Mutual Support

 Read Ephesians 6

We will put on the full armor of God in the next service.  For now, let’s look at how Paul wrapped up that section.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

There is a concept in military operations called mutual support.  Not only am I shooting the bad guys in front of me, but also those in front of you.  You do the same for me. 

The military term is interlocking and overlapping fields of fire. While we train individuals to defeat the enemy man to man, we practice defeating the enemy together.

Paul’s concept of prayer fits this model.  Be alert, not just for yourself but for all of God’s people.  Pray for all believers not just yourself and your family.

Ask for what you need to accomplish the mission that the Lord has given you but ask also that the Lord protect and provide for those other believers who have put on the full armor of God.

Paul asked for boldness and fearlessness.  Paul knew that his mission was to take the gospel to the world, most of it the Gentile world.

Paul asked his fellow believers to pray that he would never wimp out. Paul faced physical hardship, being stoned, shipwrecked, and imprisoned.  He asked his fellow believers to pray that he would heed his own counsel and continue to press on toward the goal.

We know that Paul often prayed for new believers to stick to the one true gospel and not be persuaded by other arguments that might appeal to their own understanding.

How do we apply this?

The prayer list is one way.  Putting someone on the prayer list doesn’t help.  Praying for those on the prayer list does.

We don’t say—I hope—I put them on the prayer list. My work here is done.  Unfortunately, some do just that.

Connecting with other believers more than on Sunday or Wednesday gives us insight into what we should pray for in their lives.

Serving the Lord in various ministries often gives us eyes to see where prayers would be most effective.  We are told that the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and effective. 

How powerful would the prayers of many who are made right by the blood of Jesus be?  Surely, the more that we pray for each other the better.

Paul asked for prayers for himself. How should you pray for me?

Pray that I don’t ever preach to itching ears.  My tendency is to preach the truth without regard to whether or not it is favorably received; however, we live in an age where so many do not want God’s word but want his blessings.

Pray that I don’t put any fluff in the messages entrusted to me. You are still going to get the dad jokes, but pray I don’t dilute anything to avoid ruffling feathers that the word of God intended to be ruffled.

Pray that I stick to the truth even when it leaves me socially isolated.

Pray that I do not become cynical.  I am somewhat sarcastic by nature, but I must never become cynical even when people come to the church seeking only the things of this world.  Help me to continue to preach and teach and counsel salvation through Christ alone.

Pray that I never abandon my echoing of the Lord’s charge to love one another. When my human nature says chokehold, help me to preach and live love one another.

Like Paul, my charge is a little different from yours, but we share many things in common and should pray for these things for each other.

To be known by our love.

To be a light unto the world.

To seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness before all things.

To forgive when my own understanding says not this time.

To seek to be led by God’s Spirit in all that we do.

We are to be mutually supporting.  We put on the full armor of God each day but we fight not only for ourselves but for each other.

One of our main munitions is prayer. Let us be mutually supportive in our prayers.

Amen.

Gear Up!

 Read Ephesians 6:10-20

There are several ways to view our relationship with God and with the world.

We have a walk—a journey if you will—through our time in these bodies on this planet. We want to be on the path that the Lord has directed.

We run a race of faith.  We are commissioned to take the gospel to the world.  This requires focus and purpose.  As people who run this race, we will never know a day without purpose.

We are students.  We learn and we grow. We must trust in the Lord with all of our hearts as we grow in God’s grace. He will never leave or forsake us.  If we remain faithful, we will grow in our trials. God will take all of our life experience and use it for good.

We are letters and ambassadors and messengers.  We deliver good news.  We are examples of right living and right relationship.  That doesn’t mean we don’t fall short. It means that we confess and continue our missions.

We are sowers of seeds. Some plant. Others water. Some harvest.  It seems that we are all involved in agriculture.

We are part of a family.  We are brothers and sisters with our Lord. We are known as the body of Christ. We each have different gifts and talents and roles to play in this family.

We are in a relationship where we are abundantly blessed yet called to live sacrificially.

We could frame our relationships in other ways. It’s not a multiple choice.  It’s not one for each day.

Monday we’re walking.

Tuesday we’re running.

Wednesday we’re learning.

Thursday we’re delivering.

Friday we’re sowing and harvesting.

What do you think?  How does Sacrifice Saturday sound?

We actually do some of each on almost every day.  We might have a streak where we just learn for a couple weeks or have a season of sacrifice or just enjoy the walk with the Lord.

