When I was growing up we had an old-fashioned larder. In it were all sorts of things, as well as fresh food there was a selection of tins and jars. The stock changed from day to day. But there was one tin that remained on the its shelf. It was a tin of sugar from Australia. I given to understand that it had been originally send over as part of a food parcel from Australia. A friend of my mother had emigrated to Australia in the post-war years when there was still food rationing in Britain. As a consequence she sought to send food parcels to my parents each Christmas. This one tin remained, kept for use in an emergency, because it was easier to open a packet. The tin must have been several years older than I was. Eventually, when I was a teenager my mother decided to open it and use it. By that time I think there must have been at least some specks of surface rust. When it was opened there was a lot of rust on the inside which had contaminated the sugar so my mother had to throw it out. It was a gift that was wasted.
As I write this in the run up to Christmas there is a lot about gifts and giving. But what about the gifts that God gives us, how often do we put them on the shelf and leave them there. It is something to which I have to admit my guilt over the years. How many can read or hear the parable of the talents without a twinge of guilt. We may fail to use God’s gifts given to us for several reasons. Firstly, sometimes we simply do not recognise the gift as a talent. Using Paul’s analogy of our being different parts of the body, when we fail to understand which part of the body we are then we fail to see the talents that will be helpful to us. If a ‘hand’ thinks its an ‘eye’ then it won’t value the sense of touch. Secondly, we treat the gift as something to use in an emergency. The problem with that is that if we don’t use then we lose it. Talents need to be developed. If we do not read our bibles regularly then we will not know where to look when we need to. The list of excuses is endless, another is that we think we are not good enough. We are not by ourselves, but by the grace of God we can be. I know that at Christmas we often get gifts we do not actually want, but God only gives us gifts we need, even if we do not appreciate why he has given them. There will come a time when we will be able to see why. Use them or lose.
David Rose 2014