Good and Faithful

Reading Matthew 25:14-30

 '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!' Matthew 25:21 

 The Kingdom of God was likened by Jesus to a land lord who goes on a long journey. Before he goes he calls three of his servants and entrusts them with money according to their ability. When the land lord returns two of the servants doubled their money. The land lord is delighted with the two good and faithful servants, praises them and rewards them with double measure of money. The one who was given the least played it safe and just buries it in the ground. In addition to this the servant rebukes the master for being so unfair and unkind to him. The master is furious. He calls him lazy and wicked and throws him out into the darkness where he weeps and wails over his stupidity. God is not disappointed if we try our best and fail. It is our effort that he will reward. The land lord punishes the man because he does not make any effort to use his talents and glorify God.

This parable is based on the principle that when we have a talent and practice it regularly we become better and can progressively do more and more with it. If we fail to exercise it we will eventually lose the talent. What are the gifts, talents, and abilities that God entrusts us with and expects us to faithfully use them for his glory? For example one can be a dish washer who washes the dishes or manager who takes care of a company or wordsmith who writes books or athlete who plays in a professional team. If we use our gifts and live lives that give the glory to God we have faithfully discharged our duty. However if we live bitter lives and bury our gifts, we do not honor God.

We must always remember whatever we have is not our own. It has been entrusted to us to use to bring glory to God's name. When we aspire and try to make a name for ourselves or amass wealth for ourselves we are doing this to glorify ourselves and not God. God knows our thoughts and our intentions; we must be careful with how we use them. God is not looking at our success or brilliance but our faithfulness and love we express toward Him.

 We see two contrasting manner of responses to the call, given by the servants. Two of them did their best to use their gifts serve God's Kingdom. They respond with growth, fruitfulness, and faithfulness. But beware of being like the servant who did not use his gifts to serve God’s kingdom, but instead is bitter, rebellious and unfaithful. He also expressed fear and bitterness toward God more than love and faithfulness. When we productively use our gifts to serve one another in love, then we are of great use for the Kingdom of God (1 Peter 4:10-12). Jesus told the parable because he wants us to understand this truth about what it means to be Good and Faithful.  Whatever we do, we should work at it with all our heart to build up God’s Kingdom with Christ as the head and the source of all our wisdom(Ephesians 4:15-16).

Prayer : - Lord Jesus, may we always speak the truth in love and grow up to be more like you. Watch over our thoughts and actions and direct us to build up the whole body of believers to love another and love you as our Lord. Amen.

Spiritual Growth

When we first moved to the East Coast after the cold winter was over and the snow had melted away, the gardeners came to lay mulch in the soil for the plants to blossom and grow. I remember on one such day my son, as he descended the stairs of our apartment building, said “Dad it stinks out here?” For the growth of the plants mulch is necessary, the stench is the herald that says the plants are being enriched by the soil around them. Every day brings a new surprise, that is the glory of spring. In the same way in our spiritual lives, we need our seasons when we need to be shown areas in our lives that are or have grown weak, and find the right mixture of people or the right environment where we will be strengthened to be more fruitful in our lives.

St. Paul says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). How many of us really understand the gravity and reverence of such a verse? How many of us really desire the Spirit of Christ to reside within our hearts? Does the counsel of the Spirit of Christ have any impact on our decisions? It is only when we read the Bible and good Christian literature about the lives of fellow Christians and their views that we get spurred on to tuning our hearts and minds to God. Other ways of reading the Bible daily is using Bible apps (eg. Our Daily Bread, Daily Audio Bible, Bible Geeks). We need to make a strong commitment to be disciplined in our reading of the Bible and staying in touch with God through prayer (Psalm 119:18, Luke6:40).

 An ancient way of reading the Bible which was practiced in monasteries in 6th century called Lectio Divina (Divine Reading). It is a contemplative way of reading the Bible. It is a way of praying the scriptures to go deeper into God’s Word. We open our hearts and minds as we encounter the living God’s presence in and around us all. The process involves slowly prayerfully reading, meditating, and contemplating on a passage of scripture with open hearts. We spiritually feed on the living bread that is set before us slowly and thoughtfully. As we delight in reading and meditating on the scriptures, they begins to speak to us, as we begin to feel the presence of God. 

If reading the word becomes a part of our spiritual lives, we will be like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in season (Psalm 1:3). As Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, we are rooted and established in the love of God (Ephesians 3:17-18).  We lead a blessed life when we trust in God our provider. Our confidence in living abundantly in God’s love grows stronger too (Jeremiah 17:7-8). 

Families should find a way to pray and read the Bible together regularly. We also need to find ourselves in a small group of strong believers whom we can fellowship with regularly. Their support will help us in our spiritual growth. They will inspire us and will speak the truth to us with love. They will help us grow to accept Christ as our head and show us how all his people are joined together as we work, grow and build ourselves up in His love (Ephesians 4:15). 

We need to be careful in the company of those intent on following the desires of their ungodly natural instincts. We could fall into addictions to anger, alcohol, pornography, fowl language, bullying etc. The agnostics and non-believers are those who cannot understand the ways of Jesus and consider such ways as foolishness (Psalm 10:4, Isaiah 5:20, 1 Corinthians 2:14). They are the ones that will cause divisions in the community of Christ and in our hearts as well (Jude 1:17-19). If we are in the company of people where we find ourselves becoming selfish, conceited, envious and provocative of each other then we need to be extremely careful. These are factors that will stunt our growth substantially and make us unproductive. In our times of prayer when we draw near to God we should confess our sins. When we feel helpless ask for God to guide us to root out and prevent us from entering into temptations. 

How do we develop the spiritual gifts we have to love, serve, forgive, encourage and give to the community? It is through prayer and meditation on God’s Word. When we pray for the needs of our community, we begin to see how we can help those who are in need. When we find ways to serve the community we faithfully administer our gifts of grace (1 Peter 4:10). When the life of Christ flows through us we flourish in the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It is only in Jesus we find full and abundant life (Galatians 5:22-26). God continues creating and recreating in us, the real one He wants us to be. He will continue to work on us all the days of our life until one day we see him face to face. (Philippians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:16-17).

Prayer :- Heavenly Father as we rejoice in your presence and the gift of life, we pray that you will guide and teach us to live in the light of your Word. Amen