Mark Sorensen It’s believed that Martin Luther was hoeing his garden one day when someone stopped and asked him the following question. “If you knew that today, beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus was coming back, what would you do?” Martin Luther simply responded, “Easy. I would keep hoeing this garden.”
Whether that conversation is based on fact or fiction, I like the heart of that illustration. It certainly fits well within the context of the parable I taught from last Sunday in Harvest. Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees content to keep God’s law AS IT WAS and sit on it, Jesus was saying that, through Him, God was and is making all things new. Knowing this, we must give out of the talents and gifts that God has given us all and go about breaking the soil of hearts and planting seeds of hope, love, joy, and peace that God uses to grow His Kingdom.
Remember Ephesians 2:10:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Five lessons learned from the parable of the bags of gold?
- We’re called to work. Until the trumpet blows and Christ returns, we must go about the business of sharing the good news of the Gospel. Remember. It’s not ALL about us.
- God gives us everything we need to do what he has called us to do. Ephesians 2:10 says this well. You’re a piece of work and that’s a GOOD thing! Created in Christ Jesus “to do good works”. Take that to the bank. It’s a solid investment entrusted to us all.
- We’re not all created equal and that’s not a bad thing. Remember what I said, Sunday. Comparison is of the devil. Each one of us has unique gifts that are just that: unique to us. Whether it’s teaching, making guacamole, mathematics, or even photocopying documents at work, USE those gifts and glorify God in and through them. Trust me. It can be done.
- We work for the master, not ourselves. This gets to the heart of the series, “It’s Not About Us”, right? It’s not that God doesn’t value us, love us, or desire us to live a life that we enjoy. In fact, when we live into His good and perfect love and law, there’s great freedom in knowing that it’s not all about us. We’re here to be a light. To reflect God’s love to all we see. In doing so, the Kingdom of God grows!
- We’re held accountable. Ultimately, at the end of the parable, each servant had to give an account of what he did with what was entrusted to each of them. Take all7 billion of us on this planet and, whether we want to admit this or not, we all have one thing in common: our mortality. The one question we will all answer on the other side of this life simply is this: “What did you do with the life I had given you.”
May we all live with an eye on eternity and hands busy doing the necessary work of helping to bring God’s Kingdom here to earth through the ways we live and love and, in doing so, find six words waiting for us all on the other side of our last breath: “Well done Good and Faithful Servant.”
