Jump Start # 2866

Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”

Our passage comes from the parable of the talents. Talents as used in this passage was not ability, but a form of money, a lot of money. Five talents was equivalent to 100 years of income. The master had extreme wealth and he also had extreme trust to put this in the hands of his servants. What a temptation to take the money and run. The master left. He was gone for a long time. At his return, there was an accounting. The books were opened, we might say. This parable is emphasizing the return of Jesus. He’s gone now. But He’s coming. And, this season we are in now, is the time for the servants, you and I, to be busy for our Master.

There are some thoughts that we ought to learn from our passage:

First, our impression of God shapes our relationship with Him. The one talent man had the wrong ideas about his master. He viewed him as hard man, yet had he forgotten what the Master had put in his charge? The master was generous. The master was trusting. The master was good.

If we view God as one who can never be pleased, then we will feel overwhelmed. God will seem like a drill sergeant or a coach who is always demanding more out of us. More laps. More pushups. More. More. More. Spiritually, more worship services. More prayers. More passages to read. More. More. More. And, before long, we find ourselves doing things not out of joy and love, but because we have to. We feel that God is always wanting more.

If we are afraid of God, then we will not get close to Him. We will keep things at arms length. We will try to hide things and not be honest with the Lord. Confession becomes generic, empty and worthless.

If we believe that God doesn’t care, then we likely won’t care either. And, when a person quits trying, the worse happens. We get sloppy and careless in our walk with the Lord. We cut corners. We bend the rules. We just are not serious. God doesn’t care, so why should we?

All of these thoughts surround our impression of God. The wrong impression leads to the wrong outcomes.

Second, our passage shows us that it is possible to please God. The master honored the five and two talent men. He praised them. He put them in charge of more things. They have shown that were dependable, trustworthy and honest. They did what the master was hoping.

God can be pleased with our worship. God can be pleased with our fellowship. God can be pleased with our hearts. Well done, spoken by the One who did all things perfectly. Good, spoken by the One who was the definition of good. Faithful, spoken by the One who was obedient in all things, even to death. Those three compliments, well done, good, faithful, are lived in the life of Jesus. He was those things. And, by obeying the master, the servants took on similar characteristics. Likewise, we do the same. As we walk with the Lord, we too, take on the characteristics of Jesus. Perfect? No. Sinless? No. Miracle worker? No. But faithful. Good. Well done. Absolutely.

The master was joyous with what the five talent man had done. God can be pleased with your walk, your efforts and your faith in Him. I feel that we beat ourselves up too much, piling on guilt after guilt, because we could have done this, and we could have done that. And, all we see are the failures. The master in this parable didn’t say, ten talents are nice, but fifteen would have been better. Not at all. He was pleased, joyous and complimentary of what had taken place.

How do you feel about your walk with the Lord? Are you happy? Or, do all you see is what you could be doing? Be faithful. Be good. Be busy. Enjoy the smile you put upon the Master’s face.

Smiles are that way. When one is smiling at you, it’s hard not to smile back. I have a staring contest with one of my granddaughters. We will look face to face, our noses almost touching each other, until one breaks into a smile. It usually only takes a few seconds. They are so happy and smiling that they can’t keep a straight face.

Imagine God smiling at you. Well done. You are good. You are faithful. I think it’s time we smiled back at the Lord and simply say, “Thank You.”

Roger

Jump Start # 1860

Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.’”

I know a Christian that is struggling. His journey is like a yo-yo. He’s up and doing well, and then he’s down and not showing up much. There are several factors. Part of his problem is the friends in his life. They are not Christians. He seems to keep one foot in the world and that trips him up. Another problem is his internal struggle with faith and forgiveness.

When he is doing well, he helps teach classes, attends most times and seems to be getting a great grasp of what God wants. However, the better he does, the more he struggles with guilt and that opens the door for him to slide back down spiritually. He seems to have a hard time believing that he can be what God wants and that he can please God. He knows of his failures and his mistakes. That haunts him. That keeps him from ever being the consistently strong Christian that he needs to be. There has been Bible studies one on one with him. He’s been encouraged. He’s been invited. This constant up and down seems to be something that he can’t get over. I fear that one day he will just grow weary of messing up and throw in the towel completely.

