The Parable of the Bags of Gold
Text: Matthew 25:14-30
Core Idea: Jesus has entrusted us with great things which are to be used for His glory and kingdom. Then I pray that this truth will cause you to be watchful, faithful, and diligent in every moment of your life – but I also pray that you’ll experience this incomparable joy and delight in our Lord Jesus Christ as you live in obedience.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Lighthouse. It is great to see you. I want to welcome all of you but especially our Tugboat and Anchor friends as they will be joining us for the whole service today. So, because of that, we’ll take a break from our current sermon series and follow the curriculum that the Tugboat ministry is currently going through. Then please turn your Bibles to Matthew 25:14-30. And I will invite Max to the front as he’ll be reading the passage for us. And after, Pastor Cindy will come up to share a short message for our children.
14 Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 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. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.” 21 His master replied, “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!” 22 The man with two bags of gold also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.” 23 His master replied, “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!” 24 Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” 26 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? 27 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. 28 So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 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. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Thank you, Max, for reading the passage for us – and thank you, Pastor Cindy, for sharing that message with us. Now, this parable reminded me of another story that I read when I was a child – so, let me share that with you as a way to prepare your minds. Once upon a time, there lived a king who didn’t have children. So, he decided to search his kingdom for a wise young man who could take his place when he died. One day, he gathered all the young men of the kingdom and said to them, “I am giving each of you a seed. Plant it and take good care of it. Whoever can grow the most beautiful plant and bring it to me three months from now will become my heir.” So, these young men took the seeds, planted them, and waited for them to grow – and among them was this poor young man who lived in a far corner of the kingdom. Just like others, he planted the seed, watered it, put it in the sun, protected it from the cold and the wind – but nothing would grow out of it. Weeks passed but he could not cultivate anything from it – so, understandably, he was mortified on the day of the competition. Now, when he got to the castle, he noticed that others had these beautiful plants in their pots – and he felt great shame because he felt like a failure. One after the other, they presented their plants to the king – and the king thanked them for their efforts. As he waited in line, the young man was hoping that someone else would be chosen before him so that he wouldn’t be ridiculed in front of everyone. But to his horror, his turn finally came, and the king stood before him – asking him to present his plant. So, the young man with great fear presented his empty pot. After observing the empty pot, the king asked the young man to step forward. The young man was sure that he would be punished for failing to grow the seed. “Where’s your plant?” the king asked. The young man responded, “I don’t have one. I tried everything but I wasn’t able to grow anything. Please have mercy on me.” And at that moment, everyone’s eyes were on the king – waiting to see what he would do. But to everyone’s surprise, the king declared that this young man would become the heir to the throne. As you can imagine, people were shocked. In fact, many of them started complaining – saying that this wasn’t fair. And this is what the king said to them, “Three months ago, I gave all of you a seed to plant, but I didn’t tell you one small detail – that I had boiled the seeds beforehand, meaning, they would never be able to grow. I asked you to faithfully take care of them but all of you, seeing that it didn’t grow, decided to replace it with another seed. Your plants are beautiful but what you did shows me that you weren’t honest nor faithful.”
What does faithfulness look like? In the story, many of these young men thought that faithfulness meant fruitfulness – in order to prove their worth, they thought that they needed to have the most beautiful plants. So, they cut corners to make it look as though they were more faithful than they really were – only to be exposed in the end. Then the question that I want us to wrestle through today is this – “What does it mean to be faithful in the eyes of God? What does it look like for us to be faithful with the time, talents, and treasures that God has entrusted us with?” Now, this parable comes from the teaching that Jesus gave on the Mount of Olives regarding the day when He will return not as a Servant but as a King to judge the living and the dead. And the core message of this whole discourse is this – be ready. No one knows when Jesus will return except God the Father. It could be today, or it could be many years from now. But one thing’s for sure – He is coming back. So, be ready. Well, how do we do that? That’s what this parable will address. Then, with that in mind, let’s look at our passage together. I divided it into three parts.
