Purpose Driven Life: Ministry

Maybe it happened with you as you got older. Some of you would fit that category. Maybe it happened with you when you were walking through a particularly dark valley. That's when it happened to me. It was a moment when you finally said, what is life all about?

will my life have meaning? Will my life count in the long run for anything? You know, we often call this life we lead the rat race. And that great philosopher Lily Tomlin, how many of you remember Lily Tomlin? Okay, you're right, you fit the category of older.

Lily Tomlin says the problem with the rat race is this. Even if you win the race, you're still a rat. But you know we are not rats. We are human beings made in the image of God. And we want our lives to have meaning and purpose.

We want them to count for something. And that's what we're going to talk about today. So if you have your Bibles, let's go to the Gospel called Matthew.

And let's go to chapter 25. A familiar story, but let's try to understand it better today. Matthew chapter 25.

And I'm going to read most of verses 14 through 30. of the verses just to move along a little more quickly. But Matthew chapter 25 starting at verse 14. The parable of the talents.

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once, at once, at once, and put his money to work and gained five more. So also the one with the two talents gained two more.

But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. entrusted me with five talents see I have gained five more 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 and the same occurred with the man with two talents but then verse 24 then came then the man who had received the one talent came mastery said I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.

See, here is what belongs to you. 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. Well then you should have put my money on deposit with the banker so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him.

Give it to the one who has the ten talents for everyone who has will be given more and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have even what he has will be taken from him. and throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let's pray. Lord, help us to understand afresh this parable.

Help us to glean the lessons for life that you would have us learn from it. But I pray we will not just be people who as we leave have more knowledge today, but that we will be people who are changed. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. We've been studying the purpose-driven life, SDG.

And next week I will explain that SDG that we've been using throughout this series.

how do i bring glory to god so far in our study we have seen that we bring glory to god through worship that is by offering our lives as living and holy sacrifices to the lord that's how we really worship we bring glory to god through fellowship by loving one another that's how we honor God we honor God through discipleship that is developing character in our lives that is a character that is pleasing to our Lord and today how do I bring glory to God through ministry that is through serving the master and what I want us to do today is first understand what the parable says and then let's see what the lessons for life are from this familiar parable

Well, here, let's begin with the understanding. Verse 14 begins by saying, It will be like... And the question is, what is the it? The it in the verse is the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew 25, there are a series of parables where the Lord tells us that the kingdom of heaven will be like this.

And that's true with this parable of the talents. be like this the kingdom of heaven will be like this the kingdom of heaven when we talk about the kingdom of heaven we are talking about the reign of god so living under god's reign what will it be like and he's giving us one aspect of what it will be like in this parable of the talents now remember we're awaiting we're going to be awaiting the lord's return through a lot of this parable So living under his reign means what are we doing while we're waiting for his return throughout the parable. Well, here's the story of the parable. It begins with the master. The master in the Greek text is the kurios.

It's the same word that we use for Lord in Scripture, but it also means master. And in this passage, this is the master. But as we step back, this is really the Christ who is the master here. He's an extremely rich master. from the text. He's preparing to go on a journey that will take him away for a long time.

So let's not be under any illusions. It may be a long time before the master returns, but return he will. The master, as he leaves, entrusts his riches to his servants. He gives them significant resources and he gives each of them on his behalf as his agents while he is gone on the journey. And he expects them to use the resources he has provided to him to improve and enlarge his resources.

We then have the servants. The servants in the text are, in the Greek text, doulos. In the Greek language, there are two different words that are translated servant. One word is diakonos, from which we get deacon. But you know, I can be a diakonos, that is, I can serve you without you being my master, right?

I could do something for Kathy Neely, but she would not be my master necessarily because I served her. The doulos is a different sense. The doulos is one who serves another, but the doulos recognizes always, always he has a master. That word, the Greek word, always has the connotation of you live under the authority, the reign, the rule of a master who has the authority to tell you what to do. You must obey that master.

In the ancient world, and this is a little hard for us in this country to understand given the history of slavery in this country, but in Jesus' day the servants were often very well educated and they often managed the business affairs of the master. And in fact the servants would often be the right hand person to serve the master and to run his business affairs. And that's the case in the context of this parable. We have very capable servants who have great resources and abilities to serve the master resources to them. He then distributes the talents to these servants. And the distribution is one, we need to know what a talent equals in the distribution. A talent was a form of money in Jesus' day. One talent equaled 6,000 denarii. Now that doesn't mean much to us unless we remember this.

One denarius, one denarius equaled one day's wage for a common laborer. So 6,000 denarii, there were about 300 working days in a year. One talent is about 20 years worth of wages. So in this case, one person got five talents, right? One servant, that's 100 years worth of wages.

A lot of resources. two talents. Two times 20 years 40 years worth and then even the one who just got one talent got a lot of resources. He got 20 years worth of a laborer's wages. The distribution of the talents varies.

