Our Old Covenant reading this morning comes from Isaiah 12. We'll be looking, reading through verses 1 to 6. Isaiah 12, beginning verse 1, this is the word of our God. You will say in that day, I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away that you might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day, give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done graciously. Let this be made known in all the earth. Shout and sing for joy, O inhabitants of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel. Our new covenant reading comes from Matthew chapter 25. We'll be reading verses 14 to 30. Matthew 25. Beginning in verse 14, this is the word of the Lord. 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 them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had 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 them. 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. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward, saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I have made two 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. 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 have not sown and gather where I scatter 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 the one who has 10 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 utter darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The grass withers and the flowers of the field, they fade and they fall. But this, the Word of our God, it endures forever. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we come this day to hear your Word. We come to hear of Christ our Lord. And we come with hopeful expectation. and pleading, Lord, that you would send forth your spirit upon us. Lord, that you would teach us in the inner man. Lord, that you would grant power to your word, that we would be changed, that we would grow in our faith, and that we would bring you honor and praise with the entirety of who we are. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Everyone likes to hear words of affirmation. Everybody wants to hear, well done. Think of when you were in preschool, you wanted that sticker that said, good job. Think of later on in life, when you wanted that diploma that signified that you did good. Think about later in life, in your careers. You want that raise that shows that you must be doing something right. When you've been helpful around your home, you want to hear your spouse say, good job, honey. When Christ comes again to usher in the consummation of the age, we want to hear from him, well done. The parable of the talents here in Matthew 25 fixes our eyes again upon the coming of Christ. We see that even in the beginning in verse 14. Jesus begins this parable by saying, And if we think back to the previous section of the Olivet Discourse, we know that what Jesus is referring to with the it is speaking about the Kingdom of Heaven and particularly focused on the coming of Christ. And like the previous parables about the wise and the foolish girls, which was like the story before it about the wise and wicked servants, Jesus here is providing a more detailed account of the nature of his kingdom, particularly in regard to how his disciples are to live in his absence. Now, if you remember, Jesus has been talking since verse 36 of chapter 24 about his second coming. in which the kingdom inaugurated at His resurrection will be consummated in the day of His return in glory. And whereas the disciples at the beginning of this discourse had questions about that day that centered around the timing and the signs to know when Jesus would come, Jesus has reinforced over and over again the fact that he will come suddenly at an unexpected time, which may or may not include a long wait. In the previous parable, Jesus emphasized that suddenness with a call to be ready in case he came sooner than expected or later than expected. In the parable before us this morning, Jesus further specifies for us what it means to be ready for his coming. In the parable before us, Jesus talks about the readiness of the life of a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus. As we make our way through this parable this morning about the kingdom of heaven, we'll look at it in three parts. First, a gracious distribution. Second, stewarding the master's property. And third, giving account. Let me say that again. First, a gracious distribution. Second, stewarding the master's property. And then third, giving account. The parable here begins with a man preparing to go on a journey. And before he leaves, this master, as we're told, entrusts his property to his servants while he's away. Now, entrusting is different than giving. For by entrusting his property, he's giving to his servants certain responsibility. They're not free to use his property as they see fit, but to use it according to how their master intends it to be used. And entrusting it to his servants, that means that the master will indeed at some point return. And in the meantime, they're not merely to manage it or to look after it, but to put it to work. which is implied by its distribution according to ability, and then of course will be reinforced once we see what the servants do with it. Now in terms of what this distribution consisted of, we find there in verse 14 that it was valuable. Jesus tells us that this master gave one servant five talents, another servant two talents, and another servant one talent. Now you may be wondering, what is a talent? Now the term talent, as we understand it in English, is often defined as a gifted ability. You know, the ability to play an instrument or something like that. But that's not exactly what Jesus is talking about here. However, the word in English, the term talent, actually does come from this text. The word talent is just a transliteration of the Greek word talenta. And over time, that word in English took on the meaning of its own, and that meaning is what we think of today as talent. And of course there's good reason why from the text that word started to take this metaphorical meaning. Because people recognize that God gives his people talents. He gives them gifted abilities. However, that's not the meaning of the word that Jesus employs here. And to read our English definition in would be a mistake. In some sense, this parable does apply to our God-given talents, but the meaning in application doesn't tell us how to understand the parable in the way that Jesus told it. Because this Greek term, in its original meaning, speaks not metaphorically, but literally. It speaks literally of a weight used in commerce as a measurement of value. And it's generally agreed that one talent was worth approximately 20 years of wages. So given that definite weight, we can see that these servants were given a substantial sum of money, right? The first was given 100 years worth of wages. Now