Sermon Tone Analysis

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Introduction
Nothing teaches responsibility like having children.
It’s an amazing experience to meet these little creatures for the very first time and to know, without any doubt or hesitation, that you would die to keep them safe.
And, I think the most terrifying part of being a parent is that you do want to keep them safe and you do want to protect them, but you also know that if they’re going to flourish and if they’re going to grow into the person that God intends for them to be, if they’re going experience the best things in life, you’re not going to be able to protect them from everything or always keep them safe.
Teaching your children to grow up is difficult and gut-wrenching because it means that you cannot and must not protect them from everything.
Parenting would be easy if our only job was to wrap them up in bubble wrap, keep them in the basement, and ensure they never witness anything difficult, but the best parents work themselves out of a job.
Last year, GK started Kindergarten, and I remember so clearly these weird emotions that I had.
On one hand, I was excited for her and proud of her that she was going to have the opportunity to meet new people and experience new adventures and learn new things.
But, on the other hand, I was terrified.
I didn’t know how she would be treated or who might try to take advantage of her.
I didn’t know what bad habits she might be tempted to learn or what bad influences she might become friends with.
I was examining these other five and six year olds like a TSA agent looking for terrorists.
But, here’s the thing: My primary job as a parent is not to simply keep my children safe, as important as safety is.
My primary job as a parent is to whatever is necessary to help these little girls become the women God intends for them to be, so bubble wrap and basements won’t do.
There’s going to be risks involved.
This morning, we’re going to see that this principle applies not only to our children but to every single thing that God has entrusted into our care as await Christ’s return.
God’s Word
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Ready and working
“like a man going on a journey” Now, if you’ll remember where we are in , you’ll remember that we’re in the last of Jesus’ sermons in the gospel of Matthew, a sermon that we call the Olivet Discourse.
And, in this sermon, Jesus is describing to his disciples what to expect in the last days, what to expect in this time of turbulence and tribulation as we await the return of Christ.
And, we’re in this series of parables that Jesus is using to explain to us how we are to wait for him and live until He does return.
In the parable of the ten virgins at the beginning of chapter 25, Jesus tells us that we must watch for Christ’s return vigilantly so that we are able to endure until the end.
This week, Jesus is telling us that our job isn’t just watching vigilantly, but it is also working diligently.
Jesus is making sure that his disciples know that their responsibility before God isn’t just to pass the time but to be productive for God’s glory while living on God’s mission.
A Generous Master
“entrusted to them his property” So, Jesus tells the story of a wealthy master who’s going on a long journey.
While this master is gone on his journey, he entrusts his considerable estate into the hands of three of his servants.
Now, this guy was like Jeff Bezos or John Rockefeller rich.
It says that he divides his money into talents and distributes them among his servants.
A talent could vary in worth, but it typically equaled 20-30 years of wages for an average day laborer.
And, this man distributes eight talents among his three servants.
So, we’re literally talking about millions of dollars that this guy is entrusting into the hands of his servants.
“entrusted to them his property” Remember what Jesus is talking about here.
Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of heaven.
So, he’s saying this is what God’s kingdom, this is what his kingdom is like.
So, it’s not difficult to understand who’s who in this parable.
The master is Jesus and the servants are his professing disciples.
Jesus is going away for a long time, and He is going to entrust his Kingdom into the hands of his disciples.
To understand what Jesus is saying, it’s especially important to catch what he says in the opening line.
He says that this what the servants receive is not theirs.
This is his property, and they are his servants.
He is still the master over all of it.
They will have to give an account for what they’ve done with all of it, because it’s his and not theirs.
Now, in clearest view here is money, but its much bigger than that actually.
The word translated as ‘servant’ in the ESV actually means bondservant or a slave.
That is, it’s a person that literally belonged to his master and whose entire well-being was dependent upon the master.
If the master was generous and kind, then being a bondservant could be one of the best occupations an average person could hold in Biblical times.
If there was a particularly generous and kind master, it was not uncommon for free men to willfully bring themselves into slavery under the lordship of that master.
These masters would treat their servants as part of their families and entrust them with great responsibility in their estates so that they could hold positions of great respect and prominence.
But, if the master was harsh and stingy, then being a bondservant was to be enslaved to a life of neglect and abuse that you would despise and hate.
In view here is not just the wealth of these men, it’s their entire well-being.
It’s everything that they are, and everything that they own.
All of it belongs to the master.
All of it is at his discretion.
It’s his to choose and do with as he wants.
It’s their wealth.
It’s their kids.
It’s their breakfast.
It’s their job.
It’s their home.
It’s everything.
And, here we have a master with a practically immeasurable amount of wealth, and he’s going to be gone for a long time.
So, he takes this enormous estate and he distributes it out among his servants so that they can manage it for him in his absence.
He has the right to do with what he has any way that he wants, and he chooses to entrust it to these men.
This master could just have them digging ditches or collecting rocks, but instead he’s allowing them to live with his riches and to manage his accounts.
And, even better yet, it was the common practice of Jesus’ day that if your master entrusted something into a your care, even if you were a slaved, and you turned a profit, then you were allowed to keep a percentage for yourself.
He’s giving them the opportunity to take part in his wealth!
He’s giving them the opportunity to enjoy what only he rightly deserves and is entitled to!
This is a generous and gracious master.
These guys were slaves and now suddenly they find themselves in the possession of millions.
They weren’t entitled to it.
They didn’t deserve it.
But, their master had given it to them anyway.
The question becomes, what will they do with the master’s trust?
What will they do with the master’s generosity?
What will they do with what he’s given to them?
Jesus is a Generous Master
The question becomes, what will they do with the master’s trust?
What will they do with the master’s generosity?
What will they do with what he’s given to them?
APPLICATION: Brothers and sisters, Jesus is the master of immeasurable wealth.
It all belongs to him.
Mount Everest raises to his praise, and the oceans bow to his honor.
All the gold and diamonds of Africa, all of the oil of the middle east, and all of the technology of Silicone Valley is in his possession.
Every blaspheming Muslim, every scoffing atheist, and every indifferent Christian were created by him and through him and for him.
Ft.
Knox is a cereal box in his kingdom and the US treasury only has what He allows.
And, you, you were born a slave.
You come into the world naked, and you’ll leave this world as dust, if the Lord tarries.
Except that this master is kind and generous and gracious, and He intervened into the midst of your poverty and pestilence, and He brought you into his Kingdom.
You didn’t deserve it.
You weren’t entitled to it.
And, He was free to do with his Kingdom whatever He wanted, yet He wanted you and brought you into his Kingdom, and now, as you await his return, as you await his triumphant arrival at which all the nations will bow and cry out, He has given to you from his riches and from his wealth into your household.
Every face sitting around your dining room table, every dollar that gets direct deposited into your account, every ability that you have naturally and supernaturally, every day you feel good, every breath in your lungs, every beat in your chest, they’re all his! They’re all gracious, undeserved gifts from him to you so that you can manage them to his glory.
And so, the question is, what are you doing with what you’ve been given?
What are you doing with your Master’s generosity?
The Servants Respond
“he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money” So, Jesus tells us that there are three servants but only two different responses.
He says that the first two servants, the one with five talents and the one with two, leave ‘at once’ to begin turning a profit with what has been entrusted to them.
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