The Wonder of His Return | A Sermon on Matthew 25:14-30

Introduction
It's been my privilege all week long to be the storyteller at Vacation Bible School. We did four days, Monday through Thursday, and there are five lessons, so we wanted to finish up this fifth lesson today during church. You'll get to get a taste of what the kids have been learning, and I hope that it's something that will speak to your heart as well today, because it really is something that we all need to remember.

As we've been doing Wonder Junction and we've been wondering about Jesus all week long, we've been learning about His life from beginning to the end. Our theme verse, as Summer said, for the week has been Psalm 113:3: "From the rising of the sun to the setting, the name of the Lord shall be praised." That's a fitting verse because we've been learning about Jesus and His life from the beginning to the end, and then today we're going to be learning what happens after that.

Day one, we learned about Jesus being born in a manger, and we learned that the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. On day two, we learned about Jesus when He was 12 years old—just about the time that a lot of the kids are finishing up Vacation Bible School and going into the youth program. Jesus went to the temple, and He was full of God's wisdom because He knew the Word and He was able to sit in the temple and talk with the priests, and they were amazed at His wisdom.

Then on day three, we learned how He showed His power in one particular story where the disciples and Jesus were in a boat out on the water on the Sea of Galilee. The wind and the waves began to crash, and even though Jesus was there in the boat, He was asleep. The disciples cried out to Him, "Lord, Lord, don't You even care? Why are You sleeping?" He woke up, calmed the storm, and they said, "Even the wind and the waves obey Him."

And then on day four, we learned about the greatest rescue plan of all time. Jesus came and He gave Himself for us on the cross at Calvary. He laid down His life so that we can be forgiven of our sins and be welcomed into the Kingdom of God and receive eternal life if we will follow Him, turn away from our sins, and follow Him.

So that's what we've been learning all week long. Today, we're going to learn how Jesus is coming back one day. We're going to wonder at His return. Today we're not talking about what He did in the past, but we're looking at what He's going to do in the future.

This story comes to us from Matthew chapter 25, verses 14–30. I want to read that to you. This is a parable that Jesus told, and He's telling it again to us today:

Matthew 25:14-30
¹⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. ¹⁵ He gave five bags of silver^[a] to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

¹⁶ “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. ¹⁷ The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. ²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!^[b]’

²² “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²⁴ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. ²⁵ I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

²⁶ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, ²⁷ why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁸ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. ²⁹ To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ³⁰ Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The Basics of the Story
Now this is a parable Jesus told. It's a story full of symbols. He's not really talking about servants and farmers and masters—He's talking about us, the people on this earth. The master in the story is Jesus the Lord. The servants in the story are each of us. And the talents, the silver, is our time, our gifts, our influence, our resources.

Each one of us has been given by God time, gifts, talents, resources. All that we have comes from the Lord. It's not ours—it was given to us by the Master with the purpose of using it for His glory to do His work while we're here on the earth.

And the story is telling us also something very important: Jesus is going to come back. He's gone now, but He's coming back. And when He gets here, He wants to see what we've done with what He gave us.

Now I want you to understand something. A lot of times when we talk about Jesus coming back, we think about something that's going to happen far off in a distant time—maybe decades from now, maybe hundreds or thousands of years from now. But I want you to understand, each and every one of you, that Jesus is coming back for you in your lifetime one way or another.

The belief in the Christian faith is that one day Jesus is going to come on the clouds for all the earth. That may happen in your lifetime. But even if that doesn't happen in your lifetime, I want you to understand: you're going to take your last breath at one point in this life, and when you do, you're going to come face-to-face with Jesus. So He's either going to come for all of us at once or He's going to come for you individually. And when He comes, He's going to want an account, just like He did of these servants in the parable.

Jesus didn't save us just so we could sit in the shade napping with our hats pulled down over our heads. He came and saved us so we could saddle up and ride for His Kingdom. We are on a mission with God to save the world. And He's given each of us different talents, different gifts. Just like He did in the story—He gave some ten bags of silver, some five bags of silver, some one—He gave each and every one of us different talents, different abilities, and differing amounts. But each and every one of us has something that the Lord has given us.

