Nov. 16, 2014
Matt. 25:14-30
Story: Waking Up for Church
One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church, to which he replied, "I'm not going." "Why not?" she asked. "I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "One, they don't like me, and two, I don't like them."
One Sunday morning, a mother went in to wake her son and tell him it was time to get ready for church, to which he replied, "I'm not going." "Why not?" she asked. "I'll give you two good reasons," he said. "One, they don't like me, and two, I don't like them."
His mother replied, "I'll give YOU two good
reasons why you SHOULD go to church. One, you're 54 years old, and two, you're
the pastor!"
Prayer
No… I've never felt like this… sure.... :)
We are familiar with the
image on the screen as a commercial for a credit card company where they offer
cash back as an incentive to acquire their card. The tag line… “What’s in Your
Wallet?” No… we’re not going to talk about money… maybe sort of.
One could get the same
impression from our bible story today that Jesus tells, which by the way seems
pretty cut & dry. Jesus tells another story about what the kingdom of God
is like where 3 people are given some money. Jesus doesn't tell them what to do
with it… but assume they will put it to good use.
Two of them invest the money
and double it. Talk about expectations… or a great ponzi scheme….
One with 5,000 coins earns another 5,000
The one with 2,000 earns another 2,000
The 3rd guy is fearful and decides to play
it safe, so he buries his 1,000 coins.
The owner returns… praises
the 2 guys for doing well and the 3rd guy gets chewed on… “You lazy
good for nothing!!” and probably some expletives thrown in for good measure too. The story ends with Jesus saying, “You are a worthless
servant, you will be thrown into the dark where people will cry & grit
their teeth in pain.” Other translations say, “Where there will be weeping
& gnashing of teeth.”
So… on the surface… one could
see how the story works…
God is the
owner…
God gives
people opportunities…
God expects
a return…
God punishes
if you do nothing…
In other words… one could
conclude if you don’t earn something for God… your toast. And… you don’t have
to go very far to see this at work within some Christian circles… where some
believe if you take part in watching certain movies, alcohol consumption, or
some other disobedience you’re going to be locked out of heaven.
Luther certainly started out
this way and it’s still an prevalent understanding in some Christian groups. In
fact… many Lutherans believe they must earn favor with God despite Luther’s
come to Jesus moment that we are saved by faith, not works. And of course you
can see the abuses of this as well.
So… on face value this story
from Jesus, it’s easy to perceive God as a harsh, judgmental, and follow the
rules kind of God.
Rather than perceiving our
God & wallets in this fashion… Perhaps the image of our open wallets could
be like this… (I Showed some pictures of
my family)
Pictures of our kids… grand kids… families…
The numerous gifts
given from our debit & credit cards…
The moments of grace that came when
someone gave to us…
Perhaps we could perceive our wallets as a sign of God’s
love…
A God that cares about us and is inviting us to give out of that love.
Maybe… God is inviting us to
re-examine the gifts we carry in our wallets.
So… what’s in Your Wallet?
I have a question…. And I
would like to invite your response…
What picture of God do
you have in your wallet?
Closing
Jesus tells this story just
days before he goes to the cross, not so much as a punishment, but as a
testimony to just how far God is willing to communicate God’s love for us all.
Jesus spent his last 3 years
of life and ministry proclaiming God’s kingdom, feeding the hungry, healing the
sick, offering forgiveness, and welcoming all.
Jesus… above all is
proclaiming the love of God thru the prism of the cross and even through the
inconsistencies of human behavior to demonstrate God’s provision for all is
more than enough to live a love-filled life.
So… we can either look in our
wallets to see there’s not enough…
Or we can look in our
wallets to see God’s gracious provision and do something with it….
What’s in Your Wallet?
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