Well, good morning to you all.
Good morning to you all.
This is a retreat. We can actually speak and respond.
Unlike church where you have to be quiet.
Glad that everybody's here. Glad that you all survived the night.
I hope you got a decent amount of sleep. I hear the bonfire went late.
Unofficial off-book festivities went later.
Hope you got sleep.
It's been a great time here for most of us.
I think that we're here as a final session, a final gathering of worship before we head back to D.C.
I don't know if anybody came out here simply to join us for worship.
Oh, my goodness. Well done.
Extra crowns in heaven for you.
Not bad, ladies. Not bad. That's fantastic.
Okay. Well, in that case, a little word of introduction is in order.
For some of us, this is our Sunday worship gathering.
For some of us, this is the concluding session of a parish retreat on the spiritual gifts.
I had always thought that after this, this would be known as the spiritual gifts retreat.
Obviously, that is not true.
It will hereafter be known as the shipmaster retreat.
And that was painfully obvious last night.
There's nothing that we can do about it.
So we have to embrace it and move on.
But as I was thinking about this final session and how to wrap up, these two passages came to mind.
This amazing passage in Matthew chapter 25 that we'll look at in a little while.
And then the more guiding passage that we're going to look at, 1 Peter 4, verses 7 through 11.
And this is the first one to reflect on as we have been talking about the spiritual gifts.
We've been talking about understanding the gifts, what they are in general.
We've been talking about how to discern the gifts, what they are in particular.
And this morning, the topic will be, what does it mean to steward those gifts well?
What does it mean to be good stewards of all that God has given us?
And these passages speak to that in particular.
And so first I want to look at 1 Peter 4, verses 7 through 11.
And I think even for those of us who have not been here talking about spiritual gifts, this is an amazing passage.
I mean, you'd be hard-pressed to find a book that does a better job explaining what ministry is.
Whether you're ministering in your church or in your job or in any other context.
It's a great little primer on ministry.
And the point that it makes is this, that being a Christian means being a steward.
That to be a Christian is to be a steward of everything.
And so we're going to look at two things here, the context of our stewardship and the exercise of our stewardship.
So let's pray as we get started.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word.
As we do every week, we thank you for your promise and ability to speak to us.
We pray that as we open your word this morning that you would clear away the fog of a late night.
That you would help the caffeine to work in our system.
That you would, above all, remove distractions and obstacles so that you can empower your word to come alive.
To confront us with the reality of the gospel and the presence in the face of your son, Jesus Christ.
And it's in his name that we pray.
Amen.
So first of all, the context of our stewardship.
I want to spend a few minutes just looking at this first verse in the passage in 1 Peter.
If you have Bibles, you can open them.
If you have iPhones, you can fire them up.
1 Peter 4, verse 7.
The end of all things is at hand, therefore.
And I love this.
There's an amazing statement being made here.
Now, when you first hear this, obviously, what do you think of?
Right.
And crazy people with sandwich board signs on street corners, right?
The end is near.
But I want you to notice that Peter goes on to say,
The end of all things is at hand, therefore.
Be self-controlled and sober-minded.
You know what the word sober means in the Bible?
The word sober means sane.
It's the opposite of insane or being out of your mind.
So think of the demon-possessed man in Mark chapter 5.
And after Jesus casts out the demons and heals him,
we find the man clothed and in his right mind, right?
Same word.
So what is sanity then?
Sanity means the ability to correctly perceive reality, right?
So to be sober is to be sane.
And to be sane is to correctly perceive reality,
to see things for what they actually are.
So he's saying the end of all things is at hand,
therefore, it's more important now than ever before
for you to see things as they really are.
Be sane.
Think clearly.
And the reason is because the end is coming.
But by end, he doesn't mean a full stop to creation.
What he actually means is a major change is coming.
A major transition in history is upon us.
February 28, 2002.
That was the official date on which national currencies
in many parts of Europe ceased to be legal tender.
And the euro became the only acceptable currency.
February 28, 2002.
Before that date, there was a period of overlap.