Oftentimes we're afraid to use it. We want to dig a hole, put it in the ground, and bury it. We don't want to step out. We don't want to be the tall blade of grass that gets cut off. We just want to fit in, hide in the crowd. But Jesus calls us to step forward, to step out in faith, and to serve.

What It Means to Be Ready
We’ve got to be ready for when He comes—because He's coming, and we're going to see Him in our lifetime. Being ready doesn't mean that you stand there and look up at the sky and wait for Him to come all your life. It means living as if He's coming—doing what He wants us to do, what He calls all of us to do: love others, be compassionate like He was, be honest and tell the truth like He did, share Jesus and talk to others about what He's done in our life and what He means to us. Be a witness about the kind of Savior that we serve and what He's done for us to save us. He's calling us to be kind as Jesus was kind and compassionate—helping those that are in need, not only thinking of ourselves but thinking of others and even being giving to others sacrificially, to the point that it hurts. Be faithful in work, faithful with our family, in our church, in our community.

Use the gifts that God has given us. He's given each one of us a little something different. One of the joys in life is discovering what kind of a gift God gave you. Are you a singer? Are you a preacher? Are you a teacher? Are you a helper behind the scenes?

Throughout this week of Vacation Bible School, we saw so many different people serving in so many different ways—from Summer, who's standing up in front of everybody talking, to the people who were registering people as they come in to make sure their kids were safe, to the people who were putting up decorations or bringing donations. Everybody had a part. This is a good image of what we have in life: there are so many things that have to be done throughout our world and in our community, and each one of us has got a different gift, and we're called to use that for the glory of God—not to hide that talent in the dirt.

It means that we have to live with a sense of urgency. This parable says that the master's coming back, and we don't know when the master's coming back. But we do know that He is coming back, and it's going to be when we least expect it. So we ought to live and we ought to serve out of a sense of urgency.

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I'm a procrastinator, and I just put things off—"Well, I can do that tomorrow," or "I can do that later." But this parable reminds us that you can't live a life of procrastination. Because what if Jesus comes back? What if the master comes back and He calls for an account? You're going to feel really silly when you say, "Well, I was going to get to that tomorrow," and He says, "But you've had your whole life to do and to use what I've given you. What have you been doing with what I gave you?" And don't you want to be able to give a good account? I know I do.

Living in the Wonder
So when you think about your life and you think about what this message is saying to us, ask yourself the question: What would you do differently this week if you knew Jesus was going to be coming back on Friday? How would you live your life differently if you knew you're going to have to give an account to the Master on Friday? But you know what—you might not have until Friday. You might have to give an account tomorrow. You might have to give an account this afternoon.

So it gives us a sense of urgency to get to work doing what He's called us to do. If there's someone you need to talk to, do it. Don't put it off. If there's something in your heart that you need to get right with the Lord, do it. Don't put it off.

We live with a sense of hope and a sense of wonder and a sense of expectation as Christians. Now some people might hear this story and it might put in their heart a sense of dread. But we're not called to live as Christians with a sense of dread or fear, like a doom-and-gloom belief that the world is going to end. We know the world is going to end, but that's not a bad thing if we are walking with the Lord. If we're doing what He's called us to do, then when the world ends or when Jesus comes back, that's going to be a good thing. Because what did He do for the faithful servants? He said, "Come on, let's celebrate together."

What a wonderful thing—that we get to celebrate, and we get to see the world being recreated, and everything that is wrong in it being made right. And even within ourselves, the things we wish were different—He's going to make them different and right and perfect. So it's a wonderful thing to look forward to. It's not a sense of dread; it's a sense of wonder and of hope and of expectation, so long as we're living for Him, doing our best.

Here's the thing too—the Christian hope: our Master is not a harsh master. He's a gracious and kind and merciful Master. He understands that we try and we mess up. He'd rather you try and stumble than not try at all. He doesn't want you to bury your gifts in the sand. He wants you to step out and try. And if you step out and fail, that's okay. He's going to be proud that you tried, and He's going to let you try again. That's the wonderful hope we have as Christians—a merciful Master.

But if you're not living for the Lord, if you're only living for yourself and doing what makes you happy without any care for what the Master wants, well then that's something to worry about. That's something to get right with the Lord instead of waiting and putting it off. He wants you to get that right.

