Valued Talents

Close your eyes and it would seem the very angels from heaven are on stage when Susie sings.  When Pastor Smith preaches his eloquence demands attention and people are moved by his words.  The audience is taken back to another place in time when Sarah portrays the woman at the well feeling her anguish and then hope. Joe starts tickling the ivories and the whole church is brought to its feet in adoration of the amazing God we serve.  Music moves the heart and soul when nothing else can.

Ever feel like you can't sing, preach, teach, act, or play an instrument like _________?

How can God use me, I have no talent in these areas?  

While the above mentioned talents may bring us to an emotional awareness of God these 

aren't the only avenues God works through.  It's time we lower the bar in comparing and raise the bar in expectations. 

Jesus gives us two parables using the illustration of receiving talents and then investing them in Luke 19:11-27 and Matthew 25:14-30. Matthews’s parable connects to the following verses describing all nations and people gathered to the Son of Man to give an account of what they did for him and how they invested what he gave them on earth.

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Matthew 25:31-40 NLT)

Notice how Jesus didn't ask what sermons were preached, songs sung or played, or even what favorite biblical character was portrayed. 

 

Here is the good news! These are the valued talents God has given to everyone.  We all have the opportunity and time to invest in someone everyday--no special abilities required other than an open and willing heart to be used.  

Comparison game gone, all are equally equipped. Expectation levels raised because the human touch accompanied with God's touch will always bring interest from the investment.

For the most part these talents are void of public accolades so if you and I are looking for recognition might want to choose a different path. 

  

Lord, help me not to get caught up in the comparison game. It is so easy to do because my flesh cries out for recognition. Help me to realize these talents are from you and you are expecting interest from the investment...for your honor not mine.  Today, may I be aware of those around me needing a touch of your grace in their lives.  

Expectations

Funny how one word can bring such diverse emotions.  Whether expectations are met or unmet they have the potential to bring disappointment and potential impacts on our lives that can last a lifetime. 

We have expectations from family, friends and coworkers; from our employers and government; contractual expectations from various sources.  This is a year of political expectations.

As parents we have expectations, some spoken and some not, for and from our children and likewise they have of us.

 

The disciples and people in Jesus time had expectations from him

The mother of James & John expected her boys to have special favor with Jesus because….well, because after all they were in the ‘inner circle’.

The disciples expected John to get answers from Jesus when the others didn’t want to approach him.

The multitudes had expectations of healing, deliverance, and supplying food (John 6:26) for them.

The religious elite expected Jesus to ‘toe the line’ and conform to their expectations of a messiah. 

We have expectations of Jesus today.  The outcome of our fulfilled and unfulfilled expectations of him plays a major role in our current and future faith and beliefs.

Sometimes our expectations of God are unrealistic.  There are situations we put ourselves in as a result of either ignorance or total rebellion of God’s ways and truths and then look to God like a genie in a bottle for immediate relief.  When he doesn’t do his magic we then assume he doesn’t love us (because if he did he would give us everything we ever asked for!) so we storm out of our relationship like a spoiled child slamming the door.   

I certainly am not expert on the mind and ways of God…none of us really are.  Just when we think we have him figured out (i.e., “Ten steps to________”) we realize God’s ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9).  Expectations are blown out of the water and we start back on square one with learning all over again about trust and faith in what we can’t see but yet our hearts tell us is real. 

There are other times we pray with purely unselfish reasons and God doesn’t answer the way we think he should—a friend or family member suffering with unbearable pain with no relief in sight.  Again our expectations of God are not fulfilled in the immediate answers we seek.  Trust and faith in the unseen is once again called upon even though we don’t understand the silence.     

Have you ever consider God’s expectations of us?  They are actually quite simple yet complicated for our “I” mentality. 

B ELIEVE…. in Jesus Christ as the one and only son of God (Jo 3:5-6, 16; 6:29; John 14:11).

O BEY… more than saying but living what we believe… (John 8:31-32; 14:15; John 15)

L OVE… one another as I love the Father (John 13:34-35).  Love is the product of BELIEVE and OBEY 

                    (1 John 4:18-19).

D ISCIPLE… is BELIVE, OBEY and LOVE in action (Matthew 28:18-20). 

Jesus said, “All who love me will do what I say.  My father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.  I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.  The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world.  I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.  I have told you these things so that you won’t abandon your faith.  The Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” 

(Jesus praying for you and me) “ Holy Father you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are…I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe (you and me!!) in me through their message….may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me…may they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me.” (John 14-17) 

It takes being BOLD to stand against popular beliefs and expectations.  It takes being BOLD  to live in this world, not become part of this world.  It takes being BOLD to live as Jesus would today. 

A fellow BOLD… in progress,

Kay