· THE MASTER ENTRUSTS
· THE SERVANTS RESPOND
· THE MASTER RESPONDS
1) THE MASTER ENTRUSTS
Verse 14, “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.” Let me point out three things that will help us understand this passage better. First, before the man went on his journey, he called his servants. He didn’t call strangers. He didn’t hire people from outside. He called those who belonged to him. Second, the man entrusted his wealth to them. The bags of gold they received were not ultimately theirs to keep – they belonged to the man. What they had was not their own but was given to make a profit for the man. Third, they were given according to their ability – which means that the man must have known these servants personally. He knew their strengths and weaknesses. He knew their gifts and flaws. And in his wisdom, he entrusted his wealth accordingly.
Now, it’s not difficult to see that the man going on a journey symbolizes Jesus who was about to go on a journey of His own – in that, He was going to die, be buried, be raised up from the dead, ascend to the right hand of His Father, and stay there for an undisclosed amount of time. Then the three servants represent us – in that, we’re all waiting for Jesus to return from His journey. Then with that in mind, what do we learn from the first few verses of this parable? Well, we learn that Jesus has entrusted us with gifts that are to be used for His glory and kingdom. We don’t belong to ourselves – we belong to God. What we own doesn’t belong to us – it belongs to God. All that He has given us, He did so generously, wisely, and perfectly according to our abilities so that we’re not passively but actively waiting – which by the way is why we should never compare ourselves to others knowing that it will only leave us insecure or prideful. When we compare ourselves with others whether it’s in terms of circumstances, looks, wealth, or abilities, it will always cause us to feel inferior or superior, shriveled up or puffed up, discontent or conceited – in other words, it only leads to our own destruction. In fact, comparing ourselves with others is one of the quickest ways to defame the name of God because what we’re saying is that God didn’t get it right, that He messed up, that we know better than Him – in that, He should’ve done it our way. Then this parable offers us a way to avoid comparing ourselves with others – to remember that God gifts us according to our abilities. Now, some of us may not like to hear this because it doesn’t seem fair. You feel like they should’ve all started with the same number of bags. You’re uncomfortable because you desire equal rights, equal opportunities, and even equal outcomes for everyone. If this is you, what should we do with passages like this? Throw it away because it goes against our values? Ignore it because it makes us uneasy? Twist it so that it’s to our liking? No, we must humble ourselves and realign our minds to the truth. Instead of changing the Word, we must allow the Word to transform us. Then what is Jesus teaching us here? It’s that fairness is not what we actually need because if God were fair with us, if He gave us what we truly deserved, there’s only one thing we deserve – hell. Because of our sins, the only thing that we deserve is His wrath and condemnation – which is why, in our relationship with God, we shouldn’t demand fairness. We should simply be grateful for His grace and generosity. Think about it. The man in the parable wasn’t obligated to give his servants anything – he could’ve just fired all of them and taken his wealth with him. But that’s not what he did – he entrusted his wealth and invited them to work for his honor.
Now, if it’s true that Jesus has equipped all His people with great gifts to use for His glory and honor, what are these gifts? J.C. Ryle puts it this way: “Our gifts, our influence, our money, our knowledge, our health, our strength, our time, our senses, our reason, our intellect, our memory, our affections, our privileges as members of Christ’s Church, our advantages as possessors of the Bible – all of these are endowments given to us by God. All that we have is from God alone. We are God’s stewards.” In other words, our whole life is a gift from God. Our wealth is a gift that God has entrusted to us – which means that we should gladly use it for the furtherance of His kingdom, not only for our comfort and pleasure. Our work is a gift that God has entrusted to us – which means that we shouldn’t see it as a necessary evil but as an opportunity to glorify God. Our skills and talents are a gift that God has entrusted to us – which means that we shouldn’t use them only to advance ourselves but to bless others. For those of you who are younger in age, your youthfulness is a gift that God has entrusted to you – which means that you should use that energy and strength to serve others around you, not just keep yourself busy with trivial things. For those of you who are older in age, your wisdom is a gift that God has entrusted to you – which means that you should intentionally use it to invest in others, disciple others, and lead others to know Christ better. Our home is a gift that God has entrusted to us – which means that we should look for ways to use it as a platform for hospitality. Our children are a gift that God has entrusted to us – which means that we should do everything we can to guide them to know the Lord. Our church is a gift that God has entrusted to us – which means that we shouldn’t come simply to consume but to serve so that this community can be empowered to faithfully carry out the call that we have received. And of course, our knowledge of the gospel is a gift that God has entrusted to us – which means that it’s not for us to keep. As Christ’s ambassadors, we must proclaim it and persuade others to it. Friends, is this how you view your life? Do you perceive everything you have as a gift entrusted to you – for you to use it to bring honor to His name? Even now, I wonder if some of you are thinking about all that you don’t have – “Oh, I don’t have a lot of things that Woohyun mentioned.” But don’t focus on the things that God hasn’t given you – think about all that God has given you. Identify them. And work it out to use them for His glory and His Kingdom. Let us be good stewards of His gifts for all that we are and have belong to Him.
