Alexander Tytler (1747-1813) was a Scottish advocate, judge, writer, and historian who
was a Professor at the University of Edinburgh. He was a though leader in his day, whose
most famous quote was both an observation and a prophecy for nations and societies
around the world. In what would become known as ‘Tyler’s Cycle’ he noted that “…. all
nations go ….


…from bondage to spiritual faith, …from spiritual faith to great courage,
…from courage to freedom, …from freedom to abundance,
…from abundance to selfishness, …from selfishness to complacency,
…from complacency to apathy, …from apathy to dependence, and
…from dependence back to bondage.


The truth of Tyler’s Cycle has been proven again and again, and unfortunately, as we see in
our own nation today, it is hauntingly true, as we try to navigate an economy that is built
largely on what feels like a house of cards. As noted in our message on Sunday, our
national debt sits at around $36 trillion. This comes to an average of $106,000 per citizen
and $271,000 per taxpayer. So – all we need to do erase this crazy amount of debt is for
each citizen to pony up with a check for $106K to the U.S. Treasury, and our national debt
is gone!


As we discussed on Sunday morning, God has prescribed a true ‘economy of opportunity’
for His creation. This Biblical economy of opportunity is truly based on the truth that
God’s plan is for all of His people to succeed by becoming all that He has created them to
be. We noted five key principles in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 that clearly
form the basis for enabling all people to fulfill this God-ordained life plan. It says clearly
in Eph. 2:10: ‘ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so
we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.’ (As a matter of fact, this economic
model also forms the basis for what we know as the American Dream.) After all, WHERE
we spend eternity is based on your decision to follow Christ and accept his gift of
salvation. And HOW you spend eternity is a function of what you do with your life once
you have made that decision, i.e. will we live by Jesus’ commands that we live as
‘Kingdom Investors’?


It only makes sense that if God wants us to utilize effectively the gifts, talents, traits and
tendencies with which He has naturally created us, then the economy He has prescribed
must align with our making the most of those things. When we consider the indwelling
presence of the Holy Spirit for genuine followers of Jesus, this makes even more sense!
However, with the inception of the Marxist philosophy that drives today’s
liberal/progressive philosophies the idea of opportunity has been redefined Socialism
replaces this opportunity to make the most of who you are with the idea that we all need to
be at the same place in terms of economic status. So the God-ordained doctrine of
‘Equality of Opportunity’ has been replaced in Marxist/Socialist ideology by “Equality of
Outcome’ – this ‘outcome’ being the same for everyone. Having a pre-determined outcome
destroys the incentive for mankind to invest his/her gifts, talents, traits and tendencies to
maximize the productivity of his/her life.


So – just as bank workers learn to tell counterfeit bills by becoming very familiar with
genuine bills, we as followers of Jesus must become SO familiar with the principles that
define a Biblical economy, that we spot deviations to His design ‘from a mile away’. To
help us recognize the true Biblical economy of opportunity, here again are those five key
principles from a recent sermon…..


1) The principle of equality of opportunity. The Owner leaving on a lengthy trip
(representing Jesus in the parable) created equality of opportunity by assigning his assets to
his employees based on his assessment of their ability to do well in investing the assets.
Matthew 25:15 – ‘ He gave …. dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on
his trip.’ God’s Kingdom is a MERITOCRACY, with His giving to us opportunities for
influence with others based on our abilities to have positive, Kingdom-building impact on
them.


2) The principle of faith-directed decision-making. The employees given two and five
talents went out and doubled their investment, being willing to accept the inherent risk that
comes with investment. They demonstrated faith that their efforts would pay off for the
Master. But the third employee chose to play it safe – and did nothing…. Matthew 25:18 –
the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the
master’s money. This inaction on his part (whether it was motivated by laziness or fear, we
can’t be sure) results in a stinging rebuke in verse 28: ‘Take the money from this servant,
and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.’


3) The principle of expanding productivity sets forth God’s expectation for the investment
of all that He has given us. Matthew 25:20 is clear…. The servant to whom he had
entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave
me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ What a joy it will be one day
to report to the Master that we have been productive with what He has entrusted with. Isn’t
that what the employees were working for? Isn’t that what you and I should be living for?
4) The principle of rewarding responsibility. The reward of the Master to those
faithful employees may be a bit different than what we may expect. He doesn’t give riches,
but more responsibilities. Matthew 25:21 (NLT) “….. ‘Well done, my good and faithful
servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many
more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ God knows us better than anyone. Those of
us who are true Kingdom Investors will desire – rather than something self-fulfilling – the
opportunity to make greater impact!


5) The principle of earned abundance is clearly illustrated in Matthew 25:29 ‘To those
who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an
abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.’
God is clearly about putting resources into the hands of those who will maximize those
investments. For each of these employees, He had given them an amount to invest proportionate to what he thought they each could do, and He rewarded them in proportion to what they produced.


Remember – The Master in the parable is Jesus. The three employees are representative of
you and me. How many bags has Jesus given you to invest? How many are you returning?
What will be the outcome when He returns to assess your investment performance? Just
know that if you haven’t started as a Kingdom Investor, you can start today. It’s never too
late!