Lent: Anticipation, Readiness, & Diligence Required

Announcements:

2 weeks away from Palm Sunday, 3 weeks from Easter

Just a reminder, if you are doing a Lent fast, Sunday’s are free days so you do not fast on Sundays. They are a time of celebration with God.

Holy Week Choir Cantata, April 7 @ 6 p.m.

Sabbatical, April 10 - May 8

May 10-12 is District Assembly

Next week, annual meeting and vote on sale of our land.

The song I am opening the service with this morning is a beautiful song. The man who wrote it is battling Parkinson’s disease. I am not sure if he wrote this before or after he found out, but I am sure it is special to him now. It is a beautiful song with a special message whether or not you are hurting or celebrating. We all just love to sit quietly with those we love and God most of all.

If I Could Just Sit With You Awhile, Dennis Jernigan

Psalm 44:1–8 NIV

1 We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago. 2 With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish. 3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them. 4 You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob. 5 Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes. 6 I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; 7 but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame. 8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.

Pray

Prayer Video

Opening Hymn

Genesis 39:20–23 NIV

20 Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Worship Set

Matthew 25:1–13 NIV

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “ ‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Prayer Chorus

Prayer

Worship through the Word:

Anticipation, Readiness, & Diligence Required

Did you hear the joke about anticipation? (Look down and fiddle with papers). Oh, are you waiting?

Anticipation can be good or bad. We may anticipate something bad and therefore, are not in any hurry to get there. Or we can be anticipating something good and are anxious for it to get here. Willis, Patty’s dog, waits with impatient anticipation for me to arrive each Sunday so he can have a treat from me.

I hope you are waiting with breathless anticipation of Jesus arrival. If you are, it demonstrates you are ready. If you find the thought worrisome, then there is a problem and you need to give it some deep thought.

As Jesus began talking more about His leaving and talking about the end of life on earth as we know it, the disciples began to ask Him questions about that time and how would they know. It is interesting that whenever Jesus shared about such things, it was always prefaced with the idea of “be watchful and be ready.”

In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus shares three parables on this subject. The first two we will look at this week. These two go well together as they address our responsibility as we wait.

The first one parable of the Ten Virgins was read just a moment ago, so let us look at the second one.

Matthew 25:14–30 NIV

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘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!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘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!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Pray

I. How to be Ready!

It is interesting how many different ways these two parables are addressed. Some will tell you that they are pretty much telling you the same thing. You could say they are two sides of one coin. However, I believe they are addressing two different ways we need to be ready for Jesus’ coming. The first parable Jesus shares here is...

A. The Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13

Now the disciples have been asking Jesus, when will all these things occur and Jesus says the day and the hour will not be known. He then shares this parable about Ten virgins who are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive.

As you will recall, last week we spoke of a wedding feast. Jesus often relates His second coming to a wedding between Him and His bride the Church. Here we see Him use this theme again.

Allow me to refresh your memory on their wedding practices. There were three major stages.

The fathers would agree upon an engagement between their children (people did not marry for love and the marriages were arranged by the parents).

The Bride and Groom would later make promises to each other in a betrothal ceremony. After which the bride returned home with her parents and the groom returned home to build a home or add rooms on his parents place for him and his bride.

After about a year, when the groom’s father felt all was ready, he would surprise his son one night by announcing it was time to go get his bride. Now, prior to this, invitations were sent out by the bride and groom inviting their friends to be part of this ceremony. These friends would know the time of the ceremony when they heard the groom blow a shofar. The grooms friends would gather with him and they would begin to make their way to the brides family home.

Similarly, the brides friends would gather and wait with her for the groom to arrive.

When the groom arrived, they all returned to the groom’s home to a huge feast and celebration that often continued for about 7 days.

In this parable about the ten virgins, we find that they are waiting for the groom but he has been delayed. This is significant to us. We know Jesus is returning. We know He has been building many rooms for all of us. However, we do not know the day, hour, or even the year. The Father is the only one who knows when that time will be and He is delaying not wanting any to perish. He will hold out until what I believe is the moment when the last person will come to faith that is going to come to faith.

In the parable, 5 of the virgins have prepared themselves for any delay. The other 5 are unprepared and they miss out.

Now, some will tell you that the oil represents the Holy Spirit. But that does not fit here. If it were truly the Holy Spirit, it would mean that the Holy Spirit runs out on these 5 and we know that does not fit scripture. So, I believe the oil just represents not anticipating and being ready.

Some will also say, that these 5 were not really saved, but I do not feel that fits either. These 10 virgins seem to have many thing in common but only a couple differences. Let us look what they have in common. How are they alike.

How are they alike?

All 10 were invited.

Each had responded to the invitation.

