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Yes, I know, I skipped a week. There are two reasons for that, one being that I was in Maine last weekend burying my ex-father-in-law. The other is due to a technical glitch or personal error of the volunteer who downloads services to the Church website each week. Whatever the case, week #6 accidentally got loaded twice. And so we wait for the update since I told the Church receptionist on Wednesday... Trust that I will stay on top of it!!
On a personal level, last weekend was emotional. Art had been my father-in-law for nearly 19 yrs. and part of my life for 20. Pastor Wayne did not end up officiating, but he did speak along with others who shared. We were just grateful for his presence and that everything went smoothly for the ceremonies. Aside from that, it was a great time of family sharing time together. Quiet week on the home-front, although I've seen evidence that Sheila is still in process of clearing out. I suppose it's hard when you're limited to 1 or 2 service workers that can only come twice a week. I pray God's best for her and pray that my next neighbor will be a blessing. (or at least not disruptive) Rob and I are settling in to our balanced friendship decently. We spent some time sharing a meal and hanging out Monday evening. It was good. Mike's and my relationship continues to thrive in spite of being long-distance. We are both equally grateful for, yet inevitably frustrated by the technology that enables our face-time when he can't visit. We both have faith that God will bring His provision in His timing so we can be together eventually. Continued prayer for the rest of my family, including Rich, as he faces life in an empty house until things come around for him and Stephanie*. Jeremy continues to look to the Philippines and Sharon. Pray for wisdom and provision that the right decisions be made either for him to move there or her being here.
How many of you love the beach?? It's a proven "stress-buster" due to the salty air. Sadly, despite having lived in a coastal state all my life*, I can count the different beaches I've swam at (swum at??) on one hand. Hampton, NH, York, ME, East Haven, Conn, and Groton Long Point, Conn. The actual count at each is as follows, 2x, 1x, 4 or 5, and 1x. So even then I barely need both hands... ;p As always, you'll see the connection as you go through the message...
Today's sermon was delivered by our recently appointed Assistant Pastor, Joe Ercoli. I pray you are equally blessed by his message as by any others. Turn with us to Matt. 25 for this installment of Everyday Yes!! If you want, you could also turn to Psalm 118, which Pastor Matt read during his comments.
Matthew 25:14-30
New International Version
The Parable of the Bags of Gold 14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 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.’ 21 “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!’ 22 “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.’ 23 “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!’ 24 “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. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “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? 27 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. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 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. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
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I have to say up front that I never used to like this passage. It seemed unfair to me; but now that I'm seeing it in a different light, I appreciate it for what it truly means. I did a bit of "digging" ahead of today's blog entry and found a couple of useful insights, one of which I experienced first hand at a former Church, and the other which I'll share below. The first one involved a gross manipulation by creating financial fear. The other is an encouraging insight as to Eternal Security*.
So the first thing to understand about parables is that they are not just "simplistic stories" Jesus told to anyone who would listen. They were really more like "houses" He invites us to explore. We can enjoy everything from the interior design to the view out the windows. Whatever we need at any given time will be there to find because that's the kind of God we serve. One Who meets us where we are and shares His goodness with all who ask.
In this story, we have four major elements. Let's look at them together --
The Master -- Clearly represents Jesus* as the concepts of coming, calling, expectations while away, and return, are all in play here.
Servants -- Hi, hello, yes, I'm here!! The servants are all Christians. In looking at this element, Pastor Joe turned it "upside down", as it were. Rather than what we are called into, he explored what were were called out of. In light of this, there are 3 main questions that people tend to ask when it comes to the basis for our lives.
Who am I?? -- Self-actualization. We see ourselves as an "island", independent and self-sufficient.
What is my purpose?? Why am I here?? -- We tend toward self-fulfillment. What makes me happy?? We build our lives as we see fit. There is an interesting quote relating to this that reads as follows -- "It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."— C.S. Lewis The Weight of Glory
Where do I belong?? Where is my "tribe"?? -- In this, we are easily lured into the comfort zone of the old saying that, "Birds of a feather flock together." (my thought) Pastor Joe expressed the idea of an echo chamber because we tend to "gather in" with people who are like-minded and possibly even similar appearance as ourselves. Human nature is inherently divisive in many things, but if we explore even a little bit outside our "echo chamber" we can learn and grow. As we do that, we can become the true community of believers God always intended us to be.
Jesus has responses to all of these through His eyes -- We are Children of God as we accept His Salvation. Our purpose lies in loving Him and each other according to the Golden Rule. And finally, our belonging, our "Tribe" is the Family of God as part of the church universal.
