GRIT AND GRACE
OPPORTUNITY
DR. JIM DIXON
DEUTERONOMY 30:19
FEBRUARY 21, 2010
Some years ago, Barb and I traveled to Amman, which is the capital city of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. We went there to see some ancient sites. We went there to see some biblical sights from Jerash to Sela, which is sometimes called Petra. We found the people of Amman and the people of the Kingdom of Jordan to be wonderful, hospitable, and very, very friendly. Of course, the Kingdom of Jordan has no authority over me and the Kingdom of Jordan has no authority over you. We live in a world where many kings and kingdoms have risen and fallen and none of these earthly kingdoms have any authority over me or authority over you. We live out our lives, we live out our days, and we ignore kings and kingdoms.
But there is a kingdom more important than anything. There’s a kingdom that demands our repentance. There’s a kingdom that demands our belief. There’s a kingdom that requires our service. There’s a kingdom that offers everlasting citizenship, and it is the kingdom of God. It is the kingdom of Christ. It is the kingdom of heaven. Today, we look at stewardship as it relates to the kingdom and we look at the grit and then we’ll look at the grace. So, we start with the grit and the grit is this: the kingdom of God demands your highest allegiance. This is the clear message of Holy Scripture. No one can refute it. It is absolutely clear. The Bible says the kingdom of God demands your highest allegiance.
Now, on December 20, 1995, flight 965 left Miami, Florida, bound for Cali, Columbia. It never arrived. It crashed into a Columbian mountain and 160 people died instantly. It was all blamed on pilot error. It seems that somehow as the plane was approaching Cali and they’d begun their descent in the midst of the clouds, the pilots programmed the flight computer to a beacon they had already passed and the plane did a 180 and turned right into the side of the mountain. Before impact, the verbal warning system said,” Terrain, terrain, pull up, pull up,” and then the pilots made their second mistake. They tried to reprogram the flight computer for maximum lift. They only had 9 seconds. They should have disengaged the auto pilot and gone to manual. A hundred and sixty lives were lost that day.
Choices. We live in a world where constantly people are making choices. Sometimes it’s a matter of life and death. Of course, more recently, Sully Sullenberger made some good choices as he miraculously landed flight 1549 in the Hudson River, saving the lives of all on board. He’s become a national hero. Choices. Good choices, bad choices. Constantly decisions are made and required. Choices are set before us. So much is at stake. Now, in the Bible in Deuteronomy 30:19, in our passage for today, we see these words: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life.” This is the urgent plea of God, that on the earth we would choose life. In Joshua, chapter 24, verse 14 and 15, Joshua writes these words: “Now, therefore, fear the Lord. Serve him in sincerity and faithfulness. Put aside the gods your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in which land you now dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Decisions.
Now, the Bible tells us that nothing is more important than that you serve first his kingdom. You might say, well, my children are more important. You might think, my marriage is more important. You might think your family more important. Maybe you think your career is more important. Maybe you think your nation, nationalism, is more important. But the Bible says no. Nothing is more important in your life or mine than the kingdom of God. And it’s only when you decide to put the kingdom of God at the center of your life and purpose that everything falls into place. Then you view your children in the right way. Then you view your marriage in the right way. Then you view your career in the right way and then you view your nation in the right way. The kingdom of God must be your highest passion.
The Bible tells us the secret to life is the kingdom of God. That’s why Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and everything else you need will be given to you.” It’s an amazing statement, an absolutely amazing statement. Now, all of you have heard sermons on the Parable of the Talents. Some of you have heard many sermons on the Parable of the Talents—two, three, four, five sermons. Some of you have been in Bible studies where you’ve studied the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. Some of you in just your personal devotional life have read and thought about the Parable of the Talents.
It occurs to me that perhaps no passage in the Bible is studied and less obeyed than the Parable of the Talents. Everybody preaches on it, everybody studies it, everybody reads it. Almost nobody obeys it. And the message is so clear. The message of the parable is so clear. It’s a kingdom parable. Its focus is on Jesus. He’s the master, he’s the owner, he’s the nobleman, he’s the king. Whether you’re looking at the Parable of the Talents or the Parable of the Pounds, it’s the same. Jesus is the subject and he’s going away to receive kingly power and he will come again and judge the world and he will judge his own. He will judge his people.
