Courage!

This is the beginning of the Advent season. The season we prepare ourselves for the coming of Christ. But it is more than preparing for a holiday. It’s more that preparing to be spiritual on a day that has been overly commercialized by our culture. It is about looking forward to what God has in store and preparing our lives to live into his kingdom. That may require some changes if we are honest with ourselves.

We believe that Jesus was born to save the world. We believe that Jesus came not to condemn but to save. We believe that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead. Therefore we believe that we are living between times. We live in a time where God’s kingdom has been initiated in this world but has not yet come to completion. We also believe that we are called to partner with God in the name of Jesus Christ to bring about the redemption of the world. If we are honest with ourselves, that may require us to make some changes.

My wife teases me sometimes for my lack of comfort in making changes. I tend to think that I deal with change well and my wife just shakes her head and points to the evidence to the contrary and I have to admit that I am rather uncomfortable with change. Why on earth would you want to change to position of the furniture in the living room?

The room didn’t change. We can still sit down.

Why change when you don’t have to?

But change happens. When change is necessary, it must happen. So we step out it faith trusting that God goes before us to prepare the way. God’s Kingdom is our aim. But the path to get there can seem very uncomfortable.

 The darkness that is in front of us can be terrifying.  The unknown can be too much to handle.  We fear failure; we fear losing what we have; perhaps we fear punishment; and many of us fear death.

Remember the lion from the Wizard of Oz?

“Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? Courage! What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the Sphinx the Seventh Wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage!...What puts the ape in ape-ricot? What have they got that I ain’t got? (courage) You can say that again!” –The wizard of Oz (1939) Screenwriters Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson, Edgar Allan Woolf.

The gift of courage was already in the lion it just needed to be summoned and brought to the surface.

I believe that the lack of courage is one of the greatest hindrances to realizing our own God-given potential and fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. Our own potential is rooted in the gifts and talents that God has given us.  God intends for us to grow in maturity, use what he has given us to the fullest for his glory and live into the kingdom of God.

I like to use the term “lack of courage” more than “fear.” If we fear something we have to do something we have to eliminate the source of fear or flee from it. Having courage means doing the thing that needs to be done. It’s going the extra mile. It’s putting yourself in a vulnerable position for the greater good. Courage means you can confidently serve God with your whole being for the Kingdom of God. You could be perfectly content and living without fear but that does not mean you living according to God’s purpose for you. Avoidance of discomfort is not our highest aim.

It doesn’t say this in the Bible but it can be said of Jesus that he came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. What do you think?

It seems to me that if we are comfortable and content that we have buried our talent.

This parable is another one of those that I misunderstood the first several times I read it. Last week we read about the bridesmaids who would not share their oil with those who didn’t have enough.  They were lifted up as the example.

This week we read about the landowner who takes away from those who have nothing and gives to those that already have in abundance.  This, again, seems contrary to what we believe about Jesus and his message.  But again, this is not about resources.  This parable is about being faithful with what we have.

The three servants in the story were entrusted with 1, 3, and 5 talents (measures) of money. The ones entrusted with 3 and 5 invested the money and eventually doubled their investment. The one with 1 talent feared the landowner and buried it.

The expectation of the landowner was that his servants would manage his resources in such a way that there would be growth.

When Jesus left his disciples he gave them the great commission to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…and teaching them.

The expectation of our master is that we baptize new Christians and teach them to be disciples. Our master expects growth!

The landowner in the parable came back and asked for an account of what his servants did with the resources he entrusted them with. He was pleased with the servants whom returned 3 and 5 talents. But the one who buried the 1 talent out of fear he was very displeased. He took the talent from him and cast him out.

The resources that God has given us are meant for the primary purpose of preparing the world for the kingdom of God. That means our time, our skills, our money, our attention and everything else we have is on loan from God to do his will. We will be accountable to God on how we have used what he has given us to fulfill his purpose.

Have you been blessed in this life? Know that you are not blessed without a purpose. God does not bless you to leave it with you. God expects you to bless someone else; to pass the blessing along. God does not invest in savings accounts God puts his resources into doing His work.

God is the creator God who is still creating. God calls us to get on board with him. If we choose to take what he has given us, bury it because we lack to courage to join the battle and do nothing, well then, it seems reasonable that God will but resources in the hands of another. It seems reasonable that God will equip the willing. Not that we are being punished when he takes away, it’s more to do with a refusal to act according to God’s plan.

There are needs in our community. HELP ministries needs drivers to take folks to doctor appointments. There are people in our neighborhood who need rides to the grocery store. The homeless shelter needs us St. Paul Church to host the shelter one day a month. The food pantries in town need us to donate. How is this part of making disciples? Jesus called us to feed the hungry and to heal the sick. If our neighbors can’t clear the hurdle of day to day living then they won’t be able to hear us when we tell them the good news about Jesus Christ.

So how is it with you today? Are you willing to summon the courage that is already in you to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ?