November 13, 2005
Once upon a time there was a wealthy miser who melted down his hoard of gold into one massive lump ~~~~ which he then secretly buried in his garden.
Every day he would go to the garden, dig up his gold and admire it ~~~ he would spend hours gloating over it.
One day, one of his servants discovered the miser's secret, and came during the night and stole the gold.
When the miser came to the garden the next day he was heart-broken.
One of his friends said to him "Don't take it so badly",
just put a brick in the hole ~~ and admire IT every day
instead. It won't be any different - because even when
you HAD the gold, you never used it.
+ + + + + +
This morning, I want to do something different.
Every month, our Stewardship Group has been drawing
our attention to the various ministries that are offered in
and through our parish.
* In part as a way of saying thank-you, and showing our appreciation to the people involved in these ministries.
* In part, as a way to excite others about the possibility of joining.
* And In part, as a way of informing the rest of us that these ministries do exist, and happen all around us all the time (whether we see it or not).
In September ~~ Education (the special start-up service we had, and commissioning our teachers for that ministry)
In October ~~ Property Maintenance (and the tremendous turnout we had for the yard clean-up and parking lot recovery)
In November ~~ it is the Ministry of Welcoming.
And while that seems to focus on visitors, and new
members ~~~ and will hopefully include the delivery of
the new parish directories in the next few weeks ~~~ we
should not overlook the welcome we give each other (the
not-so-new members).
And welcoming folks we have KNOWN for a while is
quite different than welcoming folks we do not know. The
folks who are new, receive a loaf of bread, and get a follow
up call or visit from one of our lay visitors. That's fairly
straightforward - and is a practice that seems to be
received well.
Folks who are not new, need to be welcomed differently.
They need to recognized, understood, and appreciated. The
directory will help us to recognize - but we need to
develop the understanding and appreciating.
So today I want you all to help me with the sermon and, in
fact, help our parish with the practice of welcoming and
appreciating ALL of its members.
1] I want you to pair up with someone who sits near you
2] then I want you to tell the other person 2 qualities you possess.
Today's gospel talks about talents...but we get baffled by
that word (money/music/skills/etc). I want you to go
beyond that surface stuff. I want you to talk about certain
characteristics you possess. Those are talents too.
If you can always see the silver lining = optimistic
If you see old shirts as a potential quilt == resourceful/creative
The list is endless - how do YOU describe you
(name your characteristics - because they are talents too)
We have all been given talents by God (of one kind or
another) ... You may have to help your partner come up
with theirs, because some times people are shy about
talking about their talents.
(do that now please -5 minutes)
3] When you go home, I want you to take some time to
think about how you are using those talents God has
blessed you with. How are you using them for the benefit
of others, for God, and for his church?
- ask yourself if you are using that talent to its fullest capacity. If not, what more can you do with it.
- do any of these talents seem insignificant or of little or of no value???? If you answer yes, then I would suggest that you are not looking hard enough at the possibilities ...
Because God doesn't hand out disposables ...
EVERYTHING is needed. But before a talent can reach its
fulfillment, it first of all has to be discovered and
recognized.
We took that first step today - by naming your talents ~
you identified them (and who know, when you get home
you may think of a few others)
Will they be used?
Or will they be placed back in the ground with the miser's brick.