Each servant is entrusted with considerable amounts but the amount varies based on the master's evaluation of each servant's capacities and skills. But while the amount given to each varies, each has the exact same responsibility. The responsibility is to take whatever the master has given and to use it and help the master prosper even more to increase the wealth, so to speak. Well, how do the servants use the talents?

Well, we have in this case what I'm going to refer to as the faithful servants, the first two, and then we have the lazy servant. The faithful servants take immediate action with what the master gives to them. The text in verse 16 says, At once there was no hesitation. What they had from the master, they immediately began to apply and work in order to increase and improve that which the master had given them. The sense is that these folks took what they were given and they began to work a business.

And they worked it as diligently as they could, day in, day out, constantly, faithfully, diligently working it to increase the master's wealth. They actively employed what he gave to them. They diligently pursued their task. They faithfully focused on maximizing his return. They were productive servants.

There was no drifting, no coasting, no early retirement, no sitting on the sidelines, no quitting. Constant, faithful work. Not so with the lazy servant. He goes and just buries what the master gives to him. He doesn't put the resources of the master to work.

He doesn't spend any time working on behalf of the master. This is an unproductive and lazy servant. He is good for nothing. in terms of increasing the master's wealth. Why does he go bury the treasure?

Well, we're going to see in a moment the lazy servant's going to make a lot of excuses, but you know why he buried the treasure? Because then he didn't have to do any work on behalf of the master. He could just do whatever he wanted. He put it away. He hid it.

Forget about it. Now I'm just going to go do what I want to do, spend my time the way I want to spend my time, play the way I want to play.

so we have two very different ways of dealing with the master's money but then the master comes home after a long time he comes home and there is a day of reckoning a day of reckoning the faithful servants have to make an account and we see with the faithful servants they have doubled what the master gave to them

and the master gives them a reward the reward really has three parts they first get the master's approval well done good and faithful servant secondly they are given new and increased responsibilities on behalf of the master our time in eternity folks will be a time when we have responsibilities not just singing around on a cloud with a halo with a harp and singing. I think we will be doing many things that will seem similar, familiar to us from what we've done on earth, just without all the sin and weight that goes with sin related to it. But we will have responsibilities, and the level of our responsibilities will be, I think, related in part to how we have been faithful here on earth. And in addition to increased responsibilities, the faithful servants get joy. They get to share in the happiness and joy that only the master can provide.

But there's a difference for the lazy servant. The lazy servant, instead of really accounting, just makes excuses. He wants to excuse his laziness, his lack of effort, by making false statements and accusations against the master. What the lazy servant says is not true, folks. Don't make a mistake here.

true. He's trying to make excuses. He says, oh, master, I knew you were a hard master. Well, what evidence is there of that? This master gave him great abundant wealth. He's not being hard. In fact, he has been an extremely gracious master. Not a hard master.

But the servant's trying to make excuses. He also makes the excuse, oh, master, I know how you just use other people to make your money. Really, master, you kind of exploit us, he's saying. and I know if I didn't earn you a lot of money you would have punished me. Well there's absolutely no indication that if the servant had put this, had tried to use this money to increase the master's kingdom and hadn't done as well as the others that he would have gotten any punishment at all.

The problem is not in the result, the problem is in the lack of faithfulness and trying to use what the master has done to increase the master's wealth. So this lazy servant makes excuses that are not true excuses. But the master responds to him and says this, you lazy servant. If you really thought, even though it's not true, if you really thought I was such a hard master, and if you really thought I would punish you if you didn't use this stuff the way I wanted you to, then why in the world didn't you do something with it? If you really believed that, you should have been doing something, right?

You should have at least given the money to the banker to earn a little interest.

See, the reality is, folks, that this servant gets exactly what he deserves. His reward is disapproval. He loses all the privileges of servanthood, the joy of serving the master and being with the master. And this lazy servant is eternally separated from the master. Because you see, this quote servant was not a genuine servant of the master at all.

Because had he been, he would have obeyed the master. He would have loved the master enough to give of his effort, his time, and his resources. The proof was in the pudding. He was not a real servant. That's why he's eternally separated from the Father.

That's the story. Now here are the lessons for life that we get from the story. You have these in your handout. Here's the first lesson for life that we need to take to heart from this parable. The master has richly equipped and shaped us to serve him.

Everything we have, folks, at root comes from the master. Even the best, brightest, and most talented of us have no room for pride because at root it came from the master. We may have used the skills, the abilities, and gifts he gave us, but who gave you your mind? you didn't give yourself your mind. Who gave you your body?

You didn't give yourself your body. So if you are eloquent, if you are smart, if you are good at something, no room for pride because it came from the master. On the other hand, if you don't feel so good about yourself, and some people don't view themselves as having much skill or talent, if you will look closely, if you are genuinely his servant, he has given you a shape to serve him. And if you read your book, The Purpose Driven Life, shape is used to help us remember how the Lord shaped us. He gave us spiritual abilities. He gave us a heart, a passion for serving Him. He gave us abilities, natural abilities. He gave us a personality that was fit to serve Him. And He gave us experiences in life to prepare us to serve Him.

