Gifts

He comes to the House of the Harvest just about every Saturday. Usually he is the last person to pull into the parking lot. He’s always in a good spirit, very kind, very humble. In fact, I was doing some work over at House of the Harvest a couple of days before Thanksgiving and he pulled up. He didn’t ask for anything, just pulled up beside me, rolled down his window and said, “I just wanted to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.” That’s the kind of person he is. Always friendly and always smiling. 

I thought it was strange when I saw him pull up in the church parking lot beside the school Wednesday morning. It was early. I was outside for car rider line, when I saw the preacher at the church pull up. I walked over to say good morning. We stood there talking and watching him as he parked his car at the church’s classroom building next door. Of course, I knew who it was, even though I didn’t know why he was there. I turned to my friend and sad, “Do you know him?” He replied, “Oh yeah. He’s been around here a long time.” 

I replied, “Is that right? What for?”

He fills me in on the details. “He’s here every Sunday morning and every Wednesday. He likes to come in and make the coffee for everyone, even before the ladies Bible study on Wednesday mornings. I don’t reckon anyone else ever does it.” 

I am shocked. No idea. He never talked about it. He never asked for anything. He never mentioned the church playing such an important role in his life. And to be honest...I don’t think I ever pictured him there. I was surprised to see him pull in, more surprised to hear that he was always there, and even more surprised to hear what I heard next. 

The pastor continues, “He is a servant, I tell ya. He has a heart to serve like anybody I have ever met.” And really, I think when he said that, I was completely shocked. I had never realized the friend we saw every Saturday had such great spiritual gifts. And then after that initial shock, I felt a great sense of pride because God has the ability to work through all of us, no matter who we are, what we have, or where our next meal comes from. I mean, here is this guy who is probably the least spoken to person on any given Sunday morning, and the pastor is moved by his heart to serve.

And then after I realized that, I think I settled into disappointment in myself. Mostly because, as the leader, I should have been the one to recognize his gift to serve, and give him an opportunity to use it. After all, isn’t that what God desires of each of us? To use our spiritual gifts and encourage others in the use of theirs? How great would our community be if we focused primarily on using our spiritual gifts and secondarily on helping others use theirs? How great would life be if we were all sharply focused on giving our spiritual gifts to others. That’s the world I want to live in. 

And then I had a flashback. To Jesus. Because that is exactly what He could do. Remember John 4 when He took that Samaritan woman who had had five husbands and turned her into the community evangelist? Or how He nurtured Peter, the roughneck fisherman, until he was walking on water and raising the dead? 

And all that said, I think that what I want you to hear this morning is that even the least among us has been given great spiritual gifts that can be used in the Kingdom to the glory of the Father. How could a man eating from a community food pantry impact the lives of so many around him? I guess the same way a baby can be born to a virgin. 

Because with God, “all things are possible.”