For a few weeks, we’ll look at scriptures related to the Building Blocks, which are spiritual practices we can adapt and use to “practice the presence of Christ.” Read more info about the blocks, or download the 2011 Soul Care Plan. Today’s Block is “S”, for service.
Today’s scripture: Matthew 25:14-30 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Julie Walsh):
A couple weeks ago, I was brushing my teeth while Brent opened the linen closet to pull out a fresh towel. I glanced up in the mirror and found him holding the big, lush, velvety blue bath towel. “Not that one!” I exclaimed through a mouth full of toothpaste goo. “That one’s only for company!” Brent begrudgingly returned the towel to the closet and I walked to my dresser to pick out my clothes for the day. I was careful to push my favorite blouse aside so that I could save it for a day when I might want to look especially good, and instead selected a battered old sweatshirt.
A few days later Brent was putting dishes away in the china cabinet when he came upon some fine china he had never seen before. “Why don’t we ever use these plates?” After staring at him like he had just asked me for my own name, I responded flatly, “We don’t use the good stuff unless it’s a special occasion.”
These little stories seem cute, but I never recognized how the pattern was bleeding over into the rest of my life…
When I began attending the church in 1996, it was a small, close-knit congregation of about 40 people. The choir performed that first Sunday and I was excited to hear what they could do. But with every note, I sunk lower and lower in my chair, determined that they would never find out I could sing.
Somewhere along the way, though, I decided that “saving” my musical gifts was not what God ever wanted and I opened myself to singing with the choir, and eventually I led the music program. Over a ten year period, a struggling choir filled with many people who had displaced their gifts grew into several quality music ensembles that blessed the congregation. I had been given five talents and would humbly like to believe that when I passed the torch to Mark Brown, I had given back five more.
But I was also given the gift of prophetic dreams. It first happened long ago when I was a child. I had a dream about going to the hospital with my father and an unknown woman to visit my brother who had some strange condition I had never heard of. Sometime later, the memory of the dream came back to me as I walked through the hospital parking lot with my father and stepmother to visit my brother who had experienced a concussion. As I got older, these dreams became more frequent and at its height, the prophetic dreams played out twice weekly.
I was afraid of what to do with this and I didn’t know how it was supposed to serve the kingdom, especially considering the sensitive nature of this gift. So I asked God one night to either show me what I was supposed to do with this gift or to take it away. And so God took the one talent away from me that I had seemingly buried in the ground.
Maybe you are saving silly, material things for special occasions and have not realized that you are withholding your gifts too. Or perhaps you’re just sitting back, waiting for someone to take notice of your special talent. Is the issue that you have been stewing about the way things have been done, and know that you could have done it better? Or maybe you have been afraid to get involved in a ministry because you thought your gifts wouldn’t conform to the mold.
God knows your strengths and capabilities and has gifted you with everything you need to serve. This is evident in the beginning of today’s parable when Jesus explains that talents are distributed “to each according to his ability.” God wants you to share your ideas and your gifts in ways that may not even be realized by the church yet. God wants you to enhance the work of existing teams and groups so that others may benefit in the short and long-term. God wants you to have confidence in the gifts you have been given and to use your gifts wholeheartedly.
Thought for the day: What are you “saving” in your life? Take a chance on the talents God has entrusted in you and put them to work for the sake of the kingdom.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.