Shipshape: Full Sails – The Stewardship of our Gifts and Talents | Rev. Paul

In this message from Shipshape: The Stewardship Series, Pastor Paul Lawler unpacks Jesus’ parable of the talents from Matthew 25:14–30. Every believer has been entrusted with God-given gifts, resources, and opportunities—yet the tragedy of wasted potential looms large when we bury rather than steward what we’ve been given. Discover why saving faith is serving faith, what “Well done, good and faithful servant” really means, and how living with “full sails” positions us for eternal reward.

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Chapters

• 0:28 Stewardship of Gifts and Talents
• 9:40 The Abilities We All Have
• 15:12 The Account We Will Give
• 20:04 The Action God Will Take
• 27:46 God's Merciful Character

Transcript

[0:17] This morning we begin our Fall Stewardship Series with a discussion on the stewardship of gifts and talents from Matthew chapter 25 verses 14 through 30.

[0:28] For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with him, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with him. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents. Here, I have made five talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

[1:30] And he also said to the one who had two talents came forward, saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here, I have made two talents more. And his master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. He also who had received the one talent came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours. But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I had not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away, and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.".

[2:53] This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Amen and amen. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. My name is Paul Lawler. I have the honor of serving as the Senior Pastor of Christ Methodist. We welcome you today, particularly if you are a guest. So today we're going to take a break from our series on 1 Corinthians and do a four-week series on stewardship titled Ship Shape. We'll pick up 1 Corinthians in about four, well, five weeks. Now, as we journey through this series, obviously the feature will be the Word of God as we teach, but I'm going to be sharing some sailing stories with you, personal sailing stories, and that will involve the good, bad, and the ugly. And so I'm going to start with the ugly.

[3:48] And so I need to preface this by saying that I enjoy sailing. There are members of my family that will not sail with me because they say I'm too dangerous.

[4:01] And maybe this story will illustrate a part of the ethos of why that perspective exists. So I rented a sailing vessel, a very small sailing vessel, on the beach a number of years ago with a friend. And it was a beautiful day. You can picture the sunshine. It was a cloudless day. And the ocean was relatively calm. And there was a good wind. And it was a great day to sail. And as many of you know, the waters in the Gulf of Mexico are like turquoise, just beautiful, shimmering, just put on a surreal display. And so my friend and I are sailing. And we're moving at a pretty good clip. And the Greek for that is bookity bookity book. Okay. So we're moving at a good clip across the water. And I decide that I want to teach my friend how to tap and how to sail into the wind. And so we turn the boat, begin moving at an angle and the sails are full. And this is a small sailing vessel. So my hand is on the rudder, the stick, and everything is really tight and we're on a slight tilt and moving at a good clip.

[5:18] Beautiful. Just hearing nothing but the sailboat just touching the water. Just kind of.

[5:28] So gorgeous. And then suddenly I hear up, And right as that happens, the angle of the sailboat shifted, the wind in the sails went to a collapsed place, and there was just complete play in the stick, the rudder. And I'm like, what? And suddenly I see this piece of beautiful teak wood floating in the turquoise water. And my first thought is, what is this beautiful teak doing floating in the Gulf of Mexico? And to which I begin to surmise that the rudder has literally broken off the sailboat.

[6:18] Now, we'll pick that story up again in just a moment.

[6:22] But when Jesus shares this parable, he's sharing a story of an epic tragedy of a people who do not take their one and ordinary life and align the rudder properly for the sake of the kingdom of God. And it is a great tragedy. And you'll see through the sobering nature of Jesus' words that Grant read just a moment ago, that it is a tragedy of the utmost seriousness. It is a tragedy of wasted opportunity. It is a tragedy of a wasted life. It is a tragedy of the direst consequences. No exaggeration in any of these words. While followers of Jesus look forward to his second coming, we are instructed that we are not to sit back in idleness before that day. The story illustrates an all-important metaphor, a talent, which he refers to, the master refers to several times in the parable, which is, in its classical definition, a sum of money. Only in the parable, the talent represents something far more than just financial resources. It encompasses that, but it also encompasses the talents, the spiritual gifts, the resources, the capacities, the aptitude of every human being.

