Accountability for the End Times
Olivet Discourse -6
TITLE: Accountability for the End Times
TEXT: Matthew 25:14-30
TONE: Warning
TARGET: Believers
TASK: To warn believers of God’s righteous judgement against unfaithfulness.
TEACH: Accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, decisions, and outcomes. It involves being answerable to others and oneself, ensuring that one follows through on commitments and obligations. In work or community projects, accountability often includes setting clear goals, tracking progress, and being open about successes and setbacks. Despite its importance, many people resist accountability for several reasons:
Fear of Failure: Being accountable means openly confronting the possibility of falling short of expectations, which can be daunting. Fear of negative judgment or repercussions often makes people hesitant to take full responsibility.
Perfectionism: Those who strive for perfection might fear accountability because it means exposing their work to criticism. They may prefer to avoid evaluation that might highlight imperfections.
Loss of Control: Being accountable often requires transparency and sharing information with others, which can feel like a loss of autonomy. People may resist because they want to retain control over how and when they share updates on their work.
Lack of Trust: In environment where trust is lacking, individuals may feel vulnerable about being open and accountable. Concerns about being blamed instead of supported can lead to resistance.
Procrastination and Avoidance: Some might resist accountability because of habits of procrastination or avoidance. Having to report on progress forces them to face tasks they might prefer to defer. Usually, the result of laziness.
TRUTH: The preceding parables have stressed alertness, and this one is about the result of alertness, faithful stewardship. This parable is quite similar to Luke’s parable of the pounds (Luke 19:12–27). The issue here is not whether the slaves will be surprised by the master’s return but whether they will be dependable in using his resources. [1]
Thus, the parable, despite its positive elements in 25:21, 23, is primarily a warning against irresponsibility among professed disciples rather than an encouragement to faithfulness.[2] Whereas, the parable of ten virgins dealt with vigilance, this parable deals with diligence. One calls on the church to watch, while the other calls on the church to work. God holds all accountable.
I. We are to Receive with Responsibility (vv.14-15).
Explanation: Accept God’s gifts gratefully and recognize the responsibility we must use them wisely. What is clear is that the master entrusted his servants with his property. Each one received talents according to their ability.
The master (representing Christ) entrusts his possessions to the servants symbolizing the gifts, talents, resources, and opportunities God grants each of us. The term “talents” in the parable is a metaphor for various blessings and capabilities entrusted to us. Our abilities and resources are not ours by merit but are divine endowments for which we are accountable to God.
The master distributes the talents “according to each servants ability,” indicating God’s understanding and wisdom in assigning resources and tasks. Furthermore, this demonstrated God’s awareness of our unique capabilities and the expectation that we steward what we have been given based on individual capacity. The point being, each of us is equipped differently, and God’s distribution is intentional, requiring tailored stewardship.
Application: Give God gratitude for your gifts.
II. We are to Respond with Readiness (vv.16-18).
Explanation: Actively utilize the gifts and opportunities given to us by God. The servants with five and two talents immediately put them to work. Contrasting with the complacency of the servant who buried his in the ground out of fear.
With the receipt of talents comes the expectation of responsibility and accountability. The servants must decide how to use their gifts. Receiving blessings carries an implicit call to action and management. We must decide whether to invest or neglect what we’ve been given. For example, consider how each servant represents various responses to God’s gifts -one proactively invests, while another chooses inaction.
Helping others was about the last thing this man thought of. He was not only wicked but also lazy, guilty of the very sin against which again and again Scripture hurls its thunderbolts.[3] The writer of Proverbs wrote, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise”(6:6). Again, in verse 9 of the same chapter we read: “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep.” In chapter 10:5 we read these words: “He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame.” One more, chapter 13:4: “The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing; while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.”
We have many positive examples in Scripture of what God expects from us: Gen. 12:1-4, Gen. 22:1-3, Matt. 4:18-20, Acts. 8:26-27a.
Application: Seek opportunities for service and growth.
III. We are to Render with Results (vv.19-23).
Explanation: Faithful stewardship yields commendation and growth. The faithful servants were commended and given greater responsibilities. They receive the affirmation of God… “well done Thy good and faithful servant.”
After a long period, the master returns to settle accounts. This represents the inevitable moment of accounting for how we have managed God’s gifts. Obviously, this aligns with the biblical teaching that there will be a time when each of us will give an account of our lives before God (Romans. 14:12). What we learn is this: Stewardship is a lifelong responsibility with eventual accountability.
The servants who wisely invested their talents are rewarded not just with praise but also with increased opportunities. The repeated commendation “Well done, good and faithful servant” reflects God’s joy and approval of faithful service. The point being: Faithful service in small matters leads to larger opportunities. God rewards faithfulness with more responsibility.
Application: Practice personal introspection.
TAKE-AWAY: We need to realize the repercussions of neglect (vv.24-30). It leads to loss and reprimand. This is true of the servant who buried his talents. All of us need to practice introspection on how we are using our gifts and talents. The bottom-line is that negligence is punished, while diligence is rewarded. Are you negligent? Or are you diligent?
Listen, Paul warned the Corinthians in (2Cor. 5:10-11a) when he wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others….” Here the believer’s actions, decisions, and proper use of resources will all be judged.
Paul further wrote, “each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1Cor. 3:13-15).
In closing, we learn several important truths about God from this parable. For example…
1. God is no respecter persons. Even though the first servant brought in significantly more than the second, yet both were rewarded the same. Why? Because they were both faithful with the master’s trust.
2. God does not tolerate excuses. All the third servant could do was offer up excuses for his neglect, to which the master rejected.
3. God treats wickedness and laziness as equals. Laziness and wickedness are closely linked to one another. Not that all wicked people are lazy, but all laziness is wicked.
There is no excuse for inactivity, since it arises out of fear and sloth (Prov. 6:6–9), neither of which is compatible with discipleship. Followers of Jesus have been equipped to serve him and are obligated to use their gifts to extend God’s reign (cf. Luke 19:13; Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:7; Eph. 4:7; 1 Pet. 4:10). God will call disciples to account for the stewardship of their individual abilities (Matt. 25:15), nothing more and nothing less.[4]
Therefore, let us heed the words of William Carey who said, “Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God.”
[1] David L. Turner, Matthew, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008), 598.
[2] Ibid, 599.
[3] William Hendrickson, New Testament Commentary: Matthew (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1973), 882.
[4] Turner, 602.
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