Faithfulness: A Dependable Servant Read Matthew 25:14–30 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2 Sloth is one of the so-called seven deadly sins. But in our dog-eat-dog world today, it’s hard to imagine that anyone is actually guilty of sloth. Overwork, yes—but sloth? What if, however, sloth weren’t defined as lazing on the couch all day in one’s pajamas. What if sloth were actually a ritualized busyness, a frantic pace of activity, which in fact kept one from accomplishing what was truly important. This is the way some theologians have described the sin of sloth. Jesus told a parable about three servants: two are “good” and “faithful,” both characteristics we find in our list of the fruit of the Spirit. The third servant, however, is “wicked” and “lazy,” and we want to understand this distinction, so that we can better understand what it means to be faithful. First, let’s look at the context of this parable, which is sandwiched between two other parables in Matthew 25. In each of these parables, Jesus is giving us a glimpse of the present and future realities of the kingdom of God. He’s assuming that our actions today will affect our lives into eternity. In each of the parables, servants are judged according to their faithfulness, and faithfulness is measured by action here on earth, which is later rewarded or punished. Interestingly, each of these parables describes “unfaithfulness” as an act of omission. In the first parable, five of the virgins failed to carry with them supplementary oil for trimming their lamps. In the second parable, the wicked and lazy servant did not invest his master’s money properly. In the third parable, those accursed by the Son of Man failed to care for the poor and marginalized. Part of faithfulness, then, is doing the work to which God calls us. Are we surprised to learn that the reward for faithfulness is joy? We shouldn’t be! Joy is at the front of our list of the fruit of the Spirit, and we’ve come to understand that each of these virtues works together with the others. When we are faithful to the obligations that God has given us, we can revel in the joy of His pleasure.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 06:44:17 +0000
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