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Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg
What Does God Want from Me? Week 3
“What am I doing with what I’ve been given?”
Throughout this series we will seek to understand and answer the question:What does God expect of me?
We believe whole heartedly that it is only by the grace and mercy of God that we can be saved. There is absolutely nothing we can ever do to EARN our salvation.
But truths such as the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of God do not nullify the fact that He has expectations about how we are to live our lives.
Our teaching series is based on Jesus’s parable of the talents.
What we do with what we have been given matters to God. God expects his people to utilize what they have been given for the growth of His Kingdom. That’s exactly what Jesus wants us to see in this parable.
Within our teaching series we are seeking to understand what God expects with our time, our money, and ultimately our very lives.
This week’s message focuses on money.
Luke 19:11-27
While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ “ ‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ “ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’ ”
The context for this story is deeply connected to the anticipation of Christ’s return. Jesus focuses specifically on how people should live in response to the anticipation of Christ’s return.
In both Matthew 25 and here in Luke 19, Jesus told a story like this to illustrate the truth of his coming again and the judgement that will bring. But he also wanted his disciples to see how they should live in the meantime.
Each servant has been entrusted with money, the master’s money. It hasn’t been earned, but instead, it’s a gift.
And they have been instructed to “put the Master’s money to work”
What you do with what money you’ve been given, matters to God.
As we are acknowledging throughout this series, this is a hard word from Jesus. In the parables, the hard-working wise servants aren’t just rewarded
but the lazy and faithless servant receives the ultimate punishment.
But the purpose of this parable isn’t to be harsh, the purpose is best described in a word: URGENCY.
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What are the implications of this story, especially for us?
1. We are rich
No matter how rich you may feel, we have all been given much according to God’s economy
2. It’s not really ‘ours’
It ultimately is the master’s money, and it has been entrusted to us.
3. We can’t keep it, but we can invest it
God’s heart is not that we would feel guilty, but that we would feel responsible.
The question we must all ask ourselves:
‘”What am I doing with what I’ve been given?”
Verses for further study/reflection:
Hebrews 13:5
Proverbs 13:11
Ecclesiastes 5:10
Luke 12:15
Romans 13:8
Matthew 6:19-24
9 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Mark 12:41-44
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
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