What am I doing with what He gave me?

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also, who had received the one talent, came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Matthew 25:14-30, NIV

What are we doing with the minds, the bodies, the freedoms, the gifts, the opportunities He has afforded us!!!!!

Leonardo da Vinci was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer; he was perhaps the most diversely talented person to have ever lived. His estimated IQ scores range from 180 to 220.  Few of us are five-or ten-talented persons—most of us have one or two talents.  And because we’re not da Vinci, perhaps we hesitate to ever put our one talent to its best use; we fail to hone and develop that gift from God and instead look for excuses for not serving the King of Kings.  But Jesus, and later the writers of the New Testament,  had harsh words for those who were not using their gifts, time, and abilities wisely or were in general lazy…” cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

What is my gifts and talents, and what are yours?  More essentially, are we employing them for God’s work, or are we making excuses for not using them for His glory?  What is holding us back from putting our hands to the plow—or to the keyboard—or from being a life guard or teacher for His glory?

What do I hear the most from American youth and adults? Oh, I can’t help it, I have a disorder. I have glandular issues, I have a learning disability, I was born lazy, or worst of all, I just don’t want to help—— which is indifference to God’s work.

When it comes to getting things done, whether at camp, work, or school,  it’s common to complain or to criticize the work of others. I hear it all the time at our camp and in the churches in which I have served. It’s always easier to rock a boat than to row a boat.  Dale Carnegie famously said, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain, and most do.”  Are we complaining or rolling up our sleeves to get the work done? The worst person to be around in a family, summer camp, work, or church is someone who complains about everything and appreciates nothing. They offer no remedies. Only complaints—it’s maddening to be around people like that.  But am I like that at times….are you?   In this room, I see people who always make things happen or find themselves a solution.  But there are also some who give up when it gets too hard, or it’s not as easy as they thought.

So let me make this message very personal tonight: Are things not like you like them in your family, at your job, at this little church, in our state, or in our nation?  If you answered “yes”, would you think about making the changes by working to make it better?  Would you be willing to run for office? Would you be willing to teach, cook, clean, visit, and bake?  We find helping hands at the ends of wrists—not just with the hands of the older members of our churches and society.    The world becomes a better place when people get busy doing what they love instead of complaining about what they hate. I, for one, would not want to be running for President or Congress right now. And yet I complain about my choices!

xxx

So let’s stop complaining, in the first place, and look at why we are not doing what we need to do or are capable of doing.  What are our excuses for not using the talents and gifts God gave us?

The most common excuses we offer is that we just “don’t have time” or we have “too much going on right now”, or we suffer from ADD or ADHD or some other disorder.  It’s amazing to note the number of American kids that claim that this is why they can’t work or do a good job, versus kids from other countries! You have the same amount of time every other person on the planet has, and the same amount of time Jesus had as well.

So in the first place, I am supposed to work and to manage the time He gives me each day very well, and if I claim to have a disorder or messed up childhood, remember, you have the same number of hours every day, as those that are “free” from the excuses society has given you.

The danger of not managing my time or doing the work is that others have to do you should I do. It’s a matter of fact that 20% of our staff do 80% of the work in all things at this camp—and in churches.  It’s why Paul got so frustrated and told the lazy Church members in the first century., “If you don’t work, you don’t eat”.  He noticed that those who were not working were also the ones who caused the most trouble.  He stated that “they were not busy, but had become busybodies!

I was working with the two youngest boys recently to get their room cleaned up. Keeping things organized with a teenagers is an hourly challenge. If I do not check on them at least once a day, their areas look like a bomb has exploded—we can’t find anything.

So after we got things cleaned up one of the boys challenged me on my “need to be organized” and suggested that perhaps I had a disorder. He suggested that  I needed to relax and enjoy a messy room, car and office from time to time.  The idea of everything being put back and “leaving a room better than you found it” has never been well received by him and the other brothers. I get the idea that organization was not something emphasized in their former homes.  We sometimes spend hours looking for things that should have been put in their right place.

But I thought about his challenge and I rattled back to him something I heard growing up hearing: “cleanliness being next to Godliness”, and the conversation ended. But that little adage does not really properly define why I think being organized and “neat” is so important, as father and a follower of Jesus Christ. I am aware of “obsessive compulsive disorders”, and many folks suggest that if you are neat, on-time, organized and clean you must be OCD. I don’t buy that.

