Matthew 24, 45-51. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying with his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. And there shall be leaping and gnashing of teeth." This is the word of the Lord, and we pray that He would bless it to our hearts. Amen. As at least one of you knows, yesterday was the wrestling finals for the NCAAs, and I generally don't watch them anymore. After you do something for 12 years, either you love it or you hate it, and I'm falling into the latter category, at least doing it myself. I enjoy watching wrestling, but it wasn't my favorite thing to do, so I kind of have blocked that from my memory. Part of why it was so hard for me growing up, I started when I was a young kid, maybe five or six years old. One part that was difficult were going to these matches. And in Western Pennsylvania, I mean, wrestling is a big deal. So you have these groups of schools that have 100 wrestlers per group. This is young people, maybe ages five to like 10 or 12, something like that. And you went to these all day, matches on Saturday. And they were all day. And you could wrestle once, twice, or maybe three times. I normally wrestled once because there was no one my size. They usually paired me with the older people, which was not good for me. But anyway, I remember waiting and having to wait for my match. And you always had to ask yourself, what are you going to do with this time? Are you going to sit there, are you going to focus on your match, and are you going to be prepared for it, or are you going to go to the snack bar, or are you going to do something else, talk with your friends or your brothers, or loaf, and then not be prepared for it? And normally I was pretty good about this. I was always really nervous before matches, so I always sat there and thought about it. But I remember one time, I thought my match wasn't for about another hour. I must have miscalculated. And I was actually in the snack bar when I heard my name called. And talk about being unprepared. I actually end up, I think I actually won that match, but it's because the guy wasn't very good, not because I wrestled well. Being completely unprepared like that is so easily can happen when you're in that circumstance. In our parable. This morning, Jesus talks about being prepared. In other words, he talks about not doing what I did there, but what I did normally being prepared for when your name is called or when the master comes back here. Jesus speaks about two different kinds of servants. The servant who on the one hand was wise and faithful, and this servant was prepared for when the master returned. And the other servant who was wicked, was not prepared, fancied to himself the master would never return. So when the master did return, he received punishment. And my purpose simply this morning is to understand these two types of servants so that we might be more like the first servant. Doing so, I'm just going to break it down into two parts. It's quite easy to see that there are two parts to this parable. The first part is verse 45 through 47, talking about the good servant. And the second part is 48 through 51, dealing with the wicked servant. And within those two parts, I'm going to break it down a little more. So we'll see when we get there how that's going to do. Keep in mind, obviously, we want to emulate the wise servant, and we do not want to be like the wicked servant. The wise servant is in verses 45 through 47. Let me read that again to you. Who then is a faithful and wise servant whom his master made ruler over his household to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. That is the wise servant. So we're going to talk about the wise servant. We're going to ask a couple of questions. Three questions. First of all, what did he do to make him wise? Secondly, why did he do it? What was his motivation? And thirdly, what happened to him? In other words, what happened when the master came back? How was he rewarded? What happened at that point? So first, what did he do? This master, as verses 45 and 46 make clear, is that he was found ruling wisely. over that which the master had assigned him. Now here the master, I think quite obviously in this context, would be Christ. Christ is the one who is returning. He has just said that no one knows the day of his coming or of his return, the day or the hour. He's talking about the end of an old era. He talked about the destruction of the temple, but also the end of the age. the end of all things, where Christ returns, the judgment happens, and the earth is restored and renewed for God's people to live on it. So those two events are both spoken of in Matthew chapter 24. And I think sometimes people will say, well, you know, you're copping out by saying it's talking about both of them. But I think the point there is they're both alike. One signified the end of an age, The other one signified the end of the ages, and so they're both together alike. So it would be natural for Jesus to speak of both of them in this way. I think in this parable, he's talking more about the end of all the ages. I do not think he is here speaking about the destruction of the temple. And I think that's clear based upon what he says to the wicked servant. The master of that servant, he says in verse 50, will come on a day when he is not looking for him at an hour that he is not aware of. And Jesus spoke with this with these terms about the end of all things when he returned. So that's what I think the context is here. He's speaking about his coming. Jesus is the master. And he's talking about his coming, it's going to happen at a day or an hour when no one knows. And he here speaks about a wise servant who is ruling wisely over that which God has assigned him. Here in verse 45, it talks about how his master made him ruler over this household to give them bread in due season. Now, that requires a little bit of explanation. The term here, bread, could also, or give them food, it says here, but the term could also mean bread. It could also mean just more in general daily needs. Bread was such a staple that it could be used for all foods, and even more than that, could be extended even further to use for all needs. You