Making the Most of What We've Been Given
This is a story that I have shared with you- but it is one worth repeating- not the least because I love talking about my daughter! The night before we took Alison out to college in the late summer of 2004 (how could time pass that quickly- she will be twenty-four next week!), she was late- pretty late- actually, in coming home. I waited up for her, as I always did, and started the conversation we had had before- about honoring curfews, being responsible, blah, blah, blah… and expected to hear, “yes, dad, I’m sorry, blah, blah, blah…” But this time, she reacted very differently!
Her eyes’ blazing, she went on the attack- “it’s my last night out with my friends from high school, things are going to be different from now on, we’ll never be as close, why can’t you understand that, and as of next week, you won’t be able to run my life anymore!” What followed can only be described as a “God Moment…” Instead of being angry and defensive myself- the usual reaction at that time of night- or should I say morning, I waited to hear her out- actually, as I listened, I had to agree with most of what she said- we could have negotiated a later time to return for her last night home- neither one of us had thought to do it before hand.
So I apologized for not understanding as well as I might have instead of stalking off and going to bed. And Allie burst into tears, and said, “Oh, Dad- what if I can’t do the work at college- I’m so afraid I will fail!” Aha- the lights went on for me! That was the reason behind her wanting her high school experience to linger just a little longer- to stay out late that last night. I hugged her a long time- and reassured her as best I could, and we talked well into the morning.
I doubt there is one of us here, if we’re being completely honest with ourselves- who hasn’t had times of doubt about our abilities- our gifts. We wonder if those gifts are even there, sometimes- and how- or whether they might be used. The musician wonders whether or not she is good enough- or if people will really want to him play. The one starting out in a new job wonders whether he will be able to handle the work, while the newly promoted wants to know if people will respect her as a supervisor. New parents want to know if they will be able to meet the needs of the precious new life with which they have been entrusted- if they will be able to nurture the wondrous child into a healthy adult.
It’s true as well for people beginning a new ministry in the church: do I have what it takes to teach little children- older children- middle school youth (always a big question there!) about our faith? I’m going on a mission trip- will I be able to handle it- will I be an effective ambassador of Jesus Christ? (We are commissioning our youth for two extraordinary foreign mission trips- to Mexico and India... I had several conversations with those who were going about just how nervous they are!)
This has little to do with whether the talent- the ability- gift is there or not… It has to do with how you and I perceive those gifts- and our readiness to use them. The person who flat out knows their gift- and who can go right to work is scarce- and annoying. And we all know of those who thought they were ready and who clearly were not…
We are in Week Two of our Sermon Series, “Rich Living: All Things are Possible with God.” Last week, Beth talked about the richness of the creation that God has entrusted us, and our responsibility to care for it. This morning, I would remind you that everything you need to become the person- the disciple that Jesus is calling you to be- is present in your life now- in one way or another… there is nothing missing… Our calling is to make the most of the gifts already there!
You may not recognize that yet- you may not have identified those gifts or talents yet- or you may suspect or know what they are and have not have decided to put them to work yet, but the Bible is clear that they are there… and our lessons today are very helpful in both seeing those gifts- and seeing what we need to do to put them to work in the service of God and each other, and in the process, seeing our lives transformed for the better.
The beginning of Paul’s wonderful first letter to the Christians in Corinth is a great place to start! 1st Corinthians is a wonderful book for lots of reasons- it has that famous “love chapter,” with words we have come to treasure: “love is patient; love is kind, love is not arrogant or boastful…” There is a major conversation about spiritual gifts and how they are to be used, or not used! And all of this in a context of a remarkably dysfunctional congregation! There are two groups in this little church- one which thinks that the goal of the Christian life is to sin as much as possible in as many ways as possible in order to show the wonderful forgiveness of God. The other is about as self-righteous and rigidly proper as it can be, quick to judge the behavior of anyone who might disagree with them, and seeing themselves are the perfect and ideal Christians.