I also fear that he is not the only one that struggles with this. It is the thought that we simply cannot please God. No matter how hard we try, God is never happy with us.

I chose our verse today because it helps us to see several things.

First, the master in this parable of the talents, was pleased. The servant did what was expected and the master rejoiced. It is possible to please God.

Second, the master entrusted the servant with even more to do. His accomplishments weren’t the end of the story. There was more that was expected. This is part of growth and responsibility. The more we do, the more we grow, the more that we will be expected to do. For those with the wrong spirit, they’d think, ‘well, I just won’t grow much so I won’t have to do much.’ That spirit certainly won’t please God.

Third, the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. We tend to beat our selves up more than we should. If God has forgiven us, then we need to do the same. The problem with forgiveness is that we can still remember the sin. We remember what led up to the sin. The stain and the scars are there, even though God has forgiven us.

We are not the Lord. We will not be sinless nor perfect. We try. We give it our best shot. We learn. We make adjustments. We change. But at the end of the day, we still sin. The servant from this parable of the talents, was not perfect. No one is. Could it be that our expectations are too high? Could it be that we are expecting to be flawless? Could it be that we see others that way? We see each other on Sundays, wearing our best clothes, and it seems that everyone around is doing so much better than we are. That’s not true!

All of us are a work in progress. Some are doing better than others, but all of us have issues, areas we need to improve on and moments and struggles that seem to get the best of us. But we journey on. Progress is being made. We don’t stop. We don’t turn around. And we certainly do not quit.

It’s hard to see and to measure growth in ourselves. There are things that we can do that will help.

• Challenge yourself—and force yourself to do things that you haven’t done before. I know a young married couple that recently invited 13 people from church over to their home for a dinner during a Gospel meeting. It was the first time they ever did this. They were calling their parents to ask how to cook this, seat that many and do this and that. They cleaned and cleaned before everyone came. It went beautifully for them.

Maybe challenge yourself to help teach a class.

Maybe challenge yourself to have some families over to your home.

Maybe challenge yourself to memorize some passages.

Maybe challenge yourself to really dig deep into a difficult book of the Bible

• Surround yourself with someone who is spiritually strong. Get to know them. Take them out to lunch. Ask them questions. Find out what they are doing that you are not. Rely upon them to help you find the answers to your questions.

• Engage in Bible classes as a college class. Come with paper and pen. Come to learn. Look at God’s word carefully. Notice the words. Put yourself in the passages. What would you be thinking if you were there? Do more than read words in your Bible. Let the Bible fill your heart and allow it to push you and change you.

• Don’t quit because you made a bad choice. Temptation is strong. Satan is powerful. God chose one of the strongest animals known, a lion, to illustrate what Satan is like. He’s not a kitty cat. He’s not something that is cute and adorable. He’s not something that you’d want to hold. Satan knows you. He knows how to pick at you and tempt you. Learn your weak spots. Get stronger in those areas.

• Don’t lose ground because somethings are not easy. It’s easy to do whatever you feel like. It’s hard to do what God wants. It’s easy to not put a filter on your mouth or your attitude. It’s hard to watch what you say. It’s easy to be selfish, indifferent and only concerned about your own happiness. It’s hard to be compassionate, forgiving and Christ-like. The best things often are not easy. It’s not easy to make the honor roll. It’s not easy to be varsity. It’s not easy to get the promotion. All of those things takes effort. They don’t just come, but a person has to be focused and try hard.

• Watch what you fill your self with. Our choices of music, friends, TV shows, books, movies, all influence us. Filling your mind with violence and hanging around angry people will turn you into an angry person. Too much of the world in us, pulls us closer to the world. Not every great show needs to be watch by the people of God. Not every blockbuster movie is worth seeing. You are steering your own boat. Set the course toward Heaven. You will have to make decisions that affect which direction you will go. If you want to be in shape, you must watch what you eat. Donuts and Coke won’t get you there. If you want to please God, dancing with the world won’t get you there. We must be transformed people. The list of popular TV shows through the years that many strong Christians never watched would amaze some of us. They found better things to do with their time. They didn’t see much value in those shows. Now, all these years later, the shows are off the air and these Christians do not feel that they missed something in their lives. It was just a show. You decide what you want to use your time and fill your heart with.

