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[Bell] [Bell] The scripture lesson is found in the Gospel of Martin, St. Matthew, the 25th chapter, beginning with the 14th verse.

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The kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going into another country, who called together his servants and loaned them money to invest for him while he was home. He gave $5,000 to one, $2,000 to another, and $1,000 to the last, dividing it in proportion to their abilities, and then left on his bit. The man who received the $5,000 began immediately to buy and sell with it, and soon earned another $5,000. The man with $2,000 went right to work, too, and earned another $2,000.

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But the man who received the $1,000 dug a hole in the ground and hid the money for safekeeping. After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to him to account for his money. The man to whom he had entrusted the $5,000 brought him $10,000. His master praised him for good work. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, he told him. So now I will give you many more responsibilities.

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Begin the joyous task I have assigned to you." Next came the man who had received the $2,000 with the report, "Sir, you gave me $2,000 to use and I have doubled it." "Good work," his master said. "You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over this small amount, so now I will give you much more." Then the man with the $1,000 came and said, "Sir, I knew you were a hard man, and I was afraid that you would rob me of what I earned.

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So I hid your money in the earth, and here it is." But his master replied, "Wicked man, lazy slave, since you knew I would demand your profit, you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. Take the money from this man and give it to the man with the ten thousand dollars.

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For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. But from the man who is unfaithful, even what little responsibility he has shall be taken from him. And throw the useless servant out into the heart of darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Thus ended the reading of this picture.

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You will notice in your bulletin a song that is to be sung by the choirs of congregation, "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah." We want the choir to sing that first, and then we want you to join in as we go on, as we stand together at this time.

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(dramatic music) (music) (music) (chanting)

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[Music] [Music] He's my Savior. He's my Savior.

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He's my Savior. He's my Savior. He's my Savior. He's my Savior.

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I will praise Him. I will praise Him. I will praise Him. ♪ He's my Savior ♪

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♪ He's my Savior ♪ ♪ He's my Savior ♪ ♪ He's my Savior ♪ ♪ He's great to me ♪

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♪ I will praise Him ♪ ♪ I will praise Him ♪ ♪ I will praise Him ♪ ♪ I will praise Him ♪

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♪ I will praise Him ♪ ♪ I will praise Him ♪ ♪ I will praise Him ♪ ♪ I will praise Him ♪

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♪ I will serve Him ♪ ♪ I will serve Him ♪ ♪ I will serve Him ♪ ♪ I will serve Him ♪

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♪ I will serve Him ♪ ♪ I will serve Him ♪ ♪ I will serve Him ♪ ♪ Hallelu-jah ♪

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♪ Lord I love You ♪ ♪ Lord I love You ♪ ♪ Lord I love You ♪ ♪ Lord I love You ♪

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♪ Lord I love You ♪ ♪ Lord I love You ♪ ♪ Lord I love You ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪

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♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ [MUSIC]

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[MUSIC] >> Precious God, our Father, speak the word that you want your people to hear. [BLANK_AUDIO] Grant that we may hear and do.

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In Jesus' name, Amen. We have been considering the seven deadly sins. We have dealt in previous messages with the sin of pride, The sin of anger and the sin of envy.

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We want to deal today with the sin of sloth or sloth. The words that are recorded in the King James version of this scripture passage which was read state, "Thou wicked and smoteful servant." In the Living Bible paraphrase, it reads, "Wicked man, lazy slave." So, "slope" has to do with being lazy, the sin of being lazy.

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To be lazy is a sin. Because we are made to be creative and productive, failed to properly express the purpose by which we were made is a sin. So the lazy individual is opposed to work and seeks to get along without it.

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So, Brother Pendergrass, if you listen this morning, what you, the question you were raising concerning why people don't work, not just young people, but old people as well who don't want to work, that sin is what this ceremony is all about. Because that isn't a problem that just arose yesterday. It's one that has been with us for a long, long time. And I suspect it will be with us for a long, long time to come.

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The sin of being lazy. That was a song that was popular many, many years ago. "Lazy bones sleeping in the sun never seem to get your day's work done. Sleeping in the doomsday sun never get your day's work done." Franz Capa says that there are two cardinal sins from which all others spring.

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He lists those two sins as impatience and laziness. As a people in this country, black Americans have been portrayed as carefree and as lazy. Several years ago, particularly when I was a boy, the character that was used to project this kind of image of our race He was stepping, fetching.

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Stepping, fetching. He was very slow in everything he did. It would take him a long, long time to say whatever he had to say and to do whatever he was to do. It was both slow in both speech and movement, so that in our society, laziness is associated with that which is undesirable and unacceptable.