So there was a time in many of these countries
where you could continue using your old currency
or you could exchange that old currency for euros
and start using the euros early.
So there was a period of time
in which both currencies were accepted, right?
But during that time, the word was going out
that this date is coming.
February 28 is coming.
February 28 is upon us.
It's drawing near.
And the time is now for you to exchange
all of your old currency
to get all of the new currency
so that you'll be ready when that date comes
because after that date passes,
all of that old currency
will just be worthless pieces of paper.
It'll have no value in the new economy.
So there were people who recognized that,
who saw clearly that that date was coming,
who took appropriate measures to prepare,
and there were people who didn't.
And so the Bible says that we are now
in a time of overlap, right?
Theologians call it the already but not yet, right?
The old world order or the old economy
is still in operation, right?
So sin and death are still factors.
They're still realities.
Injustice still exists.
Exploitation still happens.
And the old currencies are still in use.
Your intelligence, your popularity,
your attractiveness, your race,
your privilege, your education,
your accomplishments,
all of these forms of currency,
in other words,
all of these things that will get you
something in this world,
they have value in this world.
They will,
they're things that you can use
to acquire other things, right?
To give you access to other things.
All of these forms of currency are,
for the time being,
still accepted in the world.
And yet what Peter is saying is this,
the kingdom of God has broken into this world.
And one day the old world
is going to fully pass away
and the kingdom will become
the new world order,
complete with a new economy
and a new currency.
Does this make sense?
So Jesus' entire earthly ministry,
there's one way to look at it
where you're saying,
you know,
Jesus did these miracles
and why did he do the miracles?
Well, to prove that he was the son of God.
No, in fact,
he didn't seem really concerned
with proving that he was the son of God.
He simply was.
Why did he do the miracles?
It was to give people a preview
of what this new world order would look like.
Every single miracle is meant to teach us
what the new world order will be like.
So he gives sight to the blind.
Why?
To show that in the new world order
there will be no darkness.
There will be no ignorance to the truth.
Right?
He makes the lame walk.
Why?
To show that the kingdom
will be a world
in which no one is encumbered
and paralyzed by sin and death.
Right?
He raises the dead
to show that in the kingdom
there will be no more death.
One day the water of this world
will become the wine
of the kingdom of God.
He's giving us a preview of that.
In the kingdom economy,
the proud will be made humble
but the low will be lifted up.
In the kingdom economy,
the one who is willing to lose his life
for the sake of Jesus and the gospel
will gain it back in full
but the one who tries to hold on to his life
will lose it.
In the new world order,
in the kingdom,
those who mourn
will once and for all be comforted.
Those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness
will be satisfied.
The poor will become rich.
The meek will inherit the earth.
The last will become first.
The outsiders will become the guests of honor.
In the new world order of the kingdom of God,
all of this is coming.
And so Peter is saying,
the end of all things is near.
The end of the old world order
and the new world order,
the new economy,
the new kingdom has come.
Therefore, we need to think clearly.
We need to pray faithfully.
And we need to exchange
all of our old currency
for the new currency of the kingdom.
What is that currency?
Love.
It's the only currency accepted
in the new world order.
That's why it goes on in verse 8 to say,
above all,
once you're thinking clearly,
once you understand what's happening,
once you understand
that that date is quick approaching,
exchange all of that old currency
for the one currency that will matter.
Love.
Above all,
keep loving one another earnestly
since love covers a multitude of sins.
So he's saying this,
our accomplishments,
our wealth,
our popularity,
our success
will all one day be worthless.
Because in God's economy,
love is the only currency.
But it's the kind of love
love that we do not generate,
cannot create on our own.
It's something that has to be given to us
or entrusted to us.
It's a love that has to be given to us
through Jesus Christ.
And that's why earlier in his letter,
Peter says in chapter 1,
Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
According to his great mercy,
he has caused us to be born again
to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead
to an inheritance
that is imperishable,
undefiled,
and unfading,
kept in heaven for you.