And it is to both groups- the WHOLE church- that Paul begins his letter with wonderful words of praise: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind- just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you- so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift. He begins his letter by reminding them all that every spiritual gift is present- in each of them, whether they agree with each or not- the gifts are there, and they need each other!
First, remember these gifts for what they actually are: gifts! Start looking at your talents, abilities and spiritual gifts as gifts from God- things for which you cannot take credit yourself- and your whole perspective- and your life begins to change! You didn’t choose your genes, did you? You didn’t choose your parents, or where you were born (you could be the most talented singer or scientist in all of history, and if you were born in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, the chances of discovering that gift would be less than zero- you would be consumed with merely surviving against great odds!) You didn’t choose to be loved by God so much that in Jesus God would become a human being, share in all the joy and sorrow that we know- show us with his life and with his words how God wants us to live… And then, even be willing to share in the death we all face?
You didn’t choose for Jesus to take on everything that separates us from God and each other as he died on the cross- and then was raised from the dead on the third day so that nothing in all creation could separate you from his love…
It was- and is- a gift- the most wonderful gift ever… And it settles the issue of good and evil for the follower of Jesus raised in our Gospel reading. Jesus tells the disciples in the Sermon on the Plain- Luke’s parallel to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount that a good tree can’t bear bad fruit and vice versa- and that a “good person out of the true treasure of the heart produces good, and that the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks...
Because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, his goodness- that’s God’s goodness- covers you in your baptism. God’s Spirit- the Holy Spirit comes into your life- into your heart- and where God’s Spirit is, the devil cannot be!
Yes, we all sin- yes, there are evil inclinations in every human being- but the promise is that in living in Christ, our sins are forgiven. And what’s more as we grow in Christ, his abundance of heart becomes ours, so that with our gifts, with words and deeds, the people around us can see Christ in action! Luther said that “You and I are the only Jesus Christ some people may ever see!”
Never forget that you and all your talents are gifts from God… If you look at your life as something you are owed, something to which you are entitled, you will never be happy- and you will never let your gifts loose! You will walk through your life with your fists clenched, fighting to hold on to what ever you have… There will never be enough… And even if you have worked tirelessly to develop your gifts, you haven’t done it alone- you have been supported by family- by teachers or others who cared for you. But see your life as gift, and the fists open, become hands, and they open to receive, and you rejoice in seeing the possibilities- the talents that God has opened to you. And you will see that everything you need to become the person God is calling you to be is right there… (And what’s wonderful is that those gifts vary for each of us- God gives certain gifts to you and to me to make sure the whole job gets done!)
With the gift of Jesus comes his continuing presence in our lives, forgiving us, strengthening us to use the gifts we have been given in the service of His world and His church! And in our first reading, Paul tells us to both think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, excellent and praiseworthy, and then to do them- not to earn God’s approval- in Christ, that is assured, but because in doing so, we will draw closer to God, and experience the abundance of heart that Jesus talks to his disciples about in the Gospel!
And let me ask who, in all the world, could have seen in them, the talent and responsibility to share the Good News of Jesus Christ across the Roman Empire in the first century of the Christian Era? Who but Jesus- who knew the talents and gifts necessary to do just that were right there, and with the right mentoring- the right teaching- would be brought out…
This reminds us to not be so swift in gauging the talents of others- or even ourselves too swiftly. Gifts we’re not aware of may be just beneath the surface, waiting for a chance to be identified and nurtured, often with the help and encouragement of others!
My daughter Allie’s did very well, indeed, through her college career, and she has discovered some things about herself that I doubt she ever would have discovered without her teachers and classmates… gifts for direction and production in theater- a gift for caring for the people around her- a gift for organizing people that I hope and pray she will one day integrate into her personal life… Since graduation, she has discovered a gift of working with numbers while providing excellent customer service as a teller in a bank... I could go on for quite a while about my darling daughter…
Let me ask you to take a look at your life this morning: have you identified the gifts and talents God has given you? If I asked you to write down three of them, could you do that for yourself? Could you identify where you need to work on developing those gifts- where they might be used in God’s service- both in the church and in the world, where you spend most of your time? Are you learning to see those gifts- and all of your life as God’s gift to you? Because if you are, I have no doubt that you would be open to helping others in the discovery of their gifts- and would be looking to share yourself, if you are not already!
