Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Father, we thank you for bringing us together.
We thank you for this time and our praise and
worship with you as you speak to us and teach
us and help grow our character. Open our hearts
and our minds to everything that you have to
speak to us today. And help us to apply it in
our daily lives as we leave from here. In Jesus'
name. Amen. All right. So a brief recap. You
know, first few chapters, we're going to be going
through a little bit more here. But it's been
talking about the half -heartedness of man. And
a lot of the same things that we see today. At
this point, you know, the priest had become very
lax. And we're going to see a little bit of why
here today as well. Just a little bit. But people,
you know, it's very much we're kind of doing
things half -heartedly. It became very legalistic.
They're doing things because they felt they had
to do it, right? It was what was expected of
them. It wasn't that they wanted to do it. They
didn't have a joyful heart about it. Their passion,
you know, and that fire that they had inside
for the Lord when everything came together and
the temple was rebuilt and they were able to
go in and start praising and worshiping again,
you know, their timelines weren't met the way
that they felt, you know, that people forget.
We're not the boss of God. God's the boss of
us. We serve him, right? And because all the
prophecies and everything weren't happening in
their timeline, they're very much like, God doesn't
care. Why should we, right? They forgot their
place. And they started letting people slide
based on their prominence and their wealth and
all that kind of stuff, right? They started twisting
the word. doing what they, to do what they want,
to say what they wanted, you know, and sleeping
around, and they were using it to justify themselves,
all right? And that's what we're going to be
looking more at today, as well as God's continued
warning for the people, and he's warning them
then just like he's warning us today. So keep
that in the back of your mind, and we're going
to go ahead and open up your Bibles, your Bible
apps, whatever it is that you're using, Malachi
chapter 3. verses 1 through 5. And the word says,
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare
the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek
will suddenly come to his temple. Even the messenger
of the covenant in whom you delight, behold,
he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who
can endure the day of his coming? And who can
stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's
fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as
a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify
the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer to the Lord an offering of
righteousness. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem
will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days
of old, as in former years. And I will come near
you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against
sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers,
against those who exploit wage earners and widows
and orphans, and against those who turn away
an alien. Because they do not fear me, says the
Lord of hosts. That gets kind of deep there,
doesn't it? And what we're seeing here is that
people are whining, they're complaining, right?
They're moaning, and they're pointing the finger
at God. And they're saying that he's been neglecting
them, that he doesn't care, right? Like, oh,
this is, all this that's going on, this is all
your fault. Why don't you do something about
it? Right? Trying to put the onus on him. And
as if that wasn't bad enough, like, you know,
like I mentioned before, they were trying to
justify their sin by twisting the word to say
that God had condoned their behavior or at the
very least excused their sin. Right? Like, oh,
it's okay. Whatever. Right? It's like, you know,
how sad is that? But we see it today, don't we?
People want to twist it to justify the ends,
right? Justify the means. You know, they've been
twisting it, and they've used that twist to fit
their narrative. Who else does this? Who else?
Satan. Right? He omits things. He twists the
word. He puts it in a certain way to fit his
narrative or to the very least get you to question
God, right? So people learned it somewhere. Now
we know where we learned it, right? Because we
go all the way back to Genesis. Adam and Eve
started right there. People start to... Look
to insert words even, you know, or demanding
something literal to be shown of Jesus. Asking,
it's kind of like taking the Bible, right? And
someone saying, oh, I don't believe it. What
does the Bible say about cell phones? Show me
where it says something about cell phones. I
want to see the word cell phone in the Bible.
How ridiculous is that, right? But people do
it. People do it. They don't take into account
that the Bible says plenty about communicating
with one another, right? That's a big part of
why it says to love one another. The golden rule,
it comes from the Bible, right? There's a lot
in there about communication, but they're like,
no, I want to see the exact words. Really? Did
they even have phones back then? I don't think
so. Of all the minds and genius and everything
else that was going on at that time, building
pyramids and everything else back in the day,
I don't think that they'd even come up with a
way yet to tie a couple of cups together and
see if sound traveled down that line. But people
do say just really silly stuff. Silly, silly
stuff. And they want to see it. They demand to
see it. We see it today. People... Caught up
in witchcraft, adultery, abusing one another,
right? Cheating others. Withholding things that
are due. Now, come on, we have a ton of laws
for business for just that very reason. Because
there's a lot of businesses and business owners
out there that want to cheat people out of their
pay because they want to keep as much as possible,
right? And they're hoping, well, you know, if
I do enough and nobody says anything, then I
can just do it to everybody and it builds up.
