Pastor Daniel Bramlett
Psalm 119.68 says “You are good and do good!” Most people would agree that God is good and does good things. The problem comes as we begin to define who God is. We are quick to leave the Bible and say things like “God is always…” or “God would never do that.” We make statements like these based on our own hearts and thinking, not God’s. The Word must stay at the very top of our truth list. Otherwise, we get all twisted up in our understanding.
The Bible says God is spirit. We will never understand Him on our own. Never. It doesn’t matter to me how inventive, creative or genius a body is, on our own, we are helpless to know the mind and heart of God. Let me illustrate this with a story.
Jesus tells the story of the talents in Matthew 25. It goes kinda like this: a much respected Master is about to leave the country. He calls on three of his servants and gives them each a certain amount of money. The understanding is they will use this money to honor him while he is away. Two of the servants double their gifts, bringing the totals and the stories of their work to the Master when he returns. The Master has nothing but praise for them. He uses Heaven’s language in honoring them. “Well done!” He tells them the ones who are faithful in little will be made faithful in much. Then he tells them to enter into his joy. The other servant buries his gift. I can just see him hearing of the Master’s return and frantically trying to remember where he buried this bag of money. Finally, he locates it and ends up bringing the tattered, worm-eaten bag into the Master. I can imagine he was on the edge as to how the Master might respond. You see, this servant didn’t know the Master like the other two did. He talks about the ferocity of the Master and recounts his fear of him. The Master’s response is different from the other two. He calls this one lazy and useless. He takes his money away and gives it to the one who has more. Then he separates the last servant, throwing him outside the gates.
People hear this story Jesus tells and bristle. “This isn’t the God I know” some might say. He’s accepting and loving. He would never throw one out. The response is these people know as much of God as the last servant did. They know about Him, but they don’t know Him. We don’t see two different God’s in this story. The God we see is loving, accepting and full of joy. But He has boundaries and intentions for us. He has a perfect plan that is played out on a daily basis in our lives. He has prepared a lifetime of works for us. The lazy servant used his fear of God as an excuse to bury his money and live his life however he wanted. I don’t think he was really afraid of God. I think he was afraid of what God might do.
How many of us live in this kind of reality? How many of us live like God doesn’t exist until we need Him to? How many times do we find ourselves taking the gifts God has given us and hiding them so we can do what we want and not feel guilty? I believe Jesus is talking about Heaven in this story. The gifts the servants were given aren’t monetary but spiritual. They represent the gifts given every believer at the moment of salvation. Those who use their gifts for God’s glory will be rewarded when they are face to face with Jesus. They will be invited “into His joy.” Does that sound scary? Does that sound like something we want to avoid? No way! Life with God forever is the best we can imagine!
It's our sin, not the reality of Heaven that causes us to bury our gifts and walk away from the joy of Heaven. The last servant didn’t want to know God. He wanted to do life his way and assume God would accept him. He was wrong.
Is it possible that someone reading this article may be in the same place? I think so. I’m not pointing a finger. I don’t have the ability to see your heart or inside your head. But I know the tendency of the human heart. I know how sneaky and manipulative we can be. I know if we are given the chance, we will run from God every time. Where are you? No excuses. No judges but the One. You don’t have to answer or explain anything to me, but you will have to account for the gifts given you one day. When that day comes how will you explain the way it’s been used? Paul says the best case scenario is you will pass through the fire by the skin of your teeth with nothing to show for your life. A life wasted. Jesus says the worst case scenario is you will be thrown out in the darkness with the words “I never knew you” ringing in your ears for eternity.