Value and Profit
Good Morning Friends,
What service means for a Christian is not the same as for service in most businesses. We are to be fruitful and that is different than having a sole focus on making the most money. Economics is great but if consumerism does not benefit the community as a whole something is missing. In Immokalee a lot of money is made that does not go back into the community. Money is wired from the Casino out to Las Vegas. The farmworkers wire money….millions of it back to their homes in Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti. The farmers make money that is spent elsewhere. The youth get scholarships and become successful but rarely come back home to live. The process distances us from each other. We become worthless slaves to a power structure that crushes our faith. With this situation in mind we explore the parable of the “Unprofitable Servant” and the relationship between Value and Profit.
27Scripture: For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.
Matthew 16:27 (NRSV)
And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Luke 17:5-10 (KJV)
Message: When we become Christians out for ourselves something is wrong. We can become sad creatures. The motivation for Christian service is to be love for God. It is to be a spiritual thing. We therefor serve not to earn salvation, but because Christ already has purchased salvation for us. Service is to be total for the Christian. A Christian who only serves a perceived best interest of economic benefit lives a sad life…trying to serve God and money. We need to serve graciously without asking for anything in return. Here service is an act of growing faith. Service is hope. Service is joy. Service is humility that produces great fruit. Friends, we are unprofitable servants….worthless slaves that need to find the power in giving back…in growing faith through service without the demand for recognition. What we do is our duty to do. The profit is not ours but God’s. But the joy of being obedient to God though gracious service is ours and can make this life wonderful. Friends, if we serve out of an effort to earn our way into the kingdom of God, we are deceiving ourselves. If we want more so that we can give less we are also trying to deceive God. This kind of nonsense is pervasive. Do what God has commanded. Do not lie to yourself or others. Be servants that do not seek the profit that is God’s alone.
Pray we realize that Jesus alone is a profitable servant. Pray therefor for faith on the path of service. Pray we realize we cannot serve two masters. Pray we have an attitude of service. Pray we resist temptations to choose profit over benefit…money over value. Pray we have praise for a God that does not leave us in our foolishness but rebukes us and nudges us into lives of fruitful service. Pray we covet the abundant life of service to community. Pray we are not good for nothing but good for a purpose. Pray we repent and turn from our foolishness and live in His love. Pray we have faith enough to do great things. Pray we learn the benefit of giving back.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 