[7:49] Satisfied that his talents have been placed in capable hands, the master in the parable goes on a journey. He trusts multiple persons with various levels of giftedness and value. Jesus uses this phrase as he describes the story, each according to his own ability. That tells us a lot. That tells us that the owner knew each person intimately, and he entrusted each person openly.

[8:20] The one and only responsibility that could be reasonably expected from the master. He was emphasizing a common accountability for differing levels of responsibility based upon individual ability. And because the parable illustrates the kingdom of heaven on earth, the man in the story obviously represents Jesus Christ himself. And as he goes on a journey, this represents the time he is away between his first coming as in anticipation of his second coming. And so these servants depict professed believers in Christ, members of the Lord's visible church, whom he has entrusted with valuable resources to use on his behalf until he comes again. And Jesus only mentions three levels of responsibility, but they merely illustrate the wide variety of abilities represented among God's people. A wide variety of natural talent, a wide variety of intellect, a wide variety of spiritual gifts, a wide variety of resources,

[9:39] a wide variety of other abilities. Now, church, let's take a pause.

[9:46] This is illustrated with the disciples themselves. There are 12 disciples, but yet three of them are in the inner circle of Jesus. And the most prominent disciple in that inner circle that was used most profoundly for the kingdom was Peter. So we recognize the implication from the parable is not only do we share various levels of responsibility in this life, but the parable illustrates that we will share varying levels of responsibility in the next life based upon the stewardship that God entrusts us to in our faithfulness in this life. So as we delve into this parable this morning, what I want to do is highlight three realities from the parable of the talents. Here's the first one. The abilities we all have, the abilities we all have. Listen to what Jesus says, verse 14, 15. For it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went away.

[10:59] And so one of the things that we need to be mindful of is that Jesus has linked three parables together in Matthew 25. And he begins this section in verse 1 like this, the kingdom of heaven will be like.

[11:17] And then he tells the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents that we're looking at today, and the parable of the sheep and the goats. And so what we recognize is that Jesus is teaching on the reality of the kingdom of God. Now, in order for us to be faithful in teaching this morning, we need to affirm that there are three contexts in which reference to the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven are found in Scripture.

[11:45] The first one is the sphere of God's kingdom in the context of the dominion of Jesus Christ. That's one context. Second context is when sometimes the kingdom of heaven is referred to all redeemed people. People are in relationship with Christ. This can be illustrated in Matthew 18.3. Unless you were converted, become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. And then there's a third category, and that category is what we're looking at this morning.

[12:16] Sometimes the kingdom of heaven is a specific reference to the visible, outward body of professing Christians, and that includes the true ones and the false ones. That includes the genuine as well as those who are imitations. And we can reinforce this because this section begins, Matthew 25, 1, and following with the story of the foolish virgins, the ten virgins, five which were foolish, who, loved ones, the foolish virgins do not represent professed pagans or atheists or agnostics or reprobates. They profess those who are, excuse me, they symbolize those who are professing outward faith in the person of Jesus Christ. So Jesus is illustrating the outward organizational church is composed of those who really do belong to him, and those, get this church.

[13:26] Those who allege to belong to him. So listen to what he says, verse 16 through 18. He who had received the five talents went at once, traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more, but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. So the servant who had received the five talents and the two talents, they serve their master faithfully. I think all of us get that.

[13:57] And therefore, they use them effectively and gain five more talents, gain two more talents. These men represent genuine believers who were eager to serve their master and therefore immediately went and traded and gained five more and two more respectively. These men are genuine believers who have a supreme desire to serve God, fulfilling what Jesus declared as the greatest commandment. They love the Lord God with their heart and with their soul and with all their might. And the point is not the type of work that you have done, but the fact that you used all the resources entrusted to you to the fullest advantage for the kingdom. Both of these represent a supreme commitment to the master by making the most of what God has entrusted to them, maximizing opportunities for the kingdom of God. Now, the behavior of the third servant, however, was radically different.

[15:02] He is the one who received one talent, and he went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

[15:10] And so this all illustrates the abilities we all have. But then the parable makes a shift and what Jesus shifts to is the account we will give look with me if you were to glance at verses 19 through 27 this would reinforce this I'm not going to read reread the text but in verse 20 the master you entrusted five talents to me see I've gained five more talents or two more talents and what's happening is servants of Christ as the parable illustrates are giving an account to Jesus. And when the master said to them, well done, good and faithful servant, he was commending the servant's heart and attitude more than just the servant's accomplishments. So look with me at verse 24. Jesus says, he also who had received the one talent came forward saying, master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow.

