(This sermon was preached the Sunday after the sex abuse scandal broke at Penn State University. The news has effected everyone in our community (10 miles from PSU) and this message is an attempt to speak to a difficult situation. My hope and prayer is that will be quick to listen and pray and slow to speak.)
One word that has come up again and again through the events of this week has been the word response. Whether it is the lack of response of people when they heard allegations of abuse, or the response of the Penn State Board of Trustees to a crisis, the response of students to all the news and events of the week, the response of a team called on to play a football game under difficult circumstances or the response of a community shocked and saddened by what is unfolding around us, response is the word that has been coming back to me again and again and I think it is the word which stands at the heart of Jesus parable of the talents.
In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the story of three servants who have all been given something very valuable by their master. While it is unclear exactly how much money we are talking about here, a talent of money was a huge sum. One talent may have been as much as 20 years worth of wages for a day laborer, so 5 talents could have been the equivalent to 100 years worth of wages, but the point of the story isn’t how much money they were given, it is that each servant was given of something of great value and when the master returned he wanted to know how responsible the servants had been with the resources entrusted to them. For the master, the key wasn’t the results, he wasn’t looking for a specific sum of money on his return, what mattered was if the servants had been responsible. How did they respond to the gift given to them? The focus of Jesus story isn’t the end result; it isn’t that the good servants doubled the money given to them, the question is were they good stewards of what God gave them. The question for us is, are we good stewards of all that God has given to us? What is our response to the treasure God has given us?
Now when I talk treasure here I am not primarily talking about money, I’m talking about all the resources that God has given us. God has given us the gift of life and so one of the greatest treasures we have is time. Do we use our time wisely? Do we make the most of every day and ever hour that God gives us? When opportunities to help those in need around us become available do we take the time to do it? When people are hurting and need someone to listen to them do we take the time to sit and allow them to share their burdens and pain? When someone needs encouragement do we take the time to offer words of hope and inspiration?
One of the amazing things about Jesus is that as focused and driven as he was in his mission of teaching, preaching and revealing to people the power and love of God, he also took the time to reach out to individuals who came to him. Jesus was always willing to allow himself to get interrupted by the needs of people. One day as Jesus was teaching a man was lowered into the house in front of him with the hope that Jesus would heal him. Jesus allowed his agenda and schedule for the day to be interrupted and he didn’t just heal the man, he forgave him as well. When Jesus was travelling the crowds would press in around him and again he would stop and offer healing and forgiveness to the unnamed people who came to him. When the disciples didn’t want Jesus to be distracted by the children, it was Jesus who didn’t see the children as a distraction – they were worthy of his time and attention. Jesus spent his time wisely, he took the time to listen and care for people and we need to ask ourselves if we are being responsible with the time God has given us. There are a lot of people in our community right now that just need to talk and share and maybe the best use of our time is to just listen.
God has also given each of us unique skills, abilities and passions that he calls us to use for his purpose. Each servant in Jesus story received a different amount of money – they each received a unique talent and so do we, we all have been given something valuable and unique, what is our response to these gifts? One of the most challenging times of my life was when I was working as a theater manager but knew that I needed to think more seriously about going into ministry which meant going to seminary. My Dad actually used this very parable to challenge me to not take the gift of faith given to me by God and a passion to serve God and people and not just bury that all because I didn’t want to go back to school. He challenged me to use the talents and passions God had given me wisely. God has given each of us different skills, talents, interests and passions and God will hold us accountable to how we use these gifts and again, God isn’t interested in how successful we are with them, it’s not the results that matter, it’s our response. Are we willing to just step out in faith and begin to use what God has given us for His purpose and glory?
Now being responsible with God’s gifts doesn’t mean we all go into full time ministry – it may mean stepping up to serve in some capacity in the church or in our community. Maybe it means working with children or visiting those who are sick or lonely. If the gift God has given us is music maybe a good response is to agree to sing in the choir or share our music in the schools or in nursing homes. We all have some skill, interest or experience to share and use for God’s glory and we need to make sure we are not burying this gift but taking steps of faith to use it for God and in ways that help God’s people.
In the parable Jesus tells the gift given to the servants is money and so we need to be honest and ask ourselves if we are being responsible with the financial treasure God has given us. The Bible is clear that God calls for a tenth of our income to be returned to Him as an offering (Malachi 3:10-12). If we are looking at our checkbooks and realizing that our response to the money God has given us is not good – if we are in debt, overdrawn and living beyond our financial means or simply not giving God the gifts he calls for, then our first response should be to tithe and begin to get our financial house in order. God has promised that when we step out in faith and give him what he calls for – he will provide for us. He may not provide all we want – but we will have what we need.