know about this. In the Lord's Prayer, it says, give us this day our daily bread. And Jesus is there not praying literally, as if all we're asking for there is just enough bread for the day. It's not even just speaking of food. It's talking about all of the needs that we have. And that's what we do when we pray that. And so, when the master here gives to his servant rule over food in due season, he's speaking of more than just food. He's talking about, in general, the needs of the servants under this servant. And he gives it to them in due season. Notice what he does. He both gives it to them, he's a generous man, he's fair, but also in due season, wisely. He doesn't do it in a way that would be wasteful or a way that's not thinking of the future. He's a wise servant and a generous servant. And this is what he does. He rules over the affairs of the household wisely and generously. And, of course, Jesus here is not merely speaking about relationships between masters and servants. He's talking more generally. And I think the most literal application of this, then, would be to the church. Jesus has one eye toward the church, and he's talking about those who are ruling in the church. They are to be like this wise servant who rules wisely and generously. Give the people their food in due season. Feed my sheep, as Jesus says to Peter. That is what Jesus is calling his leaders to do. And I think behind this is a recognition of the failure. of the Jewish authorities, the Jewish leaders, of doing just what Jesus says here. We just read about in Matthew chapter 23, what's often called the seven woes, where Jesus talks about, he says in strong language, woe to you scribes and Pharisees, and he talks about all these awful things that they have done. And one of them is leading astray people and putting on them more burdens than they can bear while they don't even lift their finger. One of the accusations which Jesus throws at the Pharisees is they are not teaching. They are not feeding the sheep. And I think that would be probably what's most in view here. But I think we can extend it to all types of relationships where there's an authority involved and when there are people who are under that authority. Leadership positions we might call them and all of us most of us find ourselves at one point or another in these positions whether that be as a parent whether that is as a Work or any other even in the church and We find ourselves in these positions and Jesus here is encouraging us to be like this wise servant Work as though this is important work as though you yourself are a servant as well It's so easy when we're put into a leadership position that we automatically think that we're then the master. But this parable teaches us differently. The servant whom Jesus or the master puts over the other servants is still a servant. And in fact, later he talks about his fellow servants. He is still a fellow servant. We have this type of idea, at least formally, in our own system, our government system. What do we call people who work for the government? They're supposed to be called public servants. Now, we know that that doesn't happen often. A lot of times people working for the government or in any positions will work for themselves. But that idea is the same idea here. Those who are put in charge are not to lord it over people there to be servants of all. And Jesus himself said this back in Matthew chapter 20. So this is our calling as when we were in positions of leadership and we were positions where we find ourselves over others. This is what we are to do be a servant and not just be a servant, but the rule wisely and give the think of the people who are under us more than ourselves. And this is what this servant does. He gave to them food in due season. He was caring about them, their needs in a wise and generous way. And this is what we are to do. And it doesn't have to be something that's great. It doesn't have to be something that is a ruler of a company or a ruler of a church or a ruler. I mean, a pastor of a church or something like that. That's not the point. It's all of them. I can think of even something like a Sunday school teacher. Do you know how wonderful it is to come home and to have your daughter talking about verses in Sunday school and loving Sunday school and loving the scriptures. It's because she has a teacher who cares about them and does good work with them. It's not just there, not just in the big places, the little places. And believe me, that does not go unnoticed by God or by her parents. These are things that we are all caused or called to do. It's not great big things. It doesn't have to be, can be, but also small things. This is what the wise and the faithful servant does. Now the question is then, why is he doing it? What is his motivation? We don't see a lot of that in this parable, but we do see, based upon the adjectives which are attached to this servant, why he's doing it. He is wise and he is faithful. He is faithful, first of all, to the calling of his master. Notice here. He is faithful to the calling of his master by being faithful over the people he has made a leader. Sometimes I think we want to divide those two things. We talk about how you have to be faithful to God and then Secondarily faithful to others but as Jesus himself said just a few Chapters before he talked about how the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and the second one is like it love your neighbor as yourself The master here was faithful to God by being faithful to the people he was over Notice what the master was not doing and this is important I The master was not looking out the window every second to see if Jesus were coming back. He was not figuring out the stars or looking at the Bible for some code to see when Jesus was coming back. That was not being faithful. He was being faithful by doing what God called him to do. That was his faithfulness, not his. Oh, yes, I'm so excited to see the master. When are you coming? Let me look at the Bible or look at the writings here and figure that out. That's not the point. The point is you be faithful and what God has called you to do that. That is how you will be ready. for when the