 Rev. Matthew J. Hook |
Prep
School
Sermon:
Scripture: |
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“I’m not a
doctor, but I play one on TV.” And people actually bought in
to it! Sales went up. I don’t know if that says more about
the power of the media or the weakness of the brains of people
who actually listen to the commercials. “I’m not a doctor,
but I’ve had acting lessons.” There was a
recent newspaper story about 28-year-old Mark Carver, a young
man who, at the time, was employed as a doctor and as an
assistant medical director in a major hospital. The problem,
it seems, was that Mark Carver had never gone to college or
medical school. He allegedly forged documents to get the job
as a doctor, and knew enough medical lingo to fool everyone
into thinking he was the real thing. If convicted, he’ll
spend seven years in jail acting like a prisoner (a position
for which he is much better qualified). Mark skipped
over a few steps to get where he thought he wanted to go. And
boy, isn’t that tempting? It’s hard to imagine doing what
Mark Carver did, but it’s easy to imagine things we want
right now, with no work. Quick fixes are very in. I think they
always have been. Unfortunately,
they are not in with God. Much of what
we see on earth is that God is in the prep-school business.
With each individual God takes time to move us along from
small assignments to larger ones, preparing us for more.
But God is not just preparing us. God is building us
into men and women of God. When God spoke
to Abram (Gen. 12), God was going to build a nation that would
act as priest and prophet for the other nations, ultimately
bringing in the Messiah, the one who would save the people.
Abram listened to God and moved. God changed his name to
Abraham. He adjusted his life. He believed God and trusted
God’s faithfulness. How long was it from that time to the
time that Isaac, the son of the promise, was born? Twenty-five
years! (Gen. 12:4, 21:5) Why did God take 25 years? Author Henry
Blackaby writes:
We want
something significant when it comes to God. We want to be the
one given five talents! In
other words, we’re saying “If I’m going to take this
God-stuff seriously, there better be something big waiting for
me.” So does that mean that we are to say yes to every
little thing that comes along? No. Whether the assignment
before you is large or small in your eyes, you still have to
search to see whether it is from God or not. That comes from
having a relationship with God. How do you
cultivate that relationship with God? The same way you do with
any other human relationship. You spend time. You enjoy each
other’s company. You try your best. When I think I am
frustrated with my relationships, it is usually because of
problems with my attitude, actions, willingness or
communication. I think that the servant given the one talent thought this way. He was given his talent of silver from his master (somewhere between 58 and 80 pounds), but he wouldn’t let that gift interrupt his plans. In his mind he probably wanted to serve his master, but he didn’t want anything to interfere with his own ideas. He couldn’t recognize the opportunity his master was giving him. Or maybe he didn’t want to serve his master, and he reasoned that the master might not be coming back at all. Notice how he was projecting his own unfaithfulness onto his master. I think the projection process has a lot to do with some people’s refusal to accept a loving, faithful God. They can’t imagine God not being like themselves. That third servant may have thought if his master does return someday, he could simply return the talent to the master without loss from any poor investment. Or, if the master failed to return, he wanted to be able to keep the talent for himself. He did not want to deposit the talent in a bank where it would be recorded that the talent belonged to the master. His reasoning indicated a lack of faith in the master. I believe he was projecting his own lack of faith onto his master. Do we do that? Henry Blackaby
writes again:
Here is the
great warning in this parable: If you are not willing to be
faithful with a little, God cannot give you a larger
assignment. If you are not willing to go through a little prep
school, God cannot expand your responsibilities and influence
for him. Another example: Only one person in this room has the ability and responsibility to play those drums like that. There is only one who has prepared, one who has put in the time. He didn’t put his time into leading worship at the drums, he invested his time into practicing repetitively (hopefully in his basement), over and over. It was a small assignment (to practice) that God has blessed and multiplied. How many of us say to ourselves, “I wish I could play the piano.” “I wish I could play tennis like that.” “I wish I could understand computers like that.” And yes, some people have some natural abilities in certain areas. That’s why Jesus talks about servants with five, two, and one talent. But how many of us are willing to put in the time when the master is away? And each of us is given the same amount of hours in a day. How will you invest your time? What will you invest in? Is it really worth all the time you are spending? Notice Jesus
talks about what the two faithful servants did. They invested
the master’s talents. They
were realistic in whose resources they were handling. People
knew those two servants were using their master’s talents
and gifts. They invested themselves in their master’s work.
And listen to the result of their time and energy, promised by
their master: “Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have been trustworthy in
a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter
into the joy of your master.” They
experienced the joy of their master. Do you know what that is
in our lives? The joy of the Lord, that cannot be taken away
by anything external in our lives. Joy that goes deeper than
happiness. Joy that is based on an internal relationship,
apart from everything else going on. We should not be happy in
every circumstance, but we are called to be joyful in every
circumstance. And
what a way to go! They were a part of a bigger operation. They
went beyond being slaves of their circumstances to
participation in great things, because they were faithful in
the little things. And the third
servant? Let the master’s words speak for themselves: “As
for this worthless servant, throw him into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
He hadn’t killed anybody. He hadn’t robbed any
banks. He hadn’t willfully hurt anybody. But he neglected
the talent, the resources that were entrusted to him. That’s
how seriously God takes our responsibility and our stewardship
of what we’ve been given. And Jesus also said, “And from everyone who has been given much, shall much be required;
and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the
more.” (Luke 12:48) That convicts me. I hate the
Lotto. I hate the casino. Not because I wouldn’t like them,
but because of all the people they hurt, who think you can get
something for nothing. And remember it’s the same with our
faith. In Christianity, God does give us something for
nothing. God gives us the gift of eternal life for us
realizing there is nothing we could do to deserve it. God
wants to do great things through you. God also needs time to
prepare you to be the kind of person that he can trust with a
big project. Don’t skip over this point. You were designed for the Kingdom work of God! God wants to use you to impact this world in an eternal way. And Jesus has shown us how he works. God prepares you with the small things. Not just for your sake alone, but also for the sake of those he wants to reach through you. For their sake, give yourself the kind of relationship with God that will help you to experience him. Find a Bible study. Find a growth group. Get involved with serving. Get to know God by your own experience. Don’t let this hour be all your experience for the week. Put God in the forefront of your mind this week, and experience God personally. That will be your prep school. Let us pray: Jesus, I make you Lord of my life so you can interrupt any time. I will respond immediately, even though I may not see the purpose in what you are asking me to do, trusting that you are making me the man I need to be. Lord, make all of us the people you need us to be. Guide us to opportunities that let you interrupt our busy schedules. Help us to be faithful. Help us invest ourselves wisely. And Lord, we pray for a glimpse of the joy that you promised is waiting for us. Thank you, Lord. In your name we pray. Amen.
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