LIVE AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT!
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 42:14-21
Gospel Lesson; John 9:13-17, 34-39
Sermon Text; Ephesians 5:8-14
Today we are going spend a little time concentrating on the time and talents that God has given to each one of us. God has given them to us, and we are to manage our time, our talents, and our abilities, to the glory of God. They are a gift to us, from God.
Everyone in this room has been given a certain amount of time, from God, to live for our Savior.
Every minute we have,
every hour we have,
every day we have,
every year we have,
is a gift from Him.
It is a gift from God.
God has also given to everyone in this room a certain number of talents. The talents and abilities that you have are very unique to you. No one has the exact same talents and abilities as someone else. They also are a gift from God. God has given those to us, and we are to manage our talents and abilities, to the glory of God our Savior.
As we look at other people and compare ourselves to others we may say, "Well, God has given that person or that individual more talents and more abilities than I have been given. I certainly have no way of serving my Savior with my talents, like that person can." But, you know it doesn't really matter what your talents actually are. Rather, what really matters is what you do with the talents that God has given to you.
Think about that, for a moment!
It doesn't really matter
what your talents are,
but what really matters is,
what you do with the talents that
God has given to you!
Let me give you an example. When I was a pastor in Minneapolis, there was a member at that congregation. His name was Kenny Tice. Kenny was about 40 years old and he was developmentally disabled. By the world's standards, Kenny did not have many talents and abilities. Kenny was not able to hold down a job. Kenny was not able to earn money. Kenny wasn't married and didn't have a family that was his. Kenny lived with his mother. Kenny really didn't have many talents or abilities. In fact, the talents that Kenny did have were two personality traits. Number one, Kenny was very passionate about things that meant a great deal to him. And number two, Kenny was very outgoing.
I want you to think about Kenny, who certainly didn't have many talents or abilities from God, but used those two personality traits to the best of his abilities. Kenny lived in a world that a lot of us don't live in. He associated with people who a lot of us don't rub shoulders with. All of his friends were fellow, developmentally disabled individuals.
Kenny knew their needs. He listened to them and he heard them, when they talked about how they couldn't get a job, even though they were qualified for it. He listened to them and he heard them as they talked about how they suffered and didn't get paid what they should have gotten paid, for the work they did. Kenny heard his friends talking about their suffering. And, Kenny being a passionate person, was very passionate about the cause of his friends.
Kenny didn't have enough money to own a car. He didn't even have enough money for transportation to go places, but Kenny did have a bicycle. Being passionate about that cause for his dear friends, whom he felt compassion for, and also being very outgoing, Kenny would get on his bicycle every day and ride it from Minneapolis to St. Paul, (which is quite a bike ride to make)! He would ride his bike to that big building down in St. Paul… the State Capital!
And, being so outgoing, he would walk right into that State Capital! He knew there were powerful people there, who could help his friends. Kenny would actually find those people and one by one, he would explain to them, in a simple, little way the troubles that his friends were going through. And, then he would say to those powerful people, "Can't you do something to help them?"
Ken didn’t realize it, but he was a lobbyist for a special interest group! He was a lobbyist for the developmentally disabled! He was not getting paid to do it. He was doing it, because he was passionate about it.
As a result of what Kenny did, there were a number of laws passed in the state of Minnesota, to protect and help the developmentally disabled! In fact, what Kenny did was so important that he was named as one of the most important people in the Twin Cities!
Now, Kenny didn’t have many talents or abilities, but it was what he did with the talents and abilities he had, that mattered.
At church, Kenny didn’t have many talents or abilities, either. Kenny knew that he couldn’t serve on a board or committee. But he did know that he wanted to serve his Savior. It was a real joy on Sunday mornings, to see Kenny, who loved to usher. He would come walking up the isle. His hair was disheveled. His glasses were often greasy. And sometimes his shirt was untucked. But, he walked up that isle with a big smile on his face, as he turned in that offering plate. He knew that was one way he could serve his Savior, there in his church.