Now, to his people he has given talents. And what is a talent? Well, literally, in the time of Christ it was a unit of money, a monetary unit. It was not the kind of money you could put in your pocket. A talent was a unit of weight. So, the talent was equal in weight to 80 lbs., and in some cases 120 lbs. The value of the talent, which obviously you could not put in your pocket, depended on whether it was a Roman talent or a Jewish talent, whether it was silver or whether it was gold. Now, in the NIV, it says that the talent was worth a thousand dollars, a ludicrous statement and one of the most embarrassing mistakes the NIV has ever made. In the new NIV, it more rightly says that a talent was equal to 20 years’ wages. The truth is, depending on whether it was Roman or Jewish, silver or gold, a talent could have been worth the entire earnings of a person’s life.
“To one was given one talent, to another two talents, to another five.” It was an incomprehensible sum of wealth. But understand that it’s not really about money. It’s not about money only. The talent represents all that Christ has given you, all that God has given me. The talent represents our time. You have been given time on this earth. I’ve been given time on this earth. So far, I have lived 64 years, 2 months, and 11 days. That time has been given to me. I know not how much more time I have. You have been given time. You know how much time has been given to you, but you know not how much more time you have. It’s a gift.
The talent not only represents time, but also represents your skill set. You see, God has given to you a set of skills, abilities and the talent represents that, your skill set. But it also does represent what it literally is. And that is it represents your wealth and so the point of the whole parable is simple. When the master comes back, have you used your talent to increase him? Have you used your talent first and foremost to serve his kingdom? Is that how you’ve used your time? Is that how you’ve used your skill set? Is that how you used your wealth? Has that been the passion of your life, the desire of your heart, to increase him and his kingdom? That’s the clear message of the parable. There’s no mistaking it, and yet the church of Jesus Christ has for years studied it and ignored it while living for itself. Christians have studied it, ignored it, and we’ve lived for ourselves. We’ve treated time entrusted to us as though it was to use and abuse. The same with the skill set, the same with the wealth. We’ve lived for ourselves.
And can you imagine what would happen to this world if the people of Christ decided to obey? Can you imagine what would happen on this earth if the people of Christ decided to obey? If we said, “From this day forth my passion, my highest purpose, will be to serve the kingdom of heaven on earth. That’s how I’m going to focus my time. That’s how I’m going to focus my skills. That’s how I’m going to focus my wealth.” We would shake the foundations of the world. Do you wonder why there is so much darkness in our time? Do you wonder why the light seems dim? That’s because the people of Christ have not been the people of Christ. We have not obeyed.
Now, many of you say the prayer of Jabez. The Prayer of Jabez, found in 1 Chronicles, chapter 4, verses 9 and 10, was made popular by a book by Bruce Wilkinson. The book sold millions of copies in the United States of America. There are millions of Americans who say the Prayer of Jabez each day, and the Prayer of Jabez from 1 Chronicles 4:9,10 is this: ” Oh, that thou wouldst bless me and that thou would expand my borders and that your hand would be with me and that you would keep me from harm that I might not experience pain.” That’s the Prayer of Jabez. Many say it daily. God heard the prayer. God blessed Jabez and he was protected as well as blessed.
Now, there are some, including David Wilkerson, who say, “Well, maybe the RSV and the NIV and all the translations of the Bible don’t have it right. Maybe when Jabez said, “Oh, that though wouldst bless me and expand my borders, grow my territories,” maybe he meant his territory of his service and ministry. It’s a nice thought, but contextually and in terms of the original language of the Hebrew, it’s not possible. Maybe when he said, “Lord, keep me from harm that I might not experience pain,” maybe he meant keep me from harm that I might not cause anyone else pain. That’s a less selfish prayer. But again, in the Hebrew and contextually, it’s highly unlikely.
The prayer is kind of a selfish prayer. God heard it, God honored it, God blessed him, God protected him, but the prayer is kind of a selfish prayer. It’s the perfect American prayer. It’s the perfect prayer for our country, and millions of people are praying it every day and I’m not going to argue with you. I’m not going to fight with you about it. I mean, you go ahead and pray it every day and, in a sense, I understand. We all pray for God’s blessing. We all pray for his protection. I know I do, and I would love for God to bless and protect you, but I tell you this: The prayer of Jabez was never meant to be a model prayer for the people of God. We have a model prayer for the people of God given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s called the Lord’s Prayer.
Jesus said, “When you pray, pray this.” In another place Jesus said, “When you pray, pray like this,” so it’s kind of a model prayer and it’s not a selfish prayer. I mean, we’re in it and we petition his provision, but the glory is his. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” And in the Greek language, the force of the words is not just eschatological, “Someday let your kingdom come.” It’s existential and it’s now. “Let your kingdom come now. Reign in me now.” It’s a commitment to the kingdom of heaven every day because the kingdom of heaven must be our highest commitment. “To thine be the glory. To thine be the power. To thine be the honor forever and ever.” So, this is the call of Christ upon his people: That we would be his people and live out our days with passion for him, for his church and kingdom, and for the cause of heaven on earth. That’s the grit. It’s absolutely true.