Master returns. Martin Luther once said, it's a lovely quote, he said, if I knew Christ were coming back tomorrow, I still would plant my apple seed. Now, who knows, probably an apocryphal quote, most good quotes are, but it's a nice quote. It's a good quote that says that, talks about, he was called to do it, it was God's call to do this, and he was going to do it, even if it meant that Christ was coming tomorrow, it would ultimately be To use a bad pun, fruitless. He knew that it wasn't going to produce any fruit, but he also knew that it was God's call, so he did it anyway. Being faithful does not mean looking at the stars in the sky. I'm using that metaphor. It does not mean looking at the scriptures and finding out when Christ is going to return or being obsessed with end times things. Being faithful means doing what God has called you to do. Nor does being faithful mean, and this is also important for us, nor does being faithful mean finding that one calling, that one thing that gives you fulfillment in doing that. I think that is, we confuse the word calling. We talk about calling as that one thing which God wants us to do and has put it on our hearts to do it. And this is our calling before God. Our calling is today doing what God wants us to do wherever we are and wherever God leads. It's something that we all need to hear. That is our calling. It's not something that now, if God puts you in a place where you're doing what you love to do and you're doing what you feel like you're created to do, that is a great blessing. And don't seek to avoid that. That's not my point. My point is, your calling is day to day being faithful like this servant. You think he wanted to be a servant? Probably not. But he was faithful and God blessed him for it. Secondly, he was a wise servant. And this caused him, I think, to do what he did. He had wisdom. And in particular, he had wisdom to live beyond what he saw and what he sensed, and to believe God's promise. That is wisdom. The Master didn't tell him when he was coming back, but only that he was coming back. And he believed that promise to the point, not only just a belief in his heart, but a belief that produced action. It's easy for us to think like the wicked servant, actually, well, Christ, it's been 2000 years or whatever it has been almost 2000 years since the Ascension. Christ is never going to come back. Let me do what I want to do. And this is kind of thinking that we sometimes involve ourselves in, but The wise servant here does not fall into that. The wise servant trusts his master and he is therefore wise. I think we are really good, and this is to our credit I think, in the Reformed tradition of allowing things that have happened before us to affect our behavior today. That is, allowing the death and resurrection of Christ and our forgiveness of sins in Him to be our motivation for doing good works and for doing things for God and for living for God. And this is great. I don't want to take away from that. But there's also another aspect that sometimes we're negligent of, and that is allowing the future to determine our behavior today. And here, that's where the thrust is right here. The point, the main point here is the master is coming back and he will come back at a time you don't know, but he will come back. Therefore, be faithful in what you're doing. And this is what the wise servant did. He was both wise and faithful to God. Thirdly, we're talking about here with the wise servant. Remember, we asked, what did he do? Why did he do it? And here, what happened to him? God rewarded him with a greater position. Verse 47, assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods. Now, it's difficult to see exactly what this means because the context, I think, is a context dealing with the final judgment. Remember we talked about this is dealing when the master comes back when Christ comes back again, and it's It doesn't mean that Jesus or the master here is going to give him rule over all this good It means that he's going to be blessed and rewarded for his faithful service. That's the idea So I think sometimes we shy away from that idea by the way, but it's very scriptural the idea that our works we want to be so We're so worried sometimes about good works that we skip over those passages, but talk about rewards and blessings for good works. And they're not. It's not a meritorious thing. It's not justice. It's just God being gracious. But God has said that those who follow him will be rewarded for it. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing worksy about that. There's nothing unbiblical about that. And here's one place where it is that teaching is in the forefront. The servant is blessed. The servant receives reward, in this case it's a greater position, because of his faithful obedience and because of his wisdom. God rewarded him for this. I think this also can apply, not universally, but it also can apply for our lives in general before the last the last judgment before the end of the age. I think that we live in a world still where there's injustice, clearly. We see this all the time. But God is still working to make things right. God is still overthrowing wicked kingdoms. And when God does these things, it's sort of an anticipation for that great last day when all things will be made right. So I think there is this motivating, this principle that's still working itself out in history where God is judging wicked kingdoms. And it's not going to be an ultimate or final judgment. That doesn't happen until the end. But in some way, it anticipates that great judgment. And I think we can apply that not just the nations, but to everything. When we are being faithful and we are being obedient, God, in anticipation of this final judgment, will bless us. Not always. Sometimes God tests us through times of trial. Sometimes God has a reason for our trials and hardships. So we shouldn't just assume that when we receive, we don't receive promotion or we don't receive what we want, that God is therefore angry with us. But it is a scriptural teaching that God generally does bless this type of behavior in anticipation of that last day when all things will be made right. Again, this is