[16:17] So what's happening here, church? The servant, this servant, is demonstrating a counterfeit allegiance. And what is it rooted in? According to the text, it's rooted in the reality that he has a distortion of the character of God. And that sets him up for all kinds of deception. He accuses God of being a hard man, reaping where he does not sow and gathering where he has scattered no seed. He is charging the owner with being unmerciful. He is charging the owner with being dishonest. Imagine that. How does this happen?

[17:14] Well one he has a vague understanding of God he runs on the fumes of what he gleans from others about God or what flows from his own imagination or thoughts about God and in light of that he does not have he doesn't know God does not have a revelation of God which is often what happens when a person professes faith in Christ outwardly, but does not grow in intimate relationship with God through Jesus and study the Word of God so they have a revelation of the nature and heart of God. And this servant, Jesus, uses very strong words against. Loved ones, this is a kind of story where it just jolts us. Listen to what Jesus says to him, Matthew 25, verses 26 and 27. He says, you wicked, slothful servant. We need to do a little bit of review here.

[18:20] When Jesus uses, or the Bible uses the word wicked, what that represents, remember what a candle wick is, that it's set in wax and the wick is twisted. And oftentimes when we hear the word wicked, we think about maybe a serial murder on death row. We think about how wicked that person is, and that's true. That's very wicked. But it has a meaning that applies far more generally than we realize. Wicked is when we take a truth and we twist it. We read something very clear in Scripture, and we take it and we twist it. And Jesus says, this servant is wicked. He has twisted the character of God. And out of twisting the character of God, the revelation of God, he's buried opportunity to serve God. But Jesus not only says he's wicked, he says he's slothful. Too lazy to open the word to get to know me too neglectful to be responsive to me because he doesn't know me understand me so you wicked slothful servant you knew that you are let me rephrase the tone here because there's a question mark at the end of this sentence you knew that i reap where i have not sown and gather where i have scattered no seed this is the revelation that you think you have of me?

[19:48] And then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers. You should have at least done something else that would have been productive. And at my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. And so what this all illustrates, church family, is the account that we will all give.

[20:06] And then thirdly, and it gets heavier, church family, the action God will take. Hear the word of God. Jesus says, so take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, church, there is a positive and a negative in this passage or in this section. I want to deal with a negative first because I don't know about you, but I'd like to end on a positive. But let's deal with a negative first.

[20:50] The third servant. The third servant was not only unfaithful, he was faithless. And remember what James wrote, faith without works is dead. You see, when you've been infected with the love of Jesus through his gospel, you have symptoms. And a part of the symptoms is that you're no longer indifferent to the broken and the marginalized and the lost and all the needs that Jesus cares about around you. And his faithlessness is what drove his unfaithfulness. And it illustrates that a person's unproductiveness in serving in the kingdom is a reflection of the fact that they do not know or belong to God. And because this third servant wasted his abilities for the kingdom, because he wasted his spiritual gifts for the kingdom, because he wasted his natural talents for the kingdom, he wasted his opportunities for the kingdom, Jesus pronounces a severe judgment upon his life. Listen to these words from the late Tim Keller.

[22:01] Contemporary people tend to examine the Bible, looking for things that they can't accept. But Christians should reverse that, allowing the Bible to examine us, looking for things God can't accept. Now, church, I want to remind you that nobody in Scripture spoke more about judgment than Jesus did. There's no Old Testament prophet that spoke more about judgment than Jesus. There is no place or no person in the New Testament that spoke more about judgment than Jesus did. Jesus spoke of sin that could not be forgiven. Jesus spoke of the danger of losing one's soul forever. Jesus spoke of spending eternity in the torments of hell. Jesus spoke of existing forever in outer darkness where one is in perpetual weeping and gnashing of teeth. And according to the words of Jesus, hell is not only a place of eternal darkness, but it is a place of eternal torment. Oftentimes, you will hear people begin to tone hell down in some way when we begin to parse Greek words like Gehenna and say, it's a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. It's not so bad. But, loved ones, I can submit to you that whatever hell is, it is no day at the beach.