3. Wealth -- This is where one of my former Churches got it wrong. This passage is not inherently about money even though that is the theme presented in the analogy. It is about sharing The Gospel until Christ returns. The wealth represented here is considerable*, but one of the true riches Jesus is talking about here are the rewards of Salvation. It is God's lasting purpose to save us from ourselves and our inevitable failures and have eternal joy and peace with Him. In order to accomplish this, He requires our help to share His love to others in our lives*. Another one of God's riches is The Holy Spirit*. It is only with His aid we are empowered to live Godly lives and make wise decisions in light of that goal. The third element of the riches listed here is Opportunities. We are specially positioned by God to share our lives with those we can best witness to and/or encourage in our faith. Just by sharing our stories with others, we bring witness of God's love and mercy. All of it, "the good, the bad, and the ugly", if you will. Not all of it to everyone, obviously, but the point is that there will always be some part that will help someone at some time. That's part of the Holy Spirit's job, to guide and direct us as to what to say to different people. We just can't be like the 3rd man in the story and not be willing to try.
We have to put ourselves out there, knowing that Jesus is with us every step of the way. Only then will we be truly able to live according to who we are in Him. Of course, in order to use these gifts according to God's individual purposes for each of us, we need to know and understand what they involve. There are passages to explore on this which I'll share below.*
At this point in the service, Pastor Joe pulled out a container of damp beach sand from their family outing this past week. I'm not actually sure where they're from, but they've never lived in a coastal state before. This was a new experience for all of them. He originally pulled it out back at the CS Lewis quote and just made a "mud pie lump" in his hands, but now he pulled out the castle making mold. He stood over it talking about how his 2 older boys (ages 4 and 2) (the youngest is about 10 months, I think) were exploring the beach and inevitably bumping into each other as they played. (bumping builds grace) In the course of this, he encouraged the boys to work together on a sand castle. Joe went on to express that there are certain risks and dangers in visiting the beach and that he was vigilant about them with the boys. (as much as possible, anyway) :P But there's the dangers of sunburn, drowning, and even of rocks being thrown by little brothers. (or whomever else life presents us with) These are the costs and challenges of life at the beach. But then we look at the rewards of fellowship which brings encouragement, and the refreshing wind of the Holy Spirit. (Ruach HaKodesh in Heb.) In the Bible, this term is used multiple times, including in the Creation Story as a force of nature that brings order and beauty.
If we look at our lives as a seacoast, we can see the advantages of working together to build "sand castles" of beauty by the grace of God to share His love with others. We look to the Church for ways to help our communities*. We look at the small groups within the Church to meet specific needs for different age groups. And finally, to our own homes as we realize the rewards of molding our kids to the likeness of Jesus rather than focusing on our "self-fulfillment" of so-called "success" in our careers or education. Of course, those without kids can look at mentoring those of others or follow whatever other leading the Lord shows them.
4. Motivation -- It is human nature to desire rewards for our efforts. This is where we look at the differences between the first two servants and the third. What we see is 2 who were duly rewarded for their respective efforts to increase the wealth and 1 whose fear of being punished for a mistake prevented him from doing anything to increase what he had been given. Instead, he "played it safe" and hid it so at least he didn't lose any of it. The word "wicked" here literally meant, "no progress" or "no increase". (after all, what was the point of giving the money/talent if not to be used??) The word "lazy" as used here meant, "hesitant". This is where the fear of making a mistake comes in. If not entirely doing "right", at least he wasn't taking the risk of doing wrong. The first two were laboring "from love" rather than "for love". It's clear that the perspective of the 3rd man was wrong concerning the Master and it's a sad commentary on any Church who leads people to believe this way*.
Because that's not the life Jesus invites us into. He invites us to rule and reign in this world in spite of the dangers and risks. We just need to remember that He goes ahead of us at all times and will be with us as we navigate the burns, waves, and rocks.
Pastor Joe closed the service with a brief story of a 9th grade failure that ended up later leading to a College victory. In 9th grade, there had been a two stanza poem he was supposed to memorize and recite in front of the class. When his turn came, his mind went blank and he ended up crying in defeat and embarrassment. At that moment, he felt it ironic that his last name, "Ercoli" is Italian for "Hercules" lol By the time he entered College, or around that time, he found the Lord and got Saved. As he decided on his future, he felt a calling to teach the Word of God. Speaking in front of a crowd still doesn't come easily to him, but as he said, it's a case of "want to" as opposed to "have to" because God's grace is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Cor. 12:8-10) -- God Bless!!
Footnotes --
Rich and Stephanie -- we've known Stephanie for a long time, originally as the gf of a nearby neighbor at the time. They've been engaged since last August. She still lives locally with her 2 daughters.
I've lived in NH all my life other than going to Job Corps in Vermont from 1990-1992.
