In this “The Parable of the Householder,” Jesus compares believers to “masters of the household.” The Lord wants us to recognize that He has placed us ‘in charge’ of our divinely-designed destiny. We are the masters of the ‘treasurers’ He has given us.
Yes, God has granted us rich resources to meet any challenge facing us. Therefore, because of our ‘treasures’ there is hope regardless of how hopeless our situations, circumstances, and conditions are. But not only that but ‘As masters, we have authority.’ The Lord, here, does not liken His disciples to house help, field hands, yard workers, or gatekeepers in this passage. No, He left us in a position to give orders. As a matter of fact, He’s looking for us keep things ‘in order’ until He gets back.
‘As masters, we have liberties.’ We’re not restricted in caring for the household. God has faith in us to do what needs to be done. He gives us privileges that others do not receive. He empowers us to be free to exercise our gifts and talents in His service. He’s given us “the keys to the kingdom” to “loose and bind” whatever is necessary to get the job done.
But, my brothers and sisters, we have to understand that in giving us the keys Jesus meant that there are some things that He will do only after we do our part. That’s why He said, “whatsoever YE bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven. And whatsoever YE loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven. In other words, God works when we get busy. Ain’t sense in us excepting God to make changes in us or anything we do unless we ourselves are willing to change and willing to do our part.
Not only do we have authority, and not only do we have liberty, but ‘As masters, we have access to resources.’ God would not put us in charge and grant us liberties without providing us with the resources to fulfill our mastering duties. In other words, we have goods to work with. No Kingdom-builder serves empty handed. No, my brothers and sisters, God has left us with timely tools and rich resources to master the house.
And so, this parable recognizes that Kingdom-minded disciples maximize the usage of the treasures at their disposal. Kingdom-minded disciples understand Kingdom principals and precepts.
Kingdom-minded disciples ‘learn from their past, interpret their present, and build for their future.’
Matthew 13 contains six parables, or six metaphors, or six short stories - all focused on Kingdom building. And after Jesus told five of them, He then asked His disciples, “Have you understood all this?” To which the disciples answered “Yes.”
Now, let me say here that when you say “Yes” to a question like that, it means that you understand what’s necessary to get a job done and then, you do it. And I believe that if we are serious about Kingdom building, than we’ve got to get off our blessed assurance and just do it!
For when we do it…
--When we use our gifts and talents together, we build for our future!
When we do it…
--When we maximize our resources together, we can help one another more!
When we do it…
--When we put things in their proper order, we are no longer just sitting on the premises, but we are standing in the promises!
God has promised us that when we seek Him first, He rewards us with ruler ship. In other words, in designated areas and specific situations in the Kingdom of God, He allows us to reign with Him. We may be His servants, but Kingdom-citizens need not be subservient to any other but Him. We are masters, I tell you, of a household.
In “The Parable of The Householder” Jesus wanted His disciples and us to know that Kingdom-building pays off. Moving forward for the Kingdom’s sake reaps big dividends. The Kingdom of God, you know, is an excellent investment. To be exact, being a citizen in the Kingdom guarantees that we are treasure finders. And we become treasure-finders as a result of our being Kingdom-seekers.
The Lord’s disciples understood how the Kingdom operates. Kingdom-minded disciples appreciate the treasure at their disposal. Like the record says, “[Kingdom citizens] bring out of [our] treasure what is old and what is new. “
First of all, to bring anything out of a treasure chest, you’ve got to first “Locate the treasure.” You can’t locate it if you don’t have a treasure map. Our treasure map is the Word of God. God’s Word holds direction to finding treasure. If you’ve been looking for your treasure and can’t find it, maybe you’re looking in the wrong place. In the church, it’s good to set up programs, it’s good to address social concerns, it’s good to apply for grants to further the outreach of the church, but most of all we need to “look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
Not only do you have to find the treasure, but you’ve got to “Open the treasure.” A treasure is no good, if you can’t get at it. For too long in the church, we’ve had these treasures - but they’ve locked down with because (1) we’ve never opened the treasure chest to investigate what in there, or (2) we lost the keys to the chest. We have some good treasures in our convention, some are old and some are new. Just because a treasure is old don’t make it of no use. In fact, the older a treasure is the more valuable it is.
Likewise, while we utilize our old treasures we’ve got to tap into our new treasures (our young people). They have gifts and talents God can use for Kingdom-building. It’s like the good house wife that has two brooms in her house. She has an old broom and she has a new broom. The new broom is good. It sweeps the house sufficiently, but when that housewife needs to get into the cracks and crevices of her home she’s got to go to the old broom, because the old broom can fit in some places the new broom hasn’t broken into yet.
What are you saying Pastor? In our church we have some old brooms and some new brooms. It’s time now for us old brooms to work right along side the new brooms, so that when the old brooms wear out, and the new brooms become old brooms, the old brooms can teach the brand new brooms how to keep the house in order. In other words, rather than break the link, we’ve got to “make the link” between yesterday, today, and tomorrow. We don’t need to set the old against the new, or vice versa. We don’t dismiss the old in place of the new, we synthesize the two. We weave a common thread from the past to the present in order to move forward.
I’m about finished, but let me remind you of the challenges facing the African American Community today:
-- Nearly 70% of our babies are born out of wedlock.
-- For every three Black babies born in America, two are aborted.
-- More Black males are in the justice and penal system than in college.
-- The leading cause of death of Black males from teenage to age fifty is murder.
-- Blacks are getting divorced at six times the rate of whites.
-- In some communities the drop out rate for African American male high school students is 50%.
-- And more people of color getting aids at a high rate than whites, especially black women.
Those are challenges! But remember, God has placed us in charge of our divinely-designed destiny! God has granted us rich treasures to meet any challenge facing us. We have just got to learn from our past and interpret our present to build our future.
I’m closing now, but if it were up to the devil, the convention would end right here, right now. Because the last time he left us, he left us in a sad and broken place. But I’ve got news for satan tonight: “We’ve No Longer Where The Devil Left Us!”
He said we were dead…
-There’s no use in trying to reach the unsaved
-You don’t have enough members to do anything…
-You don’t have enough support to make a difference, but the devil is a liar! “We’re No Longer Where The Devil Left Us!”
We’ve discovered our treasures! The trunk is unlocked and we got the key! We move can move forward now because like James Weldon Johnson taught us in the song “Lift Every Voice And Sing“
. . . God of our weary years,
. . . God of our silent tears,
. . . Thou who hast brought us, thus far along the way,
. . . Thou who has by thy might,
. . . Led us into the light,
. . . Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
And so, if you’re ready to move forward, lift your voice and say “Hallelujah!” Lift your voice and say “Glory!” Glory… to His name!
“Mastering Our Treasures In Order To Move Forward.”