So by dying for us,
by taking our place,
by atoning for our sin,
Jesus secures for us
an inheritance.
And you may think of that inheritance
as a stockpile
of the currency
of the kingdom of God.
It's a kingdom inheritance.
So here's the context of our stewardship
to sort of answer the first question.
The context of our stewardship is this,
as we think about
how do we use
all that we have?
How do we prioritize things in our lives?
What comes first?
What is the thing to which
we put everything else under?
What goes above all of that?
It's love
because the old world order
with its old economy
is passing away
and God's kingdom is replacing it.
And the old currency in God's kingdom,
I'm sorry,
and the old currency is passing away
and being replaced by the new currency
of love.
And not just love,
but gracious love.
Love that doesn't come from us,
but that is given like a gift to us.
And as believers,
we have been made stewards
of that love.
So the next question we need to ask is this,
what does that mean?
Specifically as it relates
to our spiritual gifts.
Because if you read the passage,
he goes on and he says,
show hospitality without grumbling.
Absolutely.
And then he goes on
and what's the next thing
we're called to do?
Use our gifts
like good stewards.
And it's amazing
if he's trying to distill,
you know,
have the right perspective,
be thinking clearly,
get your priorities in order.
And one of the main things
he focuses on
is how we use our gifts.
In other words,
that figures prominently
in what it means to be stewards
anticipating the coming of the kingdom.
How we use our gifts.
So this brings us
to the second thing
I want to focus on,
the second half,
the exercise of our stewardship.
In other words,
how do we actually go about it?
What does it mean
to be a good steward?
He says in verse 10,
as each has received a gift,
use it to serve one another
as good stewards
of God's varied grace.
Whoever speaks
is one who speaks oracles of God.
Whoever serves
is one who serves
by the strength
that God supplies
in order that in everything
God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ.
To him belong glory
and dominion
forever and ever.
Amen.
So the first point
we see here
is the good stewards,
and this may seem obvious
to some of you,
but it's worth pointing out
that good stewards,
part of what it means
to be a good steward
is that you actually use
what's been entrusted to you.
You actually use it.
And that's why I wanted
to look at Matthew 25,
this wonderful parable
that Jesus tells
about stewardship,
the parable of the talents.
A wealthy man entrusts
all of his money
to three servants.
He has five talents
to one servant,
two talents to another,
one talent to a third.
A talent is a very large
sum of money,
so we might as well
think of it as
five million dollars,
two million dollars,
and one million dollars.
A lot of money.
And when he returns,
after being away
for a while,
the master finds
that the first two servants
have actually used
the talents.
They've invested them well,
and they've each
made a return.
They've each doubled
their investment,
and they both are rewarded.
Five talents becomes ten,
two become four,
they're both rewarded.
Enter into the pleasure
of your master.
But the third servant
simply digs a hole
in the ground,
buries the talent,
and then makes a bunch
of excuses for why
he didn't invest it.
The master says,
well, what happened?
And if you notice,
he actually blames the master.
Well, I heard what kind
of person you were.
It's sort of a
passive-aggressive way
of saying,
I did what I did,
and it's your fault, right?
A little bit of blame
shifting going on.
Master's not having it,
and so the master,
of course,
rewards the first two servants,
but he condemns the third.
You wicked
and slothful servant.
Not holding back.
And then the point
of the parable
comes in verse 29,
for to everyone
who has
will more be given,
and he will have
an abundance.
But from the one
who has not,
even what he has
will be taken away.
Now that's
a little confusing.
Let me put it
in context for you.
Think about your muscles.
I don't know
how often you think
about your muscles,
but think about
your muscles now.
If you develop
your muscles,
if you use
your muscles,
if you invest
your muscles
in physical activity,
then what is
the reward
that comes?
The reward
that comes
is the increased
capacity
to do more.
Right?
So the more
you use them,
the more
you gain
a capacity.
In other words,
to you,
more is given.
Right?
But if you don't
use your muscles,
if you lie in bed
all day long
and binge watch
Netflix
and do that
for days and days
and days,
then what happens?
