UNVEILING GOD’S GRACE
Matthew 25: 14-30
1. I can remember the moment as if it was yesterday. I was six, going on seven years old, dressed the part, as one of a group of shepherds on the hillside around Bethlehem, keeping watch over our master’s sheep.
• We had rehearsed for weeks to familiarize ourselves with our words and actions
• We were the opening scene in our Sunday School Christmas play and the church was packed with moms and dads and siblings, uncles and aunts, grandparents and friends.
• We could hear the growing excitement on the other side of the curtain and feel the flurry of butterflies in the pits of our stomachs as the Sunday School Superintendent did the customary welcome and opening prayer.
• Then the sanctuary lights dimmed, the curtains opened and the stage lights came on to highlight our watchful pose.
• We had been revealed! All eyes were fixed on our every move and ears attentive to every word.
• Oh the pressure to not foul up and forget things! Thank goodness for Mrs. Prince sitting off in the wings ready to prompt us as needed.
2. I imagine that each one of us has been there before ourselves or have gone through those moments of anticipation with our own children and grandchildren.
3. Whether or not you have ever thought of yourself as an actor or performer, I would remind us all today that each one of us who call ourselves “believers” are part of the cast in the Great Lifelong Drama of Salvation.
• The lights have gone out in the auditorium, the stage curtain has been torn from top to bottom and the light of heaven is focused on the Main Actor and His supporting cast.
• This drama is being presented not for the purpose of entertainment but for the purpose of proclamation, for witness, and urgent loving appeal that those in the darkness of the auditorium will come into the light of the stage.
• Just as in the kids plays, sometimes we forget what to do or say, but we too have a Divine Prompt, known as the Holy Spirit, who’s not off somewhere in the wings, but has come to take up residence within us from where He lovingly, gently, and sometimes very firmly reminds us of our role and responses.
4. Every moment of our days, every thought, word, and action of ours, our times of work and our times of rest are all essential parts of this drama and part of the unveiling of God’s Grace in His Son, Jesus Christ
• Some out there in the audience will never see or know about the drama for they are either blind, deaf, or asleep.
• Some out there will never learn of God’s loving offer of salvation because they persist in being preoccupied with other lesser things.
• Some out there will see and hear the message and reject it, preferring to stay in the darkness.
• But some will see what you do and hear what you say and it will touch a responsive chord in their life and will reach out their hand to you to be lifted into the light of the stage. And the joy of all will overflow.
5. There are at least four broad avenues through which each of us is constantly unveiling the grace of God. We will reflect briefly on each of these:
A. Unveiling God’s Grace through our TEMPLE (our bodies)
1. Scripture refers to our bodies as “the temple of the Holy Spirit” – the place God has created for His own dwelling in us and among us. The Lord’s temple is not a structure made of timber, bricks and cement. The vessel He created for His dwelling place on earth is your body and mine.
2. John writes in the opening chapter of his gospel about how “the Word became a human being and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; and we have beheld his glory…” God unveiled the glory of His being and character and nature in and through the body of Jesus Christ and He chooses to continue doing so through you and me.
3. We referred last Sunday to Psalm 24:1 where David proclaims “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and those who dwell therein.”
• So we reminded ourselves that our bodies are not our own to do with as we please or see fit. They are to be used for the purpose of unveiling God – of giving others another opportunity to catch a glimpse of God
• So we are to take great care what we put into them in terms of food and drink and how we look after them in terms of exercise and rest.
• If I loaned you my Mazda 3, I would expect to get it back at least in the same or better condition than when you received it. I don’t want it back dirty, trashed and pasted with your decals.
• Your and my body is a gift of God’s grace, temporarily on loan to us, and at any moment of any day God is at liberty to ask for it back.
• The thoughts you allow to fill your mind and heart, the attitudes you allow to saturate your spirit, the things you watch and the things you listen to, the words you speak and the actions that follow serve either to beautify or trash the body.
4. Ask yourself this question: which way are things headed for you?
B. Unveiling God’s Grace through our TIME
1. Time is one of God’s gracious creations through which He has revealed Himself. It was He who in the beginning established the sun to rule the day and the moon the night. He gave us the seasons of summer, autumn, winter, and spring. He gave us 24 hours to every day and 7 days to every week and then directed us to do as He did, rest on the seventh day and do no work.
• And God looked on all that He had created and saw that it was very good.
• But sin corrupted the good and gracious creation God. And instead of time working with us, it so often seems to be against us.
• We lose time, we waste time, we run out of time and so say things like “I don’t have the time”, “I wish I had more time”, “I wish I had taken more time”.
• Time is for us now a limited commodity and none of us knows just how much more sand is left in the upper portion of the hour glass before it runs out.
2. So how do we unveil God’s Grace through our time?
• We do so by treating every moment of every day as a precious gift from God.
• We acknowledge that the moments of our days are not our own to do with as we please, but belong to God, and as with our bodies are to be used with Him in mind.
• So we spend our first waking moments turning our attention to Him to bless and worship Him and express our love to Him.