Now, I want to talk a little bit about the grace and with regard to the subject of stewardship and the kingdom of God. There are many things we can say about grace. First of all, there’s grace in that God gives many opportunities. I love the Parable of the Prodigal Son. I’m sure you love the Parable of the Prodigal Son. We all love the parable of the Prodigal Son because we’re all prodigals. And, of course, the prodigal son was the worst steward possible. He demanded all that was his. He claimed his rights. He took it all and wasted it. He wasted his time. He wasted his skill set. He wasted his wealth. He just wasted it all on himself. But oh, there’s a lot of grace in the heart of God. So when he thinks to himself, “I’ll go home,” he finds his father, arms outstretched, wanting to love and hold him. We have a God like that.
So, maybe for you the message for today is, “Come home.” Maybe you’ve wasted your time. Maybe you’ve wasted your skill set. Maybe you’re wasting your money and it’s time to come home because God has grace for you. I love the story of Cain and Abel in the Bible in Genesis, chapter 4. You know the story. You know how Cain and Abel brought their offerings to God as stewards. They brought their offerings to God and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions and Cain brought of the fruit of the earth, for he was a tiller of the ground. They both brought offerings appropriate for their callings, for their careers, and God had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain he had no regard.
For thousands of years this has been debated by scholars. Why did God reject Cain and accept Abel? Why? And certainly, at the deepest level, there was difference in their heart. We read in the book of Hebrews that by faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice more acceptable than Cain through which he received approval as righteous, God bearing witness by accepting his gifts. So, by faith. Something was different in their hearts. They will continue to debate whether one offering was inadequate, but you see, this is clear. Go back and read the passage. What is so clear is that God wants to give Cain more opportunities. Grace. It’s grace. God wants to give Cain more opportunities. God doesn’t want to reject Cain. It’s like God is pulling for Cain. God is rooting for Cain. I mean, God says to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? If you do well, will you not be blessed?” God is just longing to bless him, willing to give him many opportunities and with grace. Of course, Cain knew that sin was crouching at the door, and he gave in to sin. I don’t know what your situation is, I don’t know what you’re offering to God, but I know this: He is longing for you to succeed in your stewardship of his kingdom. He desires that you would do well and be blessed.
I have sometimes told the story of Walt and Art, two guys in 1951. I have told the story how Walt and Art got into their cars and drove outside of Las Angeles. They drove for 25 miles outside of LA into orange groves and into open fields and to a whole lot of nothingness. And Walt got out of the car and Art joined him (and they were good friends), and Walt said to Art, “This is where it’s going to happen. People are going to come here from all over the world. They’re going to come with their families. There’s going to be hotels here, convention centers here, restaurants here. And Art, I want you to be a part of it. I want you to buy some of the land now and it’s all going to increase in value.”
Art thought to himself, Walt is crazy. He looked out at the nothingness and he thought, Walt is crazy. He missed an opportunity that day. And of course, you know, that was Disneyland. Twenty-five miles outside of LA, Walt Disney and Art Linkletter took that drive. They were good friends. What an opportunity Art Linkletter missed that day, not investing in that land. But as Paul Harvey would say, “You gotta hear the rest of the story.” I’ve never told you the rest of the story. You see, Art Linkletter had many more opportunities by the grace of God. Art Linkletter had been abandoned as a baby in Canada. The hand of God was upon him from the beginning, and he was adopted by a Christian pastor. He was adopted by a Christian preacher and his family. This pastor had only one leg, but all that he was, was given to God and he raised Art Linkletter to love Jesus. And all of his life, Art Linkletter confessed Christ.
Disneyland opened in 1955, four years after Walt and Art took that drive. And who dedicated Disneyland in 1955? Art Linkletter. He dedicated Disneyland and God blessed Art Linkletter’s life with oh-so many more opportunities. Of course, in the 1950’s and 1960’s Art Linkletter became one of the biggest names in Hollywood and on television. He was everywhere, like Oprah, and People Are Funny was the name of his show and it was the most popular show in the nation. It made millions of dollars. Art Linkletter, you know, is still alive. Walt Disney died years ago. Art Linkletter is still alive by the grace of God, his wife and him both. They have been married for 74 years. Born in 1912, he’s almost 98, and I tell you it’s grace, the grace of God.