2) THE SERVANTS RESPOND
Verse 16, “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.” Look at the first and second servants. There was promptness – in that, they went to work at once. They did not delay. They did not procrastinate. They were quick to act. Not only that, but there was also faithfulness – in that, they did what the man told them to do. Notice that Jesus doesn’t tell us what they did because that wasn’t really important – what mattered was that they obeyed. And lastly, there was also fruitfulness – in that, both of them made five and two bags more, respectively. In contrast, there was no promptness, faithfulness, or fruitfulness found in the third servant. He simply dug a hole and hid his master’s gold in the ground – he literally buried what had been entrusted to him. Now, what’s interesting is that he kept himself busy. Digging a hole and burying the gold couldn’t have been easy. So, in some sense, he worked hard – but he himself knew that he wasn’t faithful. How do I know this? Because when the master came back, the first two servants were eager to approach him – thrilled to show him what they did. Verse 20, “Master, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.” But what about the third servant? Verse 24, “Master, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So, I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” Do you see what he was doing? He was blaming the master for his lack of responsibility – “It’s your fault that I did this.” He wasn’t prompt or faithful because he never trusted his master – instead, his fear led him to compromise. He was constantly calculating to see what the best way would be to minimize his efforts but avoid punishment. And this was his conclusion – bury the gold. He may not gain anything, but he certainly won’t lose it. He must have thought that he had found the perfect solution – of course, the master would think differently.
But before we turn to the master’s response, what is something we can learn from this? If the first point teaches us that God has graciously and generously entrusted us with great gifts to use for His glory, this point teaches us that there must be promptness and faithfulness in the way we use our gifts. Brothers and sisters, we must remember that delayed obedience is disobedience. There’s a sobering passage in Numbers 14 where it talks about how the Israelites finally got to the border of the Promised Land and all they needed to do was seize the land for themselves. But the spies who were sent to assess the land came back with great fear – saying that they wouldn’t stand a chance against the people living there, that they were like grasshoppers compared to them. Even though Joshua and Caleb were confident that they could certainly conquer them with the help of God, they were adamant that they shouldn’t go in. And this caused God to be extremely angry because they were essentially questioning His power. So, He struck down the ten spies and declared that the Israelites would wander in the wilderness for forty years until the first generation passed away. They were given the opportunity, but they chose not to obey out of fear. Now, listen to what it says in Numbers 14:40-45, “Early the next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying, ‘Now we are ready to go up to the land the LORD promised. Surely, we have sinned!’ But Moses said, ‘Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, He will not be with you, and you will fall by the sword.’ Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.” That’s how the chapter ends. They ultimately did what God asked them to do, but they weren’t prompt with their obedience – and that did not please the Lord. Brothers and sisters, are you promptly seizing the opportunity that God has gifted you out of love for Him – or are you delaying your obedience out of fear? Are you faithfully carrying out the task that God has given you – or are you keeping yourself busy with trivial things? Are you prayerfully wrestling through how you can use every aspect of your life to glorify God – or are you just concerned about not doing anything wrong? Are you making every effort to cultivate fruit in your life – or are you still calculating ways to minimize the cost of your discipleship? May there be promptness and faithfulness in the way you respond to this call so that you’ll anticipate the judgment day with great hope, not fear.