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The Bible has a great deal to say about being alert and active and productive. Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden. For the purpose of dressing it and keeping it, he is to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. Yet there have been those in the life of the Church who have been inclined to avoid and to resist work.

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This is what prompted the wise counsel of the Apostle Paul when he said that those who don't work shouldn't eat. Because there were those who were well and healthy, but they wanted to sit down and wait and feast upon that others were bringing in, even though they could do it themselves, because of laziness. At this particular time in the life of our nation, we find ourselves plagued with a serious unemployment problem. 8% of the market unemployed, people who are without work.

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And everywhere we hear news commentators and we read in the newspapers the word that this creates a serious economic problem. Whenever this percentage of the population is without gains of employment, we say that we're in trouble. Not only do we have an economic problem caused by unemployment, but we have a much more serious problem when we have people who do not work when work is available, who do not perform as they are prepared to do or as they ought to do.

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And this is due to what may be called a crisis of the spirit. I'm talking about people who do not engage in creative and meaningful activity for the advancement of themselves and for the furtherance of the human family. who are just lazy.

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And this is a sin, the sin of sloth, the sin of being lazy. Come with me for a moment and look at this parable which our Master told of the talents. It is called one of the stewardship parables of our Lord. It talks about a man who calls his servants and he gives to them his money.

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They are his servants. It is his money. And he distributes to the servants his money according to their ability. One he gives $5,000, another he gives $2,000, and the last he gives $1,000. He gives to each according to his ability.

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The master distributes. Whatever they have has come from him. It's his, their is, and he knows how much to give to each one. He knows the capacity of each one, so he gives to each one according to what he can handle.

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5,000 to one, 2,000 to another, and 1,000 to the last. Now this is rather unequal. And it's interesting and significant for us to consider both the matter of the inequality of it, as it may appear, but also to consider the equality of it. So let us for a moment look at the equal treatment of unequals.

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Not everybody is equal in the sense of your ability. Some have the capacity and the ability to do more than others. Not every voice in the choir is the same. Some have just been given a voice that's a little better, in a sense, than another voice.

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Not every person is the same when it comes to those who proclaim the gospel. Peter did not have the training that Paul had. Paul was a great theologian. Peter was a very effective evangelist.

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They're different. And yet they all have received equal consideration in that each one is dealt with by the master in the way that best fits his potential. He does not expect the impossible from them.

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He gives them his money, and then the servants are asked to improve upon what they are given. They have the master's money. The first one goes forth and he invests it. And he doubles it.

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$5,000 in the course of time becomes $10,000. The second one has $2,000 and he makes that $4,000. Now the matter of the investment has to do with the creativity. That is something that each one brings to bear his own native ability,

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whatever he can do with what the master has entrusted to his keeping, he is to do that and to produce much more than he had at the beginning. That they do. God gives his talents and he gives to each one of us according to his wisdom and according to our ability.

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And we have the power to improve upon what is given to us. And we're not responsible for what we are incapable of doing. The persons who have, who are given this assignment are capable of managing God's gifts and they are to use these gifts in such a way that they please the Master.

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So the time is that they left to work and the Master goes away. And as they receive the first two and produce, let's look for a moment at what happens to the third one. So this is the one that really is the character

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that I would like to focus upon for this sermon. The others go to work. They're creative and they produce, but the third one is lazy.

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In fact, he takes what he is given and he takes that thousand dollars and he, one interpretation of it is that he takes a racket and a napkin. And he puts it in a safe deposit place. He digs a hole in the earth and he buries it there. So he wants it to be just like it was when he was given it. He's sure nothing happens. He takes special effort to dig a hole in the ground, bury it there, and leave it.

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Now you know it's just an effort period. He had to first of all go to work to dig the hole. He had to select the site. And he went to a great deal of pains to do nothing. You know, that's the way it is many times, you know. Sometimes people do a lot of work and exert a great deal of energy to avoid work. You know, just how I, you know, when I was on the job I remember that some of the fellows,

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instead of being out there working, doing eight hours to do the work, You know, we had all kinds of little schemes to avoid pressure. Some, now the eager beaver comes in and punches the clock. He comes in, if he can do that seven, he comes in, maybe the quarter of seven.

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Punches the clock, goes into the locker room, changes clothes, and when the bell rings at seven o'clock, he's out there at his post and he's off to work! But there's the other person who barely gets that set. And puts his card on the time clock, and just to be sure of his set clock, or better to do before.

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So he can change clothes on the man's time. Not his time, no, no. He's too smart for that. He changes on the man's time. And then when it gets to, if you get him off at 3.30, when 3.30 comes, he goes in a little before 3.30 and changes his clothes.

