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| Fear Has Torment |
Matthew 25:24 “Then
he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in
the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ 30And he commanded to cast the unprofitable
servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The perplexing thing with the third slave was his fear and
the terror of outer darkness.
Jesus gave this story as a metaphor about the Kingdom of God
Each of the Master’s talent was valued at about two year’s
wages, and the responsibility placed upon the servants was great. The Master trusted his slaves to invest his
money wisely. Two servants doubled the
Master’s money, but the third to be save, hid his because he was afraid.
In today’s economy we place our trust in our bank, pension
systems, Social Security and our Government.
Yet the stock markets plummet, and banks fail leaving us with fear.
The disciples of Jesus had fears just to survive with no
thought of pension plans.
Pastor told a story about a little girl asking her
grandmother, “When bad people die do they go to the place where there is
weeping and gnashing of teeth? GM said, “Yes.”
The girl said, “What if they don’t have any teeth? GM said, “God will give them new teeth to
gnash.
The Jewish people had many fears and Jesus often commanded
them to fear not and do not be afraid.
The Spiritual leaders were afraid of Jesus and his large
following.
This Gospel text is about fears and using your talents.
The generous master entrusted his wealth to his slaves. God is our Master and he has given us talents
or gifts, to some one or two and to others a larger amount. He trusts us to use our talents to serve His
kingdom.
Jesus talks a lot about money, and we have strong fears
about money especially when we are asked to part with some of our hard earned
cash.
In 1999 there was great fear about the year turning over to
2000 and what would happen to the computers, but we heaved a sigh when nothing
occurred.
Two years after there was a huge financial spin in Asia and the biggest bank in the world closed.
The word ability and gift is the same word as talent. Why do we fear?
God entrusts each of us with precious gifts. Sometimes throughout life there is a change
and we have different gifts. There are
many Spiritual gifts and some take more “RISK” than others.
Our hope is in Jesus and he expects us to use what He has
given us. We never know when we will be
called to accountancy.
We are often worry and are afraid. We’re afraid that we will offend. We’re afraid
that we may be laughed at; yet we have the promise that
Jesus is there with us as we use our gifts.
So worry warts, do not be afraid – let us go forth and use
our talents for God. Be willing to take
a risk for God is over all.
4 comments:
You're right, there are so many fears that call to us. Yet if we keep our focus on Christ, those fears dim in the light of His glory and grace.
I'm so thankful that the Bible has so many passages about fear and trusting God.
God knows that fear is a real problem for believers and He wants to assure us that we can trust Him.
So often I turn to His Word to drown out my fears.
Fear = False Expectations Appearing Real. Most of our fears are baseless. It's sad that some people stop trying due to fear. They let fear paralyze them. Perfect love casts out all fears so it's important to always let God's loving embrace fill us. Great post!
So much going on now, around and about the world, and, even though I'm not afraid of my Father's focus on me, I'm sometimes heartbroken at the fearfulness and the lack of focus on Him from family, friends, neighbors, towns, cities, states, and nations. So much is filling me with joyfulness and sorrowfulness. Again, I'm "Jeremiah"... that particular prophet really fits into my reactions. You are sharing gorgeously, as usual. Thanks much!
Fear is definitely part of our fallen nature. One day we're going to look back and realize how foolish we were to fear anything in the world when it along with us sits in the palm of His hand.
Excellent post, reminder, and lesson.
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