“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour”

When we dwell on the promise that Jesus will one day return does that unshakeable truth instill hope or fear within our hearts as Christians? While part of us wants to jump up in pure joy and say “YES LORD JESUS COME,” is there not another part of us that is a little fearful that upon judgment the Master will be less than impressed with how little we did to serve Him while here on this earth? Upon our conversion we were not only adopted and sealed by the Holy Spirit as God’s children but were also given spiritual gifts or talents that are necessary to do His divine will. To our shame, often when Christ came knocking on the doors of our hearts to serve in His kingdom, we refused His request on the grounds that the service was either too easy and without public glory, too difficult, we were unworthy or that it was just not the right fit for our self-absorbed living! While we could try to ease our guilty consciousnesses by standing on the theology of “once saved always saved,” would we not sink the moment we “licensed loiterers” of His kingdom realize that living a complacent, lazy life that lacks fruits and good deeds is damming proof that we have never truly been born again? After all, surely those who were bought at the price and have received every perfect gift and spiritual blessing would see serving God not as drudgery but as an honor, for He alone is our portion … right? The following sermon is going to review the Parable of the Bags of Gold with the goal of spurring us on to use our talents for Jesus so that one day we might hear the words “good and faithful servant!”