https://www.bible.com/events/49192298
Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg
What Does God Want from Me? Time
Live like the time you have is truly a gift.
What does God want from me?
When is the last time you considered that question?
That question matters, because it implies that God has expectations for us. He expects something of you.
We expect things from God, certainly. We are quick to remember those things:
God, help me
God, heal me
God, provide for me
God, bless me
God, lead me
We have expectations for God, but how often do we think about His expectations of us?
Throughout our series called, “The Talents”, we will reflect on one of the most well-known stories of Jesus to identify what God expects from each of us.
Matthew 25:14-30
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ “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 man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ “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!’ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “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.’
-First we have to notice that the servants in Jesus’s parable are given their talents. The master wasn’t obligated to give them anything. This is a gift. This is grace. Each servant received his talents by the grace of the master.
-So the first implication is clear: none of us has any ground for boasting in our “talents.” They are gifts. We didn’t earn them. We can’t really ‘deserve’ them.
-Second, God values highly the gifts he gives us.
-Certainly “less talented” servants might have envied “more talented” ones. But in reality, each servant received something of great value.
-We must not undervalue what we have been given. Some are given more, some are given less, but all are given much.
This isn’t only a story of money, or wealth, it’s a story of stewardship. God desires for us to be faithful stewards.
The issue of being faithful stewards of what we have isn’t just a suggestion or a nice idea. It is a requirement of God with dramatic consequences one way or the other.
This is a hard word from Jesus, but the parable really isn’t about God being “hard” or cruel.
This is a story about urgency
Examining the text around this story, it is clear that Jesus is responding to this question: How should we live as we prepare for Christ to return?
The answer is: with urgency. By acknowledging that each of us have been given valuable gifts, skills, abilities, and resources. And we will be held responsible for how we use them.
Ephesians 5:15-16
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:11-16
Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!
“Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!”
Just as Paul is admonishing the church in Ephesus, so we must be faithful stewards with our time.
The parable of the talents isn’t about doing more or achieving more. It’s about obeying more and loving more.
How often have you talked with someone on the telephone who seemed to be in a hurry and wanted to get on with more important business? Or visited with someone on the street and received that same hurried feeling? You’ve undoubtedly experienced it…and didn’t enjoy it. And, perhaps, you have also been guilty of this. If you have, why not decide to tithe time, save up chunks, bits and pieces of it, and give them away to people who interrupt your pre-established plans?
It is a great principle of love that people don’t interrupt, not really. Perhaps there shouldn’t even be such a word as interrupt; for when people come into your existence, even for a brief time, that is a wonderful moment of experience for both of you. Relish it. Probe it. Invest some of the time you have tithed. We can’t afford to indulge in the luxury of “being too busy and important” for another person.
We have time for such inanimate things as pieces of mail, vast sprawling shopping centers, the television program which starts at 7:30. But what about relationships with people? Isn’t that a great deal of what life is all about–loving other people? Remember Jesus? How he raced about, hurrying from one city to another, collecting great crowds on the way to give them a few minutes of hurried heaven-data, then dashing on to the next place?
No, that is not the picture of Jesus the New Testament gives. He had time for people. In a crowd, a woman touched his robe. Lots of people were probably pushing against him, touching his robe, but he discerned the urgency in this particular touch. He stopped, taking valuable time for this “interruption.” His disciples were full of fire and computer-like- efficiency. They wanted to get on with the task of getting something done, even if they didn’t always know what that “something” was.
Once a bunch of small, grimy-fingered kids came along and wanted to climb on the Master’s lap. “Get those kids out of here,” thought the goal-oriented disciples.
“No, let them stay. Let’s enjoy them and let them enjoy us,” thought the true-goal-oriented Man from heaven who knew and expressed the great worth of the individual.
The next time a person “interrupts” you, think not of your work and your deadlines; rather, think of that person’s needs, of his covert compliment in desiring to spend a few moments with you. Your meeting may be a significant point in each of your lives, because it is an encounter with another person God has created. you may impart something crucial to his fulfillment–or he to yours.
Paul prayed: “May God, who gives patience, steadiness, and encouragement, help you to live in complete harmony with each other–each with the attitude of Christ toward the other” (Rom. 15:5, TLB). Are you caught up on your time-tithe?
Monte Unger, NAVLOG, January, 1975.
Bottom Line:
Live like the time you have is truly a gift.
Verses for Further Study & Reflection:
Colossians 4:5
Luke 14:28
Psalm 39:4-5
John 9:4
Psalm 90:12
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