It doesn’t really matter what talents you have, but rather the question is: How are you using the time and the talents that God has given to you?
You could divide the time that God has given to you, into two separate categories. In the first category you would write down all the time that you have spent:
serving your Savior,v
v
living for your Savior, andv
worshipping your Savior.
That is one column. Then, in the other column you would write down all the time you have spent:
ü
serving yourself,ü
serving other people,ü
serving other causes, andü
even the time you have spent sinning, andü
going against God’s Will in your life.
All of us would have to admit that there is a great deal of our time that God has given to us, that has been misused. We have used it wrongly. We have used it sinfully. And all of that time is gone! You will never get those minutes back. You will never get those hours back. You will never get those years back, because they are gone.
What about the talents that God has given to us? Again, you could divide the ways you have used your God given talents into two categories. You could put into one column all the times you have used your talents for:
God’s service,v
v
the glory of your Savior andv
serve Christ in this life.
And, in the other column put down all the times you have used your talents for:
ü
your own purpose,ü
other people’s purposes,ü
other causes, andü
even being involved in wrongful, sinful activities.
Again we would have to admit that there is a large portion of our life where we have misused the talents that God has given to us. Those opportunities to use those talents are gone. They can never again to be recaptured.
For a Christian that brings us to repentance. I am sorry that I have not used my time, all of my time, in the way I should to God’s glory. I am sorry that I have not used my talents the way I should use them, to the service of my Savior in this life. Which takes us to the text on the back of today’s bulletin. It says this, "Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord." A Christian who is sorry over sins finds comfort in that profound statement of scripture.
"You were once darkness."
Before we became Christians, we never used our time, we never used our talents to God’s glory, but rather we used them opposed to God’s glory. And, even as Christians we sin and don’t always use our time and talents they way we ought to, to the glory of our Savior. "For you were once darkness", but then scripture goes on and says,
"Now you are light in the Lord."
God has shined the brightness of the gospel, the Good News of Jesus! God has shined the light of salvation into our hearts! God has shown us in His Word that even though we deserve to be punished for the way we have misused our time and talents, God will not do that to His people. God will not do that, because of what Jesus has done for us. God will not punish us, because God has paid the highest price possible to save us from our sins.
The highest price that
He could possibly pay was
sending His own dearest Son to
pay for our sins on the cross.
God will not and does not hold our sins against us anymore! Our God has forgiven us of all our sins! Our God has shown us the value that He has placed on us, sinners that we are, by paying for us with something that no money in the all the world could ever buy!
He has purchased the forgiveness of sins for us!
He has purchased Heaven for us!
Heaven is our home,
because of what Christ has done,
for us!
We have a clean conscience with God.
We have peace with God.
We are right with God.
God is our Father.
God is our friend!
God loves us.
God hears us and
answers all of our prayers.
God watches over us at all times!
God works everything out for our good!
All of those great blessings are given to us, as God’s people. And, that is the motivation for a Christian to go forward. Knowing that I am a forgiven sinner and knowing how abundantly God has blessed me through Jesus Christ my Savior, I am motivated.
Our text goes on and says, "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as Children of the light and find out what pleases the Lord." Once I know the Good News of Jesus my Savior, I know what God has done for me, in Christ. I know how He has forgiven my sins. I know that all that I have in this life, and all I have spiritually, is a gift from God. That good news motivates me to say, "I want to live as God’s Child. I want to find out what pleases my Savior. I want to use my time, my talents and my abilities to serve my Savior. Freely I have received, and freely I want to give. I want to live for my Savior in this life."
There are two bodies of water over in the land of Israel that are very different from one another, although they are both fed by the same river. One is the Sea of Galilee and one is the Dead Sea. They are both fed by the Jordan River.
The Jordan River flows from the north into the Sea of Galilee. It flows through the Sea of Galilee and then flows out of the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is pure, fresh water. It is filled with fish. There is commerce there. There is vegetation there. It is alive and it is thriving.