That's just one example of many. There's nothing
different back then. You know, a lot of businesses.
You know, as much as I hate to say it, there's
churches out there. And I use the term kind of
loosely at this point when it comes to that because
I look at them more as business because they
do. They like to use their people. They like
to take advantage of them, right? There's that
whole confusion of... Kindness for weakness.
And they disguise their bullying as kindness.
And unfortunately, a lot of people get caught
up in it. They get guilted into it, right? And
they end up being taken advantage of. Not just
church, a lot of businesses. A lot of businesses.
There's people out there, oh, I'm your friend,
but I'm going to take advantage. I need your
car. Right? And they go and they get a rack or
pop for drinking and driving. A lot of things
happen. But, you know, people, they're there.
They're making a big stink. Their hearts were
hardening. And it's still happening today, unfortunately.
You know, and what we're seeing here, God wasn't
having it. He's like, nope. He's drawn a line
in the sand. He's gotten tired of people's shenanigans,
people trying to tell him, right? It's like,
really? Who are we to tell God anything? Right?
To demand like that. To point the blame at him
for our own misdeeds and our own failings. But
that's what they're doing. And God was at that
point. He's telling people, hey, we're done here.
You need to stop. You need to start looking at
yourself and take accountability for your own
stuff. Right? The stuff that you're doing. The
stuff that you're saying. You know, but like
I said, people were arrogant. They're essentially
trying to gaslight God. Saying, hey, you're neglecting
us. But really, what was the truth? They were
neglecting him. They'd become very legalistic.
You have to do this, you have to do that. When
the crow crows at three in the morning, you've
got to stand up and do this and face this direction.
And none of it was because they wanted to. They
weren't giving the way that they should of their
time and their resources and their finances.
They weren't spending time in the Word or studying.
They're caught up in their own stuff. They're
caught up in the ways of the world. And they're
pointing a finger at God, and he reached the
boiling point where he's like, no, enough is
enough. Enough is enough, and it's time for change.
I'm sick and tired of this. Stop. And if you
don't stop, I'm going to make you stop. And it's
going to happen right now. That's basically what
God was saying, right? Enough is enough. He had
enough of the sinful lifestyles and the cynicism.
That's a big one, isn't it? Today we refer to
it as being sarcastic, right? People get kind
of snarky. It's like, oh, that Jesus stuff. Yeah.
A lot of that today. So much so, they told him,
hey, you know what? I'm going to send a messenger.
Matter of fact, when you look at it, he's sending
two messengers. He's like, we're going to right
this ship. We're going to right it right now.
End of story. You know, his messenger was going
to go and he was going to set things right. He
was going to go and he's going to weed out those
hypocrites. That we're professing a counterfeit
faith, and that's exactly what it is, a counterfeit
faith. You know, they want to be all high and
mighty. They're going to go and put on their
wrists, all dressed up. Hi, how you doing? That
big fake cheese -eating grin like a used car
salesman. Hi. Give me your money. If you don't
give, it's because you don't believe, you don't
have faith. Even if you're homeless, give us
all your money. Sell your car. Give us more.
It's not enough. Right? Oh, it's okay if you
sin. Come on in. We're going to put a flag out
in front of our church saying it's okay. You
just come on in here. Your sin is excused. Don't
worry about it. It's fine. But we see that in
a number of ways. A number of flags. More and
more so. You know, the people who were still
acting sinfully and doing the things that they
shouldn't, justice was about to be handed out.
You know, the time for a purification had come.
