LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 95

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

he Bible says that we believers are to redeem the
to buy back time for the things that are truly
* ¢antin life so that we avoid engaging in peripheral
. and majoring in minors. Too many people put
te effort into second-rate causes. That is tragic

asteful.
dcalls us to prioritize our time and get the most of

talents.
onel Harland Sanders was a Christian when he
t the age of 90. He had not always been a
tian, but God had called him later in life. Isaw him
shortly before he died, making a testimony of his
th.and of the great love he had for God because God
first loved him.
‘arland Sanders was sitting on his porch one day at
265 in Shelbyville, Kentucky, on his birthday. On
“t.birthday, the mailman brought to him his first
cial security check. He needed it. He was hard pressed,
pause shortly before that the federal government had
tanew highway that had bypassed the diner where
used to sell his chicken. And so there he sat—poverty-
ken, at age 65, wondering whatin the world he was
going to do.
He finally decided to get into his battered old car, so
poe r.that he couldn’t stay in a motel for a couple of
nights, and he began calling on restaurants seeking to
jave them purchase his recipe. Across the country from
entucky to the West he went. Finally a great distance
from Kentucky, a restauranteur decided to try his
recipe. It got good results. The response was terrific to
his so-called “Finger lickin” good chicken. And as they
say, “The rest is history” —good history—one of abun-
dance, sharing, and inspiration.
“ Golonel Sanders was a striking figure in an immac-
ulate white suit and black string tie, as he sat there that
night testifying on TV to the love of the Lord Jesus
Christ and to the obligation he felt to invest the talent
and treasure God had given him wisely.
». As Colonel Sanders testified at age 90, his life was
revolutionized at age 65. God had called him to faith,
had enlisted him for service, and was expecting a good
return on that investment. He expects the same of us.
Whether we are 25, 45, 65, or 85.
Let’s see this together in I Peter 4:10 and 11.
©. “As every man has received the gift, even so minister
the same one to another, as good stewards of the
manifold grace of God.”

“If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of
God.” We talked about this lovely lady here, our par-
liamentarian, as our “oracle.” She speaks with author-
ity. We are to speak as the oracles of God, with the
authority of God, with the power of God, with the
wisdom of God, with no desire to have praise for
ourselves or glory for ourselves but seeking only the
glory and honor of God and the strength of His church.

If we speak with His authority, thatis precisely what
will happen. God will be glorified, and the church will be
edified through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now the exercise of ability and talents is not just a
one-shot, short deal; rather it is a call to steadfastness.

Ss

ESSAYS ON STEWARDSHIP 95

“He that endures to the end shall be saved.” And that is
true also of the enlargement of our abilities and the
investment of our talents. Persistence is so important.

There was a young man who lived outside of Boston
and had graduated from college and wanted to go into
the stock business. There weren’t many openings at the
time he graduated, so he waited and he watched the
newspaper for advertisements. There was one that
especially interested him. It seemed like the kind of job
he would like to have.

And the invitation with the ad was to write to box
1720. There was no address, just the box number. So he
wrote one letter, no response. Two letters, no response;
three letters, no response. Finally he went down to the
post office and he asked the postmaster, “Could you tell
me who holds box 1720?”

The postmaster said, “We don’t reveal that. That is
the owner’s business.” So this young man just stood
quietly and waited for someone to come to Box 1720. In
the middle of the morning, a man came, unlocked the
box, got out the mail. The young man followed this
gentleman, walked behind him down the street, followed
him on the bus, over to this office, which happened to be
a stock brokerage firm of all things.

He went in and told the secretary he was applying for
the position advertised, and she said, “We are very busy
today.” And he said, “I have lots of time,” and he sat
down and waited. He stayed there all day until ten
minutes to five. The office manager then said, “The boss
will see you now.”

He went in and said, “Is the job still open?” The man
said, “You know, by an amazing set of circumstances,
the job is still open and we have read your resume and
you have done well in school. and we are proud of your
tenaciousness and we think we ought to hire you.”

Roger Babson was this young man. He went on to
write a financial letter for many years. He was a very
successful man, and he helped other people to invest
their money wisely; and he did it all as a called-out
believer, a man seeking to enlarge his spehere of
influence, his talents, his treasure to the Christian
enterprise. But it all started, his larger influence,
because of his persistence.

“As every man has received the gift, even so minister
the same,” and let us do it with earnestness and witha
spirit of endurance.

In one way of looking at it, the stewardship of talents
involves “acting out the Gospel” in our lives. In the book
of Acts, we find the theology of the apostles, the plans of
the apostles, the meetings of the apostles, and the
actions of the Holy Spirit through the apostles. Listen to
some of the descriptions of their activities as they spoke
as the oracles of God and acted in the Lord’s name:

“They were filled with the Holy Spirit” (2:4).

“They continued daily with one accord ... breaking
bread from house to house, eating their meat with
gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and
having favor with all the people” (2:46-47).

“The word of God increased and the number of
disciples multiplied” (6:7).