His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
Matthew 25:21
Recommended Reading: Luke 12:40-59 “40 Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.41 Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:52 For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?58 When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.59 I tell thee, thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.”
COMMENTS: The parables Jesus taught mostly have straight forward meaning because He revealed their meaning. But the magnitude and mystery of His meaning reveals an insight and depth and prophetic side that goes far deeper than what we would have interpreted of the parable’s teaching if we didn’t have Jesus’s interpretation along with the parable. Bible prophecies and teaching reveal much more than surface interpretation. Such is true of Revelation and other places in scripture giving end time prophecies yet to be fulfilled. Best we can do is take them at face value filtered through known truth and other prophecies we are given meaning in scripture.
The parable of the Good Steward instructs us to invest the Master’s resources wisely to give growth / return He expects with wasting or squandering resources He owns, but we have control of, for ourselves. That both means all we own or have are really His and not ours. It also means we should treat what we own as His and not ours, being generous in investing in His Work and stingy in satisfying our own wants.
Does that mean we should deprive ourselves and hoard our income and possessions? The parable does not say that, but does say we should treat such as His and not ours. That means only using what is needed and with His approval while looking at His Work of outreach and Ministry as investing in what He desires and is passionate about – in others.
The concept of stewardship is normally equated to philanthropic funding of outreach ministries or even to personal family needs. But stewardship also includes caring for resources in our control like the caretaker of a garden or maintaining an asset. Paul was identified as a “steward of God’s grace” because of his calling and effective ministry sharing the Good News in word and letter. That stewardship enables us to be included, by Paul’s letters in New Testament scripture, among those of long ago who heard and were converted and inspired by Paul’s sermons and life.
We, therefore, are stewards of all God’s possessions and resources, including:
- His Word
- His servants and workers – pastors, ss teachers, missionaries, outreach ministries and churches and programs.
- Personal income and possessions and savings
- Personal life and family and talents and gifts.
- Life and strength in body and mind.
- Connection to local church and congregation
I Corinthians 3:10-15 “10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
Truth is, everything we see, touch, possess and have control of is God’s. We are not our own but His too. Even life and quality and length of our lives are His. We think, because we work for and have full control of our time and money and possessions we buy and use, that we own them. Well, how much do we one the second after we die? Wills enable use to designate who will gain control after we die, but truth is even then true ownership still belongs to God and we are only assigning a new steward of those assets.
So, what does all this mean. Well, scholars have written volumes trying to explain our limited understanding. Basically, our understanding should begin with treating our time and possessions and money (earned and saved and given) as His instead of ours and be more responsible and accountable for their use. Money and time are commodities used or spent once and are gone. Possessions are used many times before they’re no longer of value. But using them wisely and maintaining them so their service life is as long as possible is part of being good stewards of them.
Well, does that mean we should live in fear of misusing His stuff? Does that mean we should hoard and let Him take it when we’re gone? Does that mean when we use money to buy things, we want above what we need is sinful? Does that mean we should give all we have to God’s work either through the local church or through well know missionary and outreach groups with good reputation?
All these are extremes, and I believe God would have us seek and find balance from these extremes. Being responsible, not wasteful, in using money God gives us to meet our needs and needs of our family. Working hard to earn as much as we can and use as little as realistic. John Wesley said “Earn as much as you can, give as much as you can, and save as much as you can.” He also said “Do as much as you can”. Being a good steward means being accountable and doing God’s Will. Resources He provides are intended to enable and energize us to fulfill His Great Commission of evangelizing – sharing His Good News of Forgiveness and Redemption to as many and as far as we can. Sharing resources with other organizations and people faithful to that goal is good but doesn’t excused us from personal work and outreach He wants us to do too. Buying or earning our way to heaven is not possible nor required. Showing our love and gratitude by deeds and giving are far different reasons and actually motivate greater deeds and giving because motivation is “want to give” instead “have to give”.
Love is a far greater motivation than obligation or punishment. God gives and blesses us far more than He needs to, because He loves us. We should so bless Him too by what we do and say and give because we love Him too. We can’t out give God, but we can give and do more than we are. That doesn’t mean working longer or harder, but likely means setting priorities end shifting some priorities from selfish goals to priorities of more value for Him and others He cares about too.
God will reward us for our faithfulness but our motivation should not be for reward but for the joy expressing love for Him and influencing others to do so and experience His love and mercy too. Bring Christ joy should be our primary motivation and bringing Him grief or disappointment as a great deterrent.
” The highest honor in the Church is not government but service.” John Calvin
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