Talent and Spiritual Gifts

This morning our congregation was treated to a worship service filled with the beautiful harmonizing voices of the Belles and Sons in Concert, a group of Senior High school Students from Southern Alamance High School. They were superb!

Several of our own youth were in the choir, and so proud we were when each one stepped up to do their solos.

In particular, a couple of the students I remember from long ago, when they were pre-school age or younger. I recall Jon as a toddler, cuddling in his mother's or father's lap, sitting in front of me.

I watched Jon, his sister, and his three cousins, grow up in our church. I taught them all Sunday School. I thank God for leading me into this area of service... had I not accepted the role, I know now how much I would have missed.

I would have missed planning all those Sunday School lessons, and then I would have missed the opportunity to teach the children about the Word of God, and the life of Jesus. I would have missed their questions, and their thoughts after we'd read a passage or a story. I would have missed their personal stories, suddenly  recalled as we discussed Jesus' teachings, and I would have missed their laughter and joy as they interpreted stories through role playing, painting pictures, or writing poems. I would not have heard their prayers, nor their songs, nor their words of encouragement to each other when difficult tasks were encountered. I would neither have heard wisdom from their own mouths. By far, that would have been a true loss.

Most of the kids I taught years ago have either graduated, or will graduate soon, and there are several others just beginning the youth group, and I miss them already.

I have a few kids that attend, not so regularly, but when they do, I am once again privileged to teach an old familiar story to a new set of ears. And once again, I can ask them, "What do you think Jesus meant when he said that?" or "What would you have done if you were (the leper, the blind man, the paralytic...etc)?" or any other question that would get them to think about what we had just read, and try to apply it to their own lives. Only from this vantage point can I see the spark in their eyes when they understand, when the story they may have heard a year or so ago now takes on new meaning because they are older.

Yes, they have to hear the old Bible stories over and over again. As their awareness increases, so does their capacity to understand, to generate new ideas, and to put what they learn into action.

Today, those children are young men and women. Their voices are in training. They have become disciplined in this way. They are using their natural talent to tell the Good News. As their Youth Chaplain explained it: your natural talent can be used to share your spiritual gift. The young people I heard singing were doing that this morning.

I know their mothers and fathers were proud of them. I smiled and shared their joy... we all did. This is the part of Christian life I love so much: the community of saints serving the Lord, raising their children with a common history and faith, and worshiping together.