Now, I believe with all my heart that if you seek first his kingdom, he’ll bless you. This is not prosperity teaching. I’m not up here saying that if you seek first the kingdom of God, God’s going to make you rich. I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that if you seek first the kingdom of God, God is going to bless you. I don’t know what that blessing is going to look like. I don’t know the form it will take, but he will bless you. He blesses the faithful. That’s why Jesus said, “Give and it will be given to you in full measure, shaken down, pressed together, it will be set in your lap.” That’s why Malachi said, “Bring the full tithes into my house says the Lord God almighty. Put me to the test and see if I will not open up the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” That’s why Paul in 2 Corinthians, chapter 9 said, “He who sews sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sews bountifully will reap bountifully.” There’s reciprocity about God and his Kingdom that if you are a faithful steward he will bless you.
I’ve always loved the story of Ida Fuller, and some of you know that Ida Fuller was the first person in America to receive a Social Security number. Her Social Security number was 000-00-0001. That wouldn’t be hard. Somebody says what’s your social security number, and you can pretty much remember that, eight zeros and a one. And of course history shows us that she just put a few bucks in. That’s all she did in her lifetime. She just contributed a few dollars and received thousands and thousands back. I know you’re thinking, “Oh, I hope it works that way for me.” Not likely. Not likely given what we see today, but of course, the kingdom of God works like that. The Kingdom of Heaven works that way. You make that Kingdom first and foremost, you make the cause of heaven on earth your passion, and you’ll be blessed many fold. It’s in the Word and it’s promised.
I love a story Billy Graham once told. I actually read the story in an article by Billy some years ago. It’s a funny story. Billy was on an airplane, a transatlantic flight. He was traveling overseas and in the seat right in front of him a man came and sat down. The man was somewhat inebriated. He’d had too much to drink. He sat down in the seat in front of him and immediately told the stewardess that he would like a drink. The stewardess said, “Well, I can’t do that until we’ve taken off.” So, they took off and the man began to ask for drinks and he was given drinks, those little bottles of alcohol that can make mixed drinks, one after another after another.
Pretty soon he was very intoxicated. He was flirting with the stewardesses, the flight attendants, and he was loud and he was very rude and finally a man across the aisle stood up and said, “You know, mister, you should be embarrassed. You should be embarrassed. You’ve had too much to drink. You’re intoxicated, you’re flirting, you’re loud, you’re rude, and you should be all the more embarrassed because sitting right behind you is the Reverend Billy Graham.” And suddenly the guy turns around and he looks at Billy Graham and he smiles and he says, through slurred speech, “Dr. Graham, you’ll never know how much your sermons have impacted my life.”
Billy knows what all who preach know. He knows what all who pastor know, and that is that very few people really change their life because of a sermon. Very few people really listen. The Bible said many have ears to hear and do not hear, eyes to see and cannot see and every pastor knows that many people leave and they don’t change a thing. It’s all the same. And I know that as I stand here this morning. But I pray and I hope that some of you will change, that together we’ll change. We’ll make the kingdom of Heaven our passion, the cause of heaven on Earth our passion, and we’ll receive his blessing for it because we’ve heard and we’ve obeyed.
I’d like to close by just mentioning Ananias and Sapphira. Perhaps you’re thinking, please don’t. Ananias and Sapphira are a hard story. Acts, chapter 5, I think is one of the hardest passages in the whole Bible. It sounds so Old Testament. Ananias and Sapphira are in the early church and they’re fairly well-to-do. We don’t know how wealthy they are, but they have property and they take a piece of land and they sell it and they bring the proceeds to the church and they say, “We’re giving it all to you.” And they were lying, because they had kept part of the proceeds for themselves. And the judgment of God came upon them and their earthly lives were taken from them by the judgment of God.
It’s a very, very hard passage and I think it’s meant to be a message to the church of Christ and to all generations. Now, the message had to do with lying, of course, but that’s only in the simplest sense. Certainly, God does not want us to lie. But most of all it has to do with heart. You see, their heart was for themselves. They wanted the glory for themselves. They wanted to exalt themselves. That was the reason they lied. They wanted the early church to say, “Wow!” They wanted people to say, “Wow, you’ve given it all up for Christ. You’ve given it all up for the church. Wow!” Something was wrong in the heart. You see, what we’re supposed to do is just long to exalt him. We want people to say, “Wow,” about him. We want to serve him. We want to exalt him; we want to glorify him. We want to serve his cause, his kingdom, forever. That’s what God wants the church to understand now and forever. That’s what he’s called us to, and he’ll bless us for it. Let’s close with a word of prayer.