HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-11-23, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2017. PAGE 17.
From the Minister's Study
Spread your gifts far and wide: MacDonald
By Hillary MacDonald
Student Intern Minister,
Blyth and Brussels United
Churches
"When the cat's away, the mice
will play." I imagine most of us have
heard this expression and maybe at
some point in our lives, have been
the mice playing while the cat were
away.
This past week's scripture was
taken from the Gospel according to
Matthew 25: 14-30. In the scripture,
we hear Jesus telling a story about a
man going on a journey and leaving
three of his servants in charge of his
property. While he is away, they are
responsible. They have a choice —
they can do what they are supposed
to do and what their master expects
them to do, or they can, like the mice
in the saying, play while the cat is
away.
Out of the three servants, two of
them make wise choices. One
servant was given two talents,
another was given five talents and
each of them take what they have
been entrusted with from their
master, and invest it. They are
successful and when the master
returns they have doubled their
original investments and the master
is pleased calling them "good and
faithful servants".
The third servant does something
different, however. He was only
given one talent, but he did not invest
it. Rather he dug a hole in the ground
and hid the money. The master was
not impressed. Furious, he calls the
servant wicked and lazy and throws
him out of the house.
It's interesting however, because
when the master questions the third
servant about what he did, he
criticized the master saying "I knew
that you were a harsh man, reaping
where you did not sow, and
gathering where you did not scatter
seed; so I was afraid, and I went and
hid your talent in the ground" He
blames the master, rather than
accepting his own flaw and failure to
act.
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I'm sure there have been times in
our own lives that we have pointed a
finger at someone else when we are
questioned about something we've
done or not done. But this story is
told by Jesus as an illustration of the
kingdom of heaven, and through this
passage, we are challenged as
servants of God, to invest ourselves
in God's work.
God expects us to use what we
have — our resources, our gifts, our
opportunities — and invest them. This
means taking ownership, taking
responsibility, and doing something!
We are the church. The church is not
only the staff or the leaders or the
long-time members. The United
Church of Canada is especially
structured to give all members a
voice. It is each member's
responsibility to use that voice — to
show up for meetings, to make
suggestions and work to put plans
into action, to volunteer rather than
complain and to invest in the work of
the church they choose to attend.
Investing ourselves in our church
is one of the ways that we invest the
talents and opportunities God has
given us.
When we reflect on the parable
Jesus told, the master's response to
the man who was given five talents is
the exact same as the master's
response to the man who was given
two talents. Verse 21 and verse 23
are identical. To both of them, the
master says "well done, good and
faithful servant."
It does not seem to matter to the
master how much they each had to
begin with or how much they
produced at the end, but it is what
they did with what they had that is
most important. They took
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TRY CLASSIFIED
A\GLICAN PARISH OF NEW BEGINNINGS
B LYTH
Trinity
6. 9:15 am
Church Office
519-357-4883
BRUSSELS
St. John's
11:15 am
Church Office
519-887-6862
Everyone Welcome!
COME WORSHIP WITH US!
BRUSSELS
United Church
Welcome to Sunday morning worship
& Sunday School
at 11:00 am
Hillary MacDonald (905) 246-7386
Macdonald.hillary@gmail.com
Everyone welcome
You're Invited
to come worship
with us
Sunday, November 26
at 10:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School)
Sunday School for children
4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m.
Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers
during the sermon.
Coffee & cookies after the morning service.
For additional details please contact Pastor Andrew Versteeg 519.887.8621
Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173
SAME HURON CHAPEL SERVICE
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Every Sunday in Auburn - huronchapel.com
responsibility. They took action.
They invested. They even took a
risk. That is how God calls us to
participate in God's kingdom. We
are to take action, to be involved, to
take responsibility and even risks.
As a community, I wonder what
risks we are willing to take? How are
we using all our gifts and talents for
the betterment of our neighbours and
strangers? Of our community
services? Of God's world?
We know that there is an
abundance of gifts and talents in our
community, ranging in a vast variety,
and many opportunities for us to
serve, teach, lead, nurture and love.
With many opportunities we need to
ask ourselves, what will we do with
the opportunities God has given us?
May we all share our abundance,
may our gifts spread far and wide
and may our investments yield fruit
for God's kingdom.
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SUNDAYS
Morning Service
Evening Service
10:00 am
7:30 pm
BLYTH CHRISTIAN
REFORMED CHURCH
Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen
Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743
MELVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
BRUSSELS
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26
We invite you to join our church family in:
Worship & Sunday School - 11 am
Coffee & Snacks following the service
Come out and meet our new minister, Rev. Charmila Ireland
Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm — Soup & More 2
- a free community meal held in Melville's basement, and
made possible by the Brussels churches working together.
Nursery care available
519-887-6687
Blyth United Church
Est. 1875
Worship Service at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday, November 26
Working together
to build
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