not the prosperity gospel. This is not a universal type of, if you just believe or if you're faithful, you get whatever you want. That's not the idea. In fact, that wouldn't be faithful at all. That would be self-serving, the very opposite of what this servant is doing here. Yet, the fact remains that when we are faithful, God does choose to bless that, and it is motivation for us. The servant was promoted, the servant was rewarded for what he did and that can be applied to us both now if God chooses and certainly at the end. That is the wise servant and that is what we are called to be. Okay, a faithful and wise servant. All of us in one capacity or another will or have or are ruling over others being like this servant here. We have to remember we are fellow servants under God called to act for the benefit of others Not to be window watching, not to be looking out and waiting for Christ's coming, but to be faithful to what God has called us to do. That is the action of the wise servant, and that is our model. Jesus puts before us this as our model, that as long as we live, this is what we are called to do. Secondly, there is the example of the wicked servant. The Wicked Servant, verses 48 through 51. Let me read them to you again. But if that evil servant says in his heart, my master is delaying his coming and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Again, we go through the same procedure here. What did he do? Why did he do it? And what happened to him? What did he do? I think here there are two sinful actions which this wicked servant does. First of all, he mistreats his subjects and actually get to the point of physically harming them. In verse 49, it talks about smiting them and harming them. Notice how it says his fellow servants. This is what he's not remembering. He's thinking, oh, the master's far gone. I am the ruler now. I am the master now. I can mistreat these slaves as much as I want. And Jesus is talking into a world where slaves did not have many rights at all. And in fact, many masters did beat their slaves to the point of death. And there really weren't too many rights. There wasn't much that a slave could do if he was beaten by his master. And that was life. And so Jesus here is saying that this wicked servant is behaving like the rulers of the Gentiles do. They come and they lord it over people. They come and they mistreat those who are under them. And what is this servant doing? He is smiting his fellow servants because he's forgetting that they are his fellow servants, his fellow servants. Too often when we are in positions of leadership, this is something that grasps many. There is a seizing for power. And when we seize power, we treat people under us, not as fellow servants, but as slaves. And we are as the master. When we find ourselves in these positions, we are a fellow servant. And this is not how the wicked servant is acting. But not only that, he wasn't just beating people. He was also irresponsible and lazy. Again, in verse 49, and to eat and drink with the drunkards. He basically said the master's not here. The master's not coming, so therefore I'm going to do whatever I want. What's the point? No one's going to hold me to it. No one is going to judge me for it. So I'm going to do whatever I want. He was thinking only of his immediate pleasure and not the fact that his master was coming back, something that he knew but forgot or thought in his mind that it was not true. Those are the two sinful actions which this wicked servant did. He mistreated his subjects and he was irresponsible and lazy. Notice here the context of this irresponsibility and laziness. This is the same thing that Paul was writing against in 2 Thessalonians when he writes down that principle that he who does not work shall not eat. I think sometimes that principle is abstracted from its context and applied to everyone, whoever's unemployed, not to give them any benefits. That's not the point of that passage. The point is these people are saying that either the Lord is coming right now or the Lord has already come and what's the big deal? We're just going to mooch off others and it's that that caused them not to eat or not to work. And they were using that as an excuse to be lazy and to be irresponsible. So many times we can justify in our minds this type of laziness, this type of irresponsibility. We think no one's going to hold us to this. No one's looking over our shoulder and watching. Or, if we're working, we can think, well, I can get away with this much. My boss won't know. My boss won't see if I do this much. I've already done enough work, and I can get away with this. And so we think we can, but we can't, because the Master is coming back. And he will not reward this type of behavior, this eating with drunkards. Now, obviously, granted, this is an extreme form of that. It's not just he was lazy in the job. He went out with the drunkards, and he went out with those who eat. The point there being not just anyone who eats, but those who delight in that, and that's all they do, eating and drinking and being lazy. That is what he did, the sinful actions of the wicked servant. Secondly, we ask the question why he did it. And here it's explicit. We actually have the quotation of the servant in verse 48. My master is delaying his coming. In other words, I have much time till he comes back. I don't need to worry about it. I'm going to behave in whatever way makes me happy. There are some different versions of that today as we think about how people react to Christianity and to the God of Scripture and to Christ's return. One of them is this. My master is only loving. He will not care how I treat others. He will love me anyway. When it's put this way, do you see the gross injustice of that type of God? It's easy to talk about God's only love, he won't punish anybody in a world where we don't see injustice day after day after day. But if we lived in a kingdom like North Korea, or if we lived in a place where it was obvious that there was oppression and injustice going on, what an insult that type of God would be. It would be like this master saying to himself, my God is only loving. What's the point? I can mistreat my servants. Nothing