Pleasing God—it is possible. You can do it. It involves more than just one day.

I hope this helps.

Roger

Jump Start # 1710

Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”

This morning, I must write a funeral service for one of our members. I don’t “reuse” funeral sermons. Some do. They just pencil in different names. I think about the person and write something from scratch. The person who died was a sweet sister in Christ. She was a model member. Preachers would dream of having an audience full of people like this one. Always there. Always. Kind. Complimentary. Interested. Engaging. Encouraging. If we had worship services every day of the week, she would have been there. I’ve seen here every night of a Gospel meeting. I’ve seen her come to special Tuesday morning classes that I taught. She read everything that I wrote.

The hymn “A beautiful life,” comes to my mind when I think about her. Not so much the song, but the title.  She found and lived a beautiful life. Perfect? No. Could have made some different choices? Yes. Easy life? No. Trouble free life? No. A life without tears? No. But a life that was beautiful because of her Savior.

Our verse today, is one such reminder of that beautiful life. It comes from Jesus’ parable about the talents. It is a picture of the coming judgment. That thought, standing before the throne of God, giving an account to God, is enough to scare even the best among us. But here, in this brilliant lesson, we find two servants who pleased their master. They were given a task and they did it. They did it well. They did it knowing that they would have to show the master what they did with their lives. Could they have done more? Possibly. That doesn’t come up. The master, who is God, was pleased.

Three thoughts come from this:

First, the master complimented the slave. That seems backward in our way of thinking. It ought to be the slaves who compliment the master. It was the master’s money that he was given. He returned the master’s money, with more. He was simply doing what was expected. Yet, the master was pleased. He uses three expressions:

Well done: At the symphony, the audience stands at the end of the performance and some shout out, “Bravo.” The musicians stand smiling. It is possible to please God. It is possible to do what God wants. It is possible to do our job well. The applause of Heaven is given to those who do things right and do things well. Too many love to say, “we are not perfect people,” and with that they become satisfied with substandard work. They are convinced going into something, that they won’t do it well, so they don’t try very hard. This one, in Jesus’ story, did things well.

Good: He was a good servant. He was good because he got about his master’s work. He was good because he used his time and resources well. He was good  because he did good. Some think of a good plan, but they are short on the doing part. Remember, the one who is speaking these compliments is God. God is the perfect one. God is the one who never made a mistake. God is the one who never had to apologize. God is the one who never overstated things. The perfect One declares, “Good.” You are good.

Faithful: faithful to the task. You stayed with it. You were faithful to you master. You were faithful to the end. You got the job done. The master came and you were ready for him. You didn’t get sidetracked. You didn’t get your order out of order. You completed what you set out to do. Paul said, “I finished…I kept.”

Second, not only did the master compliment this servant, but he gave him more to do. I will put you in charge of many things. You were faithful in a few things. There is more. You have proven yourself. Now I can trust you. I am turning more over to you. I can count upon you. The servant wasn’t given a vacation. He wasn’t given a retirement party. He was given more to do. The master wasn’t finished with him.

Third, he was permitted to enter the joy of his master. The master was opening the door to some benefits and joy that he had not yet experienced. The master was sharing with the servant. In that world, it may have been the joy of sitting at the banquet table with the master. It may have been invited to a celebration with the master and the master’s friends. Food. Music. Fun times. And the servant, a servant, would be allowed to mingle, partake and enjoy with others. The others would have been friends and family of the master. He may have felt out of place. He probably didn’t belong there, but he was invited by the master. The master recognized  what the servant had done and he was rewarded. He was honored by the master. There was more than just kind words, there was the joy of the master. Enter in. Enter in to the joy of your master. That sounds like the master was standing at an open door and inviting the servant to come in. I want you in with me. God is inviting us in with Him.

