Matthew 25:14-15, 24-25 (NKJV) “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey… “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’Although Jesus was teaching about the kingdom of heaven, He was using this earthly parable to teach us the truth of being good stewards of what He has given us. It is the grace of God that He has entrusted us with our blessings on earth. The first two servants must have loved their master and were appreciative of the grace shown to them, and surely, the master would have loved all of them to do well in the test given to them.
Unfortunately, many servants are behaving more like the third servant who hid his talents in the ground because of his unwillingness to do something with what was entrusted to him. He had a wrong image of the master whom he thought was only interested in the fruit of their labour. He forgot that no harvest would have been possible if the master had not given him the seed for sowing. He couldn’t see the graciousness, love and the wonderful plan that the master had for him, and he wasn’t willing to do more than what was required of him. He was full of himself, had the couldn’t-be-bothered attitude and was even sarcastic in his report to the master. There was no acknowledgement of the Lordship based on his actions, nor did he feel he needed to be accountable.
Likewise, we are blessed with resources from God. The key is whether we acknowledge God’s graciousness, love and plan for our lives by making Jesus the Lord of our lives and stop living our lives for ourselves. Let’s not be like the third servant, but take stock of and make adjustments in our lives to ensure that we are living out the calling of God on our lives. Moreover, let’s trust God as the source of our finances and operate in His financial principles. We are Christ’s representatives on earth. Besides providing to us through our job, God expects us to use His resources to show forth His love with good works, like what the three servants were expected to do—to invest the money over and above ploughing, sowing and reaping from the land. The Lord is more concerned about the kingdom of heaven while looking after our needs on earth. The talents given to us are to increase the fruit of our righteousness which will lead to the spreading of the Gospel and the strengthening of the church.
Sermon Series: Faithful Stewards (Talents)
忠心的管家
马太福音 25:14-15,24-25 “天国又好比一个人要往外国去，就叫了仆人来，把他的家业交给他们， 按着各人的才干给他们银子：一个给了五千，一个给了二千，一个给了一千，就往外国去了。 ……那领一千的也来，说：‘主啊，我知道你是忍心的人，没有种的地方要收割，没有散的地方要聚敛， 我就害怕，去把你的一千银子埋藏在地里。请看，你的原银子在这里。’
耶稣虽在做关于天国的教导，祂却用这个世俗的比喻来教导我们有关成为祂所托付我们之物的好管家的真理。是神的恩典，将我们在地上的福分托付给我们。前两个仆人肯定很爱他们的主人，也很感激他们所领受的恩典，而且主人肯定也希望他们每个人都能在各自的考验中取得好成绩。
不幸的是，许多仆人的行为更像第三个仆人，他把自己的才能/钱财藏在地里，因为他不愿意为受托之物做点什么。他对主人有错误的认知，觉得主人只看重他们的劳动成果。他忘了，要不是主人给他播种的种子，就不可能有收成。他看不到主人对他的恩典、爱和美好计划。 他不愿意做超出主人要求以外的事情。他自以为是，态度懒散，甚至在向主人汇报工作时语带讥讽。他的行为没有体现出对主人的认可，也不觉得自己需要对其负责。
同样，我们也蒙恩从神那里得资源。关键在于我们是否藉着使耶稣成为我们生命的主，不再为自己而活，从而认识神的恩典、爱和对我们生命的计划。让我们不要像第三个仆人，而理当评估和调整我们的生命，以确保我们活出神的呼召。此外，让我们相信神是我们财富的源头，并按照神的财富原则行事。我们是基督在这世上的代表。神除了藉著我们的工作供应我们外，还期望我们用祂的资源行善来彰显祂的爱，就如祂对三个仆人的期望一样 – 把钱投资在耕种、播种和收割之上。神在照顾我们在地上的需要当儿，更关心天国。赐给我们的才能/钱财是为增加我们公义的果子，使福音广传、教会弥坚。
讲章系列：忠心的管家