You know, and I love the fact that it talks about
purification here. You know, because it talks
about the refinement of pure metals, right? Those
are metals that still hold weight today, hold
a lot of value today. But it also talks about
the launderer's soap. And I think that's probably
the more, or I shouldn't say the most accurate,
but probably the most, I don't know, what touches
us a little bit more. Because the laundry is
so, you think, has anybody in here, well, I know
at least one person in here. Has anybody in here
ever had to do their laundry by hand? Marine
Corps boot camp, we all have to do our laundry
by hand. A big concrete slab and a spigot. You
go out there with your canteen cup and a little
soap and a scuzz brush. You do it all by hand,
and when you're done, you put it up on a wire
to dry it, and you hope by the time you have
to go back and get it, it's actually dry and
it hadn't rained the day before. Or it's not
raining at that time. That's happened too. But
the laundry is soap. We have to do the laundry
by hand. It's a process. It takes time. And you
can have, you know, maybe it's just like sweat,
a little grime, a little dirt. You're in there.
You have to put some elbow grease in there to
scrub it. Sometimes you get those really hard
stains. They're stubborn. They don't want to
come out. Right? You're sitting there. You're
trying to put a little soap on there first and
just really mesh it in there. You're scrubbing
the tar out of it. Sometimes you get those spots
where it's like you rub and rub and rub and after
a couple months and, you know, it's the same
thing like around the knees or whatever because
you're low crawling or whatever in the mud and
all this other gunk and stuff and the fabric's
getting a little thin. So you're afraid to scrub
too hard because you don't want to tear it and
have a hole in it. That's a whole other bag of
worms with your drill instructors or other branches,
your drill sergeants yelling at you. You know,
but we're the same. The way God comes into our
lives and he purifies us. And we're stubborn.
And we don't want to change certain things in
our lives. We don't want to give up certain sins.
Like, really? But it makes me feel good. It makes
me feel good. Do I really have to give this up?
It's like, you want me to give up the booze,
really? It's like, I can't just go out and party
all the time? You know, I have to give up sleeping
around all the time. I have to give up the gambling,
really. And we're stubborn. We're set in our
ways. We don't want to give that stuff up. We
like it because we bought into the addiction
and don't even necessarily realize it, right?
That's the tricky part of addiction is you're
addicted and you don't necessarily realize that
you've become addicted. And so Jesus is in there
and he's scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing
and put a little bit more. If you've ever had
someone take a brush to you, even, it hurts.
Sometimes it gets downright painful. I think
everybody in here has been punched at least once.
It doesn't tickle. But, you know, our sin are
those stubborn stains in our life that we just
don't want to let go of. So they get scrubbed
a little harder until they finally release and
they come out, right? That chain has been broken.
And we could say we've been saved, right? Our
life changes. Our character changes. The way
we go about life changes. And it's those defining
moments that we have to understand is when Jesus
is at work in our lives and purifying us. And
he's bringing us closer and closer to the Father.
You know, and as painful as it can be, whether
it's physically, emotionally, mentally, all of
the above, we have to remember it's because of
his love, and his love ultimately is worth it.
All right, so going back into our reading here.
I'll remember to hit the slide this time. So
Malachi 3, verses 6 through 12. So verses 6 through
12. For I am the Lord, I do not change, therefore
you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from
the days of your fathers you have gone away from
my ordinances and have not kept them. Return
to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord
of hosts. But you said, In what way shall we
return? Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed
me. But you say, In what way have we robbed you?
In tithes and offerings, you are cursed with
a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole
nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
that there may be food in my house. And try me
now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will
not open for you the windows of heaven and pour
out for you such blessing. that there will not
be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes so that he will not
destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the
vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,
says the Lord of hosts. And all nations will
call you blessed for you will be a delightful
land, says the Lord of hosts. So God... was calling,
you know, it was basically going to his next
issue. He's calling people out for their dishonesty.
Their dishonesty in their faith and their dishonesty
in giving as they've been told to do. You know,
let's start because there's a couple issues here.
Let's start. Faith, right? Which is a big issue.
These are both issues that we see today. Faith
is the biggest one, right? What is faith? Trust
in God. Broken down into simplest terms, faith
is trust in God. How much do you trust him? Right?