Insight to Eternal Security -- I realized upon reflection after Church today that this passage could potentially signify loss of salvation if used as a "stand alone" scripture. So I looked for commentaries. One, I mentioned above, labelled it as one of the Bible's most abused passages. Another seemed more on track, but focused on the money aspect in terms of Christian investing. The following is what I copied and pasted from the writings of British Theologian, Matthew Henry because it supports my belief in Eternal Security. After reading it, I think you'll agree. (mind you, this is just a 'snippet' from the entire article)
"Covering the transgression, as Adam, who implicitly laid the fault on God himself; The woman which thou gavest me. Note, Carnal hearts are apt to conceive false and wicked opinions concerning God, and with them to harden themselves in their evil ways. Observe how confidently he speaks; I knew thee to be so. How could he know him to be so? What iniquity have we or our fathers found in him? Jer. 2:5. Wherein has he wearied us with his work, or deceived us in his wages? Mic. 6:3. Has he been a wilderness to us, or a land of darkness? Thus long God has governed the world, and may ask with more reason than Samuel himself could, Whom have I defrauded? or whom have I oppressed? Does not all the world know the contrary, that he is so far from being a hard master, that the earth is full of his goodness, so far from reaping where he sowed not, that he sows a great deal where he reaps nothing? For he causes the sun to shine, and his rain to fall, upon the evil and unthankful, and fills their hearts with food and gladness who say to the Almighty, Depart from us. This suggestion bespeaks the common reproach which wicked people cast upon God, as if all the blame of their sin and ruin lay at his door, for denying them his grace; whereas it is certain that never any who faithfully improved the common grace they had, perished for want of special grace; nor can any show what could in reason have been done more for an unfruitful vineyard than God has done in it. God does not demand brick, and deny straw; no, whatever is required in the covenant, is promised in the covenant; so that if we perish, it is owing to ourselves.
2. The spirit of a slave; I was afraid, This ill affection toward God arose from his false notions of him; and nothing is more unworthy of God, nor more hinders our duty to him, than slavish fear. This has bondage and torment, and is directly opposite to that entire love which the great commandment requires. Note, Hard thoughts of God drive us from, and cramp us in his service. Those who think it impossible to please him, and in vain to serve him, will do nothing to purpose in religion.
[2.] His Lord’s answer to this apology. His plea will stand him in no stead, it is overruled, nay, it is made to turn against him, and he is struck speechless with it; for here we have his conviction and his condemnation." (Quotation marks added)
4. The Master clearly representing Jesus -- one article I looked at said that it wasn't possible due to the fact that charging interest was against Jewish Law. I sent back a reply in the feedback as to why they were wrong, citing Jesus' death and resurrection as rendering the Jewish Law null and void. I still need to go back and add the insights of this blog entry as to the Master's coming, calling, expectation, and return. Not to mention that Jesus never told a Parable that wasn't about Him!! ;p (or at least about His Kingdom)
5. The wealth in today's terms would be in the millions. In Jesus' day, the first servant basically got 100 yrs wages, the 2nd 20 yrs., and the 3rd, one year. In relation to this explanation, Henry also presents the idea that each man was given the "money" or "talent" according to his individual abilities. We are not expected to achieve more than God gives us. We should not compare ourselves to others in our perceived "success" in Christianity. That "success" is going to look different for everyone. We are only responsible for what we are capable of handling. Stop beating yourself up over it and just do what you're able.
6. Share His love to others in our lives -- Remember what we said a few weeks back in our Great Commission message, "in your going"... It's not about becoming a Missionary or Evangelist (unless that's your gift) but it is about doing your best everyday to live as Jesus wants.
7. Holy Spirit -- Matthew Henry's commentary also brought out the original Greek word, "parakatatheke" which means literally, "great depositum" or "good thing" that God gave us. He references 1 Tim. 6:20 and 2 Tim. 1:14.
8. The passages Pastor Joe listed for Spiritual Gifts are as follows: Rom. 12:1-8, 1 Cor. 12, and Eph. 4:1-13. (I would add 1 Cor. 14 as well) We had a series on the Roles early last year. (Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher, Apostle) The Gifts (healing, prophecy, etc) are a separate thing and may be given to people regardless of their gifted role. Our Church doesn't get into the Gifts so much as the Roles, unfortunately.
9. Help for communities -- Our Church founded CityHope to aid the homeless here in Concord, NH
10. Churches who lead people to believe that God is harsh -- Joe sadly grew up in a Church like this, which, I believe, explains why he wasn't Saved until College. This collaborates with Henry's commentary that the third man wasn't Saved or he would have had a proper perspective on God's love.
Music -- Never any rights --
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