Sometimes painful experiences, but sometimes that's where we get molded, is in the fire. And that's where the Lord prepares us to serve Him. So my first lesson is we're equipped and to serve Him. The second lesson is talk less and do more. In other words, my son's a math major so I like to use mathematical equations. Profession without action equals nada.

Nothing.

The proof is in the pudding folks. We may profess to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We may profess to be His servants. But if there the profession, the profession is false. Genuine faith will always result in obedience to the Master if the faith is genuine.

Always. Not to say we will be perfect, but the general tenor of our lives will be one of obedience. In The Pilgrim's Progress, written by that great author John Bunyan, there's a character called Mr. Talkative. And as Bunyan says about Mr. Talkative, everything he has lies in his tongue and making a noise with it is his religion.

There are some who profess the name of Christ who are just making a lot of noise. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Who will enter the kingdom of heaven? He who does the will of the Father. It is not that our works save us.

but genuine faith always produces works and it is works that is the evidence that we are who we claim to be faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin there's a great quote oh i lost it here

ask yourself have you is there today one thing that you have done just because the lord said to do it or something you have not done just because the lord said not to do it

what you do, what you don't do in response to the Lord's commands is the proof of who you are, his servant or his child. The third is now is the time for action. What are we waiting for?

Oh, when the children are grown, then I'll start serving the master. Oh, when I get a better job. Oh, when I retire.

Folks who are going to serve the Lord, serve now. There's no time for waiting. The psalmist said, show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days. Let me know how fleeting is my life. That was a prayer of motivation.

I can look at most of you and I can tell most of you are not getting any younger. You are closer to the day of reckoning. What are we waiting for? Fourthly, let's not let our lives be games of self-centered, trivial pursuits.

I'm not saying that in life there are not some things that are just mundane things we have to deal with. We all do. But we let ourselves get consumed in things we don't have to do that don't matter one whit in the long run.

it was when I was in the valley after Joshua's death I finally realized that so much of what I was doing in life didn't matter one bit and the Lord used that painful event to say David you've got to focus on what matters do not waste your life I gave it to you for a reason I gave you certain skills and abilities to use for me not for yourself And if I could press this on one thing, it's let's not waste our lives frittering them away on things that are inconsequential. Rick Warren says in the book, Purpose Driven Life, it's human nature to get distracted by minor issues. We play trivial pursuits with our lives. Many people are like gyroscopes spinning around at a frantic pace but never going anywhere. want your life to have impact, focus it. Stop dabbling. Stop trying to do it all. Do less.

Prune away even good activities and do only that which matters most. John Piper, who is a well-known national pastor, writer, when he was growing up, he said his mom had on the wall in the kitchen a little plaque. And he said the words on that plaque stuck with him throughout his life. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.

Fifthly, we live for an audience of one to whom we will one day give an account.

We live to please King Jesus. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what others say if we have the applause of God. to get his applause we must be about his business with a single-minded focus a single-minded obedience a single-minded loyalty. Sixthly venture it all in the cause of Christ. I'm going to press us that risk is right in the service of the king. Be willing to take what he has given you and venture all in his cause. We should be willing to lose everything if necessary. Houses, fame, fortune, even life itself in the service of the king. I love those New Testament stories of people like Esther who in serving the king says if I, the king which is the Lord says if I perish I perish.

or the Apostle Paul who says, I count my life worth nothing. If only I can finish the task the Lord has given me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. I love to read the story about Christian martyrs, people who had such a view about life that they knew that even because of their lives, there was something more important than their lives. I'm not talking about throwing away our lives needlessly, but it's never needless to give our lives in the service of the King.

Lastly, lastly, never ever quit. The faithful servants never quit working until the master returned. And as John Wesley said, do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.

and I'll close with the story of John Calvin so we're getting sort of two ends of the spectrum here in theology, Wesley and Calvin but the story of John Calvin, age 55 he lived in a home 200 yards from his pulpit as he got older and more feeble and in ill health he would hobble to the pulpit and stand there and preach but there came a day when he could no longer stand in the pulpit he had to stay in his bed and instead of quitting preaching he called his parishioners into his bedroom and there in his bedroom he continued to preach as he was failing and dying literally. One of his parishioners said John what are you doing? You're old, you've been doing this for years, you're in ill health, nobody's going to criticize you if you just stop and rest. And Calvin looks at him and says would you have my Lord find me I enter into his presence.

I hope not. Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into your reward. Let's pray.

Lord, forgive us when we've been half-hearted, lukewarm, and halfway in our service to you. Make us different. And by making us different, help us to make a difference. May our lives count for something bigger than ourselves. For it's in Christ's name we pray.