And people had turned their backs. They turned
their backs on him. They no longer cared about
forgiveness and restoration. At least not with
him. Right? And with a lot of other people, people
become bitter. They were bitter. Why were they
bitter? Well, you know, why was this happening?
Well, it's for the same reason that it's happening
today. People refused to admit their sin. They
didn't want to give up their sin. They didn't
want to be called out on their sin. Instead,
they did everything in their power to flip that
script and make themselves out to be the good
guy. Every step of the way, they had to paint
the light with them being the good guy. When
really the reality is quite the opposite, right?
Just like today, we get upset about a lot of
things in our lives. Who is usually the culprit?
As much as we want to say the devil made me do
it, who's usually the culprit? It's usually us.
We're our own worst enemy. We make the choice.
No one made us do it. We chose to do it. And
we created the situations that we fall into.
But we don't want to admit it. Say, oh, no, no,
no, I was sin free in this. Uh -uh. No. We weren't,
unfortunately. And the mentality that had been
taken on was one in which people tried to use
God's grace to justify their sin. And they saw
God's grace as a free pass. You know, very much
the, well, you know, he's forgiven us before.
He'll forgive us again. It's all right. Just
go do you. Go do you, boo. Right? Sounds familiar?
You know, but I'll remind you, you know, the
grace of God doesn't free us to sin. It frees
us from sin. It frees us from sin. And the caveat
to that is we are not to go back to it. But everybody
wants to go back to it. The chain's been broken,
right? The ball and chain on that ankle, it's
gone. People are like, oh, no, I want to go.
Put it back on. Put it back on. I want one more
drink. Come on. One more fix. Let's do this.
Come on. Bring it. Right? One more woman. One
more man. One more machine. Ding, ding, ding,
ding, ding. I turned my 20 into 200. Yes. Put
the bonds back on. we're supposed to be freed
from that sin, not go back to it. So stop looking
at it. You've been freed. Be grateful. Walk away.
The rest will fall in place. The healing is allowed
to begin at that point. And the next part was
tithing. Tithing at that time, especially, as
much as, you know, tithing is a word that gets
thrown around a lot, right? It was a tax. It
was offerings. Because it also says offering
here, right? But it was a gift from the people
to support the Levitical priest who weren't supposed
to be working. They weren't supposed to have
any crops or any livestock or anything like that.
So they had no means to sustain and support themselves.
So especially at that time. God had provision
and told people, hey, this is the tithe. This
is how you're going to do about it. This is the
rotation it's going to be in. These are the things
you're going to tithe. Because as much as a lot
of people are going to say it's all about money,
it's not all about money. Right? Because they
were taking them food and drink and everything
that they needed. Their clothing. How many people
in here would be well off if they had to depend
on other people to go and get them clothes right
now? You had nothing and you had to depend on
someone to go and get you clothes. Most of us
wouldn't trust anybody to go and get us socks,
let alone underwear, right? Maybe a t -shirt?
But that's what the priest had to rely on. And
that's what this was all supposed to go to, was
to support them, to free them up so they can
concentrate on the work that the Lord had set
in front of them. Their own studies. Their own
prayer. Taking care of the temple and all the
maintenance thereof. Right? Preaching to people,
teaching people, counseling people, seeing to
all their spiritual needs and teaching them all
the things that God had to say and all the things
that God had to teach and how to apply them to
our daily lives. But just like today, people
get upset. Hey. Pastor, why don't you have time
to come and see me? Why don't you have time to
call me? Why don't you have time to go and do
this? Why do we have to schedule that out so
far? Right? Because nobody wants to give the
way that they're supposed to. Nobody wants to
support things the way that they're supposed
to. So at that time, because people weren't giving
the way that they're supposed to, these priests
had to go out and start finding other work just
to be able to eat. Let alone take care of the
temple. And all that stuff costs money. All of
it costs money. It all takes time. And they were
being robbed of that time. So thinking about
that, if you were robbed of all your time, you're
expected to do all this other stuff. And when
it came time to do your actual work, how excited
would you be to do that work? How much fire and
passion would you have to do that work? How excited
would you be to get up, get dressed, and go into
work that day? Not many of us. Most of us would
be pretty just like, ugh. It's like, I just need
10 minutes for myself, maybe a half hour to sleep.