But there is one way of framing our relationship with God and with the world that I have omitted. It is that of warrior.  We are also warriors for the Lord.

We can go back to Abram and note that he led 318 men in battle, and won. He won against some big armies.

The Lord had Gideon reduce his numbers so there was no doubt that God was with him in military victory.

Joshua led God’s chosen people into battles as they took possession of the promised land. The Lord preceded these warriors.

David was renowned as a warrior. He was credited with killing thousands upon thousands of Israel’s enemies and one very large Philistine.

These examples all have one thing in common.  They were physical battles.  God was with these warriors, but they battled flesh and blood enemies.

We may have some flesh and blood battles in our time, but Paul’s words are to ready us against enemies in the spiritual realm.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We battle Satan, evil, and the sinful nature in our hearts daily.  Some battles are tougher than others. You might think, I don’t know if I have ever encountered Satan or pure evil, but you have battled them

How?.

For half of my time in the Marine Corps, my war was the Cold War.  It involved readiness and a forward-deployed presence. There were some small and very short shooting matches, but not full-scale war, as we saw in the Arabian Gulf.

Make no mistake, the world was full of enemies of the United States. 

Make no mistake, Satan is at work in the world, but our readiness to serve the Lord does wonders to keep him at bay.  Do you remember, resist the Devil and he will flee?

Paul tells us that our battles are against the powers of the dark world.  They are less flesh and blood and more those in the spiritual realm.

Know with certainty, that God wins. God has won!  The outcome is certain but we still battle spiritual forces. We still battle our sinful natures.  We still have battles.

In addition to everything else, we must be warriors.

To win, we must be equipped.  We must put on our gear.  This is not accessorizing. These are not articles of clothing that make a fashion statement.  Listen to what Paul projects in this metaphor.

The belt of truth enables us to stand firm—to hold our ground.

We can hold our ground because of God’s righteousness that he imputed to us in the blood of Jesus.  We call that the breastplate of righteousness. That would be our flak vest in this era.

Our combat boots are readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  You remember that Cold War reference.  We won because of readiness.  This country’s readiness came in the commitment of its service men and women, funding of our military forces, and a forward deployed presence that said, “You don’t want to find out what happens…”

Our readiness resides in the gospel that we are to take to the world.  We will never live a day without purpose.  God trusted us with the gospel.  Living that purpose makes us ready for the battles ahead.

We take up the shield of faith. It shields us from the attacks of the evil one. Yes, sometimes we are under attack.

But we go on the offensive as well. We are fitted with the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

We do not sit passively hoping for the best. We invade a godless world with the word of God. It’s all a metaphor, yes, but that makes us no less a warrior.

We don’t go looking for a fight but we are always prepared to make a defense of our faith as we take the gospel to the world.

The old Marine Corps recruiting slogan was “Nobody likes to fight, but somebody has to know how”

As spiritual warriors, you are not looking for a fight, but are prepared for one and know how.  Our mission takes us into the world.  We should be examples, light in a dark world, messengers and ambassadors for the Lord, and yes, even warriors.

There is a single word, an adjective, in this pericope that I want us to anchor on as we wrap up.  The word is full.  We are to put on the full armor of God.  It’s not just a piece here and there.

Do you remember what Colin Powell said as we neared combat in the first Gulf War?  Desert Shield got us into place. Desert Storm would be the combat operation that put the German blitzkrieg to shame.

He said, we learned our lessons from Vietnam. This time were are not holding back. We are bringing all of our toys and using them.

In similar fashion, we are to put on the full armor of God—every piece, every day.  We may not fight on that day, but we will be ready.

We will be ready!

This is not a strange concept. You have heard it from me for years.  We take the full biblical witness, not just a verse or two here and there, and seek to please God.

We take the full message that God has sent to us and put it into practice.

As we prepare for spiritual warfare, we put on the full armor of God

Gear up!

Amen.

Take the Talent Away from Him...

 Read Matthew 25:14-30

 

You wicked, lazy servant!

 

I do not want to be at the end of a sentence that begins with “Woe unto” and I do not want to be the addressee of the statement, “You wicked, lazy servant!”

 

For the most part, I focus on what we are to do as trusted servants when examining this parable.  We know that we are saved from sin and death.  We know that the blood of Jesus has rescued us from condemnation.

 

There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.  Those are some powerful words. 

Those are incredibly powerful words, but we still need to consider the negative examples when they come our way in our Bible study.  The third servant gives us those negative examples.

