Are You Hiding Your Gifts?
February 10, 2008
Gospel: Mark 4:21-25 Jesus said to his disciples, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lamp stand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Are the gifts that God has given you meant to be kept for yourself (i.e., hidden)? The lamp in today’s Gospel passage is the light of Christ within you. Every good gift that you’ve received — your talents, your hard-earned money, your wisdom, your home, etc. — is a beam of the light of Christ shining outward from yourself.
Why do we sometimes hide our gifts? It’s because we think they’re not enough — not good enough, not ready enough, or not humble enough to show them to others and let them shine.
We are treasure chests full of gifts! To share these treasures requires exposing ourselves, opening up the basket lid and letting others look inside to pick up and use the gifts that could benefit them. We cannot do much for the kingdom of God without exposing that which we naturally want to protect. Jesus exposed his back to the scourging whips, his head to the thorns, and his body to the pain of the cross, because he loves YOU! Are you willing to expose his presence from within you, by sharing your gifts, so that others may discover that Jesus loves them, too?
Exposing the light in us means sharing our gifts even when it’s inconvenient. It means offering our gifts to others even when it results in rejection and ridicule. It means that when we get hurt for openly sharing ourselves, instead of closing up and running away, we choose to become stronger in our ability to love others unconditionally.
When we share our giftedness, we share Jesus. One of the greatest gifts we receive is the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, and when we let others experience his true presence within us, we become Eucharist for them.
Jesus was not kidding when he said: “Listen carefully …. To those who have, more will be given; from those who have not, what little they have will be taken away.” We have gifts, but if we behave like we don’t, they become useless and ineffective; we lose them.
On the other hand, “In the measure you give you shall receive, and more besides.” The more generous we are in sharing ourselves with others, the more we grow in our giftedness. However, no benefit to ourselves is as awesome as watching others receive God because of the gifts we share!
(This is a reflection shared by Mrs. Nancy Jutba)
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