But that's what they were doing. They were working
two jobs. And it wasn't like a 9 to 5. Because
you think about it, crops, livestock, that's
a morning till evening thing, right? Sun up,
sun down. Going to the markets was the same thing
because you had to take all this stuff in. You
had to set it up. You had to break it down. You
had to take it all out. You didn't get to leave
anything. And then they were still expected to
take care of the spiritual needs of the people.
What sense does that make? Now we kind of see
a little aha, why they'd become so kind of humdrum
and half -hearted about it, right? It's disheartening.
It's disappointing. So their time had been robbed,
and people, like I said, people were giving very
little to nothing at all. They weren't supporting
the people God had placed in front of them and
said, hey, support them. They got caught up in
stuff. It's that mentality of, I worked for it,
why should I give any of it up? This is mine.
Right? We have that same mentality today, do
we not? It's like I busted my butt for hours.
Why should I give any of this up, right? People
become scrooges. A lot of people, they withhold
because they don't actually have faith in God
to actually meet their needs, to take care of
their needs, right? We forget that everything
that we have is actually God's and God's given
it to us. He's entrusted us with it to take care
of it. But people don't trust in him. They don't
trust in his word. They don't trust in what he's
told us. They don't trust in what he's shown
us. Oh, it's been so long. And so they don't
give. They hoard it for themselves. Like, oh,
no, I need this. I need this. I'm saving up for
that, I don't know, that special something. Right?
It's like, yeah, you know, I could give this,
but I want to hold on to it. Because I know next
year there's a brand new video game console coming
out. And I want that next video game console,
right? Or something along those lines. Oh, the
next iPhone's coming out. But the price is going
up another $500. So I need to hold on to this
so I can afford that. There's a big one. That's
probably a little bit more relatable than video
games for some people. Because I do, there's
a lot of adults out there like, hey, what phone
do you have? Oh, you need to switch. You got
an Apple? No, you need an Android. Oh, you got
an Android? No, you need to switch over. So people
don't give. Instead, they hoard everything to
themselves, and they forget what Jesus said in
Luke 6, verse 38. So Luke 6, verse 38. Jesus
said, Give, and it will be given to you. Good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running
over will be put into your bosom. For with the
same measure that you use, it will be measured
back to you. In other words, what you give is
what you're going to get. People expect the world,
but they want to give nothing for it. Go to work.
Hey, how you doing? What's up? What you doing?
Or least amount of work possible for maximum
pay. Is that what you were hired for, though?
Is that what's expected of you? That's what a
lot of people do, though. A lot of people do
it. Like I said, we have to remember, everything
that we have is really a gift from God. It was
never ours to begin with. And he's watching us
to see how we're going to use these gifts. How
we're going to use these gifts to support other
people and bless other people and lift up other
people and sow into the kingdom. To point the
way to Jesus. Right? How we're going to love
on one another with the gifts that we've been
given. Okay, great. You have a car. He doesn't.
Why don't you give him a ride? Right? Pastor
Mike does that a lot. In fact, Brian just did
that on the 4th of July. We're up at the post.
One of our soldiers up there, his wife had taken
off early, so he was waiting for someone to give
him a ride. Well, the person who said they'd
give him a ride apparently forgot because they
had already left. I found that out because it's
like, well, why are you waiting on her? It's
like, Brian's leaving right now. Why don't you
go with him? Hey, Brian, come over here. Could
you give him a ride? Brian was gracious, gave
him a ride. Went in there. It's like, yeah, hey,
tell... I'm not going to throw their name out
because I don't want to embarrass anybody if
they're watching. But hey, tell so -and -so.
that they don't have to worry about giving Jim
a ride, Brian's taking them. Oh, why is he waiting
on her? She left like a half hour ago. Oh, good
thing Brian's giving her a ride, or giving him
a ride. But it happens. How do we use our gifts?
