I knew that soon he was going to come back to inspect what I had done with it. So the master entrusts his stuff to his servants. One servant in the parable is entrusted with five talents. Now each talent was worth about 15 years of wages for a laborer. Let's call that $30,000 a year, so $450,000 per talent. Five talents is $2.25 million. To the second servant, two talents, so $900,000. And to one servant, one talent, $450,000. They each have an account, but it's clear who owns it. The master owns it. They simply manage it while he's away. Jesus is the master. He's stepped out for a while, and he's going to return. In the meantime, he entrusts the world and everything in it to us. We each have an account with our name on it, but be very clear, God owns it all. I mean, read through Scripture. Money belongs to God. Ideas belong to God. Spiritual gifts belong to God. Relationships belong to God. Your body and your life belong to God. Time belongs to God. Possessions belong to God. Psalm 24:1, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it, the world and all who live in it." God makes it pretty clear, doesn't he? He owns it all. There is nothing that is not ultimately God's. He is the big Herman White in heaven above, the one who entrusts it to us to take care of while he's away. We're just managers, stewards. He entrusts everything to us, and he doesn't force us to do it well.
One friend of mine put it this way, he said, "Think about the world's worst FedEx driver." Imagine that instead of taking all the stuff that's loaded up on his van for the day, instead of taking it to the places where it's supposed to go, he just takes it all home and puts it in his garage. He stocks it away, everything just for himself, storing it up for himself. Somebody says, "What are you doing?" And he says, "Well, if you didn't want me to keep it, why'd you give it to me?" Think about it. You and I are kind of like God's FedEx guys. Money, ideas, spiritual gifts, relationships, body, life, time, possessions, everything all have been given to us by God, and our job is to get them to the right place and the right people, not to storm up in ourselves. When the master returns, he expects a return on his investment. Look at verse 19. "These are words to take to heart. The Master is coming back. And when he returns, he will inspect and expect. He expects results, a return on investment. He has entrusted you with everything." And he expects results for his kingdom. And who wouldn't? If you have an investment manager, you expect a return, and if he doesn't produce a return, you fire him. If you have a FedEx guy, you expect him to relocate what you entrust to him to where it's supposed to go, and you fire him if he doesn't. And Herman White expected the bottom floor to be clean, and it was clear he was going to fire me if it wasn't. So you look at verse 25, "Jesus isn't tolerant of those who live by fear, those who fail to deliver, or fail even to try at all."
The one servant is so terrified of messing up, of not pleasing the master, that he takes the 1 talent, the $450,000 entrusted to him, and he buries it in the ground. Better to make 0 than to lose anything. And the master is not pleased. The other two servants double their entrustment. One turns 5 talents into 10 and one turns 2 talents into 4. And the master is elated. 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. Those are great words to hear from the master, but the third servant has done nothing. Nothing at all. And the result is not pleasant. Verses 28 through 30, he loses everything. He's thrown into outer darkness because his life has been about the wrong business. Instead of managing all things for the glory of God, he was paralyzed by fear. His life has been about the wrong business. Your job is to be about your father's business. Now you know that he has entrusted everything to you. Your name is on the account, but it belongs to him. And he expects a return. In five minutes after you die, you will know how you should have lived. Since this parable teaches you how, it's probably a good time to start now.
