Jump Start # 1219

Matthew 25:21 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.’”

Well, it happened earlier this week. I checked off a huge “gotta do sometime” off my bucket list. I tried to do this many times before but didn’t have the money or the time. This was going to be it. Now or never. I got tickets to see Paul McCartney. He finally came to Louisville. First time ever. We had great seats. I paid dearly for them and would do it again. Growing up, Paul was always my favorite Beatle. I wanted hair like his. Loved his music. He is now in his 70’s. So I did it. I got tickets. Did I say we had great seats? The show was impressive. Hit after hit. Nearly three hours of non-stop Sir Paul. The sound, light show, music, crowd—incredible. Top to bottom—it was simply awesome. I was impressed. It beat my expectations.

That got me thinking about impressive things. When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon, she was impressed. The first temple was impressive. When Isaiah saw God in the temple vision, he was impressed. The disciples were impressed when the wind and storm suddenly stopped when Jesus, walking on the water,  got into their boat. The multitudes were impressed with what Jesus said. The image John shows us of Heaven is impressive. Pearl gates, golden street, walls with costly jewels—we’ve never seen anything like that.

There are times when Jesus was impressed. A centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. He told Jesus that all was necessary was for Him to say the word. That impressed Jesus. He marveled. The woman with the issue of blood, reached out in a crowd and touched Jesus from behind. She touched in faith. Jesus said, her faith made her well. He was impressed. When the Canaanite woman was satisfied with just the crumbs of mercy from God’s table, Jesus said, “great is your faith.” When the four men lowered their crippled friend through the roof in the presence of Jesus, He saw their faith and was impressed.

There were times God was impressed. What caught His attention was the honest and genuine faith of His followers. Folks that were trying to show off or look good to get a compliment  failed. Their hearts were not right. It was those who overcame obstacles. A crowded street didn’t stop a woman from reaching out and touching Jesus. A crowded house didn’t stop four friends from taking apart a roof to find Jesus for their friend. A foreign woman was persistent in seeking help for her demon possessed child. There was that poor widow. She put in two small coins in the temple treasury. Jesus saw. He noticed. He commented. He complimented. He was impressed. These people believed. They wouldn’t stop easy. These things impressed Jesus.

I wonder what impresses Jesus today? Surely it’s not the guy who barely shows up for worship and sleeps during the service. He fools himself into thinking he’s better than others. There’s nothing impressive about that. Likewise, it’s not the person who just happens to tell just about everyone all the things that they’ve done that week. They gave this person a ride. They visited this nursing home. They did this and that. Name dropping. Bragging. Waving their own banner. Nope. That doesn’t catch the Lord’s eyes. It does just the opposite. It turns His stomach.

I think about the young mother whose husband is not a Christian. Come Sunday morning he is found either in bed, dead asleep, or off to the woods to hunt. She readies the children and does the best she can to worship and teach her children about the Savior. She’s often overwhelmed and exhausted but she comes because she knows deep down inside that these things are important and she wants her children to know the Lord. The Lord notices such a sweet and dedicated heart.

I think of the young preacher who is working with a small group of disciples. He pours his heart out week after week, trying to teach the word of God. Throughout the week, he’s spending his evenings visiting homes and trying to increase the faith of others. Often his work is unappreciated. Stubborn and stale hearts do not want to change nor be challenged. His ideas are shot down by older brethren. He fights an atmosphere of contentment and stagnation. Often discouraged. Often wondering if he is doing any good. Often feeling the temptation to just throw in the towel and quit, he keeps plugging away. God notices.

I think of the young family that doesn’t have a lot but they see a need, much like the good Samaritan did, and they help someone out. It may be someone in the congregation. An older member, alone, invited over for a meal. It may be a neighbor. What they do isn’t much. It may be nothing more than a cup of cold water. Yet, Heaven notices. They are doing what they can. They have a heart like Jesus, a servant.

I think of that dear senior citizen who has been worshipping God for decades. Now, declining in health, often living alone, having buried their mate, they find time each day for prayer and Bible study. They attend nearly every service. They no longer can teach classes nor do much publicly. Their time on this side of life is short and running out. They know that. They are eager to get to the other side. They are so grateful and thankful for a lifetime of blessings from the Lord. Their faith is the foundation of the congregation. They walk with cane and walker. They move slow. Yet, their faith is strong. Don’t you think God notices?

What opens the eyes of Jesus is faith. It’s not how large our Sunday crowd is. It’s not how fancy our church building is. It’s not how many this and that the church is doing. Jesus is interested in YOU. Your faith. Do you let the easiest inconveniences knock you out of service?

I read a book some time ago about Lou Gehrig, the hall of fame,  New York Yankee who played baseball with Babe Ruth. He was amazing. He held the record for most consecutive games played for years and years. At his death, it was discovered that he had played with multiple broken fingers. He never said anything. The love of the game kept him going. Thinking about that, I wonder how many of us have spiritual battle scars that never slow us down. We play hurt. We play with problems. We play with things that bother us. The love of the Lord keeps us going. Never complaining to others, we keep plugging away. Those are the things that God notices. It’s not our cars, our clothes, our square footage in our house or how large our TV screen is. Those things impress us. It’s the things inside our hearts that impress God. It’s asking God to help us forgive when we’ve been hurt. It’s going out of our way, when it’s so much easier to just go home. It’s the second mile kind of stuff that God notices. We don’t have to, but we do. We do it because it’s the right thing to do. We do it because we love the Lord.

Our passage shows a statement of the Lord. He was impressed with the five talent man. He said, “Well done good and faithful.” He said, “enter into the joy of your master.” He was impressed. The servant did what he was supposed to do. He did it well. He caught the eye of his master. What a great compliment from a master to his servant. Master’s didn’t usually compliment servants. Servants were to please their master. This master, God, noticed. He took the time to praise the one who was serving Him. “Well done,” from the One who did all things well. “Good,” from the One who was perfect. “Faithful” from the One who was obedient even to the point of death. “Well done, good and faithful.” Heaven was impressed. God can be impressed. He is not like that high school coach who is always demanding a bit more out of his team. God is not saying, “I wish you prayed more…attended more…did more.” Not here. Here it was, “Well done, good and faithful.” God was pleased. God can be pleased. Don’t you want that?

Yes, Sir Paul was impressive. I’ll long remember that concert. But more important than that is to live to please God. Hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant,” spoken to us, will be the most impressive thing we ever witness. Nothing else comes close.

Live as if one foot is already in Heaven.

Roger