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!"