Consecrated Stewards – Part Three
Sunday, October 17, 2010
The following is a combination of my sermon outline and some rough draft portions.
• And Jesus, “The kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.”
• And when the master returned, the servants said, “Here is the money you entrusted to me.”
• Entrusted.
• The first two servants responded by trusting the master, trusting that he wanted them to use the money.
• They trusted that the money would work for them.
• They trusted themselves, trusted that they had the abilities to do something with that money.
• They trusted because the master had entrusted them, had placed his trust in them.
There’s a lot you take from a parable. When Jesus tells a story to teach, those stories are so rich that they’re able to teach a lot. So looking at today’s parable from Matthew we could go in a lot of different directions, exploring what it means that the master gives his property to his servants, what it means that the one servant is lazy and wicked, but for me as I thought about this parable and thought about Consecrated Stewards, I kept coming back to one word: entrusted.
The master entrusted his property to his servants. And when the master returns, the two servants both say, “Here is the money you entrusted to me.” Entrusted.
• For six years I went to a summer camp that entrusted the campers with equipment.
• Entrusted with the equipment
• We trusted the master—the camp director,
we trusted our guides
we trusted that they wanted us to use the equipment
• We trusted ourselves—our abilities
• YMCA Camp Menogyn – explanation of camp
• The equipment we used
• How we trusted the equipment
• Trusted the camp director—that he wanted us to use the equipment
• Trusted ourselves—our abilities
• That trust grew out of the fact that we had been entrusted with the equipment, entrusted with our mission
Entrusted. That word made me think of my experience at a canoe camp in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, near the Canadian border. For six summers I spent increasingly long periods of time at YMCA Camp Menogyn, a wilderness adventure camp. And unlike other camps where you go to the camp and stay there for the whole time, at Menogyn you’re only at camp long enough to get ready for your trip, your canoe trip which takes up the majority of the time you’re there. I went out with a group and a counselor each year, starting with a trip for four days, then the next year it was seven days on the trail, then 10 days, then 17 days. Then I got invited on two long trips—one was twenty some days on trail, and the last one was about 30 days on trail.
Which brings us to “entrusted.” You see, for all of those trips we were going out into the wilderness using the camp’s canoes, the camp’s tents, paddles, life jackets, packs, and other equipment. We were entrusted with the camp’s equipment. We were sent into the wildnerness, learning skills as we went, but the camp trusted us with their equipment. They sent us out into lakes with canoes that we might swamp and damage, we might scrap up on shores if we weren’t careful, canoes that might get bent up if we weren’t careful in the rapids. They sent us out with tents and packs that need to be cared for so they don’t get torn. The camp trusted us with their equipment, trusted us to bring back their equipment at the end of the trip, trusted us not to lose or wreck anything, trusted us so that the next group could also use that equipment.
• The story Jesus tells shows great trust
• Each talent of money was worth about 20 years work
• So the servant who got 5 talents had been given the equivalent of 100 years of wages
• Entrusted
• They trust the master
• They trust themselves, their abilities
• They trusted the master—trusted that he meant for them to use the money he gave them.
• And they trusted themselves, trusted their abilities.
• Entrusted
• It all goes back to the fact that the master entrusted them with his property
That’s what happened with my experience at camp, too. We trusted the things, trusted the equipment, trusted our lives to the canoes and packs and tents and life jackets and everything else.
We trusted our master, the camp director, the one who entrusted us with the equipment and sent us out. We trusted that the master wanted us to use the equipment, use it well, go explore, and have our adventure.
And we trusted ourselves, trusted our abilities, trusted that we could learn how to do what we needed to do, trusted that we had what it took to go on this adventure, trusted that we would be given responsibility according to our abilities.
We had been entrusted with the equipment, and we, in turn, trusted—trusted the equipment, trusted the camp director, and trusted ourselves.
• And the master, the Lord has entrusted you with His property—all of the time, talents, and treasures you have are really His
• He has entrusted you with His property, His equipment, and trusts that you will use that equipment for His mission
• So trust the master, trust what He has given you, trust in the equipment
• But it’s risky to trust. It was risky to push away from the camp dock and leave camp behind. We took risks being out on the trail without easy access to emergency help. We took risks crossing lakes during windy days and stormy days. We took risks going down rivers full of rapids and boulders and snares. We took risks trying to carry our stuff over land, down long trails. We took risks trying to make sure we ate enough but didn’t use up our food too quickly.
• We trusted our equipment to keep us safe.
• We trusted that our camp director had sent us out with a good guide.
• We trusted ourselves, that we could have the abilities to do what we needed to do. But that all involves taking a risk, taking a risk in order to move forward to go on the adventure.
• Living as consecrated stewards involves risk
• Trust in the Lord involves risk—or so it seems
• Because at some point you’re no longer in control
• That’s risky
• But remember in the parable,
the master entrusted the servants with his property,
• the master entrusted them according to their abilities
• in other words, the master knew what he was doing
• AND God knows what He’s doing when He entrusted you with His property—the things He’s given you
• Stewardship isn’t about us coming up with something to do by ourselves, something from our own resources
• Stewardship is rejoicing in what we’ve been given
• Stewardship is using what the Lord trusts us to use for Him
• 2 Corinthians: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
• Sure, it’s risky to take the money you have, and give 10% back to the Lord, it looks risky to only live on 90% of your income
• But trust that the master, the Lord knows what He’s doing
• Trust the master, He wants you to live on that money
• Trust that He has given you the money to support you and sustain you
• Trust yourselves, trust the abilities that you have been given, trust the person God has made you to be, the ways in which you can use your money wisely
• IT ALL GOES BACK TO, it all starts with the fact that the Lord has entrusted us with His property
• We’re taking a risk, a calculated risk to live on the things given to us by the Creator of the world
• Sure it’s risky to use your gifts and abilities to serve the Lord, to serve in the church, to take a leadership position, to step out of your comfort zone, to help others in the name of Christ
• Trust the master, trust that He wants you to use those gifts and abilities
• Trust yourselves, trust the person God has made you to be
• You have been entrusted with those gifts and abilities, so take the risk and go serve Him
• But there’s a great question that arises on the back of the bulletin insert today, if trust involves risk, and God is trusting us with His property, trusting us to use the things He’s giving us, then we need to ask the question, “What risk did God take to involve us in His work?”
DISCUSSION
• He’s risking everything, risking the whole plan
• Or so it seems—because He knows what He’s doing
• He’s entrusted you with the mission
• But he’s also given you everything you need to accomplish the mission—He gives you your time, treasure, and talents
• And look at the quote from Ephesians on the back of the insert, God’s taking a risk by involving us in His work, His mission, but in what way does this verse help us to see that it’s not as risky as we think, that He’s more prepared for us to serve? How does this verse give us confidence about serving God?
DISCUSSION
• So again trust the master, trust the Lord, He knows what He’s doing.
• He knows He’s got good works set up for you to do
• He know that He wants to use you
• He has entrusted you with money, gifts, abilities, and so much more, entrusted you with those things to use for His mission
• Entrusted
• It all goes back to the fact that the master, the Lord has entrusted these things to you, entrusted you with His mission
• Stewardship isn’t about us coming up with something to do by ourselves, something from our own resources
• Stewardship is rejoicing in what we’ve been given
• Stewardship is using what the Lord trusts us to use for Him
• 2 Corinthians: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
• Trust the master, trust the Lord
• Use the equipment
• Do His mission
• Praise God for what He has given us