"God requires us to bring the gifts that we have, however small or meager, so that His love can transform it and return it to us in good measure, flowing over."

A Whittler

G.K. Chesterton once said, “anything worth doing, is worth doing badly.” In other words, if we feel called to do something, we should do it. Waiting for the right time, the right resources, or waiting until “we are ready” may result in never getting around to doing the actual “thing.” If it is important we should do it to the best of or ability and let God work with what we have.

In “Boyhood Stories of Famous Men,” author Katherine Dunlap Cather relates the following tale.

Antonio lived in the town of Cremona, Italy. Cremona was famed at the time as a center of music. It seemed that everyone in the the town either sang or played a musical instrument. All except for Antonio.

When he tried to learn the violin, he was all thumbs. When he tried to sing he sang so badly his friends called him “squeaky voice.”

And so Antonio resigned himself to sitting off to the side, whittling on a piece of wood while he listened to his friends create music.

One day an elderly gentleman stopped while listening to the friends and asked them to sing a particular song again. When the had finished the man dropped a gold coin into the hand of the singer. A cold coin was a significant sum, especially to a group of young boys.

“Who was that?” asked Antonio.

“Why that was Nicolo Amati,” answered one of his friends, “the greatest violin maker in all of Italy.”

Antonio looked down at the block of wood he was carving away at and suddenly had an idea. The next morning he presented himself at the home of Amati and told the master, “I cannot sing, or play, but I can carve. I want to learn how to make violins.”

Amati agreed to take on the eleven year old Antonio as an apprentice and in time, when Amati passed on, Antonio took over the business. Antonio Stradivari, the boy who could not sing or play, became the greatest violin maker the world has ever known because he offered up the gift that he had.

A Few Fish

In the Gospel account of Jesus feeding the 5000, Andrew shows us this type of faith. The apostles are faced with a problem that does not seem to have a solution. How to feed 5,000 men in addition to the women and children?

Jesus tests Philip by asking “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?”

Philip can only think in terms of what is possible and what is not. “Two hundred days’ wages… would not be enough.”

How often do we answer God in this way? We feel we are called to a specific task but it seems overwhelming. We look at our resources and judge them to be inadequate and so we hem and haw and delay and in the end, do nothing. But if we have faith, then we should have faith that if this is something god truly wants us to do, He will find a way to use the resources we have.

After Philip deflects the question, Andrew senses there is something more at work here. Andrew remembers the wonders he has seen. There is a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. Andrew doesn't quite know what good this will do, “what good are these for so many,” but even so, he still offers them, even if tentatively. Andrew may have had a greater sense of what is possible with God but he is still not sure of the great events he has become a part of.

We may also respond to God's call this way, uncertain and tentative. But what is important is that we respond, we do something.

Andrew teaches us that God will work with what we have, if we bring what we have to Him. Remember that Jesus created wine from water at Cana. And he used mud and spittle to cure a blind man. God requires us to bring what we have, however small or meager, so that His love can transform it and return it to us in good measure, flowing over. God does not perform miracles for us while we sit idly by. We are to take an active part in our own salvation.

So many of the lessons Jesus imparts to His followers are about the power of faith. When we understand this we see how little faith we actually have. Are we moving mountains? Are we accomplishing miracles in the Lord's name? Jesus told us that if we have faith we could do all that He has done and more.

We may not be aware of all the gifts that have been given to us until we test them. An introverted person may have an unrealized gift for public speaking. It is a gift that God will make known and unfold and expand upon over time. But the person must take first step and act upon the impulse to explore the gift. How many times have you looked back upon an accomplishment and thought to yourself “I never imagined I could have done that?”

The first step, is to take the first step. To come to the Lord ill-prepared and uncertain, so that He may work with us.

This is the faith we are called to have, a faith that spurs us to take action. It is a beginning we must have to allow God to do great things for us.

Pax Vobiscum
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Pontifex University is an online university offering a Master’s Degree in Sacred Arts. For more information visit the website at www.pontifex.university

Lawrence Klimecki, MSA, is a deacon in the Diocese of Sacramento. He is a public speaker, writer, and artist, reflecting on the intersection of art and faith and the spiritual “hero’s journey” that is part of every person’s life. He maintains a blog at www.DeaconLawrence.org and can be reached at Lawrence@deaconlawrence.com

Lawrence draws on ancient Christian tradition to create new contemporary visions of sacred art. For more information on original art, prints and commissions, Please visit www.DeaconLawrence.org 

Purchase fine art prints of Deacon Lawrence’s work here.