August 28 – Faithful servant

       Matthew 24:45a – "Who then is the faithful and wise servant.....?"

       Matthew 25: 21 – "His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’"

       I recently heard a preacher speak of his time pastoring a small church in western North Dakota. I don't know the details of why he and his wife went to that location, nor under what circumstances. The church fellowship had about 80 people total, consisting of families of ranchers and farmers. Western North Dakota is quite the rural area. The man stated that after 8 years of work there, went he went elsewhere to work, that the congregation was down to 60 people. Of most of the twenty people that they had lost, the man had performed their funerals. In the eyes of some, his eight years might have been considered a failure. However, the man was sure that God had led him to that locale, and was leading him elsewhere after those eight years. He believed that he had been faithful in the task that he had been called to.

       I am beginning to learn that the parables of Jesus are not necessarily analogies of actual physical events that are yet to take place. An analogy is basically a description of one concept in order to make another concept clearer – a parallel thought process, whose subject details can be compared with each other. On the other hand, some of the parables (such as those in the scriptures above) are more like allegories – a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material terms.

       Both scriptures mentioned above come from the discourse of Jesus, regarding the return of Jesus to the earth, and some semblance of eternal judgment, if those two happen or not to be closely tied together by a short time span. These two parables, along with the first one in Matthew 25, share the theme that the "master" has taken a long journey, and is tarrying longer than expected. He must have a lot of work to do before he can come home and enjoy the ultimate party/feast/wedding. Since he has much business to undertake elsewhere, he puts his servants to work right here in the middle of their everyday lives. There is work to be done on his property, and with his resources. He expects his servants to work, and to not be lazy.

       The problem is that the master is taking longer than expected to return. We thought that the party was going to be soon. We thought that the work would be over quickly. Since it is not, we get bored, tired, distracted, lazy, weary. However, the servants who were faithful in continuing the work, were the ones who were commended and finally received entrance to the party. Those servants may not have felt joyful in their day-to-day work, especially if their work did not have a clear goal in sight, or if the tasks were the same menial drudgery every day.

       Galatians 6:9 states, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." The key is being a faithful worker in whatever field God has placed us in. God will handle the harvest. We servants do not need to be concerned with the fruitfulness of our tasks, but only with the faithfulness of doing them. Psalm1 also gives us a picture of this. The man who goes about his business in a righteous manner (read: living his everyday life faithfully) will be like a tree planted next to a river, who can't help but produce fruit. The man does the work; the fruit happens. He has no "direct" control over the fruit. There is a cause and effect, but the effect is produced by God, caused by our faithfulness.

       It is so encouraging to me, that I can leave the results of my work, and my lifestyle, to God. I don't have to see or understand his big picture; I only have to be faithful in the small task he gives me. I only have to be faithful in putting myself in a position that gives me opportunity to grow. God is the one who causes the fruit. So when you think that your life has been a failure, quit looking at the apparent lack of fruitfulness, and keep on being faithful with the resources and desires that God has given you. We all long to hear those words from our Master – "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

February 15 – Division

        Matthew 10:34f – "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies will be the members of his own household."

        In my local hometown newspaper, there is one whole page reserved for church service advertisements, business advertisements for those who support such activity (at least in name), and for a short devotional (such as this one), written by a member of the local clergy association. A non-clergy member is not allowed to offer any advice in said column. (After all, it is a free column in the newspaper, and there must be some regulations as to who can spout free spiritual advice.) In one February 2019 issue, the writer speaks about the need for brotherly love in our politically polarized country, and for the same globally. He is correct; there is much need for love in action in the United States these days, especially when one understands and practices the action of love as described in 1 Corinthians 13.

         However, there was one statement in the column that was vague, but unitarian in nature: "Divisive politics, fractured religion, the Cowboys versus the Redskins...we focus too much on what makes us different, instead of what brings us together, namely the call to love one another." I can't tell from this statement if the writer is addressing this to Christians only, or to us and the world at large. If he is writing to Christians only, then his sentence makes perfect sense, admonishing us to show love in action. Jesus did say that the world would know that we are his followers by our love for our fellow followers (John 13:35).

        The problem comes into the picture if the writer is address his statement to U.S. residents in general. Not everyone is a Christ-follower in this country; as a matter of fact, the majority are not. Therefore, it is not expected that sinners act like saints, to love someone in general, much less someone with whom they disagree or dislike. What brings us together as a nation of believers and non-believers is the U.S. Constitution, namely the Bill of Rights put forth in the first ten amendments. That coming together is sometimes only an agreement to have the right to disagree with each other. When the Spirit of God brings repentance and forgiveness to the new believer, he starts to work in the Christian to change his actions, in keeping with the repentance that originally changed his mind and opened his blinded eyes to his true spiritual condition and standing in God's eyes. As the cultural morality continues to decline in this nation, our disagreement as believers with the same will continue to grow as well, causing an even greater divide among our fellow countrymen. Therefore, in the midst of a moral dilemma, there will be strife and arguments, as Jesus stated in the leading scripture to this devotional.

        The questions, then, are thus: Will we believers speak the truth in boldness, but with gentleness and kindness, not in a mean-spirited way? Can we show respect for a person to have the right to speak his opinion, without needing to respect the opinion. Several times in the New Testament, we are commanded to "hate what is evil, and to cling to what is good" (Romans 12:9; 1 Thess. 5:21, 22). When Jesus caustically confronted the Pharisees for their self-righteous hypocrisy (Matthew 23:1-39), was he not speaking the truth in love? He had to point out the evil that they were promulgating. Did he hate them for their sinfulness? Or did he hate the sin living inside a creature that God loved?

        The balance for Christians is a tough one – loving the sinner, but hating the sin. May God teach us how to love sinful people, while still standing for the truth that can rescue them.

January 15 – Live Resolutely

       Galatians 6:14 - “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

       Living in an ever-increasingly depraved society in 2019, it can sometimes be discouraging to see the older generation rejecting the morality with which they grew up, and the younger generation who knows nothing of morality, except for what is expedient. The generation from the 50s and 60s knew of God's morality. They either embraced it or discarded it as outdated cultural clothing. At the very least, however, they knew of it. The younger generation, by and large, were not raised knowing God's ways; they are foreign to them, since the cultural stigmatism of moral disobedience has disappeared. Conservative people who still believe in a higher moral code are now considered bigots and narrow-minded. One can see the amoral societal agenda being promulgated through the TV commercials, which are widespread.

       We Christians, who desire to please God in everything we do, are warned in Galatians, chapter 5:7-9 “You were running a good race; who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who called you. 'A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.' “ While this chapter in context is debating the importance of circumcision in a gospel of grace versus works, the concept itself in the above verses works in every facet of our lives. Do we want the world to dictate to us how we should think, act and react? No, we need to guard our hearts against the poisonous waters of the world's fountains of “wisdom”. Psalm 119:9-11 gives us the key to staying true. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you [God] with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

        Paul argued in Galatians that the “circumcision group” was pushing their agenda, in order to avoid persecution. It is the offense of the cross that brings persecution. Why? Because the cross was God's punishment for sin, mine and yours. If we proclaim the need for forgiveness and redemption, then we are insinuating that the human race is in rebellion toward God, both in heart and in action. That is what the world finds offensive. So, where is our allegiance? Is it with God, or with the world? We can only serve one master.