that's a lot of money. Just think about that in terms of your own income. Multiply your annual income or multiply your household income by 100. Or in the case of the second servant, multiply it by 40. Or in the case of the third, multiply it by 20. In either case, we're not talking about a small sum of money. We're talking about something substantial. We're talking about a fortune in the context of the first century. A fortune. Because in the first century, you didn't have the ease of gaining so much money as you do in 21st century America. These servants are entrusted with something of immense value. But this distribution was also diversified. That is, it was not equally distributed. As this parable tells us of the Kingdom of Heaven and thus speaks to the nature of Christ's Church, we already recognize this because we see it in the writings of the Apostle Paul, for instance, who uses the analogy of the body to talk about the distribution of Christ's gifts and callings and vocations variously given to the members of Christ's body. See, God's design for His people and His kingdom is not uniformity and singularity, but diversity and harmony. The Lord delights in the use of His resources, varyingly distributed, and their profits for the kingdom. The kingdom is, as R.T. France puts it, not a one-size-fits-all economy. See, by design, God's people are different and He treats them differently. In society, we hear a lot about equity. And in some circles, it's assumed that any inequity between people is inherently evil and inherently oppressive. Now, surely in the hands of sinners, inequity can be abused and oppressed. The world history testifies to that. However, that is not inherently the case. For in new creation, as in the old, distribution of God's bounty is diverse. There is distinction between light and dark and land and sea and mountain and valley and forest and meadow and desert, with diverse creatures spread across this vast planet, all in harmony, declaring the glory of God. So is the diverse distribution in the kingdom of heaven among his various servants. But we must see something else here as well. Not only are his resources diversified, they're also distributed personally. There's something really important for us to see here. Again, look at verse 15. To the one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. When the Lord bestows varying giftings, various stations, opportunities upon His servants, He does so with regard to who they are. God discriminates between each of us because He knows us. Think about it. Don't parents do that? Parents know their children and they address each of their children according to their individual abilities and their individual needs. So the Lord knows His own. In the service to the Master, it's not the servant's duty or responsibility to worry or fret about how much or how little they've been entrusted with. Rather, they're simply to receive the endowment from their Lord and faithfully work with what they have been given. See, in the Christian life, in service to Christ and His Church, this is really a most liberating truth. See, in the course of our lives lived before the Lord, which is intended for His glory, we often find ourselves engaged in the horizontal game of comparison, do we not? How often do you say to yourself, I am no good and of no use because I can't do or don't do the things that that other person does? Or if only I was more like him, I'd be useful. If only I had a personality more like her, I could be so much more useful. Or if only I weren't me. If only I weren't me with all my weaknesses, then finally maybe I could do something for Christ. Surely we ought never be complacent about our spiritual lives. For of course the Lord intends to change all of us, to purge away our sinful desires and our slothful tendencies. However, the Lord does not wait to gift us and use us. But through the use of us accomplishes His good purposes and does end up changing us. You see, dear saints, as blood-bought servants of the Lord, reborn after the likeness of Jesus, the Lord gave you the gifts. He gave you the resources and the abilities that you have. Everyone is of use in the kingdom of Christ. And that's not just a platitude to make people feel like they belong. But it is rooted in the fact that your Savior knows you from the depth of your being. He who formed you in your mother's womb and is reshaping you into the image of Christ says to you, I have good work for you to do. Good work that is perfectly suited for who you are and who I am making you to be. Now in that way, God dismantles in His kingdom the worldly model of climbing the ladder of success. Because we don't get ahead by climbing over whoever's in front of us or kicking down whoever's close behind. Success is not measured by who gets to the top first and stays there the longest. You see, the way of the world is to look up the ladder with envy. and down the ladder with jealousy as someone closes in on your position. But the distribution of the master says, look at me, work for me, for what I have for you to do is perfectly suited for you. And so from this we learn a very important lesson about service to Christ. It's not your duty or my duty to look with envy upon our brothers and sisters who have been differently gifted than us. Rather, it is the personal duty of each of us to make the most of what the Lord has given to us personally. What then is a talent? What has been entrusted to the disciples of Jesus? Well, surely it includes the commission, right? The commission that he gives to his disciples to go and make disciples among the nations. Of course, it includes the deposit of the gospel with which Christians are to bear witness to Christ to the ends of the earth. So that people from all over the world would come to know the mercy of the Lord. Yet sometimes we hear the Great Commission and we think only of evangelism. However, what it means to make disciples and therefore to be disciples is to recognize that disciples of Jesus have been purchased by the blood of Jesus and that they belong to Jesus. That they are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to Christ. Our lives are not our own, but belong to Christ. And therefore, when we speak about the talent entrusted to us, we are speaking of nothing less than the entirety of our lives. And so in distributing these talents to His servants, We find that such things were given for a particular reason, that the servants would use and work with that which their master had given them and do it for the sake of their master. That's called stewardship. As someone once said, the fundamental truth in the matter of stewardship is that everything we touch belongs to God. And the question then comes, what shall we do with that with which we have been entrusted? Now, one of the key features that we find in this parable is that though there are three servants mentioned, right? Three servants with different distributions. We really find that there's really only two types of servants. Because although the first two servants have differing amounts of money, we find a parallel in what they do with it and how they gain from it. Look at verses 16 and 17. