Living in the Spirit
August 14, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. — Romans 11:29 

I keep my car radio set on one of my local National Public Radio stations, which comes on whenever, I start my car. It is about 1.5 miles in one direction to my gym and about 1.5 miles in another direction to my church. (And, yes, I know intrinsically that there is something wrong with driving 1.5 miles to a gym, but I do.) It is rather bizarre what you hear in a 1.5 mile drive. Recently, I got a smidgen of something about humans only using 10 percent of their brains, which I understand has not been verified, but my guess is many of us do not use as fully as we could our gifts and talents.

Paul is challenging us in our scripture today to do just that, use whatever gifts and talents God has given us. He takes the challenge one step further when he indicates that first we all have a calling of God and that both the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Remember the parable of the talents. (Matthew 25:14-30)  Now the word “talent” used in this scripture is a form of money but I think it is also useful in its other meaning. In any case, the boss went on a trip and gave one servant $5 another one $2 and a third one $1 each according to his skills. The first two servants did really well and the boss was happy. The third one fearing his boss, if anything happened to that $1, hid it until the boss returned. The boss was not happy with that.

God expects us to make the most of our gifts and talents and use them to God’s glory. And by the way, I do not think it is a coincidence that this parable immediately precedes the story of the last judgment. You know the one when Jesus said:  “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Prayer: God who made us in your image, make us mindful of your gifts and your call to us. Invest us in your service as we invest ourselves in your call. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.