Is your life clean before a holy God? Life can only be cleansed by God's infilling Spirit. Oh, the joy of feeling right with God, it's marvelous!

III. Being Alert is Living Life with a Heart

Evangelism is the heartbeat of the Christian. Sharing the wonderful news -- the good news that Jesus will save anyone who asks should be the thrill of anyone who knows Christ as Savior.

Jim Cymbala points out that, "A lack of motivation to sacrifice for others is what holds back many ministries and churches from being greatly used of the Lord. Biblical truth is memorized by the mind, emotions are occasionally stirred by the things of God, but it all doesn't go deep enough to transform our motive for living. Only the Holy spirit's power can save us from the terrible plight of a self-centered, comfort-zone lifestyle while we sing hymns about the Christ who gave his life on Calvary ... the acid test of spiritual growth is love, and love always means living for others."3

Evangelism propels us into the arena of living for others, because it really sends the message that we care for eternity! (Derl Keefer)

1Sing to the Lord Hymnal (Kansas City: Lillenas Publishing Co., 1993) 445

2Ibid., 116.

3Jim Cymbala, The Church God Blesses (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002) 121-122.

Proper 29a

November 24, 2002

The Risk of Investment

Matthew 25:14-30

The movie, "Tin Cup," is set in the world of golf. Kevin Costner's character, for all his talent, is introduced to us as a failure on the circuit because he has not learned the ability to "lay up" on the safe side of the traps. Perhaps there is no stronger urge in me than to "play it safe." It is not difficult to defend such a proclivity.

I grew up in a family where being a fiscal conservative took on the aura of a cardinal virtue. My parents had begun their marriage in the height of the Great Depression. So holding on to what you had and not taking a risk of losing it became a way of life. To this day, I think there is good spiritual wisdom in holding fast to what we have been given. The truth of this goes far beyond the economic realm, as we approach a national day of Thanksgiving. Beyond all our material blessings, Christians are reminded of the greatest cause for gratitude -- the gospel with which we have been entrusted.

As good (and safe) a theme as that is, God's Word often comes as a disturber of our peace. When we read or hear the parable in Matthew 25:1-30, our hope of playing it safe begins to fade. C. H. Dodd must have had such a parable in mind when he said, "It leaves the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought." At first we are comforted by the familiar ground of a master who entrusts us with talents. God is the giver of every good gift.

The "talent" of Jesus' day was a measure of weight that had become a way of designating the monetary value of gold or silver. What is significant here it that the investment in each of the three servants is sizable and gracious.