And God forgive us if the church has become like this in any shape or form today!

Let us then seek to make God’s message of love and mercy and healing known to others, in these very challenging times of economic crisis; and let us seek to continue Christ’s work in the world, and be his eyes, his hands, his feet, his mouthpiece, his heart…and make sure God’s treasure returns to him with interest. 

Let us make sure we’re seen to be those who give rather than those who grab.

And let us hope that our faith, in practice, fires other people up, increases their faith and set them free, giving them wings with which to fly.

Addendum

In the place of the example of George Bailey, from the film 'A Wonderful Life' I have also used the eample of Mumble from the Film Happy Feet:-

as follows

Give out ten, five, and one seeds, and ask everyone to imagine me returning in a year’s time to collect the rich produce.

What a glorious picture of potential (or what could happen as a result) realised!

But oh what a disappointment of potential wasted if this seed were not allowed to grow.!

Song here: What's the Use of Wings

and Remembrance Sunday recalled.

Down through the ages there must have been countless interpretations of the parables of Jesus; and because they are so rich in content and such colourful stories in their own right, they’ve left a deep impression on each new generation. But the marvellous thing about parables is that they are still so relevant for today’s world and God still speaks to us powerfully through them today.

So what about this one?

What do you think God is saying to us about it, having just heard it.

Is it about giving back to God more than what he has given to us?

Is it a warning about laziness?

Is it simply another ‘Get ready for the Master who will soon return’ parable?

Is it all of these?

I woke yesterday with a very firm image in my mind. It was that of a film; probably the most inspirational film ever made in America; called the Wonderful Life.

It’s about a man called George Bailey, who throughout his life sacrifices his hopes and ambitions so that others can be happy. But this one scene sticks in my mind which I would like to link with the parable we’ve just heard, and see what conclusions we can draw from both.

It’s that scene where George, (director of a Building and Loan Firm) is about to set off on his honeymoon, abroad with his new wife. He has with him his life savings of $2,000. George has longed to go abroad all his life, and this is his moment!

But as they leave town they discover that there is a BANK RUN.

Let me explain that is when a large number of customers try to withdraw their money because they think the bank is about to become INSOLVENT, (unable to pay what they owe) then that is a Bank Run.

A situation where even more people withdraw their deposits, the likelihood of failure increases, and this encourages further withdrawals, which can destabilize a bank to the point where it does face bankruptcy.

If this goes on to affect many banks with a whole chain of bankruptcies it can cause a long economic recession which can take years to recover from.

Now why does this sound familiar?

But this is where the hero George Bailey steps in. He knows the townsfolk well, he senses their panic, their concerns, and he actually GIVES of his own savings to satisfy their immediate needs; thus saving his company from disaster, by the close of the day!

He saw the crisis, acted immediately, gave sacrificially and saved the people.

The immediate thought of the people had been self preservation, a let’s grab what ours attitude!

George simply gave everything to them.

There are two kinds of people in our parable today.

All three servants have been entrusted with treasure, the master’s treasure.

Two servants have received treasure from the master and give back even more.

The third servant hides his treasure and hoards it so no-one else can benefit!

Why? Because he was AFRAID.

We have been given a vast amount of treasure as God’s servants. How are we using it? What are we doing with it?

Let me offer to you the three most important bags of treasure on offer to us as Christians.

Bag 1:  Gifts for the building up of the body

Bag 2; Fruit which blossoms as we grow and learn to be like Jesus

Bag 3: SALVATION.  I know that sounds ‘cliché’ in today’s world, but I’ll explain in a moment.

Let’s take the first briefly.

Bag of treasure no 1 Gifts for the Building up of the Body.

Let me read out a list of those gifts which the Holy Spirit has given the church not to make them feel good or privileged; but to EQUIP them for their work as God’s servants ,to benefit humankind, and to glue them together as one effective working and loving body.

These gifts whether we like it or not are all relevant. It is possible to receive them all even today. None are extinct. They are given by the Holy Spirit as He wills. They ought not in anyway denote superiority. They were not given to make some feel less important. All of them are for the building up of the body of Christ.

Romans 12:-

Service, teaching, exhortation (to advise strongly) contributing, aiding and acts of mercy

1 Corinthians 7:-

Marriage and celibacy

1 Corinthians 12:-

The utterance of wisdom, the utterance of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, workers of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.

In Ephesians

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

The New Testament doesn't give us an exhaustive list of gifts, even in this day and age more and more are being added i.e. gifts of organisation, song writing, vision for communities, role models for young people, computer programmes of outreach, the list of possibilities is endless.

Are we, as a church, making full use of this bag of treasure? Are we working effectively as one body? Do we encourage each other in their use? Do we pray to receive more for effective service? Are we hiding and hoarding any because we’re AFRAID for some reason like the third servant?

