Stewardship of the Word of God is active, not passive. That is one of the main points Jesus makes in Matthew 25 in the parable of the talents. Jesus tells the story of three servants who were each entrusted with a varying number of talents to steward. When the master returns, he discovers two servants have been productive, turning their talents into more talents. But the third servant buried his master’s talent and is rebuked for his failure to produce.

Jesus tells us the third servant is paralyzed by the fear of failure. The servant himself acknowledges, “I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground” (Matt. 25:25). His fear – his lack of faith – leads him to do nothing. This parable is the only instance we have of Jesus referring to someone as lazy. When the master returns he says, “You wicked lazy servant.”

Jesus’ story is primarily about God’s Word and his kingdom in the hearts of men, not about money. Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure. He has given them the word of the Father. That word, he now teaches, will produce in those the Father has given to the Son faith and love that yield all kinds of good works. Instead of simply waiting around for him to return, Jesus is calling his disciples to go into the world to plant churches, to preach the Gospel – and to give.

The parable of the talents calls those who are Christ’s to be his active agents in the advance of his kingdom. Our giving possesses no power in itself to change us or the world. Rather, our giving is the powerful work of God through his Word: he graciously remakes us as giving people, he leads us to give, and he does more with our poor gifts than we could expect. Put another way, our giving is not our own investment but the return of God’s investment of His Word in us.

We’re thankful for the opportunity to serve with Christians whose hearts God has moved to give resources he has given to them. He continues to reveal and do more in and through their giving than we could have anticipated. We pray confidently that God keeps us all from the natural tendency to fear and laziness, and works in us true faith to believe his Word and to do the good works that God has prepared in advance for us to do.