The trail of the Christian doesn't end at the cross. The trail ends when Jesus returns and makes everything right. Jesus comes back, and we get to ride into glory with Him.

Conclusion and Invitation
If Jesus came back today—for all of us, or for you individually—would you be ready? What have you done with the time and the treasures that He's given to you?

Another wonderful hope for the Christian is we don't have to be discouraged if we look back on our life and think, "Man, I should have done this. I should have done that," or "I haven't even done anything at all." Even if you failed so far, there's forgiveness, and there's always a chance for a fresh start. You can start today, right this moment, moving forward following the Lord. And the Savior honors that. He honors that and He welcomes that.

So if you've never done anything, if you've not been following the Lord, today you can start brand new and fresh. And for Christians who have been following the Lord, we can always look back and think about things we could have done better. But that's okay. The Savior is gracious and He invites us to renew our faith and our commitment to follow Him and move forward in a new day.

As we come to the close of the lesson today, I want to invite you—if you've not decided to follow the Lord, you can follow Him from this day forward. Make that commitment today. And if you're a Christian and you're following the Lord, you've been trying, I would invite you to renew your faith in Him and your commitment to follow Him.

Now as we close, I'd like to do something special. I'm going to give parents and their children a chance to come forward to the altar. We're not going to do anything crazy; we're not going to have any crazy religious ceremonies. But I would like to give a blessing to all the kids and all of the parents who come forward and receive that. I promise—it'll just be a prayer, but it'll be a time for us to feel Christ surrounding us and a time to bless Him.

Would you come forward to receive a blessing? Come on forward if you would. I don't want to pressure you—if you don't want to, that's okay. But you won't be standing alone. It looks like we’ve got a lot coming forward. Thank you, thank you for coming. Thank you for being part of Vacation Bible School all week long.

All right. Let's pray together:

Thank You, Father, for the wonder of this week—for the laughter and the learning and the love. Thank You for every child who came through our doors, for every volunteer who gave their time, for every heart in this room today that's been praying for Vacation Bible School and for all of the wonderful things that You've done.

And now, Lord, as we stand together, young and old, we remember the greatest promise of all: You're coming back. And when You come back, Lord, You're not coming back as a baby, but You're coming back as the King of Kings. We desperately want to be ready. We want to do our best. We want to be fruitful as Your servants here on this earth.

So Lord, we ask that You help us to live every day like it matters. Help us to experience the fullness of this life and the joy that You want to give. Help us to make a difference as we laugh and love together.

Lord, we want to love You more, and we want to serve You more, and we want to trust You. So even when the trail gets rough, help us. We're not perfect, Lord, but we know You didn't come for the perfect. You came to rescue us and redeem us and to walk with us until You return.

So today we stand here not because we've got it all figured out, but because we want to follow You. We want our kids to know You. We want to be a church that keeps looking up—keeps living in the wonder of Your return.

So Lord, we offer ourselves to You, and I ask Your blessings upon these children, upon their families, and upon their futures. May it all be for Your glory. Through the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.

Thank you so much for coming and being a part of this service today and our Vacation Bible School.

I know that we all want what's best for our kids, for our families. We care about our community. One of the best things we can do to make a difference in our lives and in the lives of our families and our communities is to be part of a loving church community—a faith community. I know the church is not perfect. We make mistakes. And it's because we're filled with imperfect people. But I haven't seen a better option. If you want to make the world a better place, if you want to make your life a better place, be a part of a church family.

We would love to have you as part of ours here at Pleasant Grove. Like I said, we're not a perfect church—we're just real people, which means we have real problems. But we work through them together and we move forward, and we become better. It's all by God's glory. We'd love to have you as part of our family. So thank you for being here today.

Stewardship & Responsibility - Reflections from Eden | A Sermon on Genesis 2:15-20 & Matthew 25:15-30

Introduction
Last week in our message, we explored the importance of relationships that the creation story in Genesis 2 emphasizes.  There are so many interesting ideas and themes to explore in the creation story, but today I want to focus on the idea of stewardship and responsibility.  Let’s start by reading part of the Garden of Eden story and consider what it may teach us about stewardship and then we’re going to look at what Jesus said about stewardship.

