Read: Matthew 25:14-30
The first challenge this verse presents us works against our very idea of what it means to be a person in the 21st century. This verse tells us a few things:
We aren’t the master in charge of our lives.
Our resources (time, talent, treasure, jobs, families, etc) aren’t ours.
There is an expectation of a return on God’s investment.
But God is the kind of God who can gather where he hasn’t scattered.
God desires to see his Kingdom spread and will work to ensure our faithfulness if fruitful. We cannot fail so long as we pursue faithfulness.
The second challenge this verse presents us with is that some of us are more talented and capable than others and God expects a proportionate response to our capabilities.
The Apostle Paul was a well-known, talented, intelligent, multi-national, theological heavyweight. Many of us can list out several of his deeds.
But who can tell me what the Apostle Philip did?
His main ministry act was bringing Nathaniel (another Apostle) to Jesus.
We can make some assumptions about what Philp did with his life, based on his role as an Apostle but ALL of his work post-resurrection is known only to those he ministered to and God himself.
What does this mean?
Some of us are endowed with gifts that will cause us to do much and suffer much for the sake of the Kingdom like Paul. We must be content with this.
Others of us are endowed with gifts that will cause us to live largely unnoticed, quiet lives of faithfulness to God known only by God and those blessed to know us. We must be content with this.
Remember! One is not greater than the other. We are all called, justified, sanctified, and glorified through the Son of God and Man himself - Jesus Christ. We are called to pour ourselves out for God. Let Him decide when and if to raise us up. Do not revere the talented, because he is talented. Revere him because he is faithful. Do not revile the quiet, faithful, background workers because they are not outspoken and loud. Instead, honor both because of their faithfulness to Christ. Do not fixate on your recognition or platform. Instead, glory that God has blessed you, and take joy in the work he has apportioned to you. Whether or not anyone ever knows you’ve done it.
Think & Pray:
What & who has God given to me to steward? What opportunities are available to me?
What would it look like to live as if God was the kind of God who loved to bless faithfulness, who produces growth out of nothing, and who has called us to be faithful and fruitful? What would I do differently?
Do:
Repent of any lethargy or laziness in being faithful to what God has given you. Confess your sin, and accept Christ’s forgiveness. Set aside your guilt and shame and false ideas about yourself so that you can follow Christ faithfully into what he’s calling you to as a Child of God, confident that he is faithful.
After praying through these things and repenting, list out what actions you will take to better invest your time, talents, and resources on behalf of the Kingdom. Not goals. Actions. What changes for you moving forward and why? If you must tell someone, make sure they’re willing to check in on your progress and join you in your efforts to faithfully serve.
Read: James 2:14-26
Genuine Faith is Fruitful. Ja 2:14-17
Motion =/= Faithfulness.
It is possible to be doing very much that seems to be good, but is motivated by something other than faith in Christ. Even to do what God calls good, but not out of an overflow of communion with him. “You have faith; I have deeds.” Ja 2:18
Rahab teaches us that small faithful acts, are not unseen by God.
She’s a prostitute.
She encounters the people of God and believes in God.
She sneaks out the Israelites who came in to spy before taking over her city.
She’s credited as righteous.
Faithfulness =/= the amount of action we take, but instead is the fruit of rightly seeing and believing God. The first step to faithful living is seeing God. The next step is living as if you’ve actually seen him.
Think & Pray:
Have I recently settled into some spiritual coasting?
How is my faith working itself out into the world?
Pray through the motivations behind your actions. Don’t fall into navel-gazing. Endlessly questioning yourself isn’t a spiritual gift. Simply take some time and prayerfully reflect on your daily/weekly/monthly life and assess what you’re doing in response to spending time with God and what you’re doing out of some other ambition.
Grab a spouse, a friend, a mentor or a pastor and ask them for honest feedback on your life. Where might you be blind to some sin that needs tending to or some slack in your walk? Peter tells us that it’s possible to be blinded by our sin, to not even see areas of blindness we possess. We need others to be faithful Christian men and women, teenagers, and children.
Do:
Again, make a list of actions you will take over the coming days, weeks, and months to align your life with the reality that God has called you to be fruitful. He has called you to sink your roots deeply into the Wellspring of Life and to take that nourishment and produce fruit of righteousness. Assess where God has you and make a plan trusting God to bless you as he sees fit.
Read: Galatians 6:1-10
Growing weary…
That’s a lot of “doing.” How do we do all that doing without overdoing it?
Hope in Christ.
He who is promised is faithful.
Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust can not destroy.
Settle your heart in Christ.
He says “Come to me all who are weary and I will give you rest.”
Know and be known by your fellow Christians. Open up your home. Open up your life. Let people in. Let God’s people in. Be inconvenienced for their sake. Let them be inconvenienced for your sake.
But then they will see beyond the act I put on at Church, or work, or out in public?!
Exactly.
You who are spiritual or who live by the Spirit, restore them gently but watch yourself unless you’re tempted. Carry each other’s burdens.
In this way you WILL fulfil the law of Christ.
The Christian life is not a solo act.
You will grow weary if you’re doing it alone.
You will fall into sin and temptation and perhaps be blinded by it.
You will forget the rich mercy, grace, and provision of God if you go it alone.
You will miss the trees for the forest, and get caught up in zeal not birthed from Christ if you do not have guardrails in your life.
Who are they?
What access do they have to your life?
Who have you let in?
Perhaps the most important thing you can do today is two-fold.
Believe in Christ & throw yourself into his body.
Will you get hurt? Possibly.
But you’ll get hurt alone as well.
Will you hurt others? Almost certainly.
But no grievance you could cause is greater than the forgiveness made available to you through the Cross of Christ.
Will you have to set aside some personal dreams and visions? Possibly.
But everything offered to Christ is raised to life eternally.
Will you have to fight your flesh to do things God has called you to do for the sake of others? Absolutely.
Will you suffer more? Possibly. Paul certainly did. And yet it was Paul who said:
“And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:17-18
Because of the cross, all of your suffering for the sake of the Kingdom is not wasted. Not one tired night goes unnoticed. All of it will be taken up into the hands of God and used to bring about the eternal Kingdom of God.
Your master has given you talents and gifts. Spend them. Go to bed exhausted and content.
Invest it all because you know he’s the kind of master who reaps where he doesn’t sow.
Pour out your life as you are filled up with the fullness of Christ. Let your life be a fruitful offering to God, an overflow of abiding in Him.
Do not grow weary.
He who has promised is faithful, Hebrews tells us. If you are weary or stuck in sin and alone, open up. Invite others in. If you are satisfied and content, open up your heart and your door and invite others in, humbly and graciously. This is what it means to live a fruitful life. To live as if God formed us, Christ rescued us and the Spirit empowers us. Don’t leave anything on the field and fall into the arms of Christ. He has redeemed us. He is sustaining us. And he will use it all for his glory and our joy forever. Amen?
