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Thursday, November 19, 2009Bless your Blessings
Have you read the parable of the talents?
It's a story about a rich man who entrusted three of his men to handle his properties before taking a month vacation on one of his Caribbean islands?
For most of you who already this parable, you would probably ask me, "Allen, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed again? Have you been watching pirate movies again while reflecting on the scriptures?"
Not really... As I am writing this blog, I am more likely to be day dreaming that I am in a Caribbean island. You can't blame me, its four degrees outside and been raining five days straight.
As a result, I hope you don't mind if I put in some twist by adding some herbs and spices in the parable and topping it up with a warm place setting.
Let me start again.
There was a rich man who entrusted three of his men, Mikee, Bon and Jack to handle his properties before taking a month vacation on one of his Caribbean islands. To Mikee he gave five talents, to Bon two and to Jack one.
(If you are wondering where I got the names - Mikee and Bon are my two sons. Jack is the main character of the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean.")
Immediately, Mikee went and traded with them and made another five. Likewise, Bon made another two. For Jack, he went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.
Let's pause here for a moment.
I have read this parable more than a hundred times but this is the only time that I took notice of the word "immediately" in this verse. (Matthew 25:16 NAB)
What do I mean? Upon receiving the talents, immediately, they took action to multiply whatever they have received. Immediately - without hesitation, without second thoughts, without doubting, without mumbling, without complaining, they traded. Immediately, they started to bless their blessing.
When you know you have a certain gift which gives you the capability to do more with your life, what will you do about it?
Do you question why you have it? Do you complain that you have it? Do you doubt yourself that you have it? Do you hide it? Or, you put it on display but you have no plans of using it?
By the way, not using your gift because you do not want to use it is different from not using your gift because others do not want you to use it. That's legalism. I will talk more about this some other time.
Anyway, let's go back to our story.
When the rich man came back after his journey, feeling relaxed after enjoying daily SPA in his 150 foot yacht, (I could have said he owned a luxury cruise ship but our rich man is a modest billionaire) he called the three men for accounting.
Mikee drove to his master's house with his newly purchased hybrid American car in the parking lot. Upon entering the house, his master instantly noticed a change in his appearance. Instead of the hip-hop jeans, he now wears a suit but he still wears his yellow Converse shoes. Regardless, the master has seen a huge improvement with Mikee's physical appearance. Mikee came forward to his master saying, "Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more."
His master said to him, "You have blessed yourself well with the blessings I gave you. Well done, my good and faithful servant! Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy."
After the master finished commending Mikee on his good performance, Bon entered the garage with his newly purchased Japanese car he bought from Mikee at a brotherly price. He came forward using the suit he bought from the outlet store on sale (remember, being frugal is our secret – investing on proper appearance but not punishing your wallets) saying, "Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more."
His master said to him, "You have blessed yourself well with the blessings I gave you. Well done, my good and faithful servant! Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy."
The master finally asked, "Where is Jack?" The door bell rang and when his butler opens the door, he saw Jack looking no different when he left him. Jack came forward saying, "Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back."
For those of you who never read this parable before, how would you react if your trusted servant or friend or co-worker did the same thing as Jack?
I mean, of course there is nothing wrong when you gave someone your one million dollars and after coming back from a vacation, he comes to you and say, "Sir, I knew you were a hard to please person so I played it safe. Here, I give you back your one million. No more no less."
I'm sure that's okay, right? I don't see anything wrong on being cautious.
Jack was afraid of losing what he doesn't own. Out of fear, he would rather bury what was given to him under the ground rather than risk losing it.
But, is that the right thing to do?
In our standards, that's an acceptable behaviour. But in God's standards, it's quite different. Let me quote the actual words in the scriptures on what was the answer of the master.
His master replied, "You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 25:26-30 NAB)
After throwing harsh words to the servant, he told everybody to throw the "worthless" slave outside where it's dark.
This only means that whatever gift we received from God, we should not take it for granted. If we do not use them and multiply what we have been given, if we do not know how to bless our blessings, we are in trouble.
It's not a question if we have talents, because we all do. It's how we use it. Are we doing our best to cultivate and grow these talents? By the way, "talents" does not only pertain to financial blessing, but this also includes our skills and abilities.
For example, in my case, I didn't know how to write blogs. I told you my success story on how I passed my college English class, after failing twice! Never in my life had I dreamt that I will be able to write blogs, but here I am. Many times, I doubt my grammar construction and selection of words, but I try. I see to it that I would write two times better than my previous blog. I do my best to bless the blessing I received – that is my enthusiasm to write a blog.
Although I did get some help from my neice Nicole last summer but because she was going back to school, I have to do things by myself again. In that short moment, I was able to learn a lot from her. Little by little, I learn new things, everyday.
Many of us are afraid to use our gifts. We have the tendency to be perfect in all aspects of our lives before we go out of our cocoon. We are too concerned of what others may say.
We cannot control the way other people would look at us. When it comes to the behaviour of others towards us, our hands are tied. What do we do? We move beyond the naive expectation that if we do good or if we please others, they will treat us right. What if they don't?
Just look at Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao.
By the way, to my fellow Filipinos, I'm sure you've watched the recent boxing fight of Manny Pacquiao. Another proud moment for us Filipino's!
After the fight, I noticed a lot of fans (from where I watched) were commenting on how he answers the announcer. I heard some comments like, "His answers are way off the topic. He needs an interpreter." (I wanted to throw several punches in their face and I'll ask them the same questions and see if they can answer better... just kidding).
My gosh, here is a man who just won the biggest fight of his life, who has done something that nobody else in the world has ever done before (to be a title holder of seven boxing divisions – to be a champion in one weight division is already a lifetime achievement), who etched his name in the history of sports and not the mention the honour he shared with his fellow Filipinos and here we are, a Filipino, commenting by saying, "he should get an interpreter."
Stop focusing on the weaknesses of others. Focus on what you can benefit from the strengths of others.
Manny believed in his gift. He did not doubt his gift. His poor English did not prevent him to say what he wants to say based on his understanding. He was real. If he doesn't speak that way, he is not the Manny Pacquiao we know. The great thing about him, he continues to bless others through the blessings he keep receiving. He knows how to bless his blessing.
Finally, when you receive a blessing, always remember that there is a responsibility attached to it. The more you receive, all the more is expected from you, the more responsibility will be given to you.
My prayer for you is that, one day when you retire; I want you to be like many others who would be bold enough to say, "Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more."
Then our Lord would say to you, "Well done, my good and faithful servant! Come, share your master's joy."
God is the greatest!
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