3) THE MASTER RESPONDS
Verse 21 – this is how the master responded to the first and second servants. Four things. First, he praises the service – “Well done.” Second, he praises the servant – “Good and faithful servant.” Third, he promotes the servant – “You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things.” Now, this makes sense since they’re in a master-servant relationship. If a servant is faithful and fruitful, we would expect the master to reward him greatly – in fact, it makes sense that the master is giving him greater responsibilities. But what’s remarkable is the fourth thing that he says, “Come and share your master’s happiness.” This kind of blessing was unheard of in master-servant relationships. In fact, we see the dynamic of master-servant relationships most clearly in Luke 17:7-10. Listen to what Jesus said, “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So, you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” Masters didn’t invite their hardworking servants into their joy – masters found the next task for their servants to carry out. In fact, the master didn’t have to thank the servant because he was simply doing his duty. And yet, this master doesn’t say, “Go back to work and get me more money.” Instead, he says, “You don’t know how happy you make me. So, come and feel the joy I have for you – and may that bring great joy to your heart.” In other words, the master was inviting the servant to find his joy in him. He was basically saying, “Let me be the source of your happiness.”
In contrast, listen to the way he responded to the third servant in verse 26, “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. 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.” These are some harsh words. Then we must ask ourselves, “Why did God respond this way?” It’s not like he stole his master’s money and ran away with it. He didn’t blow it on useless things – he gave the master back 100% of what he had been given. Then why was God so angry? Was it because the servant wasn’t fruitful? No, that can’t be because the Bible makes it clear that only the Spirit can bear the fruit. Fruitfulness is not our responsibility, it’s His – which is why someone like Jeremiah who never witnessed a single convert throughout his 67 years of ministry in Israel wouldn’t be rejected by God. He would still be greatly rewarded for his faithfulness. God will not punish us for something that’s outside of our control. Then what was this servant being condemned for? Not for what he had done but for what he had not done. He didn’t obey. He was not faithful. Like I said before, he was so focused on not doing anything wrong that he didn’t do anything – and God saw that as wickedness. Listen to what Pastor Richard Baxter said, “Rocks don’t break the commandments of God, but rocks are not held up as the standard for servants of God.” Friends, are you just satisfied by the fact that you’re not doing anything wrong – or are you striving for something more?
Brothers and sisters, the truth is that when Christ comes back, we will stand before the King who will judge us for all that we did and did not do. This is an undeniable truth, an unavoidable reality that the Bible constantly warns us of. Then let me ask you, “Are you ready for that day? If you were to stand before God today, would He say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your Master’s happiness’ – or would He say, ‘Throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’?” Now, I’m not trying to weigh you down with guilt if you haven’t been faithful – and I’m certainly not trying to scare anyone into believing. But what I want to do is wake you up, stir your hearts, convict your hearts, and place urgency in your hearts so that you won’t take this lightly. We should be faithful to the call that He has given us – to use everything we have for His glory. Now, how can we get ourselves to be more faithful? How do we do that practically? Endeavor to know God better. The more you know your Master, Jesus, the more faithful you’re going to be. The more you know His love for you, and how gracious He is to you, the more you’re going to live for Jesus, and the more you’re going to use all that you have for His glory. In contrast, if you have a negative view of Him and think, “Nothing I do is ever going to be good enough for Him,” you’ll continue to be unproductive – focusing on how to not get in trouble rather than faithfully living out the call that God has given you. Then, friends, may your future reality begin to shape your life today. Jesus is coming back. We must be ready.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus has entrusted us with great things which are to be used for His glory and kingdom. Then I pray that this truth will cause you to be watchful, faithful, and diligent in every moment of your life – but I also pray that you’ll experience this incomparable joy and delight in Christ as you live in obedience.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) In what ways has God entrusted you with “bags of gold” in your own life? What are some specific gifts, talents, or resources that you have been given?
2) The passage emphasizes the importance of promptness in using our gifts for God’s glory. Can you think of a time when you delayed obedience to God’s call? What were the consequences? How can we be more intentional about promptly using our gifts and opportunities to serve God and others?
3) What motivated the first two servants to act quickly and faithfully? What held the third servant back? How do you think your view of God affects your willingness to take risks for His kingdom? How can we grow in our trust and confidence in God’s goodness?
4) What is significant about the master’s invitation to the faithful servants to “share in his happiness”? How does this change our understanding of our relationship with God? How can we find joy in serving God, knowing that He takes delight in our faithfulness?