Dale Cresap's blog

In the parable of the talents, the first two servants earned a profit and the master was pleased with them. The last servant broke even and was cast out. Do you think this is a story about money and profits? You know that it is possible for investors to lose money. What if there had been a fourth servant who invested his master’s money as the first two had, but the market went against him and he lost money. Would the master have devised a punishment more severe than that of the third servant? Yet the wicked servant’s punishment was not for lack of gain but for attributing false characteristics to the master. If you know me and trust in my goodness I will not cast you out even if you suffer reverses. 

The heavens declare my goodness and my glory. Do you see my handiwork there? Consider the North Star. It is fairly bright, perfectly positioned, and there are no other bright stars nearby. Any child can be taught to find it from prominent reference marks. It has been used by navigators throughout history to find their way as they travelled. Do you see how unlikely it is for all these things to occur simultaneously by random processes? Yet this did not occur by chance. I put Polaris there because I did not want people to be lost. In a greater sense, I came and died at Calvary because I did not want people to be lost. 

Do you think of your faith as life-enhancing, something that will make it better? This is an insufficient faith. It assumes that you start with a good life that would benefit from improvement. The promise of the gospel is more radical than this. It offers transformation. Not an improvement, but a total change. If you live in an affluent culture with many opportunities for self-improvement then the need for transformation may not be obvious, but the same issue was relevant in my own time. Do not water down the gospel message to suit the taste of your audience for life enhancement when they really need the transformation that only I can give.

Does your church take an offering or receive an offering? In semantics the difference between these is whether the initiative is on the part of the one giving or the one getting. It may be customary to refer to taking an offering, but it is, or should be, the case that any offerings are freely given. Perhaps you have had the experience of an appeal for an offering made with pressure or guilt or manipulation. In this case the terminology of taking an offering is indeed correct, but this is not my approach. My word says that I love a cheerful giver, and this can only happen when those giving do not feel exploited.

(I’m leaving town for a week for a family visit and will resume messages when I get back.)

Do you give advice freely? Do you also receive vast amounts of unsolicited advice? Do you receive advice that seems self-serving on the part of those who give it, tailored to their tastes, interests, and preferences rather than yours? Perhaps they feel the same way about the advice you give them. Wouldn’t you rather hear my voice on your own behalf than make something up for yourself out of your own imagination? If you will pause and inquire of me on behalf of someone else I will give you a word in season just for them, and you can speak divine life into their situation instead of making something up on your own.

Have you ever encountered something that was presented as being true, yet as you heard the whole story it was obvious that it was not? Did you find the false claims of validity annoying? It would have been better for the story to be presented with no claims, and left you free to decide for yourself. In the end this is what you will do anyhow. In my word I tell you not to swear at all as a means of enhancing your credibility, but to let your yes be yes and your no be no. It is evil to add more. Truth carries its own validity. If you develop a reputation for simple honesty you won’t need to enhance your credibility and if you don’t all your protestations of telling the truth will only make things worse.

Do you look at your life and see a continuous stream of unlikely events that are favorable to you? If you do not see this then you are not paying attention for I am constantly at work on your behalf, intervening to bring about my will in your life and perfecting that which concerns you. If you are aware of this then do you expect it and feel guilty for doing so? You should not feel guilty, for to expect it is not the same as taking it for granted. Expecting it is an acknowledgment of my goodness and the consistency of my faithfulness. You honor me by observing and acknowledging my beneficial intervention in your life and being grateful for it.

Do you make decisions about actions based on the worst possible outcome? It is wise to be prudent about risks, but this is not a Biblical perspective leading to an abundant life. It is a recipe for indecisiveness and inaction, for you can always think of something terrible that could occur in response to something you do. Paralysis is a byproduct of fear, and the fearful will not inherit the Kingdom of God. You live in a reality in which I have promised to go before you to prepare the way, to lead you in it, and to protect you in it. You can trust me to keep you safe while you walk in obedience to me. 

Have you ever believed something because you wanted it to be true? Yet these things are not always true. Have you heard others claim that I have spoken to them, but what they claimed to hear sounded self-serving? This can affect you as well. If you come to me with a predetermined answer you are not coming for my answer but want me to validate yours. You face the risk of convincing yourself that I have spoken when I have not. Yet I do speak to you and you have my promise that you will know my voice. This happens in the context of submission and obedience, of a broken spirit and a contrite heart. 

You know that words can be profound or mundane. Did you know that silence can also be profound?  Silence can be due to idleness or inattention, but have you ever heard concise words of brilliance that put an end to a foolish argument? The silence that follows is profound because no one dares to break it. There were times when no one dared to ask me any more questions, and my Book of Revelations records a profound silence in heaven. Have you ever experienced such a profound silence? You don’t get many opportunities in your noisy chatty world. Be still before me and see what happens.