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So that he changes his clothes on that time, and so that he can get out there and punch in at 3.30 so that when, as soon as he can punch in, he's out the door. the door. And many times more energy is exerted in trying to avoid doing something afraid that we are going to give some time. And it would take if we just went ahead and did the work. And then another scheme that they would use is that as often as possible to go to the restroom. [laughter]

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And you go in and people just be gathering just to assume the breeze in the restroom. And all of this sort of is a sign of laziness. But here, here this man digs in the earth and buries it and time goes on and he's just doing that. Nothing that's meaningful, nothing that really harnesses and exerts the energies and the capacities, the abilities, the aptitudes with which he has been entrusted.

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Just wasting all that time. Time passes, and the Lord, the good master, comes back. And it's a reporting time, always a reporting time. Whether it's the report card in school, or whether it's the reckoning time when you're evaluated on your job,

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whatever method it takes, there's always a reporting time. And God has his reporting time. Talents buried in the earth. What does that mean for the church?

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What contemporary interpretation is that for the church? Talents buried in the earth. Sometimes you look in a church and some of the best voices in that church are not in the choir many times. They outdo the audience very, very.

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You look on our Sunday school faculty and many times you won't find the people who could give, who are best prepared to do what ought to be done. And when the master comes, he calls his servants for a report time. And the man who has been given the opportunity to report, to be heard, to be seen, to be heard, to be seen, to be heard, to be seen, is a man who has been given the opportunity to do so. And the man who has been given $5,000 is just as happy, joyful. You know, when you've done your best, you are happy.

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Whatever it is, when you know in your heart of hearts that you have done the best you could, there's a feeling of satisfaction. Nobody else has to know it if you do. You know it. Nobody else but the main person here that the master understands and when he comes and gives his report, he's joyful because he's been faithful.

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And you see what is involved here is that he responds according to his ability. That's what responsibility is. You take the word responsibility or responsibility. You can just take the two words and you put them together, and you have responsibility. And that is responding according to your ability.

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While this year is young, all the resolutions you've made, to consider responding according to your ability. Some are young, some are middle-aged, some are older, but whatever your ability and your energy is enabled you to do to respond according to your ability. That's what that means.

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And so, Lord, you gave me $5,000. Here's 10. I invested it. And here's 10,000.

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He said, well done. Well done. You've been faithful over a few things. Now you're going to be promoted, made ruler over more things.

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$2,000 man comes, "Lord, you gave me $2,000, and I've taken what you've given me, and I've used it, and I've produced $4,000." Here that is. He said, "Well done." He gets the same commendation that the $5,000 man gets. Same reward, so to speak, same commendation. Well done. But here is the $1,000.

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And he hasn't done what he should have done. And when people haven't done what they should have done, they start trying to find fault. There's accuracy. First of all, when you don't do what you should have done, it means that you don't care.

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Accuracy. And when people don't care, they seldom look upon themselves as being the reason. They must find somebody else. And so he finds fault with the master. Now let me hear. You know you are.

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You expect too much. And I was afraid that if I risked myself doing what you expected, that I might not be able to produce according to what you would like for me to produce, so I didn't want to run that risk. So I, to play it safe, I have just taken what you've given me, and I've buried it in the ground, and I've preserved it just like you gave it to me, and here it is.

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And the response of the master is, "You wicked!" You see, laziness goes with being wicked. "You wicked! You lazy man! Your heart is not right!" "You wicked!"

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"You don't have the right desire to do as much as you ought to do! You are wicked!" You don't really love me. You are wicked. Not only is it that you have not loved me, but you have even found fault with me. The great judge of all the acts, you have criticized and found fault with me because you have neglected your own opportunity. One interpreter calls him a barren rascal.

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Not only have you not produced anything, you're barren and beyond all of that you are a rascal. And this is the sin of being lazy. Not only is it detrimental to the one who does it, Not only does it enable him somehow, it causes him to fail to be creative and productive,

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it causes him to fail to respond to life according to the divine design. Wicked and unfaithful. So the one thing we are called upon to do is to be faithful. And in this being faithful there is joy!

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You know you've been faithful. There is comradeship when you know that you have been faithful. There is the eternal reward. Jesus talks a great deal in his parables about what it means when you do nothing.

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That's the great criticism that's given of the man here, is that he didn't do anything. Not that he tried and failed, no, no, but he did not do anything. When he met the occasion when he was walking with his disciples and he saw a fig tree that was there that had not produced, a fig tree was planted in three years it was expected to begin, and the next three years to produce something.

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Given three years, yes, six years had passed, and nothing had been produced. And the man who came and looked at that fig tree said, "Well, I've come now and looking at this fig tree to find fruit. All these years I've come looking for fruit and I've found none." He says, "Cut it down. Cut it down."