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had two talents made two talents more. The first thing we note here is the first two servants' eagerness in their service. The master leaves and they get to work immediately. And though they had differing amounts to work with, the first two servants are described as doing the exact same thing. They take what they have been entrusted and they use it. The first servant who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them. And the second likewise took what he had been entrusted and he likewise traded with it. Now, the specifics of what kind of trading and what kind of business they did are left ambiguous. All we know is that when the master left, the first two servants went out with their resources. according to their abilities and wasted no time. They employed those resources and that resulted in a 100% increase. With their master's resources, the servants served. Reminding us that each day the servant of Christ lives, They live by the grace of God and the merit and mediation of Christ. And with that life redeemed and entrusted to us by our Lord, we are to live for His glory and the advance of His will. Even as we find elsewhere in the New Testament, say in Colossians 3.17, right? Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Later in that same chapter, Colossians 3.23, Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. And what that means is that every disciple of Jesus belongs to Jesus. and they are to look at every aspect of their lives and say, that is the Lord's. Every breath belongs to Christ. Every day belongs to Christ. Every word, my body, my mind, my abilities, my talents, my skills, my bank account, my house, all of me and all that I call mine is only mine because it has first been entrusted to me by the Lord Himself. Which of course, as John Calvin once said, in our goods works, nothing is our own. Nothing is our own. Again, apart from the amount of money, there's no contrast between the first and the second servants. The contrast in this parable comes between the ones who receive and work. and the third servant who fails to take action. Look there at verse 18. But he who had received one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. And the point of contrast that's drawn out here is between action and inaction. The third servant didn't even take the money and waste it, right? He didn't even take the money and lose it in a bad investment. He lived as if he had never been entrusted with the money at all. He takes this large sum of money and he hides it and then presumably goes about his ordinary life back to whatever he was doing before his master gave it to him. But notice how Jesus here describes his actions with the talent. In verse 16, the first servant and the second servant went out at once and traded. They went out as if they were on a mission. The third servant went and dug and hid. Now our translation uses the same English word went, but in Greek he did something different than the other servants. When they went out, the third servant departed. The third servant went away. The first two servants went out in their master's name instead. The third servant went away and hid their master's gift. As we then come to verse 19, we're reminded that we are still in the context of Jesus' eschatological discourse, which has up to this point already included two stories with delay and return, which speak about the second coming of Christ. The first, at the end of chapter 24, the servant's master was delayed. In the parable right before this one, the bridegroom was delayed. And now here, after a long period of time, we are told the master of the servants, he comes back. And he comes back to settle accounts. Look at verse 19. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. Verse 19 here makes explicit what was implied by the giving of the talents back in verse 14. During the master's absence, entrusted with the master's property, the servants were to put the money to good use until he returned. So the servants come forward to their master. Look at verses 20 to 23. And he who had received 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. And he also, who had two talents, came forward saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I have made two 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. Even as the two servants took what they were given, though it differed and put it to work, so too they come before the Lord. And Jesus shows us this striking parallel between them. They both come with the same response to their master, differing only in the amounts, right? Master, you delivered to me, here I have made more. Yet the parallel doesn't end there, does it? For they both, though entrusted with different amounts, yielding different results, received from their master the exact same commendation, and the exact same reward. The Master responds, 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. Yet into this blessed exchange comes the third servant, Look at verses 24 and 25. He also who had received 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. The servant, that third servant, who took the talent and departed and dug and buried it, now hands that same talent back to his master, not having done less than the other servants, but having done nothing with it. To him, such a treasure entrusted to him seemed like a cruel and anxiety-inducing curse, Because we now hear in his own words why it is that he did absolutely nothing. I knew you to be a hard man. I knew that you reap where you didn't sow and you gather where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid. This third servant was paralyzed in fear, he says. But tell me, where has the master been harsh. Where have we seen the master cruel? Where has the master been demanding? See, we need to consider the source of such accusations. They don't come from a faithful servant of Christ who has just entered into the joy of their master. But these accusations come from a false, fearful servant who does not serve. To the one who knows not the goodness and grace of the master. You see, to that one, the master seems harsh. Not because he is harsh, but because the servant doesn't know the true character of his master. For every servant of Christ knows, like the two faithful servants, that all that they have Their life, their resources, their abilities are granted to them in the service of their Lord. Brothers and sisters, what do we have that wasn't first given us? See, when the master here applies to himself the words of the servant in