Steward All Things with Open Hands

God’s work through CMSI gives a living picture of open-handed faithfulness. The orphanage in South India did not just pop up overnight. The open doors, the boys being cared for, the gospel being shared, and the relationships being built all show what happens when prayer, giving, and serving are placed back into God’s hands.

The church’s final core value says that God’s people steward all things with open hands. Open-handed stewardship refuses to treat every gift from God as if it were meant only for the person holding it. Closed fists protect time, talents, treasure, possessions, influence, and relationships as if faithfulness means keeping everything safe. The good China in the basement becomes the picture: the tragedy was not that it got chipped or broken, but that it was never used or enjoyed as it was designed to be.

Matthew 25 puts that picture into sharper focus. Jesus tells of a master who goes away and entrusts “the things at his disposal” to his servants. The master does not hand over his wealth so that it can be buried and protected. The word entrusted carries the expectation that the servants will manage it the way the master would manage it if he were still there.

The talents in the story are huge amounts, but the point is bigger than money. The master gives five bags, two bags, and one bag, each according to ability. The uneven distribution is not the issue. The real issue is what each servant does with what has been placed in his hands.

The first two servants put the money to work and bring back the increase. They make no claim on the extra, as if it belongs to them because they earned it. They offer all of it back to the master and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The joy is not just approval. The joy is sharing the master’s happiness.

The third servant buries the opportunity and then blames the master. Fear becomes a cover for laziness. The master’s return exposes the truth: the servant had a golden opportunity, and he missed it.

The point is not whether someone is a five-bag, two-bag, or one-bag person. The point is that every person has been given opportunity by God and will give an account. The clarifying question becomes simple and searching: how can this be used to make the master happy? Christ himself shows the way, because he gave up heaven, gave up his life, and lived open-handed so others could share with him.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Open hands fight false ownership Closed fists often disguise themselves as wisdom, safety, or responsibility. But open-handed stewardship starts with the harder confession that nothing in life is finally owned by the person holding it. Time, money, abilities, relationships, and influence are entrusted for a purpose larger than self-preservation. [38:07]
• 2. Unused gifts become buried treasure The good China picture exposes a quiet kind of waste: something can be protected so carefully that it never fulfills its purpose. God’s gifts are not honored merely by being kept safe. Faithfulness means using what has been given in ways that carry the heart and priorities of the giver. [40:23]
• 3. Accountability is about entrusted opportunity The master’s return is the weight-bearing moment of the parable. The question is not whether every servant received the same amount, but whether each servant acted faithfully with what had been entrusted. Uneven opportunity does not erase real accountability, and comparison only distracts from the account each life must give. [55:02]
• 4. Fear can cover buried laziness The one-bag servant names fear, but the master names wickedness and laziness. That distinction matters because fear can sound humble while still refusing obedience. Blaming God, circumstances, or unfairness can become a way of avoiding the simple responsibility to put what has been given to work. [60:19]
• 5. The Master’s happiness becomes shared joy The reward in the parable is not a quick earthly payout for good behavior. The sharing happens when the master returns, and the faithful servants discover that what they offered back was never truly lost. Open-handed living trusts that the master’s joy is better than the temporary comfort of keeping control.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [29:31] - CMSI Orphanage Update
• [32:52] - Prayer for South India
• [35:08] - Reviewing the Core Values
• [38:07] - Stewarding All Things Open-Handed
• [39:14] - The Good China Illustration
• [42:19] - Setting Up Matthew 25
• [47:16] - The Master Entrusts His Wealth
• [53:02] - The First Two Servants Work
• [58:40] - The One-Bag Servant Blames
• [64:02] - Weeping, Regret, and the Point
• [69:06] - The Master Returns to Settle Accounts
• [70:38] - The Clarifying Stewardship Question
• [72:46] - David’s Open-Handed Prayer
• [74:32] - Jesus Gave Everything Open-Handed

Bible Reading

Matthew 25:14-30
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who 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. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had 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 have 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 have 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 scattered no seed, 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 sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 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 an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” [47:16]

1 Chronicles 29:14
“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.” [01:14:32]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 25, what different actions do the three servants take with what was entrusted to them, and how does the master respond to each one?
2. What are some of the “all things” that can be held with either closed fists or open hands—besides money? [38:07]
3. What details in the parable show that the issue is not how much each servant received, but what each one did with it? [55:02]
4. What does David say in 1 Chronicles 29:14 about where gifts come from and what people are really giving back to God?

Interpretation questions

1. The master entrusts “his property” to the servants, not their own property. How does that shape the way time, possessions, influence, and opportunities should be viewed? [48:28]
2. The servant with one bag says he was afraid, but the master calls him wicked and lazy. Why can fear sometimes sound reasonable while still hiding disobedience? [01:00:19]
3. Both the five-bag servant and the two-bag servant hear the same “well done.” What does that suggest about how God measures faithfulness? [58:25]
4. “Enter into the joy of your master” is the reward given to the faithful servants. What does it mean that the reward is sharing the master’s happiness rather than merely getting something back? [01:10:38]

Application questions

1. Where is closed-handed living showing up right now—in time, money, abilities, possessions, plans, or relationships? What would open-handed stewardship look like in that exact area this week? [41:44]
2. The “good China” picture shows that something can be protected so carefully that it never serves its purpose. What gift or opportunity may be getting buried under caution, comfort, or delay? [40:23]
3. Jesus’ return means each person will give an account for what was entrusted to them. If that happened today, what area of life would feel joyful to talk about, and what area would be harder to explain? [01:09:06]
4. Comparison is a distraction. Some people seem to have five bags, some two, some one. Where is there a temptation to focus on what someone else has instead of being faithful with what has actually been given? [01:08:37]
5. “How can this be used to make the master happy?” is a clarifying question for every part of life. What changes when that question is asked about a schedule, paycheck, home, friendships, or abilities? [01:10:38]
6. “All things come from you” is a confession that fights false ownership. What would it look like to say that honestly before making a decision about spending, serving, or using free time? [01:14:32]
7. Christ lived open-handed by giving up heaven and giving up his life so others could share with him. How does his example challenge the way comfort, security, and self-protection are usually pursued? [01:14:32]