What is it, to live as God’s people in such times? What is the wisdom we should follow?
We have the gift of the Spirit, and we must live by him, fanning into flame the gift that is given us. And we have gifts (talents) that are to be used in this world, for the one that is to come.
We need to learn the wisdom of life in the times that God has called us to.
- Matthew 25:1–1 The wise and Foolish Virgins
- Matthew 25:14–30 Faithful and Fearful Stewards
A Reflection
Understanding the times that we live in – the mixture of judgement and mercy – what are we called to be in them; how are we to live in Christ? In his prayer in the upper room (Jn 17), Jesus makes it clear that we are to live IN the world as those who are not OF the world. We will not be immune to its sufferings, just as Jesus did not hold himself immune from them.
It is good to understand the times, but all the understanding we may seek, is no substitute for being the people in these times that God has called us to be. He makes it very clear that when he comes, he will not be looking for those passively waiting for him, but those actively serving him (Lk 12:42-43).
The parables of the wise virgins and the talents, gives a picture of the two main strands of wisdom for living in these times:
- Maintaining a living relationship with Jesus in the Spirit (not of the world)
- Actively engaging with the world as Jesus’ servants (in the world)
A Parable of the Spirit
In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, what was the foolishness of the foolish virgins?
On the surface, it was that “they took no oil with them”. But at a deeper level their foolishness was based on misunderstanding and mistrusting. They misunderstood what waiting would mean and the mistrusted themselves (if they even thought about it) to be able to find oil when they needed it.
Ready to wait
In misunderstanding the time, they were taken by surprise when “the bridegroom was delayed”. Of course, he was not actually delayed, God’s timing is perfect, but that is how it seemed to them. They were ready when they began to wait. Perhaps they had confidence in themselves that they were ready to wait. But then …
How do you feel about waiting, are you ready to wait? Peter said he was ready to follow Jesus anywhere, but in the end it was not his readiness that mattered. Peter’s readiness failed, but Jesus’ prayer for him prevailed. God will test us in our waiting, beyond what we can cope with, because he wants us to depend on him, not ourselves. The wait will always be longer than we think and longer than we can cope with.
Trusting in the Spirit
In mistrusting themselves, they assumed that they would always be able to get more oil – that the Spirit could be summoned when they required him. But we cannot treat God like that. It is a miracle of grace that we have the Spirit of God in us at all, and scripture makes it clear that we can grieve him (Eph 4:30).
We cannot treat one another like this – ignoring someone until we need them and expecting them to be there for us when we do. It is a reality of human relationship. Why would we think that we can treat the Holy Spirit any differently?
Keeping the Holy Spirit Close
The wise ones kept the Spirit close. They maintained their relationship with him. But how do you do this?
I am as guilty of grieving the Spirit as anyone, and God is gracious to receive our repentance and renew us. But we do need to think more carefully about our relationship with the Spirit and I think that there are at least three areas in which we can do so:
- In worship – He is the Spirit of worship, and every time we give ourselves to rejoice in God and worship him, the Spirit engages with us and draws our hearts and minds closer to him.
- In Prayer and the Word – He is the inspirer and revealer of God’s word and the power and passion in true prayer. When our prayers are full of his word and our reading his word is full of prayer, the Spirit engages with us and draws our hearts and minds closer to him.
- In the Obedience of Faith – He is the power of God active in the world and the life of Christ in us. When we live as we are called to, it is by his power (Phil 2:13). When we walk in step with the Spirit, the Spirit engages with us and draws our hearts and minds closer to him.
So, the first lesson is to keep close to the Spirit – we are not of the world. But we are to be in it
A Parable of Service
The parable of the Talents is about being in the world – and it is a parable about fear and faith.
Faith and Fear
The ones who worked and used their God given talents in his service are called faithful servants. The one who did not, by his own admission, failed to serve through fear, “I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground”. Fear says that God is asking too much of me, unfairly. But Faith says, this is God’s world and he is working in it, and he has given me the privilege to work alongside him.
This our first battle, for faith instead of fear. In part, we will win it in worship and his word, but we will only truly win through to faith by stepping out in service; getting out of the boat and stepping into the impossible with him.
More will be Given
And God is not unreasonable. He gives differently to different people, and the one with five talents and the one with two are both called “good and faithful” servants. We are not asked to do what other people are doing, but what God has called and equipped us to do. For every one of us there will be a sense of not big up to the task – it takes faith because the real power comes from God. But, in him, each of us can, and the promise is that as we do “more will be given”
Whose Servant
Finally, as we step out in faith, as faithful servants, it will be good to remember whose servants we are.
There is s tendency in some Christians to see as serving the world and its needs. But the world understanding of its needs is not the same as God’s. The motivation and direction of our serving in the world must always be God’s purposes and his truth. It is him that we are serving.
In part this will be a protection against merely responding to the world and its people’s felt needs, which will sometimes be contrary to God’s truth and purposes. But it will also be a vital connection between being in the world, whilst being of God. When our service becomes worship, we will discover that the two parables are one. Serving God in the world will bind us closer to his Spirit in us.
God’s Wisdom is not like ours
To live in Christ in times such as these takes a wisdom that is not of this world. That’s why we are called disciples: leaning on the Master’s wisdom and words, walking in the way that he prepares for us each day, trusting to follow him even when we do not understand.
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. or by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
(Rom 12:1-3)