God’s Investment in You?
by Pastor Doug Kelly, Head of Staff
The master said to him, “Well done good and faithful servant.” – Matthew 25:21
Frederick Buechner shares the story of a particularly trying time in his life when a car drove by him with the personalized license plate spelling “TRUST.” Although not one quick to look for the miraculous, Buechner could not help but wonder if this was a gracious sign from the Master Designer. He wrote about the event in a publication. The owner of the car read the story and soon Buechner received a package with both of the license plates, which he promptly displayed in his library. As he suspected, the car driver was a bank executive.
The constant refrain of the Bible is this call to trust God, to have faith. This was the call that Buechner experienced in that season of doubt and discouragement, like a personal note from God, “Trust me.”
But as I wonder about this story and ponder the occupation of the car owner, it reminds me that trust can go both ways. For not only are we to entrust our lives to God, but God has entrusted much to us. God has invested in me, and God did so in Frederick Buechner. God has invested in you.
What are you doing with God’s investment? This is the challenge of the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 (I’ll be preaching on the Luke 19 version on September 18th). Before taking a journey, a man entrusts his money to his servants. When the man returns, two of the servants have invested the money, providing a good return on the master’s seed money and they receive the familiar affirmation, “Well done good and faithful servant.” But the third servant hid the money and there was no return on investment for the master.
As we continue to move through this pandemic, I hear God telling me, “I trust you, Doug. Take my investment in you and don’t bury it but use it for the Reign of God and it will gain interest; it will have an impact.” What do you hear?
I invite you to come to our Ministry Fair in the Fellowship Hall on September 25th after each of our worship services. Leaders of all our ministries will be on hand to answer questions and help you find that connecting point of service or community at Bethany. How has God invested in you? What gifts do you have to offer to God in our church body? What gives you joy that can also impact the deep hungers of our world? What are you doing with that investment from the Master?
I invite all of you who during this pandemic have had to step back from serving. Is it time to step back into serving? Maybe into something new? Of course, it may not be the right time. But maybe it is.
And those of you who are new to Bethany, perhaps God has brought you to Bethany for just such a time as this. I trust that Bethany is blessing you. Yet the real surprise of this season might be how you’ve been sent to bless us.
Trust. It goes both ways. See you on the 25th.