Luke’s 12th chapter is
interesting in many ways. Jesus tells
those with ears to hear to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. These people who have been entrusted as the
shepherds of Israel have not done well with their trust.
Do not let them rule over you with
fear. The fear of the Lord is the only
fear that you should entertain. God—not
these rule makers, not the devil, not any standard of compliance—holds power
over life and death, heaven and hell, worry and peace.
Jesus tells those listening—then and
now—that we claim him or we don’t. There
is no sitting on the fence. If we claim
Jesus as Lord, we will profess him publicly, affirm him always, and never
forsake him. He is our Lord. Those who don’t really believe won’t know the
same good standing that we have with our Father in heaven because of Jesus.
Jesus goes so far as the say not to
worry even when the authorities take you into custody for believing in
him. God’s own Spirit will be right
there with you and even give you the words to say.
Our Lord even spends a little time
talking about possessions in what is now called the Parable of the Rich
Fool. We won’t spend time on that now as
I will discuss that parable more a few weeks down the road. Just remember that a man’s life does not
consist of the abundance of his possessions.
Then it is back to do not worry. He tells us to look at the example of the
birds and the flowers. We should trust
our heavenly Father so much that we worry less than the lilies of the
field. We don’t do worry. We don’t do fear. Hear these endearing words from Luke’s gospel.
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your
Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor.
Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that
will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also.
There is a song that we sing
frequently in our First Light service called The More I Seek You. It has
a stanza—if modern hymns still have stanzas—that says: This love is so deep it’s more than I can
stand. I melt in your peace. It’s overwhelming. When we read this brief excerpt from Luke’s
gospel, it’s almost like we could melt in our Lord’s peace.
But then Jesus instructed his
followers once again to keep their guard up.
Be watchful. Dress ready for
service. We could take a rabbit trail
down putting on the full armor of God, but we won’t do that now. Keep your lamps burning.
We have been down this road before. We understand that watchfulness and peace are
not exclusive. We are ready because we
abide in the words of Jesus. We continue
to do the things that we know to do.
Jesus throws an interesting twist into
this first parable. He tells us that
when the master—we translate that to our Master—comes home and finds us doing
exactly what we should be doing, he will have us relax and recline at the table
and he will take care of us. Now that’s
something worth staying the course.
But—here’s the condition—we don’t know
when the Son of Man will return, so we must live for him every day. Our salvation is secured in the immeasurable
love that poured out the blood of Jesus on the cross, but our Lord wants to see
how much we have loved him back.
Here is where it gets fun. Peter asked Jesus, “Is this parable for
everyone or just for us?”
Don’t pick on Peter. It’s a good question. It’s one of those that comes up in Bible
studies full of mature believers. Can everyone walk on water? Should I be able to move a mountain. Should I sell everything that I have? Don’t pick on Peter. He is asking what others were likely
thinking.
The fun part is that Jesus answers the
question about one parable with another parable. At this point, I can see the other disciples
giving Peter the look. Now, we have not
one, but two parables to figure out courtesy of Peter the rock.
Jesus begins. Who is the faithful and wise manager? The manager is likely also a servant but he
is a manager. Think of Joseph in
Potiphar’s house. He was a slave but in
charge of everything. He was a manager.
Jesus has a parable for managers. It follows the same model as the ones for
servants assigned to pick grapes or tend sheep or clean the house, but it is
about managers. What will the manager do
when the master is away?
Will he run a tight ship as if the
master were there checking every day or will he get lazy and careless and a
little selfish?
We know how this comes out. Stay the course and reap the rewards. Stray away and you pay. Don’t get too wrapped up in all this beating
business. Beatings were the performance
evaluation tool of the day. You didn’t
just get a note put in your personnel file back then, you got a beating.
We must get through the part on
beatings to get to the heart of the message, but you must endure a short rabbit
trail first. Every time I think about
beatings, the old adage,
“The beatings will continue until morale improves,” comes to mind.
