Dear Friend,
Palm Sunday is this Sunday, and this morning I took a moment to read
about Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem as recorded in Mark 11: 1-11.
“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethpage and Bethany at
the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples saying to them, ‘Go to the
village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied
there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks
you, why are you doing this, ‘Tell him, the Lord needs it, and will send it
back here shortly.’” (Mark 11: 1-3).
I have always been struck by those words, “The Lord needs it.” A
donkey, the Lord needs a donkey! I don't know about you. but when I think about
a donkey, I don't think of greatness. Oh, I know that in those days a donkey
was a symbol of humility, gentleness, and peace, but today to be called a
donkey, which I’ve sometimes been called, (fess up, you probably have too) has
never been what I considered a flattering or a positive expression of endearment.
And yet the ‘Lord has need of a donkey.’ If that is the case, then just maybe
he can use me, a person with limited gifts and abilities.
All this reminds me of a story I read about a Presbyterian pastor
in an inner-city church in New York City. His mission field was a very violent
place. He himself had been stabbed twice as he ministered to the people of the
community surrounding the church.
Once a Puerto Rican woman became involved in the church and was
led to Christ. After her conversion, she came to pastor Wilson and said, “I
want to do something to help with the church’s ministry.”
The pastor asked her what her talents were, and she could
think of nothing- she couldn't even speak English- but she did love children. So, the pastor put her on one of the church’s
buses that went into the neighborhoods and transported kids to church. Every
week she performed her duties. She would find the worst-looking kid on the bus,
put him on her lap and whisper over and over again the only words she had
learned in English: “I love you. Jesus loves you.”
After several months, she became attached to one little boy in
particular. The boy didn't speak, and he came to Sunday school every week with
his sister and sat on the woman’s lap, but he never made a sound. Each week she
would repeat to him all the way to Sunday school and all the way home, “I love
you and Jesus loves you.”
One day, to her amazement, the little boy turned around and stammered,
“I... I... I... love you too,” and then he put his arms around her and gave her
a big hug. That was 2:30 on a Sunday afternoon. At 6: 30 that night he was
found dead. His mother had beaten him to death and thrown his body in a trash
bin.
“I love you and Jesus loves you” were some of the last words the
little boy heard in his short life, and they came from the lips of a Puerto
Rican woman who could barely speak English.
This woman gave her one talent to God, and because of that, a
little boy who never heard the words “I love you” in his own home, experienced
and responded to the love of Christ. Story taken from the internet from The
Road He Walked-Palm Avenue, by Mark Adams.
What is the colt we have to give? What is the talent, that
in our eyes seem so insignificant, that God can use? In his hands, he can
multiply that little gift or talent in the same way he took a small boy’s loaf
of bread, and miraculously multiplied it, providing lunch for over 5000 hungry
people.
Don't ever underestimate the gift you’ve been given. Use it
boldly, and unapologetically, knowing that God's specialty is taking the
seemingly insignificant things of life and transforming them into priceless
vessels of his glory.
Have a great day and remember, “The real tragedy of life is not in
being limited to one talent, but in the failure to use the one talent you
have.” Edgar W. Work.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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