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How often has God come? How often has he visited us? He's always visiting us. How often has he visited us?

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Looked in our eyes and looked for truth and hasn't found the truth that you're capable of producing and I'm capable of producing. How often has he done that? How often have we found someplace that's comfortable for ourselves

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and said, "Well, there are a lot of people up there that need it." And there's so many of them up there, Reverend, you've got so many people up there, I don't think you can do nothing. You know, there's so many here that, you know, with a big church, I'm sure that there's nothing I can do. You know, if you come to prayer meetings, you'll find most of the seats are full.

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If you come to teachers' meetings, you'll find a great room for improvement. If you go to training meetings, you'll find a great room for improvement. If you look among the deacons, you'll find a great deal of room for one who really wants to take and perform that task. Because of all the help that is supposed to be provided, when I look around, many times on Sunday night, it's hard to find some of the people.

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If it's a missionary society in the circle, there's a lot, lot of room. There's a great deal of room, always room, to grow and to develop. not only in the church, but those same opportunities out there in the day-by-day world. Cut it down, says, but I hear, I hear, I hear, I hear the voice of one like that old Calvin Calvin Ruckenbrad said, "No, no, spare for another year.

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Spare, spare for another year, spare for my seat." Because of what I did, it had a new symbol in my hand and it helped me spare another year and give me an opportunity.

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This is the great God. Let me dig around that tree. Let me dig around it. God has different ways of digging around.

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Sometimes it's a little trouble that comes. That's digging around us. Sometimes there's some disappointment. God is just digging around us.

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Maybe he's going to dig around us a little this year. He said, not only that, I want to take some manure and put it around this tree. Ordinarily, it's said that they didn't use manure

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for the fig trees. But God's gonna give some special grace to this tree. So he's gonna put some there, and he's putting that around it.

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Maybe, maybe in the next year, the tree will produce some fruit. Blessing be our God who gives us another chance. Digging around in the spiky eyes of us,

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and said, "Now I want you to produce some fruit. "I don't want you to be barren. "Don't be lazy. Don't be apathetic.

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Be dedicated, be true, and be faithful. You can be faithful not when you look just to the preacher, not when you look just to the deacon or to some other brother or sister, but when you look to the Lord.

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Because when you look at some person, that person is going to disappoint you some way along the way. along the way, then I'd do what you think they ought to do. But if you look to the Lord, no matter how high may be the mountains, and how low may be those valleys, and how rough may be your traveling

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along the way, when you look to the Lord, you have someone that can go with you every step of that journey. And so I say to you, look to Him and live. Look to Jesus and live, and somehow he'll speak the words that will lift the burden in your heart.

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He'll lift the burden that is so heavy that no other human force can lift. When you look to him, look and live. Be creative, be joyful, be productive. Look to Jesus and live.

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While the choir sings, look at me. [INAUDIBLE] Blessed pivot of the church, look to him. The one who gives us our chance, our talent, our joy, our peace,

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our hope, our success. Look to him. [MUSIC - "I CAN FEEL IT"] ♪ Sound the Lord's Hallelujah ♪

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♪ The message of your good tidings ♪ ♪ Since the morning's word ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ It is only that you look on Him ♪

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♪ Look on Him ♪ ♪ Look on Him ♪ ♪ Look to Jesus ♪ [MUSIC]

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♪ And I do love you ♪ ♪ I have a message full of love ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ A message, oh my friend, for you ♪

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♪ 'Tis a message from above ♪ Hallelujah! Jesus said it, and I know 'tis true. Look at me, my brother dear.

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Look to me, look now, my dear. He's recording in his heart, hallelujah. He's holding that beautiful, heavenly hand. I will offer that to you, hallelujah.

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Eternal life itself shall come. He's holding that beautiful, heavenly hand. ♪ Hail to Jesus, who alone can save ♪ ♪ Look at me, my brother dear ♪

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♪ Don't you please just know I'm here ♪ ♪ 'Tis recorded in his word, hallelujah ♪ ♪ It is only that you love ♪ [Music]

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[President George W. Bush] Everybody. [Music] Dear Lord, [Music]

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Father of mankind, [Music] forgive our feverish ways. [Music]

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We have sinned. [Music] We have come short of your glory. We've not obtained the remarks that you set for us.

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We've been guilty of sin of pride. We've been guilty of the sin of envy. We've been guilty of the sin of anger. And then we've been guilty of the sin of

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[Unintelligible] [Unintelligible] Forgive us. [Unintelligible]

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Another opportunity. Grant that we may respond according to our ability to serve with joy. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord call this praise to shine upon you and be gracious unto you.

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The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you, in your peace, now and forevermore. Amen. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]