There’s a Treasure within You
October 10, 2004
The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor
Montgomery United Methodist Church
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! The scripture we’re focusing on today is Paul’s letter to Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 1, verses 13 and 14:
“Timothy, hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you with the help of the Holy Spirit living within us.”
The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
I was told by a wonderful person in this church a story about when she was a little girl in school. She would sit politely at her desk as the teacher taught. The teacher asked a question, and the little girl sat there with her hands folded, knowing that she knew the answer to the question, but she was too afraid to raise her hand. What if she were wrong? Still, she was pretty sure she knew the answer. Another child raised a hand and the teacher called on him. The answer wasn’t quite right. Another child raised a hand. This girl knew that she wanted to unbuckle her hands, but she couldn’t do it. The other child answered correctly, and it was the very answer that the girl had in her mind.
As time went on, she gained confidence and was able to unloose those hands and raise her hand. She had the confidence to take a chance. Friend, we’re not right all the time, but we can be right a lot of the time. This girl has blossomed into a person who has the courage of her convictions and knows that there is a great gift of wisdom within her.
Oh, friend, I want to ask you: is there a part of you that identifies with that story? Is there something that’s keeping you behind a wall of fear? Is fear of criticism keeping you behind that wall? If that’s so, if there’s a good gift that’s hiding within you, this is the scripture for you. Paul says, “Guard the good treasure entrusted to you.” Guard it. Let that light glow.
Oh, dear friend, we were talking a lot in our Bible study class about this scripture. That’s what we do; we study the scriptures for the upcoming week. People resonated with this scripture so much. There are hidden gifts within each and every one of us. Each and every one of you has something special to offer the world. It could be something very simple and wonderful, like your smile. What a difference a smile makes! It could be your ability to be a friend. It could be a musical gift. It could be the gift of being able to raise a child. It could be the gift of being good with numbers. It could be the gift of wanting to help people medically. It could be the gift of wanting to help children excel at sports. Whatever your gift, I say, let it shine! More importantly, the scripture says let it shine!
What is the gift within you that’s just waiting to blossom? There are ways we can tell. We need to perfect our gifts, protect our gifts, and project our gifts. Let’s look at that.
First of all, we need to perfect our gifts. We need to perfect that inkling inside us that says, ‘I believe there is something inside me that the Lord is blessing me with. Nurture it and fill in the blanks.
You know, the word education is derived from two Latin roots: “e” - short for “ex”, a prefix which means “out” or “out of”, and “duco” from “duco, ducare” (verb, transitive) which means, “to lead”. Education - ex-ducare - is a process of “leading out”, of drawing out of the person that which is already innately there. Education is the process of allowing the intelligence within to be “led out”, to blossom forth, even as the apple lies in potential within the apple seed.
The theory goes like this: education is not something we lay on people like peanut butter. Education is something we draw out of people. Everything you are to learn you already known. Education is the process of filling in the blanks to enable you to be who you already are.
There was a wonderful interview on public radio this week about the Mexican communities in the United States, about the assimilation of the Mexican people into the American culture. They interviewed one man, a remarkable guy. They said this was a guy who had a smile “wider than he was tall.” This fellow spoke about being acclimated to American culture. He said, “I love my Spanish culture, and I love celebrating my Spanish holidays and speaking my language. But I’ll tell you this,” he said. “I’ve always had a hunger in my heart to learn English and learn it well.” He certainly did speak well. He learned English as an adult. But what caught my attention was the idea that he had a hunger within his heart. He had a heart-hunger to learn the language, and here he was doing it and celebrating it.
What is your heart-hunger? Where are the empty spaces within you that need to be filled, the curiosities about things you want to learn. Oh, friend, fill it in. Take that gift and perfect it. Let it blossom. Opportunities will come your way, remarkable opportunities to do that. My life has been so blessed with opportunities like that. I think of the deep hungering I’ve had in my heart to study with people like Norman Vincent Peale and Robert Schuler, and lo and behold, opportunities have come for me to do just that! I’ve had a deep hungering to study with musicians like Fred Waring and Robert Shaw now gone to the Lord, and I had the opportunity to fill the heart hunger.
What are your heart-hungers? In what ways is God leading you to develop the gifts within you so that your light can shine? The scripture says “guard the good treasure entrusted to you,” and you have a treasure within you.
The second step is to protect your treasure. What does that mean? Isn’t it true that any good gift, any remarkable gift, is vulnerable? Put out anything that’s different, and it’s going to be criticized. Be bold, and like a wind that blows out a candle, you have to guard it. You have to protect it a bit and know that the treasure is good. Remember that you carry a treasure around with you on your two feet. Protect it. Stand up for it.
One of the people in our Bible class was saying that when she was at work one day, the boss was exploding at employees. It really bothered her. She went to a co-worker and said, “Isn’t the boss in a bad mood today?” And the co-worker turned to her and snapped, “Why are you so sensitive?” She said that inside her heart, she wanted to turn to the woman and say, “Why are you so tall?”
Sensitivity is a gift! It enables us to care about other people in a profound way. It enables us to be aware of their feelings. It also carries with it the other side of the sword, which is that we hurt more easily. But it is still a gift. Guard the gift within you.
Another person in the Bible study mentioned that she had been through the loss of so many loved ones early in life. She was trying to reconcile that to her faith. How could she do it? She found that all those losses gave her a tremendous sense of compassion, so when other people came into her life who were experiencing hard things, she was able to understand and be compassionate.
Others talked about the gift of imagination, and one of the most important of all, the gift of faith, throughout the ages attacked. But hold fast to it, because it’s a gift that will bless you your life long and will bless everyone you meet. Protect your gift.
And third, project your gift. Share it! Your light was meant to shine. You might wake up in the morning and say, “Lord, how can I serve today? I want to make somebody happy. I want to make the world a little better place because I’m here.” What is your gift? Whatever it may be – faith, family, compassion, sensitivity, imagination – let it shine.
If I can share one thing with you…God has blessed me. One of my favorite gifts is to try to help people succeed. I love to help people succeed, and then stand back and watch them as they enjoy that success. A funny thing happened this summer. I was sitting on a bench near the boardwalk, watching folks on the beach. There was a young family, a mother and father and a couple of young children. They had kite, an inexpensive diamond-shaped kite, that they were trying to get into the air. It was a very windy day and an inexpensive kite.
I was just watching as the kite went flop-flop-flop-flop along the ground. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I went to them and said, “Would you like that kite to fly? If so, you need to get an old sock or a small towel and tie it to the end. A kite like that will fly, even in a wind like this, with the right kind of tail.”
They kind of looked at me funny, and I walked away. I went back and sat on the boardwalk. A little while later, I see a kite in the air – with a sock hanging off the end of it. The family was looking at me and waving. It felt so good.
It feels so good to share our gifts. What’s your gift? What has God blessed your heart with today? I don’t know, but I know this: it’s different for each of us. That’s what makes the world go ‘round. Celebrate your gift. Perfect it. Protect it. Project it, won’t you?
Let’s close with a song. Sing with me, and think about your gift as you do.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Through the darkest night,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Through the darkest night,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Through the darkest night,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Everywhere I go,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Everywhere I go,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.