Several years ago, I was living in Lawrence, KS and doing work on behalf of the Lawrence Indian United Methodist Church.  While there I learned a valuable cultural lesson about honoring a gift that is given by indigenous people.  When a person is entrusted with a gift from an indigenous American, there is the expectation that the gift be honored.  It was their custom that in order to honor the gift, one is expected that the person receiving the gift tell the story honoring the person in whose name the gift was given.  It seemed to be a cultural custom related to indigenous Americans (Native American) people.  But upon closer examination, it seems to have a biblical background.

         It’s an honor to be entrusted with something that is not really yours.  And if entrusted with it, we have a responsibility to be faithful and accountable to honor that with which we’ve been entrusted.  And whether we get a reward for it or not, we still have a responsibility to be good stewards of the gift.  And whether or not we share the story or keep it to ourselves, neither situation absolves of accountability.  Our faithfulness is not dependent upon our accountability.  Our faithfulness will enable our accountability to have some value.  Knowing that we’ve done what we’ve been tasked to do enables us to live accountably.

• What responsibility ha you ever been tasked with and failing to be faithful, found that it did not relieve you from being held accountable?
• How do you respond when you realize that you are not living up to your potential?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Faithful God, help me in times of fear to live up to my fullest potential. Always keep me mindful that I must life responsibly because I am held accountable in all circumstances of life.

         It’s our nature to be cautious.  We hear from early in life, don’t touch this, don’t spill that, don’t take unnecessary chances.  We hear them so often that they become a large part of who we are.  And we’re given extra special warnings of concern when we’ve been given responsibility for something that doesn’t really belong to us.  Ringing in our ears and the back of our minds are the words, “BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!”

         But what if playing it safe is sometimes not the best advice we can take.  We’re not often given the opportunity to risk gambling with house money.  Usually, it’s our stuff that we gamble with and if we lose it or damage it beyond repair, then the loss is on us.  Yet we encounter a story of 3 servants and a Master that says, “Go for it.”  I’m entrusting you with something, that I’m fully aware that you’re capable of handling.  In fact, I’m only entrusting you with what I know you can handle.  So, do your best to be responsible because you will be held accountable.”

          Sometimes playing it safe when we’ve been given the ‘green light’ to go for it is an opportunity to prove to ourselves that we’re responsible.  It’s also an opportunity to live up to our fullest potential.  But failing to live up to our full potential is really failure.  It’s as much as saying we’re not even going to try.

         As faithful stewards of something that’s not ours — our life — we owe it to the person to whom our life belongs to give it our best faith effort.  And what our Master really wants is for our live to count for something and not be wasted or buried.  Does it mean that we will succeed?  Not necessarily.  But how we perceive our Master may have an impact on our willingness to live up to our fullest potential.  In reality, no matter what our views of our Master are, whether we’re successful in living up to our fullest potential or whether we fail miserably, we will be held accountable.  So, it pays a reward for us to live accountably.  We may find ourselves standing among those who hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.  Come into the joy of your master.”  The other option is much less attractive.

• Would you assess in your life that you’ve risked what God has entrusted to you or played it safe?
• If you’ve played it safe, what might you have lost by not risking it?
• If you’ve risked it, what have you gained by going for it, regardless of the cost?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Almighty God, empower me to live my life to its fullest potential, risking what you’ve entrusted to me that I may stand before you accounted as a faithful and blessed to hear you say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

         Gratitude has become a standard form of appreciation in most cultures.  The idea of saying, “please” and “thank you” were at one time considered to be hallmarks of etiquette training for young children.  And our expectations that someone say, “Thank you,” when they’ve received service from us in some way — the opening or holding open of a door for someone; the offer of something needed before it was asked for — was always followed with the words, “Thank you.”  And yet, Jesus paints a picture of servanthood that clearly leads us to understand that true servanthood is a “thankless job.”  He suggests that a true servant should neither anticipate nor look forward to receiving any gratitude of thanks for what they’ve done.  Rather their service should be rendered with the attitude that they’ve only done what they should have done.

         In some ways, that attitude affirms the idea that servanthood is selfless.  It’s not done for recognition or honor.  When we go to work, we expect to be paid for our service.  It’s a part of the economic structure of the culture.  But an employee is not a servant.  True service to God is not done because the servant expects to be rewarded.  But the service is offered and initiated because he or she is simply fulfilling an obligation to do it.  Even the statement, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” is not a statement of gratitude, but rather an acknowledgement that what we’ve done, we’ve done in a way that is pleasing and acceptable.  After all, we are saved by grace through faith and not by works.

         And maybe that’s the hallmark of being a great servant — that what we do in service to God and Christ we do without any expectation of an award or reward, but for the sheer joy and love of providing the service.  Maybe it is true, that if we do what we love (serving God), we’ll never work another day in our life but will take pleasure in simply doing the work for the sake of serving.  It’s in doing the work with humility that we can be counted among the greatest servants of God and Christ.

• What difficulty do you see in expecting people to serve others without expecting a word of gratitude?
• How likely do your think people would be willing to become servants if there is no reward?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, teach me the humility of no expectations for serving You. Let my service to You be an acceptable offering in my journey to be a great servant of Yours.