 

He was governed by fear.  We have discussed fear many times and know that God wants us to be courageous and not afraid.  But for this brief examination, I want to look at the master’s disposition in dealing with the third servant.

 

His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So, you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest.

 

“‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.  For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

 

The third servant knew right away that when the master began labeling him wicked and lazy, things were not going to work out as he thought.  The master doesn’t just reprimand the servant, he examines his thinking.

 

Some people love me because I tend to examine the thinking.  Just as many people hate me for the same reason.  Back to the parable…

 

You knew that I gleaned a return even where I had not invested.  You knew that about me but you chose a course of action that produced no return.

 

You knew what I expected and you did the opposite.  How could this turn out for the good?  Really?  Did you see any good outcome in your choice?

 

So, you were afraid.  Is that it?  Have I ever valued fear in our relationship?  Have I taught you fear?  If you had fear of me, don’t you think that would have motivated you to please me—to produce some return for me?

 

You get better results with courage but if you were afraid of me then you should have considered that I would not accept anything short of some return on investment. 

 

You should have used your fear of me as motivation to please me and not something to debilitate you.

How could you accomplish this with so little courage?  You could have marched yourself right down the bank and put my money in a Certificate of Deposit.  At least I could have received some interest. That’s a no-brainer.

 

How hard would that be?  You didn’t have the backbone to invest like the other two servants, but you had everything that you needed to go to the bank and deposit my money in an interest-bearing account with no risk.

 

C’mon snowflake, even you could have done that!

 

We are usually in tune with what’s happening up to this point, but now the master says, “Take the money away from this servant and give it to the one who has the ten talents.”

 

Ouch!  Isn’t that being a little harsh?

 

Let’s remember that the money was a trust.  It really never belonged to the servants.  Remember the joy of the first two servants.  ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

 

See what I gained for you.  Here is what I did for you!  My joy is in pleasing you!

The third servant knew that the money belonged to his master, but he never moved beyond fear to realize that he was also a trusted servant.

 

One talent equaled the daily wage for a worker for 20 years.  That’s big-time money even when you are only trusted with one talent.  Today, what does the typical worker make?  If it’s on the low end, maybe $30,000 per year.  On the high end, perhaps $50,000 per year.  I’m not talking about supervisors and executives, but workers. 

 

So, one talent in today’s equivalent is between half a million and a million dollars.  That’s no chump change. 

 

There are other estimates but they also fall under the no chump change umbrella.

 

OK, so we get this is a big trust even for the third servant, but why take what little he has?

 

Think to Proverbs 13:22. 

 

A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children,

    but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

 

You may have heard the second part of that as the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just or the righteous. 

 

What else could the master do if he subscribed to biblical wisdom?  The wicked and lazy don’t get to keep what they have if they have anything at all.

 

Remember, the three parables in this chapter are told in response to the disciple asking about the end of the age.

 

Throughout the Psalms, the psalmists cry out on behalf of the people, “How long are you going to let people get away with defying you and living it up, Lord?”

 

The answer is that in the end, they do not get away with it.  Wealth won’t get you anything on the day of wrath, but righteousness is what saves you.

 

Part of the problem is that we have our own connotations of wicked.  Hollywood paints villains as ugly, menacing, and heartless doers of evil.  But we should look at wickedness as everything that is not good—everything that is not done or given or lived in God’s way.

 

There is no sitting on the fence in this dichotomy.  It’s God’s way and everything else.  If you are on the wrong side of the fence, you have earned the titles wicked or lazy or slothful.  Don’t get caught up in the Hollywood picture of a villain and think that’s what wickedness looks like.

 

The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous, so the decision to take the talent from the third servant was not nearly as harsh as that servant's decision to defy his master.

 

Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.  That was the message at First Light. God wants to give the faithful even more.

 

For now, there is God’s way and there is everything else.  Those living in the everything else, don’t get to enjoy their Master’s happiness.

 

Even what they have will be taken.

 

We are God’s way people.  We enjoy his happiness.

 

 

Amen.

God wants to give you more!

 Read Matthew 25:14-30

 

Consider the words: You wicked, lazy servant!  Now those are some words I don’t want to hear.

 

We don’t always understand this part in our modern mindset.  Hey, the guy just didn’t do well.  Why accost him and call him names—mean names at that?

 

Was he really wicked?  Lazy, that’s easier to swallow, but wicked, really?

To understand the parable, we should understand the Proverbs.  In macro view, they say there is God’s way and there is everything else.  What are the terms for everything else?

 

Wicked.

Sinful.