And here's the thing. When we withhold, when
we don't use things the way that we're supposed
to, when we don't give of things the way that
we're supposed to, when we hoard those things
up for ourselves, we're like, mine, my precious.
And we're like Gollum with the ring, right? My
precious, my shiny. When we do this, we actually
become thieves ourselves. We're stealing from
God. We're robbing God. He's given us resources.
He's given us material things. He's given us
financial things, right? He's given us wisdom.
He's given us so many things that we can use
to bless others, to counsel others, to teach
others, to help others. And we withhold. You
got a gift to play an instrument, but you only
want to do it at home or in front of a couple
people. No. I did that for years. For years I
did that. Matter of fact, if somebody were to
come into the house, I would stop playing and
I would put it away. I'm guilty of that. I know
other musicians just as guilty of that. Yep.
There's one hand up over there. There's another
hand over there. Yeah. Guilty. If we're all on
the praise team, imagine that. Using the gifts.
And it's funny. Because I was actually talking
about this at the Post on the 4th of July. Because
we have other musicians there as well. And we
got to talking and the subject that came up where
we were talking about was when COVID hit. Remember
when COVID hit, everything was shutting down.
And there were a lot of musicians out there who
depended on their gigs to pay their bills. And
there were a lot of people out there like, I
can't find a gig to save my life. I'm putting
in for unemployment and this and that. I'm sitting
there, really? I got a gig every week. What do
you mean you have a gig every week? Everything's
closed. When you play for Jesus, you got a gig
every week. There's lots of churches looking
for musicians. Go find yourself a church. Start
playing. Even if you're not getting paid, it
feels pretty good. As a musician, when you actually
get something put together and you're up there
and you're performing, you're using your gifts,
you're giving to other people, you're sharing
that gift with other people, it feels good. It
really does. Sometimes we muff things up. It
happens. Anybody ever go to work and not mess
something up at some point? Got a couple people
in here who have driven buses or big vehicles?
Well, heck, I don't even have to say that. Anybody
in here who's ever been behind the wheel of a
car has hit a curve at some point. It just came
out of nowhere, right? But we're using those
gifts. Pastor Mike is great about giving people
rides almost every week. Pastor Hollins at our
sister church out in Laguna, same thing. He actually
went out and got a vehicle, and he does that
religiously. Who needs a ride? Loads them up
in that van, and they're gone, right? A lot of
people are really good about that. It's like,
I have this. I have the ability to do this. Great.
Go do it. Use those gifts. That's what we're
supposed to do. You know, we look to God like
he owes us something, but the reality is he owes
us nothing, and we owe him everything in return.
And he asks for so little, so little, but we
demand so much, don't we? And we need to remember
that when we give, we need to give happily. Give
because we want to with a happy heart, right?
It's like you have something, you know it's not
going to do you any good anymore, you don't care
about it, you haven't used it in forever, but
you know someone who can make a really good use
of it. Like, you know what, here, let me give
that to them, they're going to get some use out
of it, and it makes you feel good. Because even
though that blessing isn't bringing you any happiness
anymore, now it's bringing you one last little
bit of happiness, and it's bringing joy to somebody
else. Right? Maybe you upgraded to a new coffee
pot. You know somebody who needs a coffee pot,
so you give them the old one. Made me a lot of
great coffee. I know it'll work for you too.
Enjoy. Right? See, when we give happily, we give
freely, and we remember, you know, we do this.
We have to, we also, we remember that God promised
that he's going to reward us for our stewardship
and our giving. What we give, we're going to
get in return. But I'll remind you, nowhere in
here does it say we're going to get all that
blessing here on earth because we're not. In
fact, quite the opposite. The word actually tells
us our riches are stored up in heaven, right?
Where rust and moths and all that stuff isn't
going to get to it. Where it's going to last
for eternity. And that's where it's at. That's
where the bulk of our riches are, waiting for
us. Because our needs will be met while we're
here on earth. If we trust in God, when we look
to God, when we lean to God and we depend on
God. It's all going to come back to us. And really,
for time's sake, I'm not going to go into it.
