One of my favorite guilty pleasures is the TV show Shark Tank.  Anybody else?  (Come on…admit it!). This show has pretty-much no real redeeming value, but, there are occasional moments when in an attempt to avoid my “to-do list,” I’ll watch an episode…or two.

For the uninitiated, Shark Tank is a show where budding inventors and entrepreneurs come and present their latest idea to a group of extremely wealthy, potential investors.  Based on their pitch…and the quality of the product, the investors may (or may not) choose to invest their own money into the project.  

Some of the more interesting products have been things like: energy bars made from crickets, light up gloves for dance parties and my favorite, the “CitiKitty,” a potty training system for cats.  All three of these ideas received hefty investments.  

One of the regular investors is Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, (and lots of other things).  Mark Cuban’s net worth is estimated around $5.2 billion dollars.  Mark is unique among the investors.  Because his criteria isn’t simply the return on investment.  He will often say to the inventor “I love your idea. I think you’ll make a lot of money from it.  One of these other folks will invest in you.  But it would take too much of my time to help you develop the idea.  I’m out.”  

Too much time.  Mark Cuban’s criteria is not simply the dollars and cents…the investment and the return…it is the value of his time.

What kind of value do you put on your time?  How do you think about, and evaluate where you invest your time?  Time has been called the “most valuable currency” we carry.  It is a non-renewable resource.  It is limited.  Whole industries exist just to help us manage our time.  Last year in the United States, $4.6 billion dollars was spent on time management tools and software.  

And it feels like in our world, we have all become very careful in how, and where we invest…where we give…our time.  

In fact, in the broader church-world…and in the non-profit world in general, there has been a lot of angst about how people give their time.  Following the COVID pandemic, volunteerism in the United States took a steep drop.  

Sociologists first said that one of the effects of the pandemic was “The Great Resignation,” when people were quitting things:  Jobs, volunteer roles and other commitments. That certainly did happen.  And it really affected churches and non-profits.  

At Trinity, we noticed that people who had served in a role… sometimes for years or even decades, just weren’t coming back to it.  It wasn’t that they weren’t interested…or weren’t supportive…not at all.  It’s just that they weren’t…sure…they weren’t sure that’s what they wanted to do anymore.  But it wasn’t that they didn’t want to serve…to volunteer… they just weren’t sure they wanted to go back to the specific task they were doing before COVID.

As far as volunteering goes, I don’t think that it was a “great resignation.”  I think it was a “great reshuffling.”  

This reshuffling…it actually gave us all an opportunity.  It gave us the opportunity to think and to evaluate about our habits.  “I’ve always done this…does it still bring me joy? Or meaning?  Or purpose?”  

And people began looking for other ways to serve…to care…to find meaning and purpose.  The pandemic triggered a re-shuffling.  We find ourselves looking for new places to invest the asset of our time.

The reading from Ecclesiastes tells us that there are different kinds of times:  

• A time to be born, and a time to die.
• A time to plant and a time to harvest.
• A right time to destroy and another to build.
• A right time to cry and another to laugh.
• A time to be quiet, and a time to speak.

Maybe.  Just maybe.  The time we experience now…is a time to listen to God…and to our hearts…a time to look around…perphaps to think…perhaps to heal.  And maybe even…to reshuffle.

Last week, we heard the same Gospel text as I read here just a few minutes ago.  Last week we discovered the “treasure” God gives through the lens of our financial resources.  

This week, I want to think about it as our time.  How to we invest the time we do have into something that is deeply meaningful.  

Now, at the risk of making this sound too easy, or formulaic, there are, I believe, four steps to figuring this out for yourself.  

• The first is to be aware of what you bring to the table.
• The second is to pray.
• The third is to look for the needs around you.
• And the fourth is to step in.

Let’s take a quick look at each of these four things.  

Self-awareness is critical.  You need to know what you love, and what you’re good at.  This is your giftedness…your treasure.

Jesus is saying in his Gospel that you have this giftedness within you.    It is how God created you to be.  And each of your combinations of spiritual gifts is as unique as your fingerprint.  

You want to know where to invest your time?  Then you need to know your gifts.  You need to understand the treasure that is within you.  Because as Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  

About a month ago, Trinity launched a spiritual gifts inventory.  About 160 of you have taken it so far.  A spiritual gift is a God-given ability or talent given to you for the purpose of serving and uplifting others.  If you haven’t taken the survey yet, I really encourage you to do so.  It will tell you a lot about yourself.  But however you do it…you need to discover your giftedness.  

Your heart’s treasure is the basis upon which your entire life is built: all your meaning, all your focus, all of your purpose, all that matters to you.  Your treasure makes up who you are.

I have a friend who does ceramic pottery.  I’ve watched him do it.  He has a spinning wheel.  After he gets the wheel going fast, he takes his blob of clay and throws it onto the wheel.

Then he uses his hands to center the clay. The clay must be perfectly centered on the wheel. If it’s off just a little bit, you’ll wreck your pot. As you build up the sides of the pot, the balance will be off. The pot will go wonky and collapse.  Having the clay perfectly centered on the wheel is the basis for all that will come.

What the treasure of our heart is…becomes our centering. 

• If our heart’s treasure is personal power, then that will become the foundation of our life. We will seek after power. We’ll need to be always in control. We will need to wield more influence than anyone else around us.
• If riches and possessions are the treasure of our heart, then our lives will be focused on things and on wealth. We’ll always be searching after one more thing. We’ll have to stow away more and more money in our bank accounts, in our 401K’s. In spite of our wealth, we’ll have little, or no money left over for anyone other than ourselves.
• It might be beauty and looks. 
• Or maybe our treasure is victory in sports. 
• Maybe we ground our being in the success of our family. 

But these things…they are all temporary.  In our Gospel, Jesus is reminding us that our treasure is the love and grace of God, put into the form of gifts…and it’s the way we live out that love and grace.  We have to know that.  That’s the first step.

The second step is to pray.  As people who follow Jesus, we pray at different times.  We pray before meals.  At church, we pray here in worship, and we pray before meetings.  When I was in high school, I most often prayed before tests.  You get the idea.

But in this case, I’d encourage you to pray differently.  My advice would be to pray specifically.  Pray for guidance.  And ask God to point your heart towards the greatest need.

The third step then, is to look for the needs around you that align with your gifts.  If your gift is hospitality, look for ways that you can be welcoming to others.  If your gift is music…sing or play…bring joy to those around you.  If it is administration, then find a place to provide leadership and support.

And the last step is simply to do it.  You take a step of faith…and you do it.  Everyone has gifts.  And everyone wants to help.  Everyone just needs to find their place.  And go. 

This is, by the way, what Jesus did for you.  

• Jesus knew his ideneity…he is the Son of God, loved beyond measure.
• Jesus prayed.  He prayed a lot.  
• Jesus saw the great need of the world…the world then, and the world now.  
• And Jesus stepped in.  And his steps led him all the way to the cross.

Jesus did this for you.  And Jesus calls us to do this, for our neighbors…for the world around us.  

In a world that is reshuffling, this may be your time; your time to rediscover your gifts:  the treasure of love and grace that God has placed within you.  This treasure you have been given is not meant to be kept inside.  It is meant to be released into the world…from the inside…out.

Remember who you are, child of God.  Look for your gifts.  Pray.  Figure out your options and then take the step of faith into something new.  Remember that it is the step Jesus first took for you, because of his great love.  Reflect that love, and then take your step.  Use your gifts in the name of Jesus, like he did for you.

Thanks be to God!

Amen.