[23:20] And these warnings are all acts of love by Jesus. This is why Jesus would weep over cities. Jesus sought to draw people to himself, not only through his compassion and love and attractiveness of salvation, but also he sought to attract people to himself by warning of the horrors of its only alternative. There's a divine principle at work here, church family. Those who trust in Christ and serve him gain everything, and those who do not trust in Christ and do not serve him lose everything. That's a truth that rests on this axiom. Saving faith is serving faith, and we see that illustrated clearly in the parable. Now, there's also a great positive here. And even though the negative is there out of the love of Jesus for people. But the positive, Jesus says in verse 29, for to everyone who has, more will be given and he will have an abundance. In other words, not only will the Lord entrust greater earthly tasks to those who have proved themselves faithful, but their heavenly reward will be an opportunity for greater service throughout eternity.

[24:45] Now, some of you are old enough in this room to go all the way back to 2001.

[24:53] And those of you who were old enough to go that far back, maybe you were in high school or your college years, and I am in touch with who's in the room, and they're here. But there was a song back then by a group called Train, and it was titled Drops of Jupiter. And some of you know the line, but tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded? Say it with me, and heaven is overrated. Every time I would hear that song as a younger pastor and they would get to that line, I would cringe because I thought about not so much the world, I thought about the number of Christians that maybe have not opened their Bibles and studied the gift of heaven, and that it's not overrated. That Jesus has declared, I go to prepare a place for you, John 14, and he has been preparing that place for 2,000 years.

[26:12] And loved ones, if God is creative enough to create the heavens with billions of stars, billions of galaxies that contain billions of stars, and to say the heavens declare the glory of God, and if God is creative enough to create this earth where we enjoy earth and water and land and all the beauty that God has created, don't you think that the creativity he's been spending the last 2,000 years, heaven cannot possibly be overrated? Many people think heaven is a place because they've never read. They think it's some type of ethereal place that can't be defined where the scripture describes, and I remind you that there's a new heaven and a new earth coming. This one will be reformed, recreated. And you're going, according to the Bible, you're going to live on earth, but only it's going to be recreated if your life is in Christ. And loved ones, one of the things the Bible teaches over and over, you're not going to be playing harps on clouds. That would be boring.

[27:32] You're going to have gifts and graces and a personality. You're going to be more you than you've ever been because you won't have a sin

[27:42] nature and you'll be fully in the presence of Jesus and you will have responsibilities. Jesus says it right here in this parable. And God is going to honor you. He's going to honor you for your faithfulness and in honoring you for your service and your stewardship of your life. That day is coming, church family. And these are Jesus words. These are not your pastor's opinions.

[28:11] So we're in the Gulf of Mexico and the rudder's just floating right along. And we end up swimming the boat in. And when we got to shore with the sailboat company, they gave us a new boat. I don't mean gifted, we're renting. But they gave us a new boat. And we went back out and had a great day. Now, church, I want to submit to you that God in Christ is not a hard man.

[28:42] In fact, remember the unfaithful steward? He accused God of being unmerciful. God is merciful.

[28:53] He's willing to give you a new boat. Now, what I mean by that, he gives new hearts. And it's possible that as you're before the Lord this morning, you could be saying, You know, Lord, I might be living a rudderless life, and I want to remind you that he's kind, that he is merciful to those who turn to him. And he's willing. The Bible teaches he gives a new heart. And that gift of a new heart comes through a pathway of simply, Lord, I surrender my life to you. I surrender my gifts, my talents, my abilities, whatever you've sown into my life. I surrender my heart and life to you. That's always the first step toward Jesus. That's always the first step toward experiencing his mercy. That's always the first step toward knowing his graciousness and the beauty of what he can do in the life of a human being. The Bible says if a man or woman is in Christ, you get a brand new heart. The Bible says that all that's been in the past, it goes away and the new comes so that you in your life can move in the wind of God's presence and his power and his love and his life.

[30:21] And so this morning, I want to invite you, as we all gather here in a place of worship, to surrender again, to simply say to Jesus, Jesus, I surrender to you. I yield my heart to you. I thank you that the word of God is the gift of a rudder and that the wind of the Spirit empowers the cells in my life. So Lord, I surrender. And in my surrender, I pray that you use my gifts, my graces, the graces you've placed in my life, talents for your glory as you lead me. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.