Your Special Gift
(Discovering and Sharing Your Talents)
(Talent Day, March 21, 2004)

Searching for hidden treasure has been the theme of legends from Long John Silver to Indiana Jones. Looking for lost fortunes has provided the plot for countless stories and. movies. Men have killed for maps showing the location of buried gold. Sailors have drowned diving for sunken jewel chests. children have been punished for dragging their Christmas presents out from under the bed! "Yes, everyone wants to find that special valuable gift. Strangely enough, the most special valuable gift of all is deep within each of us. Paul said, "Each man has his own gift from God. . ." (I Cor. 7:7).
This gift is extremely valuable. Paul adds, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift" (II Cor. 9:15).
This gift is perfect. James said, "Every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).
This gift is forever. Paul said, "'For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom. 11:29).
Now, if we have such a wonderful gift, why aren't we aware of it? Well, maybe we haven't recognized it. A few years ago, the body of a ragged tramp was discovered in an alley. After the autopsy, as his clothes were being torn up for the incinerator, a roll of 50 dollar bills was found in the lining of the jacket. Evidently, the original owner of the suit had put it there for safety and lost track of it. For: the tramp, however, the money did him no good whatsoever because he didn't know he had it and he didn't use it.
You may have something, but if you don't know about it or claim it or use it, it's totally worthless. So our task as Christians is to discover our gift, develop our gift and share our gift!

I. FIRST, WE MUST DISCOVER OUR GIFT.
Paul said, "Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you. . ." (I Tim. 4:14)
How do we neglect our gift? Well, we neglect it by being one of the crowd and resigning ourselves to the status quo.
A famous Jewish Rabbi, named Zusya, said, "When I die and stand before the judgment throne, God won''t say, 'Why weren't you Moses?' or 'Why weren't you Elijah?' but He will say, 'Why weren't you Zusya?' " We're neglecting our gift by not being ourselves.
Be what you are! Be nothing but what you are! But be all that you are!
The Scriptures say, "Be ye therefore perfect." ( Matt. 5:48).
This term means mature and complete. In other words, "Be ye therefore all you were meant to be."
We neglect our gift if we conform to others. No two snowflakes or two fingerprints are just alike. If you hear a different drummer, you are obligated to march to that beat.
A little boy was .given a wooden puzzle so intricately cut that each piece would fit exactly in only one place. Instead of finding the proper hole for each piece, he impatiently took his knife and .trimmed the pieces to fit the holes. The puzzle was ruined.
Some of us do that. We trim off our special edges to fit society's demands. That's wrong! You have a right to be whatever you are! In a commercial for a deceased singer's records, the announcer declared, "There will never be another Jim Reeves" That's true, but we can go a step further and say, "There will never be another you!
Aesop told of a group of animals who excelled in certain abilities. These animals decided to start a school to impart what they knew. Unfortunately, the curriculum decreed that the eagles would be trained to climb trees; the squirrels would be trained to fly; and the ducks would be trained to run. In spite of all their efforts, the animals performed poorly. The project failed! How much better It would have been to let the eagle find his gift and fly, to let the squirrel find his gift and climb and to let the duck find his gift and swim.
If we hope to reach our fullest creative potential, we must discover our gift.

II. NEXT, WE MUST DEVELOP OUR GIFT.
Paul says, "Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it" (Col. 4:17, KJV)
Fulfilling our ministry requires education, practice and experience. In fact, rejecting our gift is the ultimate sin. It leaves us unfinished. El Greco's studio after his death, contained faint sketches of several portraits. We'll never know what masterpieces these might have been.
Sir Walter Scott's journal had these final words, "Tomorrow we shall - - -." Again, we'll never know how that sentence would have ended.
Schubert's Unfinished Symphony remains forever unresolved.
As someone said upon the tragic death of a young genius, "He died with his songs still in him!" There is something even worse than unfinished essays. There's something even worse than unfinished symphonies. The worst thing of all is an incomplete character and an unfinished life..
Developing our gift means preparing and applying and working. Our motto should be, "I'm not all I will be tomorrow but I am more than I was yesterday," But in order to be all that we can be today, we must develop our gift.

III. FINALLY, WE MUST SHARE OUR GIFT.
Peter said, "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another . . ." (I Peter 4:10).
This is a case in which, "If we don't use it we'll lose it." Our gift is most truly ours when we offer it to others.
Sharing our gift doesn't mean going on a crusade to reform the world. It means letting our inner light shine. When Benjamin Franklin wished to interest the people of Philadelphia in street lighting, he didn't lecture. Instead, he hung a beautiful lantern on a long bracket in front of his home. He kept the glass polished. Every evening at dusk, he carefully lit the wick. People saw the light from a distance and when they walked in its light, they found it helped them avoid sharp stones on the pavement. Soon others placed lights at their homes, and eventually Philadelphia recognized the need for street lighting.
That's what witnessing is all about. Sharing our gift doesn't mean rushing out to fix
our neighbors. It means revealing our true essence. A tourist was visiting a little town in England. When the noon whistle sounded every day, the air would suddenly be filled with a delicious perfume.
"What happened?" travelers wold ask. "Where did this wonderful fragrance come from?"
The citizens explained, "The whistle is the signal for the girls at the perfume factory to leave for lunch. As they walk down the street to their homes, they distribute the fragrance everywhere."
This is sharing. We can't sell our gift for money or trade our gift for favors or offer our gift with the expectation of return. Our gift must be given with no strings attached. Our gift must be given with no ulterior motives. We must give our gift to hurting people exactly as God gave it to us—in perfect love. To actualize the grace in us, we must share our gift.
Are you looking for a hidden treasure? Are you searching for your special gift?
Well, you have special gifts. Every Christian does. Paul says, "Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly . . ." (Rom. `12:1-2,6).
Let's discover our gift;
Let's develop our gift;
Let's share our gift.