A good and faithful servant

(For the Sunday Message to be delivered on January 22, 2006)

Matthew 25:14-30

Key Verse 25:21

This passage teaches us how we can make the year 2006 a fruitful one for the Lord and for each of us.

1. Read verses 14-15. What does Jesus mean by: 1) ‘a man’; 2) ‘going on a journey’; 3) ‘his servants’; and 4) ‘his property’? What does the word “his” (in ‘his property’) or the word “entrusted” indicate about the relationship between the “man” and “his servants”?

** a man = Jesus Christ

** going on a journey = Jesus going to be with God the Father, only to return later

** Christians in general

** a certain number of gifts and opportunities (talents) to serve God, expanding His kingdom

** a “trust” relationship: the Lord put his property (like the Bible, gospel, salvation, the Holy Spirit, our time, money, talents, and all other resources) at our disposal in a legal entity called “trust”. The property includes all the goodies within the trust, his servants are trustees and the master is the lender. The trustee is obligated to take care of the property within the trust on behalf of the master, according to his fiduciary duties, in such a way to advance the master’s interest, namely the kingdom of God growing among men.

2. Think about what the first servant (who had received five talents) did in verse 16. What do the following expressions teach us in furthering the Lord’s business? 1) [He] went at once; 2) put his money to work; and 3) gained five more.    

** He did not waste time. He made the most use of the time.

** He put the “money” to work indicating that he knew the power of all the resources, especially the power of the gospel that saves man, and put it to use.

** 100% return, so the result was to double up. Imagine the process of multiplication: -2-4-8-16-… (This is the way a baby grows in a mother’s womb out of a single cell).

3. Verse 18 describes what the servant who had received one talent did. Is his action consistent with the meaning of the word “entrusted”? [Look up the definition of the word “trust”.]  

** What he did is inconsistent with the fiduciary duty charged to a man under the trust.

FIDUCIARY DUTY(*1) - an obligation to act in the best interest of another party. For instance, a corporation’s board member has a fiduciary duty to the shareholders, a trustee has a fiduciary duty to the trust’s beneficiaries, and an attorney has a fiduciary duty to a client.

A fiduciary obligation exists whenever one person, the client, places special trust and confidence in another person and relies upon that person, the fiduciary, to exercise his discretion or expertise in acting for the client; and the fiduciary knowingly accepts that trust and confidence and thereafter undertakes to act on behalf of the client by exercising his, the fiduciary’s, own discretion and expertise. 

Of course, the mere fact that a business relationship comes between two persons does not mean that either owes a fiduciary obligation to the other. If one person engages or employs another and thereafter directs or supervises or approves his actions, the person so employed is not a fiduciary. Rather, as previously stated, it is only when a party reposes and the other accepts, a special trust and confidence involving the exercise of professional expertise and discretion that a fiduciary relationship comes into being.

When one person does undertake to act for another in a fiduciary relationship, the law forbids the fiduciary from acting in any manner adverse or contrary to the interests of the client, or from acting for his own benefit in relation to the subject matter. The client is entitled to the best efforts of the fiduciary on his behalf and the fiduciary must exercise all of the skill, care and diligence at his disposal when acting on behalf of the client. 

A person acting in a fiduciary capacity is required to make truthful and complete disclosures to those placing trust in him, and he is forbidden to obtain an unreasonable advantage at the latter’s expense.

(*1) The Lectric Law Library:  HYPERLINK "http://www.lectlaw.com/def/f026.htm" http://www.lectlaw.com/def/f026.htm

4. Read verse 19. What do the following expressions tell us about the days of our life in the Lord? 1) “After a long time”; 2) “the master of those servants returned”; and 3) “settled accounts with them.” 

** A long time – this expression especially the word “long” indicates that we are given opportunities to figure out and prove ourselves as worthy of his trust. 

** Jesus will return

** The time for us to settle the account (as to what we did with one life we received from the Lord) is sure to come.

Overall these expressions indicate that our life here on this side of the grave is only the time of sowing; once our life is done, there is no more opportunity to improve the state of our life in the age to come. The point to remember is that we are not here on vacation, but on a [spiritual] business trip, called to take care of and make the Lord’s kingdom business bubble up. 

5. The first two servants had exciting moments in settling accounts with the master (verses 20-23). Think about the master’s reply in verses 21 and 23. How are the following statements related?  

1) Well done

2) good and faithful servant

3) you have been faithful with a few things

4) I will put in charge of many things

5) come and share your master’s happiness. 

What do the above statements teach us about the way to live a fruitful life in the Lord?

** They are related because one thing leads to another.

We need to not just talk but also “do” well

We need to take care of our person to be “good” and “faithful”. How can we be good except through getting grafted into Jesus alone, for all are not good, but God alone. We then need to live by faith in Him. If we calculated too much and lived according to our own ideas, wits, and abilities alone, we would not be able to overcome our own wicked self, and the world. It is when we live by faith in Him alone that we can turn our eyes away from the reality, and invest ourselves in His kingdom work first.

We need to be faithful with a few things. [A few = one or two, or even three, not even four or more.] It can be anything like helping out one Bible student, just as God did for one person Abraham or Jesus assisting one person Simon. It also can mean what is small. Joseph in Genesis set a good example. He was faithful with his father Jacob sending him on an errand. Some of the tasks his father asked were challenging, but he always was faithful with these duties. When he proved himself, the Lord God gave him more responsibilities.

Being faithful with a few things is the key to being given “many” more responsibilities, as you prove yourself on small matters, the Lord will put you in charge of more. This is what we learn in our day to day life in this capitalist society.

Master’s happiness = perfect joy especially the joy of seeing one soul getting saved. 

** It shows us how we should take care of our personal relationship with the Lord first, and then be faithful in serving one or two things such as serving one Bible student faithfully, etc. It also inspires us to make our dream big, but plan specific beginnings with what is small.

6. Read verses 24-30. What does the master’s reply (especially his words in verse 29) teach us about the way we should live out our lives here on earth? 

 

** We learn that we have to do the best with what we have. Do not think what you do not have. Work with what you already have.

** Briefly write about the way you can live a fruitful life in 2006.

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