Slothful.

Lazy.

Foolish.

 

It’s a dichotomy:  Righteous or wicked.  There is no middle ground.  There is no fence-sitting.  It’s God’s way or everything else and everything else is labeled wicked.

 

We in this over-sensitized time don’t do well with distinct dichotomies, but there is good and evil.  There is right and wrong.  There is righteous and wicked.

 

We are usually in tune with what’s happening in the parable up to this point, but now the master says, “Take the money away from this servant and give it to the one who has the ten talents.”

 

Ouch!  Isn’t that being a little harsh?

 

Let’s remember that the money was a trust.  It really never belonged to the servants.  Remember the joy of the first two servants.  ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’

 

See what I gained for you.  Here is what I did for you!  My joy is in pleasing you!  I love being your servant and bringing you this good report.

 

The third servant knew that the money belonged to his master, but he never moved beyond fear to realize that he was also a trusted servant.

 

He only had one talent.  How can he be considered a trusted servant?

 

One talent equaled the daily wage for a worker for 20 years.  That’s big-time money even when you are only trusted with one talent.  Today, what does the typical worker make?  If it’s on the low end, maybe $25,000 per year.  On the high end, perhaps $50,000 per year.  I’m not talking about supervisors and executives or oilfield wages, but workers. 

 

So, one talent in today’s equivalent is between half a million and a million dollars.  That’s no chump change. 

 

Other estimates put a talent at $100,000 to half a million, but still: That’s no chump change. 

 

OK, so we get this is a big trust even for the third servant, but why take what little he has?

 

Think to Proverbs 13:22. 

 

A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.

 

You may have heard the second part of that as the wealth of the wicked is laid up for the just or the righteous. 

 

What else could the master do if he subscribed to biblical wisdom?  The wicked and lazy don’t get to keep what they have if they have anything at all.

 

This morning I want us to look at the wealth of the wicked being stored up for the righteous in the context of this parable.

 

The first servant had done very well.  We know this from the beginning of the parable.  He was trusted with more than the other two.  He produced more than the other two.  He put what the Master gave him and put it to work right away and produced a great return.

 

Today, it would take 10 years to double your money if you invested in something with a 7% interest or return.  The master was gone a long time, but I doubt it was 10 years, so this first servant surely made some aggressive investments that required much attention. 

 

He had to be diligent.  He had to be wise.  He had to be decisive but not impulsive.  His master trusted him in accordance with his ability.  He produced a fantastic return.

 

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

 

The second servant did likewise and received the same commendation from his master, but at the close of this parable, we see the first servant rewarded beyond all others.

 

So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough.

 

The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. 

 

This first servant took the money with which his master had trusted him and produced a good return.  He knew what he started with and what he produced.  But when the full accounting of these servants was finished, this first servant was given more.

 

The talent first trusted to the third servant was put in the first servant’s trust.  He was given more.  He had more and was given more.  He had more than enough.

 

Now both the first and second servant were also invited to share their master’s happiness.  They got a promotion and they were invited to be a part of their master’s happiness.

 

But the first servant got something extra.  So, the moral of the story is it pays to be number one!  That’s the ticket!  It’s dog-eat-dog even in the parables of Jesus. 

 

Or not.

 

All of the money still belonged to the master.  Even the 11^th talent received by the first servant still belonged to the master.  It’s not about how much you have.  It’s about what you do with it.

 

The first servant was now trusted with even more. 

 

In this parable, it has to do with money.  Money is something that we get—we can wrap our minds around it easily.  It’s not conceptual or reflective.  We can count and measure money.

 

Well, I used to be able to count and measure.  Now I just count out.  I have grandkids.

 

But we are trusted with so much more than money.  We lead and we serve.  We parent and look after parents.  We proclaim the good news and we are a light unto the world.

 

We are generous.  We are people of truth.  We are people of love and mercy.

 

We are disciples.  God has trusted us with following Jesus, taking the gospel to the world, and doing our best to live the right standing with God that we have received as a gift.

 

We can look at this parable and if we are not careful, we might think it’s about what we do that puts us in right standing with God, but it has nothing to do with what we have done.

 

God alone made us right with him.  He did all that was required.  We are receivers of his blessings.

 

Look at the religions of the world. They require their followers to do good, or follow certain rules, or a combination of both to get to heaven, or get to a state of Nirvana or reach a plane of consciousness or become nonexistent.

 

Everyone else is working their way to heaven.  Heaven has been given to us freely in the blood of Jesus.  We are receivers of this gift.