• Then we lay before Him the day’s agenda as we see it and ask Him to add to or take away from the list any assignments that are not on His list for us so that we do not take on more than we can handle nor less than is our responsibility.
• Throughout the day we remain attentive to His voice so that we may not miss the blessed and joyous surprises He is known to give those whose hearts are fixed on Him.
• Those surprises can come in a myriad of ways – a visit from a friend, giving comfort and encouragement to one who is troubled, being an attentive and listening ear to one who is lonely, bending and kneeling to hug a child.
• And then at the end of the day, before going to sleep, reviewing with Him, how we have used the hours He gave us.
3. How are you doing in the TIME department? Is there a healthy balance between work and rest? What changes is God’s Spirit prompting you to make?
C. Unveiling God’s Grace through our TALENTS
1. Every one of us has been given at least one talent and some, many more. If you were to tell me that you have no talents, then I would immediately want to check and see if you have a pulse and seriously wonder how come I hear a dead person is speaking!
• If you are able to breathe and think and speak and move – then you have at least one talent – you’re alive!
• And if you will stop and think for a while and start taking inventory, then I am certain that you will soon come up with many, many ways in which God has blessed you and individually shaped and formed you to unveil His grace in ways unique to you.
• Each one of us has things that we just love to do, that give us joy and pleasure – whether it be singing, or painting, or drawing, or making things, or growing things, or baking, or reading, or talking, or smiling, or working with animals, or being a good listener, and on and on…the list is endless.
• God never made junk or anything worthless and He never made you and forgot to give you some unique ways in which His creativity might be expressed through you.
2. So how do we go about unveiling God Grace through our Talents?
• Again, we start by recognizing and acknowledging that our talents are a gift of God’s grace – and are not the results of our own achievements so that we can take the applause of others for ourselves. The honor belongs to God!
• Next, let us acknowledge that every talent God has given us is intended to reveal Him and show forth something of His beauty, His creativity, His strength, His truth, His justice, His faithfulness – all the myriad aspects of His character.
3. In his 1st letter to the Corinthians 10:31, Paul writes: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
• In his letter to the Colossians 3:17, he writes: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
• And further on in that same chapter he writes: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
4. The talents we have – the skills, the abilities, are all part of the role we play in the Divine Drama and are ways in which we show forth or unveil the wonderful and multi-faceted character of our God.
5. Jesus said, “Don’t stick your light under a bucket. Put it on a lamp stand where it can give light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine in such a way that others may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven”.
6. How are the TALENTS you have been given being used to introduce others to God?
D. Unveiling God’s Grace through our TREASURES
1. Just as in the department of talents, so in the treasury department God has not seen fit to dish out an equal amount to every person. Some of us have more and some of us have less.
• What is important though, is not how much you have, but what you do with what you have.
2. Again, we unveil God’s Grace through our treasures by acknowledging that all that we have – including the ability and strength to earn what we have, belongs to God. It is His precious gift to us.
• Our homes are His, our cars are His, our refrigerator and its contents are His, our pantry is His, what is in our bank account and wallet is His, the clothes on our bodies are His, the golf clubs and the fishing poles are His (now the preacher’s meddling!).
• He lets us use all these things – and sometimes He asks us to give some of it away to someone else and trust Him that He will see to it that we do not go hungry or thirsty or homeless in the process – He provided for His people before in the wilderness and He is quite able to do so again.
• And should that happen we will know that it is not a sign that He does not love us or has abandoned us – for His own Son experienced hunger and thirst. His own Son said, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” He knew what it means to be homeless.
3. Every one of us has some treasure, however BIG or small. What God looks at is not the quantity, but how we regard and use what we have.
• Jesus sat opposite the place where the crowds deposited their offerings into the temple treasury. Many rich people deposited large amounts. A poor widow came along and deposited just two small copper coins worth a fraction of a penny. And Jesus called His disciples to take note that she had given far more than all the others, because she had given all that she had.
• God looks at the size of the heart and not at the size of the gift.
• It’s no wonder that God was able to feed such a huge multitude and still have 12 big fishing baskets full of broken pieces over when a little boy placed his entire Happy Meal into the hands of Jesus.
4. I would safely guess that all together we hold much more than a Happy Meal in our hands. Much more than the widow’s mite. Who knows how much God might multiply it when we place what belongs to Him anyway, humbly, thankfully, and with confidence and trust into His hands.
5. To go back to the image I presented at the beginning – where do you see yourself in this Divine Drama? On the stage, as part of the cast together with the Central Figure? Or out in the audience?
• If you see yourself still out in the darkened auditorium, and no longer want to be there – but rather want to be where God’s action is, then here, grab my hand and come on in!
• If you see yourself as part of the cast, then let us be reminded that not only is the "Earth the Lord’s and all that is in it" – Earth is just one of His very much smaller properties – go stand outside on a clear night and catch just a minute glimpse of all else that belongs to Him. What you will see is only a smal portion of His backyard!
• And then use your temple, your time, your talents, and your treasure as a son and daughter of the Most High God.
AMEN