Many times we think that time, talents and financial treasures are the only gifts God has given us, but the truth is that none of these are the most valuable – the most valuable gift God has given us is the gift of faith. God has not only revealed to us who He is, he has given us the knowledge of his love and grace and power. God has shown us that there is salvation and eternal life through faith and trust in Jesus Christ. God has blessed us with the gift of the church – the body of Christ – a community that brings hope and peace and encouragement to the world. God has given us this gift of faith and maybe more than any other gift today God is asking us how we will respond to this gift. Are we hording it for ourselves or investing it in others? Have we buried our faith it our own hearts or are we willing to share it with others with the hope that it brings more people into a relationship with God and into a relationship with the body of Christ – the church.
What we have seen this week is that we live in a broken and hurting world where people need the gift of faith. People need the grace and power and truth of God. Our broken and hurting community needs the comfort and peace of God and as God’s people we need to respond to the needs of the people around us and share the healing and hope that our faith provides. Are we sharing with others our belief in a God who brings healing and strength and new life to those who are broken and broken hearted? Are we sharing with people our faith in a God who calls for justice and yet offers mercy? Are we sharing with family, friends and neighbors our faith that the peace and love of God are greater than any force of evil or injustice in this world and that this peace and love can make a difference in our lives and bring healing to a hurting community? One of the most powerful and healing moments of this week was a moment of faith when players from Nebraska and Penn State knelt to pray. They not only drew upon their faith to bring healing, but they shared that faith for a world to see.
As we think about the response God is looking for from us today I want to take us back to our core values as a church. The core values of the church and of our church are to connect, serve and grow. Today, in the midst of all that is going on around us, we can make a difference in our community by helping people connect to God and to one another and we do this by reminding people that even in the midst of pain and suffering – God is right here with us. Maybe we need that reminder right now. Last week we heard from Isaiah 43 that when we go through difficult times, God is with us. Little did we know last Sunday how severe that fire or flood would be, but my hope is that there have been moments this past week when we have experienced the presence and power and peace of God and because we have experienced this for ourselves we can now share God presence, peace and power with others. When the future looks uncertain or we are feeling disappointed and disillusioned we need to remember and proclaim that God is still with us.
A faithful response to sharing our faith is to also serve those in need around us and we can serve people best right now by being willing to pray and listen. We need to pray for the victims of abuse, all victims of abuse because what we have seen and heard about this week brings up painful memories for all those who have been abused during their lives. We need to pray for all those involved and be willing to listen to those who are really struggling to make sense out of what is going on. As I have listened to people this week I have been amazed at how many people in our church and community are connected to different people involved in this situation. Just about everyone is connected to someone somewhere because the Penn State family is a big one and so right now there is a lot of pain. We need to listen to people when they are angry, disappointed and disillusioned and it is important for us to be quick to listen and pray and maybe slow, thoughtful and prayerful when we actually speak. Reading comments this week I fear that we talk too much and too quickly we end up saying things we might not want to say. I’ve read many words this week that do not reflect the depth of our faith and trust in God and so we need to choose our words carefully and spend more time listening and praying than actually speaking.
A faithful response to God will also be for us to grow deeper in our own faith by seeking God ourselves in the midst of the storm. We need to learn more about God’s teaching of grace and mercy as well as truth and justice. We need to allow our own hearts and lives to be shaped by God’s hand so that God can use us to help others. I believe that God wants to be at work in our lives, in our church and in our community right now in some very powerful ways. We have an opportunity to commit ourselves to those things that really matter, get our focus and perspective back on God and evaluate our lives to see how we are responding to the gifts God has given us. We can never forget that in Jesus story the master returned and all of the servants had to stand before him and given an account of what they did with the riches they were given and so will we. We will all have to stand before God someday and tell God how we responded to all that God has given us. I don’t know about you, but that is a sobering thought, I’m just thankful for the opportunity today and in the days ahead to revaluate my response and make changes that will honor God and the gifts God has given me.
For the past week we have been caught up in a whirlwind of how others have responded to various situations and so it is a good time for us to think about our response to God, to the gifts God has entrusted to us and to the faith that God has called us to share with others. It is in times like this that our faith needs to shine. It is in times like this that God is calling us to make the most of all he has given us. As the church – what will be our response? To children who need comfort and a community that needs healing – what will be our response? As servants and followers of Jesus who will one day stand before our master to give an account, what will be our response?
Next Steps
Connect
• Reflect on the following: Psalms 23, Psalm 139, and Isaiah 43:1-4, which remind us that at all times, God is with us. Share this good news to others.
• Pray for healing and hope for all in our community especially the victims of abuse and their families.
Serve
• Listen to the concerns, disappointments, fears and frustrations of others.
• Be quick to listen and pray and thoughtful when we speak.
Grow
• Take an inventory of our life to make sure we are responding faithfully to God’s generous gifts of time, talent and financial treasure.
• Step out in faith and find new ways to use God’s gifts according to God’s will.
Listen Online!
Visit www.bellefontefaith.com to listen to these sermons online.