 

The world that believes in something else but thinks it can earn its way to heaven spends time doing things that get them there or so they believe.

 

We spend our time receiving what has been so freely given.  We want to receive more and more of the Kingdom of Heaven into our lives now.  Yes, there is more in store, but we are to receive God’s kingdom now.

 

Every time that we receive God’s kingdom and live in his kingdom, he gives us more of his kingdom.  God wants to add to what we have already received and put to work and refined and produced.

 

God wants to add to what we have.

 

When we receive the gift of salvation and decide to follow Jesus and put his words into practice, we should expect not only to please God but to be further blessed by him.

 

Sometimes this is with money.

 

Sometimes it is with Spiritual Gifts.

 

Sometimes it is with opportunities.

 

Sometimes it is with peace that is more than we can understand.

 

Sometimes it is wisdom that God grants generously.

 

Sometimes it is eyes to see and ears to hear in the midst of a chaotic world.

 

God wants to give us more!

 

God wants us to live an abundant life.

 

Some might be thinking that he is going to preach name it, claim it.    No, I am preaching about the abundant generosity of God.  God is looking for a reason to bless us.  God wants to give us good gifts, fantastic blessings, and this thing called abundant life.

 

I am talking about the abundant nature of our Master as he blesses those who follow him!

 

If God is for us, who can be against us?  Make no mistake that God is for us.  He has opened his kingdom to us.  He has saved us from wrath and punishment in the blood of Jesus and he is looking to bless us beyond what we might expect.

 

God wants to add to what we have for we are his trusted servants, his children, and his friends.

 

When we live every day God’s way, we should expect God’s blessings to continue even in our trials and tribulations.  We will have trouble in this world but take heart—take courage—Christ Jesus has overcome the world for us.

 

For those who consistently reject God’s way, even what they have will be taken and given to those living in right standing with God.  Are we talking about salvation here?  I don’t think so.  All three were trusted servants.

 

This parable deals with three trusted servants some random guys just off the street.

 

What about the wicked and lazy part?  I think we are talking about someone getting through this life as one escaping a burning house with only the scorched clothes on his back and having missed a few payments on his fire insurance.

 

Are we talking about rewards for the righteous?  Yes, to an extent.  But we are also talking about awards.  Rewards come in return for what is done.  Something awarded is an honor bestowed upon someone beyond the customary reward.  Awards consider what has been accomplished but is more about bestowing a greater blessing upon someone who is already enjoying the rewards of doing things right.

 

What do we take home here?

 

God made you right with him by the blood of Jesus.  That’s the biggest gift and blessing ever.

 

God wants you to do things his way and rewards those who do.

 

God wants to give over and beyond what might be expected.

 

God wants to give you more. 

 

We often look at what we are to do when we examine this parable.  That’s good.  We should—we should be faithful in a few things.  We should take what our Master gave us and be faithful to put it to work to produce a good return for the body of Christ and bring glory to God’s name.

 

This morning, however, I want us to focus on the generosity of God.  God wants to give you more.

 

It’s not like I want to earn God’s favor.  God has poured out his favor upon you!!!

 

The sun shines and the rains fall on the wicked as well as the righteous, but there are some things that God gives only to those seeking him and his righteousness.  God wants to give you more.

 

The question is, “Will we receive it?”

 

The Kingdom of Heaven has been opened to us.  We may live in this kingdom now.  We are not on our way there.  God’s kingdom has come to us.

 

God wants to give us more.  The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.  The wicked don’t want to live in God’s kingdom.  They want the benefits but are afraid to give up what they have in the world thinking it to be better than what God has in store for us.

 

There is nothing better than what God has in store for us!

 

I believe that we want to receive this kingdom now, but we must first stop believing the lies of the enemy, of the world, and of our own selfish nature.  God’s way is better than the way of the world. 

 

The world has a great advertising campaign going but God gives us truth.  And the truth is that God loves you.  He has called us to love one another.  He wants to bless us more and more.  He wants us living in his kingdom now where he is our only Master.  You cannot serve two masters.

 

You may look around at those in the world getting away with all sorts of scandalous things and wonder, will God let them get away with it, or how much longer will the wicked live the rich life?

 

Don’t worry.  What the wicked have, they don’t get to keep.  In fact, they are only holding it until it is given to us.  The wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous.

 

Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten talents.

 

Take the trust given to the wicked and entrust it to the righteous.

 

God wants to give you more than he has already.  Be ready to receive it.

 

Amen.