“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Matthew 25:21-23
In the Parable of Talents, Jesus tells of a man who was preparing for a trip and entrusted three of his servants to manage his wealth. Two of the servants invested the funds, reaping a profit to present to their master when he returned. To both, he celebrated their shrewd behavior. The third servant buried the treasure, because he feared the master’s wrath. Not only did the master call the servant “wicked,” but he also took the money he’d been given and cast him out into the darkness.
How is the Parable of Talents applicable to our lives today? We often talk about wasteful spending, but the opposite behavior of hoarding what we’ve been given is just as problematic. To those God entrusted wealth, he expects wise and active stewardship. God’s money must be put to good use for Kingdom purposes and for His glory.
A Story of Stewardship from the Barnabas Foundation
Here is a story from our partners at the Barnabas Foundation. It’s a lesson in stewardship and the cost of hoarding the resources you’ve been blessed with.
“The OTHER Stewardship Sin”
It’s not what you’d call the “typical” response to bad news.
When art dealer and author Forrest Fenn was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1988, he hid a bronze chest in an undisclosed location, attempting to create the ultimate treasure hunt. He contemplated using that same location as his final resting place until – against all odds – he beat and survived the illness.
Twenty-two years later, Fenn self-published a memoir that described the gold coins, gemstones and artifacts held within that chest, plus a series of clues of where to find it. His book launched a decade-long frenzy of treasure hunters whose greed resulted in multiple trespassing and vandalism charges, several lawsuits and the death of five men who succumbed to the dangers of traversing rough, uninhabited terrain.
Finally, in 2020, the treasure was found—but again, not without issues. The finder, who planned to remain anonymous, was forced to reveal his identity due to legal battles about the rightful ownership of the chest’s artifacts.”
Life Application
So how is God directing you to invest the resources He has entrusted you to manage? Don’t bury the treasure! You, good and faithful servant, enter the joy of the Master by stewarding earthly resources for God’s eternal good. If you are interested in using your resources to help our Benevolence Fund here at Sunset Senior Communities, please contact me at 616.214.4505 or shamm@sunsetmanor.org.