This tape contains the second of three sermons in a mini-series titled, Low, He Comes, presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. The title of this sermon is, Use It or Lose It, and the scripture reference is Matthew chapter 25, verses 14 and 15, and 19 through 29. 

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.

Then he went away. Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents.

Here I have made five talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little.

I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also, who had the two talents, came forward saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents.

Here I have made two talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You've been faithful over a little.

I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. He also, who had received the one talent, came forward saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not winnow.

So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours. But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I have not winnowed.

Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him. and give it to him who has the ten talents.

For to everyone who has will more be given and he will have abundance. But from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness where men will weep and gnash their teeth. The Gospel of the Lord. I began a little mini-series last Sunday, which continues this week and next. The theme is Jesus' own teaching about his second coming. He said three things to his disciples.

He said, I will surely come again to establish my kingdom here on earth. He said, there will be signs of my coming, but you cannot possibly know the exact moment of my coming. and he said, therefore, be ready at all times.

The parable we studied last week was the parable of the kingdom of heaven being like a bridegroom arriving for the wedding party and finding only half of the guests ready for it to begin. Those he invited in and to all of the others he said with devastating finality, I don't know you. I don't know you.

In this morning's reading Jesus gives us a different parable. The theme is the same. The parable is different.

Now the kingdom of heaven is like a master returning from a lengthy journey and calling his servants to give an account of what they've done with his possessions. You know the story. One man was given five talents and he doubled them.

One man was given two talents and he doubled them. One man was given one talent. He hid it in the ground and returned it to his master intact.

If the bridegroom's verdict last week was tough to deal with, I don't know you. The master's verdict this morning is much tougher. I do know you, and you are a worthless and slothful servant.

My heart goes out to that man. Notice that he didn't squander his master's money. He protected it.

There's no suggestion that he spent it illegitimately or used it for his own pleasure. there's no accusation of dishonesty graft, corruption materialism, frivolity, immorality this is no prodigal son taking his inheritance and wasting it on riotous living this is a sober conservative man unwilling to take risks with the property of another he holds his master in high regard with awe, with respect, almost with fear. He knows he is to be held accountable.

And yet the master takes from him the one talent that he failed to use, gives it to the man who had ten, calls this man a worthless servant, and casts him into outer darkness. Pretty strong stuff, isn't it? I want us to think about four things in relationship to that teaching of Jesus this morning.

Number one, Jesus Christ holds us accountable and will require such an accounting of each one of us. I didn't say it, he said it. That's the point of the parable.

What we so casually think of as our possessions, our money, our property, it isn't ours. It's His. All of it.

All things come of Thee, O Lord, and of Thine own. Everything that you ever offered to God was His already. It's His.

That's the meaning of the word steward. A steward is one entrusted with the management of somebody else's property. He will exact an accounting of us.

What did you do with my money? He will ask that question, among many other questions, I'm sure. We're coming up on Stewardship Sunday, just a week away.

You might think that I picked that passage for that reason. I didn't. It's assigned by the lectionary. But I know some of us get very uncomfortable when we start thinking seriously about stewardship.

I know that a lot of folks struggle, for instance, when we talk about tithing. We've already heard two witnesses, and we'll hear another this morning talking about how God led them to the point of tithing. And some folks really wrestle with that, with the teaching that God expects, expects, requires, demands.

Ten percent off the top, before taxes. Well, he does. again I didn't say it he did and he said that to give less than that is to rob God and in the process to rob ourselves of his blessing he said that it's kind of like the tree in the garden God says you can eat of any of the other trees but not this one this one is mine alone and if we fail to give him our tithe If we spend it on ourselves instead, we're really eating the forbidden fruit.

If we eat our tithe, we're repeating the sin of our first parents. We're taking what belongs to God exclusively and eating it ourselves. That's a dangerous menu.

But listen, friends, I want you to see something else this morning. We're not talking about 10% off the top. We're talking about 100%.

all things come of you oh Lord and of your own have we given you the question is what did you do with all of it not just the 10% that's not even arguable it's the other 90% that he's asking about how'd you use that spend it on yourself spend it for him if you thought this was simply a preparation for stewardship Sunday you're partly right but in a very real sense Stewardship Sunday is a preparation for this. One day I will stand there and he will expect me to give an account what did you do with all that I entrusted to you? And he'll ask you the same thing.

John Wesley is a hero for many reasons, but I wonder if you know this particular story about him. He began tithing when he was a very young man. He was rebuked in his spirit by the fact that a poor woman came calling at his door and he had nothing to give her because he had gone out and spent his money on himself.

And he determined that he would begin tithing, and he did so. At that point in his life, his annual income was 30 pounds. And he began tithing.

The very next year, his income doubled. But by this time, he had learned how to live on 27 pounds. And he took that increase not as a warrant for enriching his lifestyle, but as an opportunity to increase his giving.

