United Methodist Church VISTA

Time, Talents, and Treasures – Pastor’s Ponderings Aug. 14, 2018

Time, Talents and Treasures.  When you become a member of a congregation, a church family, you commit to support that congregation with your time, your talent and your treasures.  It is a commit you make with a group of people who are also committed to serving God and loving neighbor. In response, the church commits to continue leading you to God, and doing the work of God in the world.  Together, we invest in God’s love for the world, now and into the future.

Time represents the time you commit to being present in worship, offering prayer for people, situations and God’s creation.  Time is an allocation of hours to attend committees and teams that do God’s work. Time is the minutes you give to serve food to the hungry, teach a class or make a phone call.  Time is the tick-tock that you use to review grant requests and vote to give money to great organizations.

Talents represent the skills and experience you bring to the work we do for God.  Talents include your ability to create a website, count money on Monday mornings, call the phone company and straighten out the church phone bill, teach children the Gospel love of Jesus.  Talent is the particular training you have that others may not have. Your talent is creativity, imagination, artful, in front of others and behind the scenes.

Treasures represent your financial or monetary resources.  Treasures are what pays for class resources, staff hours for music, and counseling, the building upkeep and cleaning carpeting, the air conditioning, the lights, the paper we print the order of worship on.  Treasures pay for childcare on Sunday mornings. Treasures are green, plastic, and paper inscriptions from your bank account and stock accounts. Treasures are also the materials and snacks and supplies you bring to our work.

Time, Talents and Treasures are essential in a productive, faithful church doing the work of God with one another and in the world.  The church is alive to be God’s hands and feet in the world. Anyone asking what the church offers them and their life, doesn’t understand the purpose of the church of God.  If you are going to the church to get what you can get, you don’t understand the work of a church.

The purpose and mission of a church are about following in the steps of Jesus who fed the hungry, cared for the poor, reached out to the widows.  The work of Jesus was not centered on keeping the friends of Jesus safe and comfortable. Sometimes, some churches, become more focused on themselves, and keeping things going then reaching out into the world to be Jesus.  Our church’s mission is to build relationship of justice, faith and hospitality to bring God’s love to all people. It can only happen when you use your time, talents and treasures to support this work.

I attended a church membership class when I was a teenager.  The pastor told us, ‘you will get out of church life what you put into church life.’  In friendship and marriage, we bring our time, talents and treasures out of love for each other and experience the blessings for that commitment.  It is the same with your church family. Thank you for all you do to share our common vision of faithful living for making this world a better place.  And thank you for your generous commitment to this congregation with your time, talents and treasures!