Some of you might be hesitant to answer because your gifts might be leading you in two or more directions. A colleague of mine when speaking about this very issue last summer said this- and I completely agree: With support and prayer of the people around, it’s time to stop sitting around, make a decision and act on it!”
We will help you, mentor you, and coach you as you grow in identifying the gifts from God that are already there for you, waiting to be used!
I look out and see an incredibly talented group of people- no- I see a congregation that has been gifted by God to do amazing things- to make a difference in our world. Picture for a moment this church- with a deep understanding of how we have been blessed- seeing all that we have- all that we are- all that we do- as God’s gifts to you and to me… Picture this church growing a deep understanding of the many gifts gathered here- and our commitment to sharing them with each other- and with a world crying out in so many ways…
Is there any doubt for a second that God would begin to use us even more effectively than God has already been doing, in ways we are only just now imagining? Reaching new groups of people- all ages- all races… Meeting the needs of people both in our cities and around the world? Reaching- and then surpassing our goal to reach 20,000 by 2020?
The possibilities are endless- and exciting! Everything thing you need- everything Bethlehem needs- every gift will be right here! Rejoice in your gifts- commit to growing in them- and let’s get to work in Jesus’ Name! Amen
Connect
When I look back to when my husband and I first became parents I am amazed that our first child even survived all the attention and worry that surrounded her first days and months. My husband and I were so wrapped up in the wonder of her very being and so afraid that we would do something wrong that would hurt her that we often felt overwhelmed. We thought that it was all up to us to make sure that she was safe and healthy. We worried that she might stop breathing during the night if we didn’t check her every hour; that we weren’t giving her enough to eat or providing her with warm enough clothes to wear. At one point I even took her into the doctor to check a rash she had developed, only to be told that it was heat rash from over dressing her. Little did we understand that we were not alone in all of this—that we were being guided and strengthened as we did our best to be good parents.
Consider:
- Have you or someone you know ever worried about your ability to meet the challenges of being a parent?
- Have you ever felt that you were alone as you cared for someone you loved?
Grow
Theme: “Rich Living”: All things are possible with God
Over the next few weeks we will be exploring the theme of “Rich Living.” As Christians we have been given many blessings. It is up to up to make the most of the gifts and talents that make us who we are as children of God. Sometimes our fears of inadequacy get in the way of our sharing those talents with the people who need them most. The Text of the first reading reminds us to, “Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Read:
- Philippians 4:8-9
Consider:
- What talents have you been given that you are reluctant to share with others?
- What keeps you from making the most of what God has given you?
Theme: “Making the Most of What We’ve Been Given”
In Sunday’s Gospel lesson and in Pastor Christopher Nelson’s sermon we were reminded that we have all been given gifts that God wants us to use. As Pastor Chris told us, “See your life as a gift. Everything you need to be the person God is calling you to be is right there.” In the Gospel lesson Paul wrote to the Philippians, encouraging them to “bear good fruit.” As he put it, “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good…for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” As recipients of God’s most precious gift, his son Jesus Christ, we reflect our gratitude in using our gifts to be the hands of Christ. “We may be the only presence of Christ that some people ever receive.
Read:
- Luke 6:43-45
- sermon
Consider:
- Look at your life—can you identify your gifts and how they can be used?
Close
Take My Life, That I May Be
Take My Life, that I may be consecrated, Lord, to thee;
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love;
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice and let me sing always, only for my King;
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite will I withhold;
Take my intellect, and use every power as thou shalt choose.
ELW 685