Each seemed to hold affection or love for the bridegroom.

All 10 became drowsy and fell asleep.

Now, let us consider their differences.

How are they different?

5 brought extra oil, 5 did not.

5 anticipated a delay and were ready for it, but 5 did not anticipate the delay and were unready.

So, what does this mean for us? It means we have to be anticipating His coming, even though it is delayed and we need to be ready.

Warren Wiersbe said, he wonders if the oil does not represent the word of God. I think he has a good point here. Some are faithfully in the Word. They are learning and applying it to their lives daily. Others start out good but over time they drift away from their daily devotions. They allow other things to creep in and steal their time away from prayer and study of the scriptures.

This brings us to what I believe is the meaning behind this parable. And it is...

1. We need to be ready internally.

We need to be diligent in the Word and prayer. We need to spend quiet time talking and listening to God. We need to be faithful to this everyday. It is so easy to by pass it on particular days, but it seems like when we do, it gets harder to come back to it the next day. It does not take long before we have gotten out of the habit continually. It is easy to make excuses like, “Oh God will understand this once.” But God knows that nothing is more important and He can help us in our day, even if it is crazy busy.

When the time comes that Jesus arrives, will our hearts be in the right place. Will we have been diligent to keep ourselves close to Him until the moment He arrives, or have we slowly allowed life and things to pull us away.

Sometimes we have the appearance of being ready. We show up with a lamp and are waiting for the invitation we received when we asked Jesus to be our Savior, but we have not nurtured our relationship with Him enough and our lamp goes out while we wait. We have not anticipated the delay and done what we needed to be ready.

There is an old saying about Torah study. It says, “The more one studies, the more they receive. The one who neglects study will lose what they acquired.”

After this parable, Jesus immediately goes into another.

Matthew 25:14 NIV

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.

This is...

B. The Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14-30

In this parable, a man goes on a journey for an undisclosed amount of time. He entrusts his gold (Talents) to three servants. To one he gives 5, to another 2, and to a third he gives 1. Upon his return, he finds that the first two have been busy using those talents to make more. They have invested it wisely and received generous returns for their efforts. However, the third makes the excuse of fear for doing nothing than burying it. He has nothing to show for it but what was originally given.

Instead of being grateful, the master is furious and has the servant thrown out, the description of which leaves the impression of hell.

Matthew 25:30 NIV

30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Where the parable of the talents is talking about our inner relationship with Christ, this parable is talking about...

1. Our Outward Diligence in Kingdom Labor

It is interesting that where some interpret this as gold, others use the term talent. A talent was approximately 20 years worth of wages. However, in our culture, talents refer to our abilities. Some are natural and we call them talents. There are something like 8 or more types of intelligence that often play into our talents. But, we are also endowed with gifts of the Spirit for use in ministry. It is intended that we be using them.

In this parable there are some interesting things we should notice.

a. The Master gave different amounts.

The master did not distribute the amounts equally. Instead, he gave one 5, one 2, and one 1. Perhaps this was based on the workload or perhaps due to their talents. The master understood the second thing I want us to see.

b. The servants had different skill sets.

More than likely, the master knew each of their skill sets. He knew who had the best ability to carry more and who less. As master, he would be aware of their workloads, their family obligations, and their skill sets. He did not treat them equally, but he treated them fairly based on his knowledge of them.

c. The Master had different expectations of them.

The difference in the amounts given demonstrate that he had different expectations of them. However, he expected them all to be diligent to do something with what he gave. It was intended to be invested or used for some positive purpose. The one given 5 brought in 5 more. The master was pleased. The master was just as pleased with the one who brought in 2 more. Now the final man was evidently not as skilled as the others. He had only been given one but the master still expected something from it. Even if it was just bank interest which would have only brought in a fraction of one more. But this man did nothing. He used the excuse of fear for the master.

Now, you may think this sounds plausible. You may be able to relate. The man did not have confidence in himself to succeed. I suspect the master would have been pleased with his best effort even if it didn’t reap a reward. At least the man would have tried. But the master calls him lazy because he did not try. He made no effort what soever.

God has gifted each of us differently. We have talents and spiritual gifts we are to be using to invest in the kingdom. However, many never try. They complain they do not have any skills or that they just do not know what they are supposed to do. This parable makes it clear that this will be no excuse for two reasons. It demonstrates lack of confidence in God first of all, and second, if we do not know, there are ways to find out. We cans ask friends, talk with our pastor, we can try different things until we find a fit. But many never make the effort.

But as I said, it also shows a lack of confidence in God. God created each of us. He has given each of us talents and gifts, that when used are empowered by Him.

