Stewards: Steward Your Resources

What am I actually holding that isn't mine to begin with?

The servant in Jesus' parable is handed something he did not earn and told to put it to work. David looks at the same world and says the whole thing, the earth and everyone in it, is already spoken for. The question is whether I see anything in my hands as truly my own.

The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell in it. For he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods.

Psalms 24:1–2

“For it is like a man going into another country, who called his own servants and entrusted his goods to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.

Matthew 25:14–15

For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

1 Corinthians 4:7

The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says Yahweh of Armies.

Haggai 2:8

What would it look like to risk what God has given me instead of just keeping it safe?

Two of the servants in the parable put the master's money to work and one buries it. The fear that drives the burial is not laziness; it is a picture of a master who is hard to trust. Faithfulness in this parable looks like movement, not preservation.

Immediately he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. In the same way, he also who got the two gained another two. But he who received the one talent went away and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.

Matthew 25:16–18

“He also who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow, and gathering where you didn’t scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.’

Matthew 25:24–25

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5–6

Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:6–8

Does it really matter what I do with what I have, or is faithfulness a private thing?

The parable ends with an accounting, and the master settles each servant's work plainly. Paul tells the Corinthians that each person's work will be tested and will receive its own reward. The New Testament treats stewardship as something that gets answered for.

“Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them. He who received the five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in addition to them.’ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Matthew 25:19–21

For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

2 Corinthians 5:10

…each man’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man’s work is. If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward.

1 Corinthians 3:13–14

He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Luke 16:10

For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the saints, and still do serve them.

Hebrews 6:10

What am I counting on beyond the money and things I'm managing now?

The master in the parable tells his faithful servant to enter into his joy. Paul tells the Corinthians that the money we handle is only a glimpse of a hope we cannot yet see. Jesus told the disciples not to store their treasure where it can be stolen or lost.

“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “He also who got the two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in addition to them.’ “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Matthew 25:21–23

For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory, while we don’t look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:17–18

“Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19–21

Charge those who are rich in this present age that they not be arrogant, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute, willing to share; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold of eternal life.

1 Timothy 6:17–19