Being on-time suggests that you value the time of the other persons that are waiting and realize that being late is “stealing” their time.   Being organized not only saves time when you need to get your hands on the right file, shirt, shoes, etc, but also is, frankly, pleasing to the senses—at least  to my eyes it is. And having things neat, symmetrical, balanced, planned and in the proper place, shows that what  we are designing and maintaining things like we were created to. Our heavenly Father is never late, disorganized, does NOT make a mess; He assigns things in perfect harmony and symmetry.

But let me share some personal things I’ve learned about seizing organization and avoiding the clutter, both spiritually and very practically:

1. I am less stressed when I am organized. It gives me a calmer mind. A mess is bad for my emotional and physical health. I can’t rest with a mess all around me!

2. There’s an aesthetic appeal to something that’s neat and in order, and I look forward to coming home to it. Simply put, I feel better about my little corner in this world when all things are in the right place. But if the place is a mess, I am always anxious about the need to get it cleaned up.

3. I am far more efficient, and I complete and accomplish more when I am organized. I can find what I want, where it should be, and not waste time looking for things.

4. It’s cost-effective—that is, it saves money! I don’t buy the same things twice because I know what I have, where it is, and how much I have left.

5. I have more time for my family, my church, my friends, and my favorite pastimes. With less clutter and less time spent going through piles of mess, I can devote my time to more essential tasks.

6. I am showing by example how a man of God ought to live. Little eyes are watching me. My decision to do things excellently is going to echo across many years to come.

What I am trying to teach my boys is perhaps uncommon on this earth, in this country, and in this little camp, but I  hope that one day they can look back and see that I was attempting to prepare them for the only true reality: God. Our God expects that whatever our hand finds to do, we do it excellently—even if it is making up our beds or putting up our clothes. THAT is how I want the boys to remember my teaching and example. I stand absolutely amazed at how slovenly, haphazardly, and disorganized many of us pastors live and minister. We represent the King of Kings, for goodness ' sake, not some dysfunctional and disorganized despot. Am I presenting myself in my habits (and in my sermons and devotions) as a representative and servant of God Almighty?

We all have talents, gifts, abilities, and unique treasures hidden within us.  But let me tell you one gift that He has given to you that we all have—and one that He keeps giving to us each day. It’s a gift that we must make use of daily—just like manna in the wilderness, in the dessert it’s a gift that you can’t hoard or store up or save for tomorrow. The gift is called “time”.  He gives us over 10,000 minutes every week of our lives. But I can never claim those minutes or hours back—it is the one thing in life that you can never get back. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.  And yet sometimes we live and choose as if we can buy more time.

So ask yourself this morning this question—regardless of your talents, employment, etc, are you really making the best use of your time? ”It's not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?" -- Henry David Thoreau.  I don’t want to be just busy when there’s work to be done—-and there is work to be done in this church and in our community.

Let’s not look back but press forward. There’s work to be done for God’s kingdom—right now and today.  Mother Theresa said,” Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."  Right now, today, let’s decide to take our talents and time and devote them to Him and His work. “Determine never to be idle.  You will find that you don’t have to complain about not having enough time to do what you want and need to do if you don’t lose time. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing." -- Thomas Jefferson.  Did you ever notice that the ones who do the work in the church are usually the busiest ones? That’s because they manage their time and don’t allow themselves to be lazy.

We must use our gifts and plan our time if we intend on being faithful servants—it’s that simple.   So do I plan? Am I  setting aside my tithe, each week, and planning my days and weeks to serve the King of Kings?  Abraham Lincoln once said, ”Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."  “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  (Benjamin Franklin).  There’s too much to do to leave it to chance or to simply give God what’s left over!  My future is created by what I do today, not tomorrow.  What are we going to do today for His church and His Kingdom?

Please don’t receive this as me tooting my own horn—I have nothing to brag about when the things I get right are placed in the balance of what I get wrong!  But as my friend Jerry Lucia used to brag about me, my days are broken up into four-minute sections each day. Why?  Because, as Lord Chesterfield said, ”Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves."   I must plan and set aside priorities, and I must plan for the day, or things won’t get done!  We worry about things we could be planning to overcome.  Churchill said, “Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.”  At this camp, we need a goal and a blueprint.   “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Friends, let’s plan, prioritize, and get to work at this camp. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King.   Let’s not be found wanting when the Master returns to check on our work.