Genesis 2:15-20
¹⁵ The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ¹⁶ But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” ¹⁹ So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. ²⁰ He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

God Created Us to Be Stewards
God places Adam in the Garden of Eden and instructs him to work and take care of it, showing humanity’s role as caretakers of creation.  God also has Adam name all the animals.  In ancient Middle Eastern culture, knowing someone’s name often meant having power or authority over them.  Adam’s job of naming the animals shows his responsibility and authority over nature.  This story reveals part of our purpose in life is to watch over and manage God’s creation.  We are to be stewards.  That is why we can use the resources of creation to help sustain us.  But, that doesn’t mean we abuse creation, because it belongs to God.

A steward, from a biblical Christian perspective, is someone entrusted by God to manage and care for His creation and resources. This includes everything from the environment to personal relationships to our talents and our finances. A steward is called to faithfully use these gifts with responsibility, wisdom, and obedience, reflecting God’s will and purpose. Ultimately, a steward’s role is to honor God by fostering growth, serving others, and making choices that align with God’s plan.  Jesus told a parable to remind us of our purpose as God’s stewards.  The parable is found in Matthew 25:15-30.

Matthew 25:14-18
¹⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. ¹⁵ He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

¹⁶ “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. ¹⁷ The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

The Effect of Inflation on Money
I want to point out a basic financial principle about “interest” here, because it answers a question people often have about this parable.  Money doesn’t hold its value.  If someone gave you $100 50 years ago and you put it in a mason jar and buried it in the ground, and then dug today, how much would it be worth?  Still $100, right?  But $100 today doesn’t go as far as it did 50 years ago, right?  Because of inflation, you would need at least $634 today to have as much buying power as $100 had 50 years ago.  So, the two servants who invested their master’s money ensured the money didn’t lose value.  But the money the third fearful servant buried has lost value.

Matthew 25:19-30
¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. ²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²² “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²⁴ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. ²⁵ I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

²⁶ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, ²⁷ why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁸ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. ²⁹ To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ³⁰ Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Which Servant Do You Want To Be?
Jesus’ Parable teaches us the importance of being good stewards and managing the resources God has given us. In the story, a master gives his servants different amounts of money and expects them to use it wisely while he is away.  But this is a story about us.  We are the servants in the story.  God is the Master.  He made us.  He placed us on this earth.  He entrusted to us all the talents and resources we have.  We are responsible for using what God gives us and God expects us to use it all for His glory, not just for our own selfish desires.  And we are to be fruitful with God’s resources.

Jesus’ parable also gives us a warning.  One day, the Master is going to return and ask each and everyone of us to give an account on how we managed God’s resources.  Were we fruitful?
Now which one of the servants do you want to be when the God asks you to give an account?

Stewardship involves every aspect of our lives, because everything we have and all that we are is a gift from God.  Jesus came to call us back to this way of living.  A life where we fulfill our God given purpose to be good stewards who view everything in our lives as a way to honor and glorify God.  Glorify Him with the work you do.  Glorify Him with the money you have.  Glorify Him by the way you lead your family.  Glorify Him by the way you treat you friends, raise your children, serve in your church…  Honor and glorify God as a good steward in every part of your life.

Stewardship Challenge
In my church, we did a special activity to practice what it means to be a good steward.  Each person who came to worship that day received a $5 bill as part of a stewardship challenge. Their task was to pray and ask God how they could use the $5 to bless someone that week. They were free to spend the money however they felt led, but the goal was to make a positive impact in someone else’s life. I encouraged them to be creative, thoughtful, and prayerful in how they choose to use this gift.

What would you do if you received $5?  Would you:
Buy a meal or a coffee for someone in need or surprise a stranger by paying for their order.
Purchase a small gift to give someone (like a greeting card or flowers).
Buy supplies (such as snacks, bottled water, or hygiene products) to give to someone in needs.
Combine your $5 with others to make a larger impact, such as buying groceries for a struggling family.  

Part of the point of this exercise is to make it plain to everyone that the money is not theirs.  It was given to them to be used for a purpose:  to be a blessing to others.  When we think of our own resources--our money, our talents, our time--these also are not our own.  They were given to us by God.  And we are to use them in ways that align with God's values and purposes for our world.  We are to be good steward who use God's resources in ways that honor and glorify Him.  Are you being a goof steward?  How do you need to change to do better?