Employed Now Speed

One of the most important lessons that we can learn, that we really need to learn, as sons and daughters of the kingdom, is to make good use of the time, those days that go on and on and on, between the moment the promise of God is given, and the moment when that promise is fulfilled. Notice how often the word, wait, appears in scripture. I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning. Habakkuk gets up on his watchtower and says, I'm going to stay up here, and I'm going to keep looking for, until God gives me an answer. And when the answer comes, what does it say? It says, the vision waits its time.

If it seems slow, wait for it. They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. Wait upon the Lord, be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart.

Wait, I say, on the Lord. But what do we do? While we're waiting for that promise to come true, while we're waiting for that prayer to be answered, how do we keep ourselves from getting discouraged? And how do we keep from falling asleep? The only way to stay alert for the things of God which belong to the future is by doing the things of God which belong to the future. And we notice always when God gives us a promise, he continuously also gives us something to do in the meantime, until that promise comes to pass, always.

When the householder goes into a far country to receive, he first gives his servants money. And he says, do something with this while I'm gone, till I come back. And the ones who do this are ready when he returns.

But the one who buries this money is unready. You know, let your loins be girded about you, and your lights burning, our Lord says. Who then is that faithful and wise steward whom his master will set over his household to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, But there's something in us that seems to think that if God doesn't fulfill the promise today, he has no right to expect me to be doing anything today.

See, if the householder has gone away and stayed away for so long, why should I have to keep polishing the furniture and cooking these meals? If I have to wait, I'm going to wait in idleness. And everybody who does this dies. Suppose you're out of a job, and you're having a terrible time finding any kind of work.

And one day you're looking through the free press, and you come upon this unbelievable want ad that promises high pay, travel allowance, no experience necessary, apply at sweet numbers such and such down at the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel. So you hurry down, and you get there, and you see crowds of well-dressed people, really looking sharp, waiting to be interviewed. And you say to yourself, I'm never going to get this job.

As you sign in with the receptionist. In less than an hour, your name is called. And lo and behold, it turns out to be exactly as the ad said.

High pay, travel allowance, no experience necessary. And as the interviewer goes over all your qualifications on the app and smiles and says, Well, I'm wonderful. When do I begin? January 3rd, 1977.

What? 1977? What am I supposed to do in the meantime? What good is a job? In a state of semi-shock, you're ushered out another door. You go down the elevator, and as you step out on Washington Boulevard, a strange-looking man who's rather shabbily dressed walks up to you, and You're looking for a job? I have a job for you. Yeah? When does it start? Today.

When do I get paid? Quitting time tonight. Here's the address. Go get to work.

What can you lose? So the address is written down for you, and you follow it, and you end up in an old warehouse building on the lower east side. You're welcomed into a kind of scruffy-looking bunch of people who are busy packing boxes for shipment. Lunchtime comes, and you sit down, and you have a free meal with the rest of them.

Five o'clock, the whistle blows, you're paid. Days go by. Days wear into months, and months pass into years.

And every morning, you get up and go to the old warehouse. Every evening, you get your pay. And then one day, a visitor comes.

And all the work in the warehouse is brought to a stop, and all the employees are gathered together in a room. And the visitor says, Well, I guess you people forgot what day this is. This is January 3rd, 1977.

And I'm happy to tell you that now your real work begins. Of all the people who applied for that job, you were the only ones who responded. Maybe you didn't realize, but we're all the same company.

For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. And to them, he said, Go into the vineyard, too, and whatever is right, I'll do. Now, we notice that the householder put these people with no delay in any gospel, which ends up with a bunch of refined, fancy, respectable people who endlessly sit around in their fellowships waiting for the big work to begin.

I say any gospel which produces that kind of result is false. The real gospel of the real Christ always puts the saints to work immediately. Now, granted, the work isn't usually high class.

Nor is the company. For consider your call, brethren. Not many of you were wise by worldly standards.

Not many of you powerful. Not many of you of noble birth. But God chose the foolish of this world to shame the wise.