Matthew 28:18–20 NIV

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

That authority given to Jesus is then given to us. He calls us, directs us, empowers us and will see us through whatever He has called us to do. If we are not following His directions for us, we have no real relationship with Him. Which brings us to the last note.

d. We will each receive different rewards

The one that did the most, received more.

Matthew 25:28–29 NIV

28 “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.

Those that prove trust worthy, God will bless with more opportunities. Look at Joseph. Even though he was much younger than his brothers, he was so faithful in what he did that his father was preparing him to lead the family business (of course, this led to the envy of his brothers). When Joseph is taken as a slave to Egypt, he ends up in a comfortable job of head of a rich man’s household because of his faithful and skilled service. He ends up in prison and is given a better status there because of his faithful work. Then he is elevated from prison to the leadership of all Egypt!

During the Millennial reign and in heaven it will be the same. We will be apportioned work according to our skill sets and gifts. However, no one need ever be envious of another. We will all have what we are able to do and what we enjoy doing. It will not be a job. It will be something wonderful we enjoy because it is exactly what we were created to do. It will fit us like a glove. I believe this with all my heart!

However, we do not have to wait for His second coming to feel this way. If we take the time and seek what God would have us to do here and now, I believe we would all find we feel the same way. I know I do! I do not feel like I am in a job. I love what I do. I would love to be stronger physically to participate in it even more than I already do. But in my mind, I am in heaven on earth because I am blessed by what God has called me to do.

Conclusion:

Allow me to conclude this sermon with a caution. Jesus linked these two parables for a good reason. I believe it is because it is important that both our inner anticipation and readiness along with our outer diligence of kingdom work must be taking place when He comes. One of them is not enough. It is easy to spend time in His word and yet, not get involved in the work of the kingdom. Maybe you are afraid and uncertain of yourself. Or you think you are too busy (which if you are too busy to do kingdom work, you are too busy period!). Whatever the reason. If you are not accomplishing the task God has in mind for you, you need to remember the consequences.

Matthew 25:26–30 (NIV)

26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!...throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

If you do not think it matters to God, this statement makes it clear it does!

I remember a young girl who came to my house one day. I had been thinking I needed to do more to testify to others. When this young girl came to my door, I bought what she was selling as I had a sense God was giving me an opportunity to do just that. However, when she came inside, I began to think in my mind. “Is God really calling me to do this or is this just me?” I was not sure how to change the discussion and I was afraid of making her uncomfortable. She left and I never said a word to her about God.

I have never forgotten that moment. I allowed Satan to rationalize the situation and convince me that I was just being silly and God was not saying I had to do it in that moment. I believe the reason I have never forgotten it is because it really was God. He provided me an opportunity and I allowed fear to prevent me from sharing God with this young preteen girl.

There is nothing worse then feeling like you failed. Let me tell you, it is better to try and fail then to not try at all.

Now, just like we can be taking care of the inside and not doing the outward work, we can also do the outward work without not taking care of the inside work. When we do this, we may be busy about many things and still not fulfilling what God wants us to do. The inner work allows the Holy Spirit to direct our actions.

A.W. Tozer had something good to say on this note in his devotion from March 2. Allow me to read it.

When the Holy Spirit is ignored or rejected, religious people are forced either to do their own creating or to fossilize completely. A few churches accept fossilization as the will of God and settle down to the work of preserving their past—as if it needed preserving. Others seek to appear modern, and imitate the current activities of the world with the mistaken idea that they are being creative. And after a fashion they are, but the creatures of the creative skill are sure to be toys and trifles, mere imitations of the world and altogether lacking in the qualities of eternity—holiness and spiritual dignity. The hallmark of the Holy Spirit is not there...

It is hard to imagine the more painful disillusionment than to come to the judgment seat of Christ and find that all our earthly lives we have been striving after the flesh and never permitting the creative Holy Spirit to work in us that which was pleasing in His sight.

Matthew 7:22–23 NIV

22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Pray

As individuals and as a church body, we need to be praying about how God would have us serve His kingdom in Elgin. The time is drawing closer for me to be on Sabbatical. While I am away, I need to separate myself from this question for a time to just focus on my own heart and needs. However, when I return, we will need to really think on this. I would really encourage you as a church body to be praying about this while I am gone and we will jump into it when I return. What would God have us do as a church body? What is God calling you to do? Perhaps, you have some ministry God is calling you to lead. If so, bring it to the Board so we can help you. Be thinking and praying. This Sabbatical is not for me alone. It is a time for you as the church to be praying as well. The timing is perfect since it fits with our denominational prayer time.

How many prayer journals should I order?

Church business:

Land sale discussion.

Sorry for the business on Sunday, but it is the only way we can get this done. Next week we will take a vote on the sale of the land. Be prepared. Dismissed.