Mt 25:14-30 Faithful in the Small Matters

Matthew 25:14-30 Faithful in the Small Matters

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This past week we have read over and over again how there will be “wailing and grinding of teeth” for the wicked servant and, today, for the useless servant. There are concrete consequences to my actions and omissions. There is a final judgment. I have thought many times that my own judgment would begin in a very small room watching the movie of my life, but a movie of what could have been if I had always said “yes” to God.

The men that Jesus called were not well versed in literature, nor were they well versed in the Torah. They were fishermen, tax collectors and zealous – pious – men. They were a mix of misfits and mischievous wrong doers. They were weak during adversity, indifferent to instruction, and extremely emotional when rejected. The Lord himself was not educated in any institution of higher learning nor was he brought up in a noble family or in a family that consisted of Pharisees or scribes, or even Elders. The Lord was a carpenter and the son of a carpenter. For this reason, we can honestly say, “Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own” or “Blessed are the meek and humble of heart.” The Lord picks and chooses the weak to make them strong. He did it from the very beginning. He continues to do it with me! Where much is given, much is expected. We have received a calling from the Lord himself! We have been chosen to participate in the history of salvation!

“Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters, not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something. (1Cor 1:26-31)

God has given to me more than enough. He has given to me his wisdom, his righteousness, his sanctification, and his redemption. He has given to me His Son. What more do I need? What more could I have? We have seen the wisdom of the world and what it leads to: death and destruction; nihilism and mutilation. Secularism is a pretentious invitation to “live life as if God did not exist.”

“There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” This was the bus slogan recently used by Britain’s most famous (and wealthy) atheist, Richard Dawkins, to promote atheism across England. I must acknowledge that he did complain that the word “probably” would probably be a problem in the effectiveness of the campaign. It would remind all those ignorant men and women that they were educating that the educators most likely were probably wrong!

“Blessed the nation whose God is the Lord.” (Ps. 33:12) The nation is blessed because the people are blessed. They are the ones who continue to raise numerous children. They are the ones who continue to trust in the Lord and to teach their children’s children likewise. The nation that is strong in the Lord is not boastful, but hopeful. Mother Teresa once said, “A nation that is capable of killing its own children is a nation without a future.”

The Lord today asks us to be faithful in the small matters. Children are small. Let us raise them to be big and strong: faith-filled, hopeful and loving, so that at the end of our lives, we can hear the words of our Savior, “Well done, my good and faithful servant."