He chose what is weak in this world to shame the strong. And He chose what is low and despised, yea, the things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, that no flesh, no body boasts in the presence of God. We have to ask ourselves honestly whether we right now are in a Cadillac hotel waiting for our big, super kingdom work to start with all the fancy people.

Or whether we are at this moment, in fact, engaged in the job that God gave us. We don't gather here week after week in order to huddle together and wait. But we rather come together here week after week to worship and rejoice in and praise and give thanks to the Lord who has already put us to work.

And if we gather through the week in this fellowship or some other fellowship, it's not in order to prepare ourselves for some heavy work that is going to begin in the nebulous future. But it's only that we might be refreshed and strengthened to get the job. Now the work which God already gave us to do begins with faith.

What must we do to be doing the works of God? This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Today as you come to my table, says the Lord, do you believe in me? Do you believe that I am the Lamb of God who took away your sins? Do you believe that I am the way, the truth and the life? That I am the way, nothing else, nothing added to me. Not Moses and Elijah too, but just me.

That no one comes to the Father but by me. Do you believe in me enough to do what I tell you? To love your enemies, to pray for your persecutors? Not tomorrow, not next week, but right now. How in the world can we enter into the life of Jesus Christ until we have the faith to abandon ourselves to Him? And there are those of us among us right now who haven't done this.

And it's this that He's calling you to do right now, today. Or when Jesus says, I want you to be fishers of men. When does this start? January 3rd, 1977? Henceforth thou shalt catch men.

From now on. But Lord, we're not prepared. We're so weak.

We haven't properly been trained. He says, look, that's my business. I want you to think of yourself as of this moment as fishers of men for the Kingdom of God.

Immediately your eyes open and begin to see the needs and the opportunities. You open your mouth and I fill it with words that are spirit and life. And granted, you're fishing for the fish.

Nobody's going to come around and ask for more of the life of your fellowship. You're going to be down in that scruffy warehouse among scruffy people, but it's going to be yours. Or when Jesus says, go find Lazarus and take care of him.

You know, sometimes we think we're not rich enough to be taking care of Lazarus. But God has already made us rich. Even though we're poor.

And we're able, right now, with what we have, to take care of the physical need of this hungry man. And if you don't know who Lazarus is, take some time after the service is over and walk in any direction from this building. And you won't walk too far before you'll find him or her.

Clark Park. Or over on 3rd Street. Or in the neighborhood where you happen to live.

Or if you're too tired and it's too hot, sit down and open up last year's Christmas. Or when he says, go look for that lost sheep. And a person comes to our minds, you know, that's been there, coming back and back, all last week.

For the last month, perhaps. Somebody we haven't seen for five years. Send sister so-and-so.

You go and do that. And when you go, you discover that he wants to talk about politics, the past. And you say, Lord, I'm not getting anywhere.

You weren't exactly easy yourself. Or when the Lord says, rejoice. Now.

Don't wait until you get to having to rejoice. Do it now. It seems to be for us to, you know, crack a smile once in a while.

Don't wait until the promise is fulfilled. Do it now, as the promise is being worked out. Constantly in Scripture we see.

You know, the God is, our Lord is telling us to do something, not five years from now, not next week, but right now. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarii, you go into the vineyard too, he said to the next group. And whatever is right, I will give you.

And so there's somebody that you're thinking of that nobody else has thought of yet. God put that person on your heart. And the specific thing.

While we wait for the Messiah to come. And while we wait for God to vindicate his name. And his word.

And his people. We do not sleep. We proclaim his death in the breaking of bread.

And by faithfully doing the work that he's now given us to do. God grant that when Jesus comes, he may find each one of us on the job. Heavenly Father, we pray that right now, through your Holy Spirit.

You'll enable all of us here to discern your presence. Not only in the future, but in the present moment. And that you'll take us out of the past, Heavenly Father.

And take our minds away from the future. Wherever the future has taken our eyes off the present. And bring us down to exactly what you have us be doing.

Help us, Heavenly Father, by your Spirit. To pay attention to the needs of those people that we're dealing with today. And in the work that you've given us, Heavenly Father, this day.

May we find our union with Jesus. And our true joy. We ask it in his name.