A beautiful life. A life well lived. A life that leaves footprints and cherished memories for others. A life that touches others. A life dedicated to the master. A life, not burdened with rules and commitments, but a life of joy and happiness. A life lived with forgiveness. A life surrounded by the best people on the earth, God’s people. A life that lifts others. A life of praise. A life that made a difference. A life that many will miss. A life that pleased God. That’s what we are as Christians. It’s a choice. Sure it means sacrifices. Certainly it involves fighting Satan and putting others first. But it’s a life wrapped in grace and kindness. It’s a life of caring for others. It’s a life that is lived in the shadows of Jesus.

A beautiful life. One that was illustrated so well by our dear Betty Smith. A common name, but a not so common life. A name spoken by her Savior. A life that touched us here on earth and a life that is now experiencing the joys of her Master.

Well done, Betty. Thank you. You have made it easier for us to see what we all ought to be doing. You have illustrated this passage well for us. Your quiet manner, and your dedicated love to your Savior is noticed by us and Heaven. You have lived a “beautiful life.”

Roger

Jump Start # 1219

Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.’”

Well, it happened earlier this week. I checked off a huge “gotta do sometime” off my bucket list. I tried to do this many times before but didn’t have the money or the time. This was going to be it. Now or never. I got tickets to see Paul McCartney. He finally came to Louisville. First time ever. We had great seats. I paid dearly for them and would do it again. Growing up, Paul was always my favorite Beatle. I wanted hair like his. Loved his music. He is now in his 70’s. So I did it. I got tickets. Did I say we had great seats? The show was impressive. Hit after hit. Nearly three hours of non-stop Sir Paul. The sound, light show, music, crowd—incredible. Top to bottom—it was simply awesome. I was impressed. It beat my expectations.

That got me thinking about impressive things. When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, she was impressed. The first temple was impressive. When Isaiah saw God in the temple vision, he was impressed. The disciples were impressed when the wind and storm suddenly stopped when Jesus, walking on the water,  got into their boat. The multitudes were impressed with what Jesus said. The image John shows us of Heaven is impressive. Pearl gates, golden street, walls with costly jewels—we’ve never seen anything like that.

There are times when Jesus was impressed. A centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. He told Jesus that all was necessary was for Him to say the word. That impressed Jesus. He marveled. The woman with the issue of blood, reached out in a crowd and touched Jesus from behind. She touched in faith. Jesus said, her faith made her well. He was impressed. When the Canaanite woman was satisfied with just the crumbs of mercy from God’s table, Jesus said, “great is your faith.” When the four men lowered their crippled friend through the roof in the presence of Jesus, He saw their faith and was impressed.

There were times God was impressed. What caught His attention was the honest and genuine faith of His followers. Folks that were trying to show off or look good to get a compliment  failed. Their hearts were not right. It was those who overcame obstacles. A crowded street didn’t stop a woman from reaching out and touching Jesus. A crowded house didn’t stop four friends from taking apart a roof to find Jesus for their friend. A foreign woman was persistent in seeking help for her demon possessed child. There was that poor widow. She put in two small coins in the temple treasury. Jesus saw. He noticed. He commented. He complimented. He was impressed. These people believed. They wouldn’t stop easy. These things impressed Jesus.

I wonder what impresses Jesus today? Surely it’s not the guy who barely shows up for worship and sleeps during the service. He fools himself into thinking he’s better than others. There’s nothing impressive about that. Likewise, it’s not the person who just happens to tell just about everyone all the things that they’ve done that week. They gave this person a ride. They visited this nursing home. They did this and that. Name dropping. Bragging. Waving their own banner. Nope. That doesn’t catch the Lord’s eyes. It does just the opposite. It turns His stomach.

I think about the young mother whose husband is not a Christian. Come Sunday morning he is found either in bed, dead asleep, or off to the woods to hunt. She readies the children and does the best she can to worship and teach her children about the Savior. She’s often overwhelmed and exhausted but she comes because she knows deep down inside that these things are important and she wants her children to know the Lord. The Lord notices such a sweet and dedicated heart.

I think of the young preacher who is working with a small group of disciples. He pours his heart out week after week, trying to teach the word of God. Throughout the week, he’s spending his evenings visiting homes and trying to increase the faith of others. Often his work is unappreciated. Stubborn and stale hearts do not want to change nor be challenged. His ideas are shot down by older brethren. He fights an atmosphere of contentment and stagnation. Often discouraged. Often wondering if he is doing any good. Often feeling the temptation to just throw in the towel and quit, he keeps plugging away. God notices.

