Prepared for the future, faithful right now

After reading Matthew 25:14–30, Pastor Max Lyons recalls the summer of 2005, when he had a college baseball scholarship waiting but his parents told him to get a job. Three months as a construction laborer taught him the tension of preparing for what is coming while being faithful with what is in front of you. We must be ready for Jesus' return, but we cannot neglect the assignment He has given us in the meantime.

Signs of the times and the trap of escapism

From Matthew 24, Pastor Max lists ten signs Jesus gave, from deception and wars to persecution, love growing cold, and pestilence. All of it says Jesus is coming soon. But the early church fell into escapism, and Paul had to tell the Thessalonians that the one unwilling to work shall not eat. The second-century Montanists quit jobs and forbade marriage, which 1 Timothy 4 calls demonic teaching. In the 1840s the Millerites sold everything and waited on hilltops in ascension robes for what became the Great Disappointment. The parable also carries eternal weight: the worthless servant is thrown into darkness. The goal is to hear "Well done, good and faithful servant."

A master who entrusts much

The master is Jesus and the servants are us. A talent was a 75-pound weight of gold or silver, with one talent of silver equal to about twenty years of wages, so the master entrusted an enormous amount. Jesus has given us life, health, relationships, the Holy Spirit, gifts, finances, and the gospel itself, each according to ability. Pastor Max thanks God for unanswered prayers, including his request as a new consultant to be made a CEO within five years; God withheld it because it would have crushed him.

God does not grade on a curve

After a long time the master returns to settle accounts, reminding us that we own nothing and only manage God's things until Jesus comes back. Both the five-talent and two-talent servants receive identical praise. As a drifting young believer Pastor Max graded himself on a curve like his university did, comparing himself favorably to a friend who had been drunk 59 days straight. But God does not rank us against others; He compares us with what we should be doing. The faithful share in the master's happiness, and Pastor Max tells of chasing happiness from Idaho to Seattle to Los Angeles to New York to Sydney before surrendering and moving to London to build Jesus' church. There he met Juliet and found a joy he had never known. Joy does not come from getting; it comes from giving.

How you see God determines how you serve God

The one-talent servant alone calls the master a hard man. The good servants saw a just master and multiplied; the wicked servant saw a harsh master and buried his gift. Yet misunderstanding God is not an acceptable excuse for poor stewardship. Pastor Max compares the servant to someone regifting a present back to the very person who gave it. Even a bank would have loaned the money out, so if you will not use what God gave you, at least put it in the hands of someone who will.

Multiply, don't maintain

Use it or lose it: multipliers are given more, while maintainers lose even what they have. Pastor Max recalls a childhood soccer pizza party where everyone received a participation trophy. God does not give participation trophies; He defines faithfulness as multiplication. We are not here to be in the team photo but to take ground and advance God's kingdom until He returns.

From consumer to contributor

Working in the kitchen of the Los Angeles steakhouse where he once dined taught Pastor Max the difference between consuming and contributing. Consumer Christians are never satisfied; consumers complain while multipliers rejoice. The solution is to stop coming to be served and start coming to serve, to worship God for who He is rather than what He gives, and to be a good friend rather than hunting for friends who meet your needs. Luke 6:38 promises that what you give returns running over. Following Jesus is simple but difficult, a shift from selfishness to servitude. If there is a problem with the fruit, there is a problem at the root, and the root is how we see God. His closing challenge is to adjust the source: God, I decrease so You can increase; I give You control.