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Sunday, November 14, 2004

Rev. Dr. Harold E Kidd

CAN YOU STAND TO BE BLESSED?  

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

                                                                                            Luke 12: 48

When we consider the teaching ministry of Jesus, much of what he taught was delivered in the form of parables. Almost his entire oral ministry was delivered in parabolic form. A parable you will recall is a spiritual truth derived from a common experience in life. So that Jesus often taught spiritual truths concerning the kingdom of God through the use of parables.

The parable of the Prodigal Son, the Parable of the Talents, the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Parable of the Sower and the Seed, to name a few, were all taught by Jesus to communicate spiritual truths. The parable before us is known as the Parable of the Watchful Servants. Like the parable of the Talents, and the Ten Virgins, and the Last Judgement, this parable was taught by Jesus to encourage us to be ready upon his return.

We see in several passages such as this, that Jesus not only taught the certainty of his return at an unexpected moment but, while he is absent, we are to make the most of what he has given us. The particular focus of this parable has to do with what are you and I doing with the blessings the Lord has given us, while he is away.

James reminds us that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. A blessing is any gift or divine favor given to us by God which is an expression of his love and divine goodness. We can't earn them, simply because they are God's gift to us. However we have been blessed by God -- whether with riches, education, a good job, children, family, long life, health, friends and people who love us, a creative mind, a particular talent of talents, or spirituality -- to whom much has been given, much is required. With every blessing comes some degree of responsibility and accountability.

So says Jesus in this parable, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."

This parable also lifts up the fact that God, from whom all blessings flow, is extremely fair when it comes to bestowing his blessings. Amen. In other words, God blesses us only in ways that he knows we can handle. If the Lord has blessed us with a whole lot, he expects a whole lot in return. For to whom much has been given, much is required. By the same token, if the Lord has blessed us with whole little, he expects a whole little in return. Now I know that’s bad English, but I thought that I would not seek to distinguish between some being more highly blessed than others because God's expectation of what we do with the blessings he has bestowed upon us is the same.

The question however, that the Lord would have us to consider during this season of Thanksgiving and Stewardship, is, "Can you stand to be blessed?” Everyone wants a blessing, but can we stand to be blessed?

Let me see if I can give some illustrations to this theme.

The person who has been blessed with a fixed retirement income of $30,000 is accountable before the Lord for what they do with that blessing as much as the person who has been blessed with an annual earned income $100,000. The responsibility is always in proportion to the magnitude of the blessing. Amen. God doesn't expect the person on a fixed income of $30,000 to give financially to the work of his church the same amount as the person in a six-figure bracket.

Bishop T.D. Jakes tells the story in his book Maximize The Moment,

"The other day I was driving down the interstate. It was a normal day, busy day. I was trying to maximize my time, getting as much done as possible. I was driving with one hand and jotting down scribbled notes with the other. My mobile phone was on the speaker so that I could finalize a few matters with my assistant. I was hurrying to a meeting and putting final touches on documents with the information I was receiving over the phone."

While he's driving trying to do all of this, Bishop Jakes noticed a fellow driving in a car beside him. The fellow was driving a Hoopty. You know, a Hoopty is one of those old luxury cars that has seen its better days. May need a new paint job, may have a few broken head or tail lights. It might have one of those landau tops that has cracked and peeled back from too much sun. Frame may be bent so that the back of the car looks like its trying to catch up with the front of the car.

We've all seen one. Driver may have a lean without trying to lean because the seat is broken. Fan belts may make that screeching noise, when the driver hits the accelerator. But nevertheless, it runs. It runs. That’s a Hoopty.

Bishop Jakes goes on to say, "We were such a contrast. I was dressed in a navy blue business suit. My white shirt was crisp, and my designer tie was meticulously in place. My head was aching a little, and I was tired from too many nights of too little sleep. He, on the other hand, looked completely refreshed. He was swaying to some music that was loud enough to hear through my closed windows. He was smiling and enjoying himself, almost oblivious to me and those around him. He was wearing a pair of shorts, an old T-Shirt, and a baseball cap. He seemed not to have a care in the world. I pondered as I sped away from him, who was really the more successful, he or I?" Yes, to whom much has been given much will be required, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, shall much be demanded.

Can You Stand To Be Blessed? The more the Lord blesses us, the more will be the burden of being responsible with our blessings. So rich was the land of Canaan in agricultural fields, rivers and flowing valleys that it was figuratively spoken of as a land flowing with milk and honey. The land of Canaan you will recall had been promised by God to the descendants of Abraham. In Joshua chapter 1 God commanded Israel to go over into the land of Canaan. In vss. 10-11 the Lord challenges them to "Go in and possess the land."

Some blessings we can only appreciate after we have had to struggle to receive them. Without struggle there can be no progress. Israel, the land is yours by my covenant with Abraham, but it will not be given to you on a silver platter. "Go in and possess the land."

And much as he has America, God did not bless Israel with the Land of Canaan for Israel to live a national life of relative ease and luxury. But God blessed Israel the way He did, in order that He might use her to bear witness to the other nations in the world of her day of the one true God. But she was given the blessing of Canaan's natural resources and fertile soil that she would be a spiritual light to the other Nations.

Yes, God chose Israel and favored her with his abundant blessings that she might share his spiritual light with the other nations. Because of the magnitude of the blessing, Israel was called, chosen to be a spiritual and moral light to the other nations of her world, because she had received much from God. Much was required. A spiritual people, a moral people, a holy people. Fit for the master's use.

Can You Stand to be Blessed? When the Lord starts elevating you, lifting you up, opening doors for you, can you handle it? For with every blessing there comes an increased responsibility. Can we handle the added stress? Can we handle the new title without failing to remember that the person makes the title and not the title the person? Can we handle the additional responsibility? Can you handle with humility the increased authority? Can we handle with grace those who might become jealous or envious at our success? Can we handle the longer hours? Can we handle the bigger paycheck without forgetting our tithe to the Lord's work?  

Many churches would do well to ask themselves the question, Can We Stand to be Blessed? Are we prepared for growth? Are we prepared to nurture new members when the Lord starts sending them to us? Are we willing to share our time and talent as the Spirit gives birth to new ministries, so that everyone can take some responsibility in ministry for what God is doing?

I wonder, Israel, when the Lord starts blessing you in Canaan, can you handle not becoming spiritually arrogant and snooty? When the Lord starts to exalt you above the other nations, will the Lord's blessings  cause you to forget that it was the Lord who has brought you such a mighty long way?

I wonder, Israel, when the Lord begins to give you the land that he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, can you handle the blessing? For to whom much is given, much will be required. Will the blessing cause you to forget where you came from and the fact that it was the Lord who lifted you up above all other Nations? Can You Stand To Be Blessed?

I'm so glad that with some blessings, the Lord does not give them to us all at once, when we pray for them or think we have to have them, but he measures them out one day at a time. The Lord knows that some blessings we're not ready for. Some blessings are bigger than our ability to manage them as faithful stewards at the present time. Some blessings, if we got them all at once, they would be too big for us to handle. Some blessings, if we got them all at once, we might make a mess of the blessing or waste what God has given us.

Some blessings, the Lord allows to manifest in small increments over a period of time, so that when the fullness of the blessing finally does materialize, we'll be good stewards of what the Lord has done and appreciate His blessing all the more. Amen. But God is faithful. He'll give us a little bit of the blessing to see how we handle that, before he measures out another portion. But God is faithful. Said Jeremiah, "Morning by morning new blessings I see, all I have needed the hands have provided, Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me."

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