Last week I came over to the Fellowship Center and discovered a group of about 20 women here in Room B. They had several sewing machines, several bolts of cloth, and 5 50-pound bags of rice. What, do you suppose, would 20 women be doing with cloth, sewing machines and rice? As it turns out, they were sewing the cloth into small bags and then filling those bags with rice. What, do you suppose, does a person do with a few cups of rice sewn into a cloth bag? As it turns out, you can put this bag into a microwave oven for a few minutes, which heats the rice to a nice toasty temperature, and then you can use that bag as your own personal space heater. Rice bags are especially effective when placed on sore muscles or placed at the foot of a bed on a cold winter night. These bags were being made to give away to some folks who could use a little warmth in their lives right now, the clients of Elizabeth Hospice.

We are in the midst of our traditional Stewardship Season here at The Village Church. It is the harvest season in much of our nation, when we gather up what God has given us to feed and house and clothe ourselves. And so it is a good season of the year during which you and I can think deeply not just about what God has given us but also about what we give back to God. We first looked at the most precious resource of all, our time, and how we can learn to use all of our time well, for the sustenance of our own lives and for the work of God’s kingdom. We next looked at our financial resources, and how God asks us to take only a small portion to give back for the purpose of spreading his love among others. Time and treasure are two of the great resources and building blocks of life, essential ingredients that you and I use to craft a life that brings enjoyment to ourselves and benefit to others. Today we will focus on the third major resource we have, because you and I want to use everything we have to make the best possible life we can. We want to be worth something to others and to create a life that is worth something to ourselves.

We have read this morning from the book of Genesis a portion of the story of creation. We know the story well, but we can never go wrong in going back to it time and again to remember the essential facts of our existence. What are those facts? We believe that we and all things are created by a wise and loving God. We are not an accident. We are not here for no reason. We were meant to be by a Power that is above and beyond anything and everything else. This God blesses us, with the gift of life and all the things of creation that we can use and enjoy in the living of our lives. Furthermore, as human beings, you and I are created with two specific qualities that separate us from the rest of God’s creation. First, we are created in the image of God himself. Second, we are made to “have dominion” over the rest of creation. In other words, as human beings, you and I have a special role to play as we live out our lives. That role can be defined in various ways. We are the caretakers, managers, and stewards. We are the supervisors, the overseers, and the directors. We are in a place of great privilege that is matched only by the great responsibility such privilege implies. All of creation is meant to flourish and thrive because of what you and I do and what you and I do not do. God’s original intention is fulfilled as you and I grow into our role as those who have dominion.

And so, you and I are placed upon this good earth, much like Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden. And the story that unfolds is the story of what we choose to do with what God has given us. Here is the way I sometimes think of it. When you reduce human life to its fundamentals it is really quite simple. Sometimes I literally picture myself standing in a deserted, primitive place. All around me are the things of creation: dirt, plants, trees, water, sky. And it is up to me to do something with all of it. You and I have gotten so accustomed to having the things of civilized society that we forget that all of it comes from the basic elements. Clothes and computer chips, food and flying machines, houses and the Home Shopping Network: they all come from the basic things God made. When you think about it, all we really have in this world can be reduced to what we call the “raw materials.” What are the raw materials? Things like rice and cloth, or more basically, things like a rock, a stick, and a life. And there’s the question for today. What are you going to do with the raw materials God has given you? What are you going to do with the rocks and sticks and the life that is yours only to live?

We have also read this morning from Paul’s second letter to the Christians in Corinth. Last week we read the first part of this section, where we learned that Paul was collecting a financial offering from congregations in the region of the Aegean Sea to take back to the suffering Christians in Jerusalem. This second section gives us one example of how it happens that a disciple of Jesus Christ can answer the question I’ve just asked. We see how a man named Titus used his life. Paul says that Titus has the same passion and interest that Paul himself has, a deep desire to do something valuable with his life. God has given this passion to Titus and Titus eagerly accepts this prompting from God. Titus embraces the work that has come his way. Titus is not alone in fulfilling his assignment. Paul does not mention the name, but there is another brother, well-known to the other Christians, apparently, who will accompany Titus. Titus is not above accepting help and support in his work. Paul ends this section about Titus with a challenge to the Corinthians: he says, “Show them the proof of your love.”

Let’s look a bit closer into the kind of person Titus was and the kind of life Titus chose to live. Titus was the kind of guy who was in touch with what he wanted to do in life. He knew his passion and also his capability. He was someone who could be trusted with other peoples’ money, someone who could fulfill a dangerous and complex task, someone who wanted to make his life count for something in the lives of other people. Titus not only talked a good game, he actually went out and accomplished something. He acted on his passions and his intentions to be worthwhile to somebody. Remember, Paul is collecting an offering, and Titus apparently has given to the offering himself, and then, because he believes so much in the cause, he has agreed to get involved in further collections and also in delivering it. Titus doesn’t just give money: Titus gives his time and his capability. Titus, as far as Paul is concerned, is a great example and a great challenge to the Christians in Corinth. Be the kind of person Titus is, Paul seems to be saying between the lines, and you Corinthians will prove the love for Christ you say you have.

