Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant

Jennie Allen recently spoke with singing/songwriter, Matt Redman, on her podcast Made for This. You may not be familiar with his name, but more than likely you have sung one or two of his songs at church over the years: Heart of Worship, 10,00 Reasons (Bless the Lord), You Never Let Go, No One Like Our God, and the list goes on and on. What an amazing gift God has given him, which he continues to use to proclaim the name of Jesus.

As I listened to their conversation, I was struck by a comment Matt made. He said, “God is asking all of us, what can I trust you with?” I felt as though the Holy Spirit handed me a new pearl of truth to string. Thus, I wrote this question on a sticky note and put it on my desk:

What is God trusting me with?

We see people like Matt Redman or Jennie Allen, and we think, “God must really trust them. Look at all the talent they have!” We do a quick comparison and conclude that God must not have that high of expectation for us, so why bother. There are other more qualified or talented people out there to do Kingdom work than us.

Don’t deny it; we have all thought that at one point or another, including me. For years I was convinced I didn’t have one spiritual gift. I was the only Christian alive without one. The problem, though, wasn’t that God had skipped me. No, the problem rested squarely with me. I had a gift, but I was trying to use it for my own glory instead of God’s.

It wasn’t until I put two and two together that I began to see that your gifts become more apparent when you are using them for the purpose in which God designed them, which brings me back to my question: What has God trusted us with?

As you contemplate that, let’s look at another of Jesus’ parables:

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” (Matthew 25:14-18)

This parable follows the one of the ten bridesmaids that we looked at last week. In that parable, we saw the importance of staying awake and being ready because we do not know the hour the bridegroom will return. In the parable of the loaned money, Jesus wants us to focus on the importance of using well what we have been entrusted with while we wait.

In the story, the master divided his money among the servants according to their abilities, which is a reflection of real life. God gives to each of us, just as he did the servants, differing gifts. It does not matter how much you have been given, but how well you use it. He is a kind master though, and he gives work and opportunities according to what each person can handle. However, he fully expects that we will utilize them for his Kingdom and not our own.

Jesus told the listening crowd that the master did, indeed, return. He then called for the servants to give an accounting of what they had done while he was away. The two, who had been wise and diligent doubling what they had been given, brought forward their bags of gold, and the Master said to each, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21,23)

They put their master’s money to work and were rewarded for their efforts. The master gave each of them an opportunity for greater service and responsibility, but did you catch what they would also receive? They would share in their master’s happiness!

Friends, this is the joy of the Lord; the joy which he himself purchased at a price for us. Christ admits his faithful stewards into his own joy, to be joint heirs with him. What an incredible reward, indeed!

What about the last servant though? The one who just dug a hole and stuck his talent in the ground. How will the master respond when he hears his story:

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.’” (Matthew 25:26-27)

Because this man was afraid he might fail, he never even tried to succeed. The master reminded him that he could have at least put the money in a bank and collected interest, but he didn’t even attempt to do that. The master then said:

“So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:28-30)

The message is clear. What we do not use for the Lord, we are in danger of losing. The master reprimanded the unfaithful servant, and then took his talent from him and gave it the other servant, which brings up an interesting question: Was the unfaithful servant a true believer or not?

Theologians differ on this, but what we do know is that God did not overlook the servant’s unfaithfulness. He lost his opportunity to serve, and he gained no praise or reward. As Warren Wiersbe said, “To me, that is outer darkness.” However, the question that keeps circling in my mind is this: Did he just believe his one talent was not that important?

As I said earlier, it’s easy to fall into the trap of comparison. To look at those who have been given much in this life and give up. Like the unfaithful servant, we can miss the fact that we each have been appointed as a steward by God, and when we take our one talent and increase it to two, he is glorified.

If you need a real-world example, you don’t have to look any further than me. Eight years ago, God called me to this ministry, and it’s been an incredible journey of faith. He asked me to start a Bible study, which I did, and then he asked me to create a blog. Each challenging in their own right but tackling the technical aspects of a website forced me outside my comfort zone. Yet, he has been with me each step of the way, and 356 posts later, I’m still going.

Here's the thing, though. Thousands of people do not read my blog.  On a good week, I might have twenty. At Bible study, we fill up the chairs around a table in the cafeteria and not chairs in a packed auditorium. By the world’s standards, I’m a failure. Yet this parable reminds me that God doesn’t look at things the way man does (1 Samuel 16:7).

While I may never have thousands of “likes” on my posts, what if one person is drawn closer to God because of something I wrote or talked about at Bible study? The thought of even one person being rescued from the bondage of sin and death makes all the years of pounding out devotional after devotional worth it. I will be able to stand before Jesus one day as a worker unashamed and say, “Look Master, I took what you gave me, and I doubled it.”

Friends, God has entrusted each of us with a talent. If you aren’t sure yet what he has given you, it's time to find out. Spend time with God and ask him to show you what it is. Then go do it, because Jesus is coming back! My prayer is that we will hear him say on that day, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done!”

Peace, love and joy in Christ!  Lisa

Discussion Questions

What talent has God given you?

How can you ensure that you are investing your 'talents' in a way that honors God?

How can we overcome the fear that prevents us from using our God-given gifts effectively, as seen in the servant with one talent?