But take a note. I'd encourage everybody to go
and read it on their own time in Matthew 25.
Because our giving and the way it comes back
to us is very much like the three servants. All
right? I'm going to paraphrase here. Basically,
there is a master. He was going out on a trip.
He had three servants come to him. He gave them
all bags of a... basically, bags of silver. He
said, take care of this while I'm gone. He goes
off on his trip. He comes back. The first slave
comes up, says, Master, you entrusted me with
five bags of silver. I went and I invested it
and I got and I doubled it. Here you go. You've
done well, my good and faithful servant. Second
servant comes up. You entrusted me with two bags
of gold or silver or whatever. Right? I'm paraphrasing.
I don't remember the exact number. I'm just kind
of pulling it out of a rabbit's hat. But you're
going to trust me with so many bags. I went and
I doubled it. Good job. Good and faithful servant.
Let's celebrate. Right? So far, everything's
going good. So far, all the funds are being vested
wisely and doubled. And you'll notice here with
the numbers, everybody's gotten a different amount
because no one's blessing is the same. Right?
Finally, the third servant comes and says, I
know you can be harsh. And I was afraid. So I
buried it in the sand so nothing would happen
to it. Here's your bag back. Ho, ho, ho, ho.
You a little faith. I'm so disappointed. And
then he sends him away. And notice the parallel
here. Sends him away into darkness. where there's
pain and gnashing of teeth. Hmm, where does that
sound familiar? Yeah, not anywhere we want to
go, huh? Quite the opposite direction. I said,
it's kind of the cliff notes. Read it for yourself.
It's great, but it applies. It's the same thing.
When we give and how we invest is how it's going
to come back to us and how we're going to be
celebrated when we go on to be with the Father.
All right? So we have to invest the gifts that
we have so wisely. And in doing so, we show our
love for him. We show our trust in him. We show
our relationship with him. Our character. It
all comes back to him. So I'm going to tell everybody,
when it comes to the way you give, of everything,
We all need to take time and evaluate ourselves.
Giving of our time, our talents, our resources.
Are you giving the way that you should? And in
doing so, we all need to keep in mind, again,
this is indicative of our trust and our relationship
with God. So in asking ourselves if... We're
giving as we should. We're actually asking ourselves,
do I truly trust God? And do I truly trust God
with my life and meeting my needs? Because the
answer to that is the actual litmus test that
you're using to measure where your relationship
truly is with God and what you need to work on.
But make no mistake in doing so. He loves you.
He wants you to come home. That's why he's given
us these warnings saying, hey, if you do this
and you turn back and you do what's right and
you do what I've commanded, it's all going to
be okay. I forgive you. I love you. Come back.
I want to be able to bless you. And not only
do I want to bless you, but I want to bless you
so much that your cup overfills. I want to bless
you so much. that it's coming out of the windows,
and you don't even have enough places to store
it all. I don't know. I think of that, and I
get this picture of Scrooge McDuck in his vault,
and he's just going down all the coins. Woo -hoo!
But you take that picture, and God wants to bless
you so much more. But you have to trust in him.
You have to be willing to give, because giving
is how we love our neighbor. It's how we love
on each other. All right? It's on us to open
the door and let him into our lives so that he
can bless us as well. And on that note, let us
pray. Lord, we come before you in thankfulness
for all these reminders of how we've misstepped
as a people, how we've misstepped individually.
We thank you for allowing us to see the errors
of our ways. And know that we can lean into you
for help to fix them. And we can correct these
errors through you and with you. We ask for your
guidance and your hand of blessing as we move
to do so. We ask for your forgiveness for all
of our transgressions and our missteps. And we
ask that you help to remove those temptations
from our lives so that we can fill that space
with the things that are truly important to fill
that space with you instead of the world. Help
us to take all that you've spoken to us and apply
it to our lives as we leave here today. We love
you. We pray for your guidance in these troubled
waters of our life. All of his people said, amen
and amen. Remember, as you leave here today,
you're loved, you are blessed, so go and be the
church. Have a great week, everybody. Until next
time, take care and God bless.