Even what you have
will be taken away.
Right?
They atrophy.
Right?
So remember,
yesterday,
we said that
the spiritual gifts
are the continued
ministry of Jesus Christ
in the world
through individual
Christians
by the power
of the Holy Spirit.
So take that image
and apply it
to this parable.
Jesus is the master
and he has divided
his power
or his ministry
among all
of his people.
Five talents,
two talents,
ten talents,
fifteen talents.
He's divided
his ministry up.
And we've each
been entrusted,
we've each
been made stewards
of spiritual gifts
that actually
belong to Jesus.
And the same
principle is true.
The more we use
our gifts,
the more we invest
in the life
of the church,
the more we prioritize
building others up
and bringing those
outside the church
in,
the more we will grow
in what we can do.
The more you use
what you've been given,
the more you will be
able to do.
But if we remain
uninvolved,
if we remain
unengaged,
if we remain
unwilling to serve,
no matter what
excuses we may make,
our gifts will
atrophy.
Or the unknown
gifts will remain
dormant.
So good stewards
use what has been
entrusted to them.
they use.
Now,
I know yesterday
I said
that gifts are not
the same thing
as talents.
But in this case,
the talents represent
the gifts.
Last night,
we also learned
make sure you get
that in your notes.
I think last night
we also learned
that there are gifts,
there are talents,
and there are
varieties.
God's very grace.
God's very grace show.
That's what we'll
call it next year,
the God's very grace show.
But even some of
those things that
we may look down on,
we may laugh at,
we may think,
oh, that's just some...
There are ways that
God may be able
to use that.
If there's anything
I want to impress
upon you,
it is not to
underestimate what
God can do
through you.
Even through the
parts of you,
the aspects of you
that you think
are simply silly,
inconsequential,
random,
that God can
use all of it.
But the question is,
will you use all of it?
Will you do that?
Or will you let it atrophy?
So what does a good steward do?
A good steward uses
all that they've been given,
not in ways that reflect
their own preferences,
but those that reflect
the preferences of the owner.
that's what a good steward does.
So Peter says,
we should do all of this,
what?
In order that in everything
God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ.
To him belong glory
and dominion
forever and ever.
Amen.
The point is,
our gifts are not about us,
but about loving others
in ways that glorify God.
And if we lose
this central focus,
our gifts can quickly
become about us.
Right?
If we lose the focus
that God is the one
who enables it,
God is the one
who empowers it,
and God's glory
is the purpose
for which it was all
given to us.
Loving others
for God's glory.
If we lose that,
then what happens
is that our gifts
begin to turn inward.
Our gifts begin
to become twisted.
They begin to become distorted.
They begin to point
in the wrong direction.
Right?
So those with the gift
of leadership,
leadership can be used
to build up
our own kingdoms
rather than the kingdom
of God.
Right?
The gift,
the life-giving gift
of encouragement
can start to turn inward
and become empty flattery.
Right?
Genuine hospitality
can give way
to entertaining.
You know,
where the focus
is on the beauty
of your home
and the quality
of the cuisine
rather than on
strangers becoming friends
and friends becoming family.
They begin to turn inward.
The gift of helping
can become the need
to be needed.
Right?
The gift of speaking
can be used
to build a cult
of personality.
The gift of serving
can give way
to resentment.
Right?
These gifts
that are meant
to be life-giving
for us
and those whom we serve
can turn inward
and become destructive
to us
and those whom we
may unintentionally
harm.
So unless
the glory of God
is our central focus
all of these gifts
that are entrusted
to us as stewards
will become distorted
turned inward
and this is why
it's crucial for us
to remember
and to remind one another
that we are stewards
and not owners
of all that we have
because a steward
uses what they've been given
in ways that reflect
the values of the owner
and not the steward.
So being a Christian
as I said
at the beginning
is being a steward.
To be a Christian
is to be a steward.
Our vision
at Church of the Advent
is
every member of ministry
where every single person
in our church
is actively serving
and using their gifts
fully
for the common good.
