Matthew 25

The Parable of the Bags of Gold

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,[a] 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.’

What he's shown me is that what happens when you combine the stories of the talents and the minas with John 17. So what happens when I read the stories of the talents in the minas is I get the picture of an independent steward. And so one of the things I need to do as a steward is to figure out, does the owner of this stuff I'm stewarding want an annual meeting or a monthly meeting? A weekly meeting or what does he want? What's he actually up to? Because I think I intuitively thought an annual meeting.

So because he's so wise, he's given me some stuff to steward for him, trusted it into my care, and he's going to ask me at the end of the year how we did. We're going to look at do the numbers, you know, but if you take John 17, where he hands the baton off at John 17, the way I interpret is this. He says, OK, guys, you know that thing you saw between me and my dad? You know, I never did anything my dad didn't tell me to do and never did anything he didn't. I never said anything you didn't tell me to say. And everything I did, I did to his strength. You know, that thing we do. You've seen it, right? Well, from here on out, it's going to be between me and you and you and me. It'll be me and you and you and me the same way it was me and him and him and me.

That thing says we get to be that way close to him all the time as stewards. And so that's what helps me to get a sense of stewarding is a moment by moment constant opportunity for me to step into that realm where Narnia is really closer than you would ever think to do the stewarding function of the resources you've given me to handle. 

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