Well and good, you say. God gives us all the raw materials to have and live a life. Someone like Titus did a good job with his life. That was then. What about now? What about you and me and the hectic, complex, stressed out, sophisticated, distracted, modern lives we live today? Are we supposed to focus our whole lives on doing things for the church? Are we supposed to couch everything we do in terms of our faith? Is giving and collecting and distributing money the best thing we can do for God? Well, no. I believe that what God teaches us in his word about being faithful to him and being good members of the church are lessons that we are to take out into every other area of our lives as well. And I believe that what these two passages teach us is a simple approach to life that inspire and inform everything we do. From these passages and from the whole message of scripture and from my experience of life, I want to share with you a simple approach to life that will help you be worth something, to yourself, to God, and to other people. The approach is just 3 words: discover, develop and deploy.

Go back to the image I shared a moment ago, of me, or you, standing in a primitive and deserted place. What do we do with the things, the time, and the life God gives us? The first thing we have to do is discover our talents, our gifts, our resources, our capabilities, and our passions. We need to know the specific mix of intellect and aptitude and interest and experience that we possess, because that is the first clue about what we are meant to do in this world with the life God has given us.

An old man who had been a hugely successful businessman, philanthropist, and leader was giving an inspirational lecture about the story of his life to a group of high school students. He said, “I came to this town carrying nothing on my shoulder but a knapsack made from a red bandana and a stick, and over time, with the sweat of my brow and the wisdom of my mind I made something of myself.” The students asked him lots of questions about his business philosophy and his social contacts and the decisions he made and the deals he did, and they were all duly impressed. Finally, one of them asked this question: “Sir, just out of curiosity, what were you carrying in that knapsack made from the red bandana?” And the old man said, “Well, it was about a million dollars in cash.”

We need to know what we bring to the table, what intellectual gifts we have, what natural abilities we possess, what passions and desires we are filled with. With those resources we make a life. We don’t know much about Titus, except that he was passionate about helping other folks and he could deal with money given as an offering. What do you have inside of you with which you are making your life?

Once we discover the raw talents we have, then we need to go on to develop them into useful tools for living. The raw materials of life must be refined, educated, and practiced until they actually are of use. I learned recently that the great artist Michelangelo completed 14 statues in his lifetime, all masterpieces. But there are 30 other statues that Michelangelo started and never finished. I don’t know why he left so many works unfinished. Maybe he got distracted or bored. Might it be that some of them he started and he decided they weren’t worth finishing? Have you ever wondered what his first statue looked like, or his first painting? What did the first tune of Beethoven sound like? What kind of story did Shakespeare first write? Tiger Woods’ first golf swing—was it perfect?

We don’t know much about Titus’ ministry and work, but we do know that the first thing Paul did when he came to know Christ was that he went off for a period of several years and studied and prayed before he began to preach and teach about Jesus. I think Paul was rethinking his faith, redeveloping his knowledge of the scriptures and the history of Israel, so that he could become expert in the new knowledge of Jesus. What if Paul had never done that? What gifts, skills, and passions lie inside you that you’ve never developed? What hidden talents and raw abilities are part of your unique skill set that need some work so they can be of use to you and to others?

The last stage of the process is that we have to deploy what we have discovered and developed. We actually have to do something with ourselves. A million bucks tied up in a bandana is of no use unless invested. And it is of no use unless it is invested skillfully.

I live with a person who loves to buy gourds. Here is one of the hundreds that live at my house, sitting around and taking up space. It is covered with ugly, gray, scaly stuff. It is useless. But, here is another one. It has been washed, scraped, buffed, and stained. It has Torrey Pine needles woven on top. It makes my home a more beautiful place in which to live. The raw gifts and abilities you have need to be exercised and educated and refined and then actually used for something.

In a sense, all of life is about discovering, developing, and deploying ourselves so that we can make the life we have into a blessing for ourselves, for other people, and ultimately, for God. We take the sticks and rocks that are lying around, and apply the intelligence, creativity, skill, passion, and hard work to make something of them. What sticks and rocks do you have in your life? What passions and interests lie in your soul? What mix of capability and experience and desire comprise the person you are and therefore the person you can become?

A group of tourists were being taken on a walking tour of an ancient village. They were shown all the important sites: the old church, the town square, the quaint huts. They listened intently to the history of the place shared by an aged woman, the oldest resident of the town. At the end of the tour, one of the tourists asked a question: “Were any great and famous people born here?” The old woman said, “No, only babies.”

We all start out just babies. No two of us are alike, but all are alike in this: each is given the raw materials for making a life that can bless them and bless others. In this season of stewardship, how will you use your time, and your money, and your abilities? Let this be a place where plain people are becoming great people: for themselves, for others, and especially, for God. May it be said of us one day, as Paul said of Titus and his brothers: “they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.”

Amen.