Dear Friend
When I look forward to Palm Sunday, I have always been
struck by those words, "the Lord has need of 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 have sometimes been called, (fess up you
probably have been too) has never been what I consider a flattering or
positive expression of endearment.
And yet, if the Lord has need of a donkey, then just maybe he
can use me, a person with limited gifts and abilities.
All of this reminds me of 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 which surrounded the church.
Once a Puerto Rican woman became involved in the church and
was led to Christ. After her conversion, she came to the Pastor and said,
"I want to do something to help with the church's ministry."
The pastor asked her what her talents were, and she couldn't
think of any. She couldn't even speak English, but she did love children. So,
the pastor put her on one of the church's busses that went into the
neighborhoods and transported kids to and from church.
Every week she faithfully performed her duties. She would
find the worst looking kid on the bus, put him in her lap and whisper over and
over again the only words she had learned in English: "I love you and
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 and from Sunday school, "I
love you and Jesus loves you."
And then 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 that 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. The Road He Walked-Palm
Avenue, by Mark Adams and taken from the internet.
What is the 'colt 'we have to give? What is the talent, that
in our eyes seems so insignificant, that God could 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 wonderful Palm Sunday and always 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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