I think of the young family that doesn’t have a lot but they see a need, much like the good Samaritan did, and they help someone out. It may be someone in the congregation. An older member, alone, invited over for a meal. It may be a neighbor. What they do isn’t much. It may be nothing more than a cup of cold water. Yet, Heaven notices. They are doing what they can. They have a heart like Jesus, a servant.

I think of that dear senior citizen who has been worshipping God for decades. Now, declining in health, often living alone, having buried their mate, they find time each day for prayer and Bible study. They attend nearly every service. They no longer can teach classes nor do much publicly. Their time on this side of life is short and running out. They know that. They are eager to get to the other side. They are so grateful and thankful for a lifetime of blessings from the Lord. Their faith is the foundation of the congregation. They walk with cane and walker. They move slow. Yet, their faith is strong. Don’t you think God notices?

What opens the eyes of Jesus is faith. It’s not how large our Sunday crowd is. It’s not how fancy our church building is. It’s not how many this and that the church is doing. Jesus is interested in YOU. Your faith. Do you let the easiest inconveniences knock you out of service?

I read a book some time ago about Lou Gehrig, the hall of fame,  New York Yankee who played baseball with Babe Ruth. He was amazing. He held the record for most consecutive games played for years and years. At his death, it was discovered that he had played with multiple broken fingers. He never said anything. The love of the game kept him going. Thinking about that, I wonder how many of us have spiritual battle scars that never slow us down. We play hurt. We play with problems. We play with things that bother us. The love of the Lord keeps us going. Never complaining to others, we keep plugging away. Those are the things that God notices. It’s not our cars, our clothes, our square footage in our house or how large our TV screen is. Those things impress us. It’s the things inside our hearts that impress God. It’s asking God to help us forgive when we’ve been hurt. It’s going out of our way, when it’s so much easier to just go home. It’s the second mile kind of stuff that God notices. We don’t have to, but we do. We do it because it’s the right thing to do. We do it because we love the Lord.

Our passage shows a statement of the Lord. He was impressed with the five talent man. He said, “Well done good and faithful.” He said, “enter into the joy of your master.” He was impressed. The servant did what he was supposed to do. He did it well. He caught the eye of his master. What a great compliment from a master to his servant. Master’s didn’t usually compliment servants. Servants were to please their master. This master, God, noticed. He took the time to praise the one who was serving Him. “Well done,” from the One who did all things well. “Good,” from the One who was perfect. “Faithful” from the One who was obedient even to the point of death. “Well done, good and faithful.” Heaven was impressed. God can be impressed. He is not like that high school coach who is always demanding a bit more out of his team. God is not saying, “I wish you prayed more…attended more…did more.” Not here. Here it was, “Well done, good and faithful.” God was pleased. God can be pleased. Don’t you want that?

Yes, Sir Paul was impressive. I’ll long remember that concert. But more important than that is to live to please God. Hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant,” spoken to us, will be the most impressive thing we ever witness. Nothing else comes close.

Live as if one foot is already in Heaven.

Roger

Jump Start # 1077

Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’”

  Our verse today is taken from the judgment pictures of Matthew 25. Jesus gives us three illustrations that show different aspects of the judgment. It begins with the parable of the ten virgins. Five were wise because they were prepared and ready. Five were foolish because they didn’t anticipate the groom being gone as long as he was. They ran out of oil and they missed the wedding.

The second picture is of a master who went away and left his three servants with money, or talents. Upon his return he called them in to see what they had done with his money. The first two had doubled what he had given them. The last servant had done nothing. Our verse is found in this section.

The third picture that Jesus gives in this section is of a king that gathers the nations together. He separates the sheep from the goats.

The judgment of God will be righteous and fair. That is the way God is. The judgment will have nothing to do with our secular accomplishments, our good looks, our travels, our adventures. They will have EVERYTHING to do with our relationship with God. Jesus is coming. He came to the wedding feast as the groom. He returned as a master who wanted to settled accounts with this servants. He returned as a reigning king. The Lord is coming.

