RESPOND: GUARD THE TREASURE
2 TIMOTHY 1.1-14
OCTOBER 7, 2007
WESLEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Douglas Norris
When someone special to
you says, “I love you,” do you just sit there like a bump on a log? Perhaps you remember some of the special
times you’ve had together. Perhaps you
rejoice in her/his love. But, is that
it? Is there no response from you? Do you just sit there? The theme of our church’s stewardship
campaign is REMEMBER, REJOICE, RESPOND.
When you send someone a
gift, don’t you expect a response?
Doesn’t it bother you when there is no response? You wonder if the gift was received. You get angry at the rudeness. And then, you wonder if they didn’t like the
gift, and that is why there is no response.
A woman wrote to one of the newspaper advice columnists. She had written all of her wedding thank you
gifts within a week of the wedding, but discovered a year later that they were
in the trunk of the car waiting to be mailed!
The advice she received? Send
them immediately! Even a year late is
better than giving no response.
50 years ago, I wrote my
marriage proposal from Japan. I was in
Nagoya as a short-term missionary teacher for three years. When I wrote the letter, I was nervous. This was a big step. Worrying about the response, my proposal was
quite oblique. Our three boys get such
a kick out of the letter. I started
with the weather! Imagine, the weather. Somewhere in the course of the letter, I
finally approached the subject, and treated it like it was a done deal, already
decided. Anyway, it took courage for me
to write. Incidentally, we didn’t even
think of telephoning between Japan and Minnesota 50 years ago!
Then, I waited for the
response, anxiously chewing my fingers, rushing to pick up the mail
everyday. Finally, an airmail letter
arrived. I quickly tore it open. Thank God, it was a positive response, and
there she sits! What if she had decided
not to accept my proposal, and didn’t think it was even worth a response? I would have waited, wondering if my letter
got lost in the mail, wondering if the answer was not only “No”, but not worthy
of a response.
Imagine how God waits for
a response from you. The theme of our
stewardship drive is REMEMBER, REJOICE, RESPOND. Remember what God has done for you. Remember and rejoice.
Rejoice in what God has done for you.
1 Peter 1.8, “Rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy.” That is what the Christian life is all
about—rejoicing with an indescribable and glorious joy. Why can you rejoice? Why can you experience such joy? Because, 1 Peter 1.9, “For you are
receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your soul.” Salvation is a relationship with Jesus that
outlives death. Notice the present
tense—“you are receiving”. Salvation is
not just a past event; salvation is a relationship in process. Salvation is the experiencing of the
presence of God every day in every way.
The Scripture lesson for
today from 2 Timothy reminds us that we have received gifts from God. God gives us salvation. 1.7 states that God gives us a spirit of
power, love and self-discipline; not a spirit of cowardice or inadequacy or
shyness or weakness or helplessness.
No! God gives us power and love.
Remember what God has done
for you. Rejoice in all that you have
received with an indescribable and glorious joy. And then, what? Do you
just sit there like a bump on a log?
God waits for a response, wondering if you received the gifts, wondering
if you use them or if they are sitting on your coffee table, wondering if you
think the gifts unworthy of a response.
God waits, waits, waits.
RESPOND!
How do we respond? 2 Timothy 1.14, “Guard the good treasure
entrusted to you.” What treasure? v. 13, “the standard of sound teaching, in
the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
In other words, the gospel, the good news of Jesus. God has entrusted to us the message of
salvation. God has entrusted to us the
responsibility of doing God’s work—reaching the lost, feeding the hungry,
housing the homeless, taking care of the earth. The earth is a treasure that God has given to us. God trusts us to manage, to take care of the
earth. We only have one planet; it is
all we have. If we destroy it, and
there are many indications that we are in the process of doing so, then where
do we go? We only have one earth.
God trusts us with the
care of the gospel, the care of the earth, and God trusts each of us with
wealth to underwrite and do his work.
What a plan God has devised!
There is so much to do, and it takes money to do it, so God gives us
money to manage so that we can use it to do God’s work. God’s plan is ingenious and fair. God lets us keep 90% of all that we have,
and use the other 10% to do God’s work.
We have an opportunity now, through the Pony Express and our stewardship
drive to make pledges to do God’s work through Wesley United Methodist Church
in 2008. 90% for you, 10% for God.
The managing of the earth
and the managing of your personal wealth is called stewardship, but 2 Timothy
uses another word: guard. We are not only the stewards, the managers
of God’s wealth, we are the guards! A
guard protects, keeps out the bad guys.
A guard is on the alert; when a guard lets down his guard, the predators
thrive. The environment needs to be
guarded. Your personal wealth needs to
be guarded. The resources God has given
you need to be protected, protected from scams. Bad guys have declared war on us by trying to take advantage of
us.
Your personal resources
need to be protected from unwise, risky investments. My father-in-law told us
to put savings into a savings account or an insured Certificate of
Deposit. “Don’t take chances!” he
said. He himself, however, invested in
land. But, he worried about his
children’s business sense!
Not only protect your personal
wealth, but also guard against waste.
Don’t squander the wealth God has given you. Protect it. Did you read
how the infamous Leona Helmsley left $12 million to her dog! And, neglected at least two of her
grandchildren. What a waste! “Guard the
treasure!”
Guarding and protecting,
however, does not mean hoarding, keeping it all for yourself. Yes, guard the treasure, guard your wealth,
keep it safe, but keep it growing. Why? So you can use it to do God’s work; use it
to glorify God.
REMEMBER how God has
blessed you. REJOICE in God’s
gifts. RESPOND by guarding the treasure
and using it to do God’s work. Saddle
up! The Pony Express rides again.