verse 26, right? You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed. I don't think that the master is just affirming the wicked servant's assessment of him. The master is simply taking the premise of the servant to its logical conclusion. If you really were so afraid, and if I'm really that bad, why is it that you didn't just put it in the bank and at least get interest on the money? As one commentator notes, this wicked servant imagines his master as unjust or capricious. The Master does not dispute the servant's characterization of him, but neither need verse 26 be read as agreeing with it. The Master's words sound like biting sarcasm. He points out that even if the servant were right, he should have realized that his inaction proved all the more inconsistent with his premise. Which means, of course, that the servant's excuse here is really just that. It is an excuse based upon a misapprehension of his master. Remember what became of the faithful servants. They entered into their master's joy, didn't they? The master delights in his servant's work. But this servant does not get that. Now, whether he hid the talent in order to be about his own business, seeing no personal benefit in being about his master's business, or whether he was truly just paralyzed in fear as he failed to grasp the goodness and grace of the master, the end is tragically the same, is it not? The servant, like the wicked servant at the end of chapter 24, like the foolish girls in the previous parable, proved to be false sheep in the midst of the Lord's flock. Now hearing the third servant's assessment of the master, that he's insolent, that he's severe, that he's unjust, that he's unfair, that he's out for himself, A Christian hears that and knows it's not true. Because we know how our Lord has dealt with us. Our Lord who says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. This same Lord who not only calls His disciples to follow Him, but gives of His grace all that is necessary for their success. The same Lord who, as the writer of Hebrews says, knows our weakness and sympathizes with us. The same Lord of whom Paul writes, my grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness. You see, there's something glorious undergirding the service of Jesus' servants. It's the very fact that we are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. For it is by God's Spirit who the writer of Hebrews says equips us with everything good that you may do His will working in us that which is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. Now sometimes we read a parable like this and sometimes we read this particular parable and we hear Jesus say, well done my good and faithful servant and immediately we start asking the questions that plague us in this world. Have I done enough? Have I been faithful enough? Have I really been faithful? What about when I said those things that I shouldn't have said? What about when I didn't say those things that I should have said? What about the fact that when I'm serving my brothers and sisters, I'm doing it out of love, but I know, I know that that love is mixed with pride. What about when my service to my brothers and sisters was mixed with envy when I saw what that other person accomplished and then saw what I was doing? What about when we were doing family devotions and I was so frustrated because the kids wouldn't sit still and listen? Was that really good? Was that really faithful? See, those are the wrong questions here. Those aren't the right questions for us to be asking here. You see, the difference between the faithful servants and the unfaithful servant is not a matter of how much or is it enough? Right? Faithfulness is not measured by KPIs and detailed metrics reports. That may be the way the world works. And maybe that's the way that your job works. But in the kingdom of Christ, we love because He first loved us, not so that He will love us. Service to Christ is not working to gain something that we don't have, but working towards something that is already ours in Jesus. The evidence is in the fact that you belong to Christ. And the fact that we see before us in this parable is that those who are His servants, serve him. If you belong to Jesus, you serve Jesus. Those who aren't his servants don't. They don't serve. See, the wicked servant doesn't serve because he doesn't know his master. Disciples serve because they belong to Jesus. They take the life and the gifts they've been given and use them for Christ. Imperfectly in this life, yes, but they use them nonetheless. For as our confession of faith reminds us, Westminster Confession Chapter 16, our works in the service of Christ As they are wrought by us, they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment. Notwithstanding the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in Him. not as though they were in this life wholly unblameable or unreprovable in God's sight, but that He, looking upon them in His Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections. See, the well done from the Lord is not reserved for the best, the brightest, the most effective, the most creative, or the most eloquent. As Jeffrey Gibbs puts it, the same verdict and divine joy await every Christian, not just those who served productively or faithfully enough, whatever that might conceivably mean. In the end and at the end, it matters only that Christ is my master who has purchased me and I have been his slave. He entrusted me with things that I was able to work for his glory. It is that forward look to Christ that doesn't fill his servants with anxious fear, but motivates them to live as his slaves, free and equipped to do His will and to work for His good pleasure, as He is working in them that which is pleasing in His sight. Sisters, brothers, servants of our Lord Jesus, as you are waiting for the Lord in service to Him, in accord with all that He has entrusted you with, you wait. those words that come to every blood-bought saint. If you belong to Jesus, these words are the words you will hear from Him. Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master. May you serve the Lord eagerly with all that He has entrusted you, your skills, your money, your mind, your body, everything that you are, as you await His coming and His welcoming you with joy. Let's pray together. Our Lord, we are reminded again this day that You are a good, and kind Master. Lord, that You care with such tenderness towards Your people. And that Lord, You give to us the bounty of all of Your graces, that Christ may be formed in us even as He has purchased our conformity to Him in His cross. Oh Lord, we pray that you would make us more like Christ, that you would make us eager servants of our Lord. And that you would make us to joyfully expect his coming and the joy that comes with him. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.