Don’t get wrapped up on this beating
business. Think on how Jesus sums up
this pericope. It sounds a whole lot like, “What did you do with what I gave you” in the indicative instead of the
interrogative.
If you were given much then much is
expected. If you are entrusted with much
then much more will be asked—much more is required.
Here we go again. Our salvation, our family, our homes and
possessions and money are all trusts.
Our commission to share the gospel is a trust. Our command that we hold so dear—to love one
another as Jesus loved us—is a trust.
Our Spiritual Gifts are a trust.
The talents and abilities that God
placed in us at birth are a trust.
If you are gifted as a teacher, God
expects you to teach much more than the person terrified of teaching.
If you are a talented carpenter, God
expects you to build all of your life.
If you have been blessed with an
income, God expects that you will not only tithe, but give something beyond the
tithe.
If you have been blessed with
possession, God expects that you will be generous.
If you have a house, God expects that
you will practice hospitality.
If you have authority, God expects you
to practice it with wisdom and mercy.
If you have the gift to work with
small children, God expects to see you in the nursery.
If you have the gift to work with
small children and the gift of being a teacher, God expects to see you teaching
a children’s lesson.
If you have the gift of intercession,
God expects to hear from you more than the one who has the gift of service.
If you can’t hold your hands steady
any more, God probably doesn’t want you lighting the candles.
If you can’t count, God probably
doesn’t want you to be the church treasurer or a bank teller, though I guess
these days you can run a cash register.
If you can’t handle controversy, God
probably doesn’t want you to negotiate trade agreements.
If you are allergic to bee stings, God
probably doesn’t want you to be a bee keeper.
There is a divine balance in what God
expects from us. If he has given us a lot to work with, then he expects us to
put it all to work.
If we have only been given a little,
he expects us to put all of the little that he gave us to work. There is a divine balance to God’s gifts and
expectations.
Nowhere in this chapter or these two
parables or any of the connecting teachings do I see which excuses are
acceptable for not taking the much or little that we have been given and
putting it to work.
Let’s consider where we have been so
far. We take care in what we
believe. We fear only God. We don’t worry about the daily provisions of our
life. We don’t get wrapped up in our
possessions. We have peace but are
watchful. We don’t worry but are always
ready.
Whether a simple servant or a manager,
we do what we know to do. So what are we
to do now?
We should begin with an
inventory. What do I have?
If that list begins with life and the
promise of eternal life, then we continue with the inventory. If not, it’s time to wrestle with this
question of whether we believe in a God of love. If that answer is yes, then do we believe
that he loved us enough to take away our sin in the person and blood of his Son
that we call Jesus?
If the answer is no, then you can skip
this part and just begin a time of silent prayer asking God to open your eyes
and your heart to eternal love.
But for those who already believe,
let’s inventory what we have.
A home.
Cars, motorcycles, and hoverboards.
A job or income from somewhere.
Food.
Clothing.
Liberty.
Rights.
Money.
Possessions.
Education and continuing education.
Training.
Skills.
Abilities.
Attitudes.
Tools.
Those are typical areas to
inventory. We should see what we have
and if we are managing these trusts well.
Here are some that might go overlooked.
Passport.
Connections or a network of
connections.
Memberships.
Readerships.
Followings.
Are we managing these things
well? Are we using them to produce a
good return for our Lord?
Sometimes, people venture into the “if
only” world. If only I had that
skill. If only that door would open for
me. If only I would win the
lottery. We are called to do what we can
with what we have and not be surprised when God adds to it.
If you catch yourself wondering what
you could do if you only had…you fill in the blank; first ask yourself what you
are doing with what God has already given you.
I think, in fact I am quite sure, that
all of us here have been trusted with much; therefore, much is expected from
us.
We need to get out of the habit of
looking at everything that we don’t have and start focusing on doing great
things with what we do have.
We have been trusted with much. Much is expected from us.
You know who realized this some time
ago. It’s someone that you will
recognize. Consider these words of
Mother Teressa.
