Tonight at youth group, Suzanne spoke on how we should do something with the imbalance with the world. How can we help those in need? So often we make the assumption (more often we make the excuse) that we can’t do anything to better another person. We announce to ourselves and anyone around us that we don’t have enough money to help the poor; we don’t have enough food to feed the hungry. We lament that we don’t have the clothing to cover the naked; we don’t have the resources to help the helpless. I’m guilty of it too, but let’s be honest here…
We’re then reminded of Matthew 25 and the Parable of the Talents (or the Bags of Gold). We’ve all been given an abundant gift: one talent was about 15 years worth of wages for a common worker! One man received 5 talents, another 2 talents, and the last received 1 talent. As an exercise, as an experiment, we filled several envelopes of money containing either $5 or $2 or $1. I was the money keeper tonight. I made the decision, “each according to his [or her] ability”, which amount of money they were going to receive. Honestly, it was pretty random, though I planned to take extra care in who would receive the five $5 envelopes, but about half way through as I got scoffs and rolled-eyes as I handed out the $1 and $2 envelopes, I realized something very important: $1 isn’t any less important than $5!
If you think about it, giving someone $5 and expecting them to multiply this gift to better the life of someone else for the glory of God means that you trust them with more money (versus giving someone $1). However, giving someone $1 shows that you have faith in them that they can take a supposed measly amount of money and multiply it for the better of someone and for the glory of God because, let’s be honest, nowadays it’s a lot harder to stretch one dollar than it is to stretch five! Blessing someone with one dollar is tough, so being given that amount shows a faith that the person can handle such a challenge! I thought this was very important and I hope these kids will come to that conclusion. After discovering this little truth, I took great care in the person receiving whatever the amount was in the envelope because it’s really all about the person receiving the gift, more than it is about the gift that is being given.
God gives different gifts and “talents” because he knows what we are able to handle in life, but He expects that we multiply the gift! No matter what it is, take it, do something with it, bless others with it! Don’t hide it! Don’t be afraid of the gift or the One who gave it to you! Share it with those around you. Better the life of someone and reveal to them the reason for why you show such great and abundant Love with them! I mean, c’mon! Is it that difficult to love?
At the end of the night, I took the one-dollar envelope.
I like a good challenge every now and again 🙂
from the beard 