And I hope it's clear
by now
at the end of the weekend
that this isn't primarily
because we need it.
Right?
We could restructure
our budget
and decide to start
hiring people
to do all of the things
that we need to do.
Hire a setup crew
and hire a cleanup crew
and hire professionals
to do all of this stuff.
Right?
Just professionalize everything
and you could just come
and enjoy
a well-produced service
and hopefully get
some meaning out of it
and you know,
you would maybe
enjoy the fact
that we would maybe
have fewer
technical difficulties
and fewer glitches
and fewer last-minute
emergencies
where we're scrambling
and the vergers
would no longer
have to wonder
will there be bread
this week?
And we would have
perfect bread
and I could tear it
and I would never
even break a sweat
and all of it
could be smooth
and polished
and amazing
and all of that
would be incredible,
right?
We could probably afford it.
We would have to
make some changes
but we could probably do it.
But our church would die.
We would die.
We would fade away.
So the point is not
that we need you to serve
because if you don't serve
then things don't work right.
I mean,
on the surface
that's the reason.
The real point is
you need to serve.
You need to be involved
because it's your design
as a steward
of God's varied grace
and love.
If you don't use
these gifts
that God has given you,
they will atrophy.
So our priority
is actually
not just filling
volunteer slots.
We want to structure
our church
in a way
that requires you.
The whole design
of the church
is meant to require
that people serve
because we are a body
and you are cells
in that body
like we talked about yesterday.
And what that gives you
is not only
the opportunity
to grow
and to learn your gifts
but it gives you
the tremendous fulfillment
and joy
in seeing the ways
that God can use you.
If you're made
to serve
and to meet needs
in that way
then when you do it
it will bring you joy
and you will get to see
what God does.
You'll get to sense
what it's like
to be part of something great
that God is doing
in the world.
So for those of you
who are already
deeply involved
and many of you are
and by the way
you've seen people
even this weekend
serving and setting up
and cleaning up food
and running sound
and running the check-in
and caring for our kids
and all of the various ways
that people have been serving
you should congratulate them
and thank them
and tell them
how much you appreciate them.
If you're already serving
then I pray
that as you do that
God would clarify for you
the ways that he's gifted you
to serve.
The ways that he has
empowered you to bring life
to his body
and I pray that God
would empower you
for all that you're doing.
If you're not
if you're still sort of
on the periphery
if you're trying to figure out
whether or not
you want to become
more involved
if you're not yet
playing a significant role
in the life of our church
in any way
I know that there are
a lot of great reasons
for that out there.
So this isn't a time
to point fingers
or to turn any screws
but you should at least
reflect on this question.
Are you investing
in currency
of the old world
that will one day
be meaningless
or are you investing
in things
that will last
into God's kingdom
things that will
have value
in an economy
where the only currency
that matters
is the currency
of God's love.
And I want to leave you
with that question
and close us in prayer.
Lord we do thank you
that even as we talk
about stewardship
even as we talk about
what it means
to be oriented
toward your glory
we have the greatest
example of that
in your son Jesus Christ.
Lord who is the ultimate
steward
who took all
that you had entrusted
to him
laid down his own life
to see it through
Lord.
We thank you
for the beauty of that
we thank you
for the beauty
and the hope
of the gospel
we thank you
for the coming
of your new kingdom
and I pray
that for everybody
here not just
not just in this church
but that you would
give us all a vision
for what good stewardship
looks like in our jobs
in our vocations
that you've called us to
Lord in every sphere
of vocation
that we would think
as stewards
that we would recognize
all that we have
all the access
we have
all the opportunities
we have
as things to be stewarded
for your kingdom.
Lord I pray
that this would be
real in our church community
and I pray
it would be real
as far as you scatter
us around the world
in all of the varied ways
that you've called us
to serve
the common good
of this world.
Lord we pray
that you would
infuse us
with power
and bless us
with an awareness
of the ways
that each one of us
is called to serve
in unity
as your kingdom
breaks into this world.
And we pray this
in your son's holy name.
Amen.