“The Tragedy Of A Wasted Life”
Matthew 25:14-30
Sermon Series: “Don’t Waste Your Life”
Introduction: To me, there is no greater tragedy than a wasted life. The third servant in this parable is an example of a wasted life. The spiritual reality is that we are either going to invest our lives in the Kingdom of God or end up wasting them. Please don’t waste your life! How can we avoid wasting our lives? Jesus gives us three convictions to live by in this parable that will enable us to avoid wasting our lives and instead live a life that Jesus rewards.
1. My life is not my own, but I am a servant of my Lord Jesus (v. 14). This theme runs throughout this parable. Jesus is the boss, and we are the servants. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus; that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” Are we living like our lives belong to us or the one who died for us?
2. My things do not belong to me, but I am a steward of what I have been entrusted with by my Lord Jesus (v. 14-18). Here is what I mean by a steward. A steward is literally the manager of a household. Spiros Zodhiates writes that a steward is “a person entrusted to act in another’s name or to whose care anything is committed by another.” Basically, it is the biblical concept that God is the owner of everything (Psalm 24:1), but He blesses us with everything we have (James 1:17), and we are responsible to use His blessings for His glory and to build His everlasting Kingdom. In other words, our lives and everything associated with them are a trust from God that we are to manage in an obedient fashion. The talents mentioned in this parable were money, but John Ryle correctly says of this parable, “Anything whereby we may glorify God is ‘a talent.’ 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, all are talents.” Here are some practical lessons regarding stewardship:
A. We cannot have the blessing without the responsibility.
B. Stewardship is based on proportion instead of portion.
C. Jesus is looking for a 100% return.
D. We are only responsible for ourselves and not for how we compare to others. He is the one who truly knows what we are capable of.
E. Jesus gives us more when we are faithful with what He has already given us.
F. God is looking for faithfulness, but faithfulness is demonstrated by fruitfulness.
G. Little things add up to big things. Our life is not built in a day but by our daily habits. If you don’t think you can do a lot, still do something.
H. Our stewardship is an indicator of our hearts and one of the main ways we live out our faith.
3. My evaluation is not in my hands, but I am accountable to my Lord Jesus (v. 19-30). The context of this parable in chapters 24 and 25 is the return of Jesus. When He returns, we will have to answer to Him so He gets to evaluate our lives. Our evaluation does not really matter but His does. We will either be rewarded or judged based on what we have done with our lives and what He has given us. We can seem to be a great earthly success, but that is irrelevant unless our lives are approved by Jesus.
Conclusion: Are you investing your life in God’s Kingdom or wasting your life? Have you truly given your life to Jesus? Are you living like you belong to Him? How are you stewarding what He has blessed you with? Are you ready to face Him when He returns?
