October 25, 2026

This morning, I will be talking about a word that often makes people uncomfortable; that word is “stewardship”.  Many folks, the moment the pastor mentions stewardship, immediately brace themselves for a sermon about the church budget, tithing, and their wallets, but biblical stewardship is far grander, more beautiful, and infinitely deeper than just the numbers on a bank statement.  Stewardship is an invitation to look at our entire existence through the lens of God’s grace.  It is the recognition that everything we have is a gift on loan from a generous Creator, and how we manage those gifts is ultimately an act of worship.  To understand what this looks like in daily life, we need to look at the master storyteller Himself, Jesus.  In our Scripture for today, Jesus told a story commonly known as the Parable of the Talents.

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Before we dive in, I want to clear up a common linguistic misunderstanding. When we hear the word “talent” today, many think of a natural ability—like playing the piano, painting, or throwing a football, but in ancient Israel, a “talent” was a massive unit of monetary weight.  A single talent was equivalent to about twenty years of a day laborer’s wages.  In today’s American economy, a single talent would represent somewhere between four-to-six-hundred-thousand dollars.  When the master in this parable handed over some of his talents to three of his servants, he was not passing out pocket change; he was entrusting them with extraordinary wealth.

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With that said, I want to point out three life-shifting principles of stewardship that Jesus revealed to us through this parable.  The first principle is the Ownership Principle, which is that it all belongs to the Master; that is, to God.  This parable begins with a wealthy man preparing to go on a long journey.  Our text for today says that the man “. . . called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.” [Matthew 25:14, NKJV]  The New International Version says that the man “. . . entrusted his wealth to them.”  Notice carefully: the wealth never changed ownership.  It belonged to the master before he left; it belonged to the master while he was gone; and it belonged to the master when he returned.  The servants were not owners; they were managers or stewards.  This is the foundational pillar of Christian stewardship, beautifully echoed in Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, . . .” [NIV]  When we truly understand this detail, it changes our relationship with our resources.  Ownership breeds anxiety, but stewardship brings peace.  When I believe that my house, my money, my possessions are mine, I live in constant fear of losing them.  I have to protect them, defend them, and hoard them.  When I realize that everything is actually God’s, the pressure lifts.  My role shifts from a stressed-out owner to a trusted manager or steward.

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In this parable, the master distributed the talents unevenly, not unfairly, simply unevenly: five to one, two to another, and one to the final servant, but notice the crucial detail Jesus includes: “. . . each according to his own ability; . . .” [Matthew 25:15, NKJV]  God does not expect you to manage someone else’s life or someone else’s budget.  God evaluates your faithfulness based exactly on what He has uniquely entrusted to you. The comparison game ends where true stewardship begins.  Again, stewardship brings peace.

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The second principle is the Action Principle, which is that faithfulness demands investment.  As the parable unfolded, the first two servants immediately put their talents to work.  They dove into the marketplace, took calculated risks, worked diligently, and doubled what the master had given them.  However, the third servant—the one given a single, massive talent worth a lifetime of wages—went out, dug a hole in the dirt, and buried the master’s money.  When the master returned, he called them all to an account.  To the five-talent servant and the two-talent servant, the master said the exact same words of praise: “. . . ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.’” [Matthew 25:21 and 23, NKJV]  Notice that the reward for good work is not early retirement—it is more responsibility, combined with closer intimacy with the master.

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Then the third servant stepped forward and attempted to justify his lack of action.  He 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.’” [Matthew 24:24-25, NKJV]  Look closely at this servant’s flaw.  His problem was not that he stole his master’s money; his problem was not that he spent it on wild living; his problem was passivity rooted in fear because he did not truly know the master.  The master responded sharply, calling him “wicked and lazy” [Matthew 25:26].  Why?  Because true stewardship is never neutral.  God did not give us our time, our energy, our relationships, and our financial resources just so we could hand them back to Him untouched at the end of our lives.  To keep what God gave us perfectly safe by doing absolutely nothing with it is, in the eyes of the Kingdom, an act of unfaithfulness.

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The third principal is the Heart Principal, which is that our view of God dictates our stewardship.  Why did the third servant bury his talent?  He told us plainly, “. . . ‘. . . I was afraid, . . .’” [Matthew 24:25, NKJV]  In his heart, he viewed the master as a harsh, demanding, and unfair tyrant who was just waiting for him to make a mistake.  Because he viewed the master through the lens of fear, it paralyzed his stewardship.  How does your heart view God today?  If you view God as a cosmic tax collector who is trying to take away your fun, your freedom, and your hard-earned cash, you will live defensively.  You will bury your resources in the ground of safety and comfort.  However, if you view God as the magnificent, wildly generous Master who has showered you with grace, breath, life, and salvation, your heart overflows with gratitude.  Generous stewardship is never the result of guilt or coercion.  It is the natural overflow of a heart captivated by the generosity of God.  Look at what the master said to the third servant, “‘. . . you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have [at least] received back my own with interest.’” [Matthew 25:27, NKJV]  Even the smallest step of faith, the simplest investment into the Kingdom, is better than burying your life in the dirt of fear.

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This parable of Jesus teaches that a day of accountability is coming for every single one of us.  One day, we will stand before our loving Master, and He will ask us a simple question: “What did you do with what I gave you?”  He will not ask why you did not have as much or do as much as other people.  He will look at the specific bucket of resources He handed you, and look for faithfulness.  As we prepare to dedicate our estimated giving for 2027, I challenge you to take your lives out of the dirt; that is, to stop burying your potential.  What does that look like?  Begin by stewarding your time.  Stop filling your days with passive distractions like the television or your cellphone.  Instead, invest your time in your family, in serving your community, in supporting the programs and ministries of this congregation with your presence, and in quiet fellowship with God.  Next, steward your talents.  If God gave you the gift of hospitality, open your home.  If He gave you the gift of leadership or encouragement, build up the people around you.  Whatever your gift, do not let fear or insecurity tell you it is too small.  Lastly, steward your treasure.  Look at your finances, not as merely a means to build your own temporary kingdom, but as a tool to expand God’s eternal Kingdom.  Give generously, live simply, and invest in what outlasts you.  When we shift from fear to faith, we unlock the greatest promise of this parable; we get to hear those life-altering words from the lips of our Savior: “. . . ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.  Enter into the joy of your lord.’” [Matthew 25:21 and 23, NKJV]​