And in the course of his lifetime, his income doubled and redoubled and redoubled many times. So that by the end of his life, he was earning over 1,300 pounds and still living on less than 30. And giving the rest away.

Well done, good and faithful servant. I put you in charge of a little and you were faithful with it, so I will entrust to you more. Get it?

that's number one Jesus Christ will ask us to give an account but secondly I want you to notice that the parable doesn't apply only to our money in a way that's that's the easiest thing to talk about the easiest thing to deal with the parable really applies to everything that God has entrusted to us do you have a beautiful singing voice have you done anything to develop it and use it for him do you have the ability to teach to make ideas come alive to people are you investing that talent that ability in the next generation training them to know and love the Lord Jesus do you have the ability to relate to people easily so you can strike up a conversation with a stranger and very quickly move into a deep relationship with that person Are you using that gift of affability to introduce folks to Jesus, or do you just spend it on secular small talk? Do you see your home, your car, your job, your relationships, your hobbies, as resources for Jesus, or are they yours to do with as you see fit? I think it's a fascinating coincidence that the currency used in this parable is called a talent.

Because God has given to each one of us a wide variety of talents. And he invites us to use them for him. You can see the little guy in the story saying, but I received so little.

If only I had that guy's chance. I mean, look at all the talents he had. Look at what he did with them.

And Jesus says the issue is not how much you started with. The issue is what did you do with what you started with. Sure, the guy that has five talents has more opportunity, but you had one.

What did you do with that? What did you do with what I gave you? That's the question.

I believe Jesus is going to ask us, what have you done with the marriage I entrusted to you? The children. What have you done with the education that you were so privileged to have?

What did you do with your job? The relationships that you formed over the years, the opportunities, the insights that I've given you, the skills. What did you do with what I entrusted to you?

That leads into the third point. If we use what we have for Him, He multiplies it. Whether we're talking about money, or natural talents, or whatever it is, if we use what we've been given for Him, No matter how little or how inadequate it seems, He multiplies it.

Think of how often Jesus made that point. Five loaves and two fish. Hopelessly inadequate.

Given to Him, He multiplies it and feeds thousands. They want out of wine at the wedding party. All they've got is dishwater.

Give it to Him. He turns it into the wine of celebration. The best wine.

Everybody serves the good stuff first and saves Thunderbird for last. But you saved the best wine out of dishwater. A grain of mustard seed, he says, becomes the largest of all the plants and birds make nests in it.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A single grain of wheat multiplies 30-fold, sixty-fold, a hundred-fold. Doing something unto the least of His brethren is doing something for Him.

A cup of cold water is enough to ensure a heavenly reward. Do you get it? Over and over and over and over again, you can't miss the point.

It's not how much you have, it's what you do with it. A little, hopelessly inadequate, given to Him, is enough. And He'll multiply it.

Pat Robertson was speaking to us at Shrinemont in 82 and he talked about this. He called it the law of use and he said it's embedded in the very fabric of the universe. Use what you've got and God will multiply it, neglect it, and it'll be taken away.

He challenged us to start doing push-ups. Do you remember? He said, how many can you do?

Ten? One or two hands went up, got it down. Most of us raised our hands when he got to one.

do one push-up a day until you can do two. And then do two a day until you can do four. And you know what will happen, don't you?

If you're faithful with that, six months from now you'll be bursting out of your shirt like the Incredible Hulk. Or, you could strap your arm to your side like some Hindu ascetics do. and six months from now you'll never use it again because the joints will calcify and the muscles will atrophy and it will become totally useless.

Use it and God will multiply it, neglect it and He'll take it away. That's what Jesus said here. For to everyone who has will more be given and he will have abundance.

But from him who has not, Even what he has will be taken away. The law of use. Develop the gift, the talent, the ability, the charism, the knack you have for God.

He'll multiply it. Neglect it. You won't even notice when it disappears.

Use it or lose it. Fourth point, final point. Don't miss the purpose of all of this.

I've heard a lot of bad preaching about giving to God. Usually it has to do with finances, but again, I remind you we're talking about all things. I've heard a lot of bad teaching that says give to God in order that you will get so much more.

Kind of a get-rich-quick scheme. Well, you may. That may be a way that God blesses you, but I want you to see that the point of multiplying it is so that you can be all the more faithful.

When he multiplies the one talent into ten, it's not so that we can have a happy retirement. It's so that we can use ten talents for him. Get it?

You've been faithful over a little. I'll put you in charge of much. So that you can be faithful over much.

So that you can be faithful over much more. We serve a master. We are people under authority.

We have a Lord, a King, a Boss. who reaps where he has not personally sowed. He sends us to do that.

Who gathers where he has not personally winnowed. He sends us to do that. He expects us to return to him what he has entrusted to us with interest.

And he will require an accounting when he comes. This concludes Mr. Howe's sermon.