I suspect that there
are a lot of people who wonder whether they're of any importance in the world;
whether they can make any difference. I suppose we all feel that way sometimes.
After all, the universe is a pretty big place, and, in the grand scheme of things,
we're pretty small. When we start to think of ourselves in relationship to God,
perhaps that can seem even more overwhelming. After all, if (on the surface) we
seem to be of little significance compared to the vastness of the universe, how
important can we possibly be when compared to the one who created the universe?
Do we make a difference? Can we make a difference? Yes. It doesn't take a lot
to make a difference. It just takes a willingness to give what we can.
The Bible tells us
the following story: "As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their
gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small
copper coins. 'Truly I tell you,' he said, 'this poor widow has put in more
than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but
she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.'”
The poor widow could
perhaps have been excused if she had decided to give nothing. After all, in the
grand scheme of things - and especially compared to what the rich had given -
she hadn't really given very much. It would have been understandable if she had
decided that her gift was of no importance and she had just walked away. But
what Jesus was concerned about wasn't how much the poor widow gave - it was
whether she gave abundantly out of what she had. "Two very small copper
coins" were a very big gift for a woman who had very little.
This isn't really
about money. Jesus is reminding us that, as insignificant as we may sometimes
feel, we are of tremendous value - if we're willing to do what we can with what
we have to make the world (or at least our very small part of it) just a little
bit better. And it really doesn't take a great sacrifice to do something of
value.
Last week, my
daughter got her hair cut. Now, that may not seem like too big a thing. I get
my hair cut about every six weeks or so. But for her, it was a big thing. A
very big thing. She's been growing her hair since she was a baby. She had never
really had it cut. She's 8 now, and a while ago she came up with her own idea.
She wanted to have it cut off, and she wanted to donate it to an organization
that made wigs for children with cancer and other diseases that cause them to
lose their hair. We told her that since she's 8, she was old enough to make her
own decision about her own hair, and this was her decision. She held to it
steadfastly. Indeed, once the appointment was made, she became more and more
excited about it, and now - it's done. When I saw her the next morning, I
barely recognized her. (OK. I recognized her. I just pretended not to.) Our
hairdresser measured her hair as 23 inches from root to tip, and when all was
said and done, she managed to get 12 inches of hair to donate. That's amazing.
And it's just hair. It didn't cost anything of great value in a material sense,
but it's going to help make a child's life better.
Really. It doesn't
take much to be of huge importance to others and to be a faithful servant of
God.
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