How Will You Use It?

September 14, 2014

Exodus 14:1!"1 #om$%s 14:1!12 &$tt'ew 1(:21!")

Although most of us think of ourselves as being relatively powerless, the truth and reality are that in
our own way, every one of us has power over others. For each of us that power will look different, but
we have it just the same. Even the most powerless buy things from the grocery store and eats at
restaurants where we wield power over the people who serve us. We wield power over our children
and in the lives of their friends. As residents and voters, we wield power and authority in elections and
school board meetings and as church members, our opinions have impact on church employees as well
as our volunteers. In any of these situations, our opinions, our words, and our actions can be a
blessing or a curse to others. Abraham incoln said, !"early all men can stand adversity, but if you
want to test a man#s character, give him power.! $resident incoln understood that each of us is tested
by the power we wield, great or small, over the lives of others.
In uke %&'(), *esus said, From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and
from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
ong before Abraham incoln, *esus knew that each of us will be tested +and judged, by the way we
use the power and the authority that has been given to us. -his morning we are going to look at ways
that power can and should be used. First, we continue with our story of .oses and the people of Israel
as they flee from Egypt and who are now being followed by the chariots of $haraoh/s army who have
been sent to kill them and0or return them to their slavery. *Exodus 14:1!"1+
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Then the angel of od, who had been traveling in front of !srael"s army, withdrew and went behind
them. The #illar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them,
$%
coming between the
armies of &gy#t and !srael. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light
to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
$1
Then 'oses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the (ord drove the sea back with a
strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided,
$$
and the !sraelites went
through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
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The &gy#tians #ursued them, and all *haraoh"s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them
into the sea.
$+
,uring the last watch of the night the (ord looked down from the #illar of fire and
cloud at the &gy#tian army and threw it into confusion.
$-
.e /ammed the wheels of their chariots so
that they had difficulty driving. 0nd the &gy#tians said, (et"s get away from the !sraelites1 The (ord
is fighting for them against &gy#t.
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Then the (ord said to 'oses, 3tretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back
over the &gy#tians and their chariots and horsemen.
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'oses stretched out his hand over the sea,
and at daybreak the sea went back to its #lace. The &gy#tians were fleeing toward it, and the (ord
swe#t them into the sea.
$5
The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen6the entire
army of *haraoh that had followed the !sraelites into the sea. 7ot one of them survived.
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8ut the !sraelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on
their left.
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That day the (ord saved !srael from the hands of the &gy#tians, and !srael saw the
&gy#tians lying dead on the shore.
)1
0nd when the !sraelites saw the mighty hand of the (ord
dis#layed against the &gy#tians, the #eo#le feared the (ord and #ut their trust in him and in 'oses his
servant.
When the people of Israel saw the power of 1od, and understood that 1od/s power was being used to
protect them and to rescue them, and not to abuse them or enslave then, they saw and understood that
1od could be trusted.
In a similar way, *esus e2plained this same principle to his disciples. In &$tt'ew 1(:21!"), we hear
this story3
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Then *eter came to 9esus and asked, (ord, how many times shall ! forgive my brother or sister who
sins against me: ;# to seven times:
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9esus answered, ! tell you, not seven times, but seventy<seven times =or seventy times seven>.
$)
Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
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0s he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold =ten thousand talents; a
talent was worth about $% years of a day laborer"s wages> was brought to him.
$-
3ince he was not
able to #ay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to
re#ay the debt.
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0t this the servant fell on his knees before him. ?8e #atient with me," he begged, ?and ! will #ay
back everything."
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The servant"s master took #ity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
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8ut when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver
coins =a hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer>. .e grabbed him and
began to choke him. ?*ay back what you owe me1" he demanded.
$9
.is fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ?8e #atient with me, and ! will #ay it back."
)%
8ut he refused. !nstead, he went off and had the man thrown into #rison until he could #ay the debt.
)1
@hen the other servants saw what had ha##ened, they were outraged and went and told their master
everything that had ha##ened.
)$
Then the master called the servant in. ?Aou wicked servant," he said, ?! canceled all that debt of
yours because you begged me to.
))
3houldn"t you have had mercy on your fellow servant /ust as ! had
&
on you:"
)+
!n anger his master handed him over to the /ailers to be tortured, until he should #ay back
all he owed.
)-
This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister
from your heart.
*esus made sure that everyone understood that even the servant of the rich man held power over others
and through this parable reminds each of us that we too have power over others. 4ome of us have
employees that work for us, or under our authority, or have friends to whom we have loaned money, or
other ordinary things that I mentioned earlier. 5ut regardless of how we find ourselves in authority
over others, we must be prepared to show mercy and forgiveness to those we over whom we have
influence. -he lesson for the people of Israel applies to us as well6 1od rescued his people in the time
of .oses from physical slavery, and in the time of *esus from our slavery to sin.
1od/s people should never be the ones who enslave or abuse others.
And how we use our power and authority is only a part of our responsibility. In #om$%s 14:1!12, the
apostle $aul says this'
0cce#t the one whose faith is weak, without Buarreling over dis#utable matters.
$
Cne #erson"s faith
allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.
)
The one who eats
everything must not treat with contem#t the one who does not, and the one who does not eat
everything must not /udge the one who does, for od has acce#ted them.
+
@ho are you to /udge
someone else"s servant: To their own master, servants stand or fall. 0nd they will stand, for the (ord is
able to make them stand.
-
Cne #erson considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. &ach of
them should be fully convinced in their own mind.
2
@hoever regards one day as s#ecial does so to the
(ord. @hoever eats meat does so to the (ord, for they give thanks to od; and whoever abstains does
so to the (ord and gives thanks to od.
4
For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies
for ourselves alone.
5
!f we live, we live for the (ord; and if we die, we die for the (ord. 3o, whether we
live or die, we belong to the (ord.
9
For this very reason, Dhrist died and returned to life so that he
might be the (ord of both the dead and the living.
1%
Aou, then, why do you /udge your brother or sister: Cr why do you treat them with contem#t: For
we will all stand before od"s /udgment seat.
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!t is writtenE
?0s surely as ! live," says the (ord,
?every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge od."
1$
3o then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to od.
If we 7uarrel with those whose faith is weak, we become theological bullies. If we judge people
whose faith is different than ours, and 1od does not, then we stand opposed to 1od. 8ou wouldn/t try
to reprimand an employee that works for someone else, because you know that it/s their boss/s job to
9
do that. $aul says that since each of us will be judged by 1od, the let 1od judge them. 1od is our
judge, not me, and not you. $aul, in essence, says that each of us may serve differently, we may live
differently, we may worship differently, and we may give differently, but because of our differences,
we cannot judge others or treat them with contempt.
With our history, a history of 1od/s people, a people who have been abused, discriminated against,
persecuted and killed for what they believe, of all people, we ought to be different.
1od/s people should never be the ones who enslave or abuse others.
We are all different and it isn/t wrong to be different. As followers of *esus :hrist we should be
prepared to forgive because we have been forgiven. We should be merciful, because we have been
shown mercy. We should love others, because of :hrist/s love for us.
And all of this leads us to this one 7uestion' We have been blessed by 1od with authority and
freedom.
What will you do with what you have been given;
8ou have been given a great gift.
<ow will you use it;
(

8ou have been reading a message presented at -rinity =nited .ethodist :hurch on the date noted at the top of the first
page. >ev. *ohn $artridge is the pastor at -rinity of $erry heights in .assillon, ?hio. @uplication of this message is a part
of our .edia ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. etters and donations
in support of the .edia ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to -rinity =nited .ethodist :hurch, 9ABA incoln
Way E., .assillon, ?hio ((C(C. -hese messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. 8ou
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