Our verse today is what the master said to the servant who was given five talents. He had doubled those talents. The master was pleased. The master used the words, “Well done.” He called him a “faithful slave.” He invited him into the banquet with his master.

This verse tells us a couple things. We need to be reminded of them.

First, it is possible for us to please God. Sometimes we forget. We may have a parent or a spouse that never seems pleased. The child brings home a report card with mostly A’s and the unhappy parent states to the child’s disappointment that they all should have been A’s. The child grows up feeling that he can never please his parent. Some live this way the rest of their life. It can be the same in a marriage. No matter what is done, the other always finds something wrong and something to complain about. Vacations aren’t right. The house isn’t right. The income isn’t right. The marriage is strained because one feels like a slave to a master who can never be pleased.

God is not like that. Jesus was happy with what this servant did. Jesus praised him and invited him to share in the blessing of God. God can be pleased. We can put a smile upon his face. That is important for us to realize as we serve Him and obey Him.

  Second, this shows us that we can do things right. It is easy to see only problems with people and churches in the Bible. We talk about Noah, but must mention that he got drunk. Abraham, he lied. David, committed adultery. The church at Jerusalem neglected some of the widows. The Galatians were mixed up about the law. The Roman church judged each other about eating practices. The Corinthian church was in the cellar with so many problems. There was immorality, division, abuse of the Lord’s supper, lawsuits. They were a mess. The Philippian church had two sisters that Paul called out and told to behave themselves. Then there was Ephesus who left their first love. Sardis was dead. Laodicea was lukewarm. We see these things and after a while just figure that no one can get it right. We settle for second place. We give up too easily.

Jesus reminds us that the five talent man did things right. Jesus didn’t say, “You gained five more talents, but I wish you’d gotten seven.” He didn’t say that. This man pleased Jesus. This man did things right. We need to know that.

Not every home has to have a prodigal. Not every home has to have a disaster story. Families can be raised godly and righteously. You can do things right as a parent.

We can do things right as individuals. We can have an honest and good heart. We can love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul. We can be holy as He is holy. Don’t give up too easily. Don’t believe that no one can do it. We are not talking about sinlessness. We are not talking about perfection. We are, however, talking about doing things right. We are talking about doing things “well done.”

We can do things right as a congregation. Again, much too much, we accept the idea that we cannot do things right, so we don’t. Philadelphia, in Revelation 3, had no rebukes from the Lord. There is nothing negative stated about that group. They were not told to repent. They were doing things right. A congregation can do that. We can please the Lord.

This week I have preaching for the Milwaukee Avenue congregation in Lubbock, Tx. What a delightful group of disciples this is. The leadership, the preachers, the spirit, the love, the interest has been amazing. What a wonderful, powerful, growing and impressive congregation. West Texas is flat and there aren’t very many trees and it hardly rains there, it’s so different from my Indiana, but the people in that congregation stand as giants in kingdom of Christ. Now I’m certain if I dug around like a detective, I might find some flaws. That’s not my place, my job, nor my desire. They have it together. Other places could learn from this group. This isn’t the only congregation like this. There are many, many throughout the nation like this. There are, sadly, many that are not. Too many fight. Some don’t try. They seem to be in a hurry to be somewhere else. They don’t like each other. They are engaged in beating one another up. They don’t realize that it is possible to please the Lord and do things right. A church can do things right. I’ve seen it this past week. Amazing singing. Powerful prayers. Loving concern. They are an oasis in a dry part of Texas.

Faults are much like the headlights of a car coming toward you. The other guy’s lights always seem brighter than our own. It is easy to see what is not right with others, while we remain blind to our own sins and failures. The five talent man got busy when his master left. He didn’t sit around thinking about what could be done, he did things. He wasn’t long on talk and short on doing. He got busy. He didn’t seem to follow the example of the one talent man. When the master returned, there was something to show for it. The master was pleased. He had done well. “Well done, “ are the words of the master. Well done!

Can we do the same? Certainly. Can we please Jesus? Yes. Can we do things right? Yes.

Isn’t it about time we did?

Roger