Then the Jordan River continues down to the Dead Sea. The Jordan River does not flow out of the Dead Sea, because there is no outlet. Over the years, because there is no outlet, that sea has filled with salt and the water has become poisonous. Nothing can live there. There are no fish there. There is no commerce there. No one can drink the water there. And, there is no vegetation there. It is a barren spot.
Both of those bodies of water receive, but only one is alive. The body of water that is alive is the one that gives. It receives the Jordan and it gives the Jordan. The body of water that receives, but does not give back, is dead. It receives the Jordan but does not give the Jordan.
That is the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. A non-Christian receives all he has from God, but is not motivated to give back. A non-Christian is dead without Christ.
A Christian knows that all I have is from God. Jesus has forgiven me, and Heaven is my Home! I am motivated and I am alive! I am motivated to give back. I am motivated to serve my Savior with my time, with my talents and with my abilities. I am alive with Christ!
Everybody here has very unique talents. No one has the exact same talents that you have, in the exact same combination as you. And, no one has the same exact same situation or context that you have in which to use those talents.
You have a very unique family. It is different from everyone else’s family. You have a different wife or husband from everyone else’s spouse. Your children are different from everyone else’s children. Your parents are different from everyone else’s parents. You have different brothers and sisters from everyone else’s siblings. You have the opportunity to use your unique time and your unique talents in that very unique family setting.
None of us here live in the exact same community that you live in. Oh, we all live in the Madison area, but you know a specific group of people and no one else knows that same group of people. It is unique to you. You have the opportunity to use your time and your talents in your community, in your unique community, to serve your Savior.
At Holy Cross here, we belong to a unique church. There are no two churches that are the same. Holy Cross is different from any other church. You have the opportunity to use your unique talents and time in this unique church to the glory of your Savior.
We have the opportunity from God to go forward with our families to serve our Savior. We need to ask ourselves, "What skills and abilities can I bring to my family, that would help my family, that would serve my family, that would build up my family? Do we use our time as a family, wisely? Do we use our time and talents to grow in our Savior’s Word? Do we use our time and talents to praise our Savior? Do we use our time together as a family, to pray to our Savior?"
In your community, do you use your time and talents? If we see someone, that perhaps no one else sees, who is suffering some injustice, do we use our time and talents to try to bring about justice to that situation? If we see someone who is in need, someone that perhaps no one else in our community may see, do we use our talents and our time to meet the needs of that person, and so serve our Savior? Jesus says,
"What ever you do to the least of one these,
you do it to me."
Are we using our time and talents for our Savior’s glory, here at church? Are we using our time and talents to our Savior’s glory? The Bible compares a Christian congregation to the body of Christ. All of us take on a different function in that body. If the eye (and you are the eye) is not working, the body can still function but it doesn’t function as well if the eye was working. There is an adage that says, "In the congregation, 20% of the people do 80% of the work." What would happen if 100% of the people gave 100% of their abilities to serve here at Holy Cross? Think about how much more we could accomplish and do, motivated by the gospel, motivated by our Savior to serve one another! Whether it be singing in our choir, teaching our students in our Sunday School, serving on a board or committee, evangelizing your faith, giving, leading, administrating, and praying for others, or whatever your talents and abilities are, you would be serving our Savior. Think about what we could accomplish as a congregation, when we use our time and talents for the glory of our Savior, because of what He has done for us!
John Wesley once said this, "Do all the good you possibly can, by all possible means, in all possible times, in all possible places, to all possible people, in all possible ways, for as long as you possibly can!"
We have been redeemed by our Savior! God has blessed us more than we can ever imagine, with the forgiveness of sins and salvation! With that knowledge, let us go out and let us use our time and our talents to serve our Savior in this life, bringing Him all the glory!
Amen.
Top of Page
|| Church Sermons || Return to Home Page