is going to happen to make this right. But that's not the God of scriptures. He is a God of justice as well as love, and he will make these things right. Another way that people talk about it today is my master is they don't put it this way, but this is the thrust of it. My master is an impersonal force. who makes me feel good. And that's all he's there for. Notice how innocuous or you notice how non-threatening that type of God is and how it allows us to do whatever we want. You know how the people who have this view often will try to have their cake and eat it too. They want the religious feeling. They want that They know life is more than simply random things running into one another, matter in motion, or something like that. So they want this religious side to them, but as soon as you get a personal God, that's scary as well, because a personal God can judge. So they start talking about a God who's impersonal, a force, makes me feel good, but that's all he's good for. If you can call him him, you can call it it, most likely. Another way, and this is probably closer to home, my master only cares if I get the correct teaching. My master only cares if my doctrine is right. Now, I have never heard anyone actually say that, but a lot of times I get the impression that what's really important is what goes on between the ears. And if we're doing something with our hands, that's just kind of flowing from what's between the ears. Now, however true that may be, I mean, our teaching does affect our action. God cares about both. It was the actions of this wicked servant that caused him to be punished. Now, it was based upon the fact that he thought the master was coming. So it was both of them together. The master was not coming. So it was both of them together. But sometimes I think that we can fall into this trap. God cares more about the finer points of theology than he cares about how we treat our neighbor. That is not true. God does care about how we treat others. Yes, that is based upon our understanding of God, and that's true. But if we don't treat others well, it goes the other way, too. We don't treat others well. It shows that even if we have the right teaching in our head, we don't really understand it. Because if we really understood the graciousness of God and our own sinfulness and the fact that we were grafted into God's covenant, being foreigners and aliens to the covenant in God's grace and mercy, how could we treat those who are under us in a way unlike their own good and their own benefit. Some in this world talk this way. They're more blatant about it. My master does not exist. I am my own master. And make no mistake, people who are claiming that God doesn't exist are not really claiming that. They're claiming that there is a God and it's me. That's what they're really claiming. Now, I don't think people actually carry this through. I think we were made not to be masters, but to be servants, to serve. And people who are atheists claiming to be their own masters will ultimately be serving another wicked and cruel master. But this idea that you can be your own master because the real master does not exist, not only foolish, it's dangerous. And it has caused the ruin and destruction of many people, not just the people who hold to it, but the people who are under them. You think of many atheistic kingdoms and what they have done and how all the ruin and destruction they have caused, all on the false premise that people can be their own masters. The wicked servant thought that his master would not come. And in one way or another, the types of people that I have just introduced that are common in our day are thinking along those lines. It's not the same exact thing, but they're thinking along those lines. And it causes harm, not only to the person, but to those who are under them. And finally, we come to the last point, what happened to this wicked servant? Well, we see and we read in verse 50, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and an hour that he is not aware of, will be a sudden thing, and he will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now the cutting in two, it's kind of humorous for us, but it's a way of getting your attention, and it does, doesn't it? Cutting him in two. The point here most likely is not a literal cutting someone in two, but the most extreme form of punishment. That's the idea here. And he will appoint him the portion with the hypocrites. Remember, Jesus is most harsh with the people whom he calls hypocrites. We saw this in Matthew chapter 23, when Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, he calls them hypocrites, over and over again. And the person, this wicked master, or this wicked servant here, who is lording it over the people under him, this person will be appointed a portion with the hypocrites. This horrible place where the hypocrites go, they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is a symbol, particularly one of Jesus's favorite symbols for judgment, unmitigated judgment on people, God's judgment. The master is not delaying. It's easy to forget. It's easy, even for us to forget as we live our lives that Christ is coming back. It's easy just to go along day by day. But this parable teaches us to always be ready, always be expecting the Master's return. This does not mean, again, to look up into the sky and wait, but to be faithful in our calling, whatever that may be, to rule and lead in a way that God has shown us, and more particularly, Christ has exemplified. And in this way, we will not receive the judgment of God, but we will receive a portion with the righteous and the blessed, and we will be like our Lord who embodied this way of being a servant. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the warnings of this parable. We thank you for what it teaches us about how we are to lead over others and how we are to be faithful to our calling. But Father, we also know it warns us not to be like the one here who was lazy and irresponsible and who was mistreating the subjects. And we pray that we would be like this faithful servant so that we might receive the reward of this servant. In this we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.