In the DVD Happy Feet: Memphis puts down his son’s Mumble’s talent; he ‘dances’ when he ought to be like all the others who are singers. His mother thinks it’s cute; his girlfriend Gloria doesn’t know what to make of it, and Noah and the elders cast him out!) Mumble the Father says sternly to his son, “It just ain’t penguin!”

Do we look down on certain unusual gifts in others with the attitude:- “But it ain’t penquin!” in other words:-

(It’s not our gift and we don’t understand it and we won’t tolerate it!)

Can you imagine how much impact Jesus would have had on earth, if he had  said to himself;

I’d better not demonstrate God’s power to heal, because I’ll be overpowered or inundated!

or I’d better not impart too much wisdom as I might make the leaders jealous;

I’d better not teach or preach, people might say ’Who does he think he is!’ No he didn’t .

 His purpose was to make God known, and no-one was going to stop him.

Bag of treasure no 2 Fruit which blossoms as we grow and learn to be like Jesus

Listen to this extract from a story I recently read which shows how easy it is to be so heavenly minded we’re no earthly good.

Several years ago I was driving along in my car singing praises to God. I was on a long stretch of road when I noticed a car with a flat tyre. On the opposite side of the road I noticed an older woman walking. I felt a nudge inside to turn around and go pick her up. I resisted, but immediately I remembered that this was an opportunity for a real act of worship. I turned around and took her to a service station. On the way I learned that, although we were each more than 15 miles away from our respective homes, she lived only two houses away from our church. I had the opportunity to introduce myself and invite her to church.

As we grow as Christians we can give priority in our lives to committees, worship, hymn practice, band practice, whatever, but unless we’re handing out to others the treasure of the fruit in our lives the world around us will not change i.e.

The fruit is

LOVE JOY PEACE, PATIENCE;  KINDNESS GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS

GENTLENESS SELF-CONTROL

It sometimes helps us to examine ourselves by turning this list into its opposites, and ask if we’re fulfilling our calling.

FEAR SADNESS RESTLESSNESS;  IMPATIENCE UNKINDNESS SELFISHNESS,

DISLOYALTY, BOSSINESS and RECKLESS WORDS AND DEEDS. Do we recognise these in ourselves? Which of these groups do we mostly fall into? Are we givers or takers?

(I looked back on my programme I brought last time I came to Windy Nook in 2008, and I find I quoted from ‘If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat. ‘ Philip Yancy

“All of a sudden will we look back on life and see

·        Exhilarating rides we never took

·        Sacrificial gifts we never gave

·        Lives we never touched

And we’re sitting in a recliner with a shrivelled soul and forgotten dreams. And we realize there was a world of desperate need and a great God calling us to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We see the person we could have become but somehow didn’t . .  .!)

We can sometimes hear friends urging us, ”Go on, give as good as you get!” But in Luke 6.38 it says Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Luke 6.38

Finally Bag of treasure number 3 : SALVATION

This word  ‘Salvation’  I described as a cliché word before, because as Christians we bandy this word around as if the world understands what it means. And they don’t!

Not really! Salvation, the act of being Saved, can be simply explained like this.

Imagine I am drowning in deep water, there seems to be no help at all, I am lost, but wait a minute; Someone throws me a lifeline, I now have hope and a future, I’m being pulled out to safety. I know I am now secure, because I was drowning and I was rescued. Someone saved me.

These also are the benefits on offer to someone who becomes a Christian.

Hope, rescue, freedom, life, saving grace.

We who were lost and dead in our sins; have been rescued through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, and given new life.

His blood flows to wipe out our faults and mistakes in life, and gives us a brand new road to walk on through life.

His body broken shows us how we too must pour out our lives to others, by simply living as he lived, buy loving others as he loved us.

His Spirit comes to reside in us, to lead and guide us.

This then is the third and most important bag of treasure we carry around with us

‘Christ in us ; hope of glory, says the bible.

Are we keeping THIS treasure to ourselves, or sharing the good news that Jesus is the RESCUER of the world and all its troubles.

In him there is potential to transform people’s lives and turn them around for the good.  .Miracles yes, in this day and age!

  The Spirit of Jesus can fill us to overflowing, and keep on refilling us, as we ask him to, as we pray.

But do we offer this treasure to others or do we come just to take for ourselves?

I would suspect Jesus had the religious leaders of the day in mind, when he told this parable. They had been entrusted to rightly hand on God’s laws, his promises, his holy temple, but they were acting like this third servant.

Jesus accuses them in Matthew’s gospel chapter 23 of hypocrisy and corruption..

He said that they were fastidious about with minute petty rules yet were blind to the really IMPORTANT issues of the day.

He noted that they preened themselves, and were out to glorify themselves rather than God.

 He accused them of being judgemental and of abusing their power.

He said their minds were closed and their lives were full of wickedness and that when they taught others they merely passed onto them their own prejudices.

They were just going through the motions and play-acting their faith.

Harsh words!

Artist’s challenge: Artist Competition (Greeting card)