“I know God will not give me anything
I can’t handle. I just wish that He
didn’t trust me so much.”
She understood that she was trusted
with much, that she must put that trust to work, and that God would see her
through whatever was now in her path because she acted upon this trust.
Was she trusted with money? Not so much.
Was she trusted with great
possessions? Not so much.
She was trusted with the gifts of
mercy and communication.
Her love was
shared wherever she was and her lessons launched world-wide.
It seems that we are even trusted with
the challenges of our lives.
We are trusted with much.
I am going to add something to the things
with which God trusts us—geography. Some
will be calling ahead to get me sized for a straight jacket, I’m sure. Do I not realize that we live in a one
traffic light town? We do have all three
colors on the light now and even two left turn signals. That makes us big time as far as I’m
concerned. Most intersections would have
4 left turn signals. We could petition the state for another left turn signal
or two, but they would just lead people into or out of a pasture.
Geography! Really?
Consider that we have been trusted
with where we live. We are half an hour
from Walmart, which is how modern civilization is defined. We don’t have traffic, unless two people stop
in the middle of an intersection to talk.
We have affordable housing. We
have all the basic services.
We are blessed to live where we live,
but we also can reach out to the world.
It’s seven miles to the interstate.
It’s a couple of keystrokes or mouse clicks to the internet, that is,
unless your phone is always connected.
In less than two hours you can be on a plane, unless you can get a
private lift out of our local facility.
Today’s generation does not understand
what a long-distance call is. We are
connected. Half of the people you know
have never used a pay phone and tried to say everything they needed to in 3
minutes. They have just always been connected.
We have these things called Facetime and Skype. You can see the person that you are talking
to on the other side of the world or the other side of the room.
If you must have something that you
can’t get here, it’s 90 minutes to Oklahoma City. It should take a little longer, but I have
seen most of you drive. And then there
is Amazon One Click and Prime. One
click, two days, it’s here.
You are not only blessed to live in
small town or rural Oklahoma, you are trusted with much. Much is expected.
I sometimes get a little terse with my
fellow pastors when they ask, “How’s the church doing?” Before I can answer, they add, “Are you all
hanging on?”
It is as if the small town geography
defines what God can do with us and through us and for his kingdom. It is usually 10-15 minutes before my
contemporaries get to ask any more questions because I am telling them what you
are doing with what God gave you.
You were given much and much is
expected.
From where I stand, much is being
delivered. You are producing much fruit.
We must never grow complacent with
what God has given us, but I think that somehow we understand today’s message a
little better than others. We never
retire from taking what God has given us and putting it to work to serve him.
Not everyone is called to be a
theologian. Not everyone is given the
gift of intercession. Not everyone is
given the gift of evangelism.
We all understand some theology, pray
quite a bit, and share the gospel, but most of the time we are sharing what we
know we have been given—God’s love.
We know that we have been given much
love and we are expected to love much.
If we do understand these parables and
the obligatory words that connect them to us, and we do conduct an inventory;
then let us also be wise as we inventory.
Let’s find the clutter and get rid of it.
Let’s identify the stuff that is
getting in the way of taking what we have been given and producing a great
return and get rid of it.
We might be talking about physical
clutter—actual stuff—but more likely, we will find clutter in our time and
senseless obligations.
This is a complicated century but that
does not mean our lives must be complicated.
We are equipped to operate in this crazy millennium, yet have the peace
of a simpler time. We are ready because
we do what we know our Lord has called us to do; yet, we sleep well at night.
We realize that we have been given
much and that much is expected. We also
know that Jesus gave us words so that we might put them into practice. So, let’s take inventory of what we have and
put it to work to produce a good return for our Lord; and if along the way we
find things that are clutter, kick them to the curb.
We with ears to hear are the faithful
and wise managers of this age. Let us be
known by our love, our good news, our faith, and the wisdom that God has
granted us so generously.
Amen.
