7/16/23 - Well Done Good and Faithful Servant! - Matthew 25:13-30 - Pastor Jason Fritz

We are nearing the end of our series on eternity (eternity lasts forever and this series will not) so this Sunday we read a remarkable parable from Jesus. Think of a parable as a short story that leaves a profound impact. It’s found in Matthew chapter 25 and it reveals the goal for every Christian. The goal is hearing Jesus say, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master (the one who rules and owns everything)!” So how exactly do we receive this welcome?    We receive it by making the most of every opportunity.   Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16   The author Daniel Pink wrote a book about regrets. He conducted a worldwide survey and discovered that regrets of omission outnumbered regrets of commission 3 to 1. In other words, most regrets occur because people did not take action when they had the opportunity. They did not travel, pursue a career change or a new relationship and now the opportunities are gone and they are left with remorse.   The parable in Matthew 25 is also about missed opportunities. It comes in response to a question the disciples have been asking Jesus, "When are you coming again?”He gives them a few signs but he does not give them a specific date. Why doesn’t he give them what they ask for? Because he wants his followers to live in anticipation of his coming so that they are in a constant state of readiness.   While we wait, we work.   The parable contains three servants. Two are proven faithful and get busy with what they have been given. They are not idle. The third (one talent servant) is lazy. He kicks a hole in the ground burying what he’s been given. With responsibility comes accountability. The owner returns and each receives according to the opportunities taken or wasted.   In all of history, perhaps the man who wasted the greatest opportunity was Judas. Remember him? He lived with Jesus and the other disciples for three years and yet his life is a sobering reminder that one can be so near yet so far. Are there people in church like this? Well, Judas lived with Jesus and do you know what his job was? He was the treasurer and…he was stealing. His heart was that of the one talent servant.   What do you do with what you have been given? Have you given the Lord a whole life of service in return for that? What would it take for you to hear the words, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master.”