Luke  12:32-48

32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 35“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; 36be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. 37Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. 38If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. 39“But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

41Peter said, “Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for everyone?” 42And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? 43Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. 44Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. 45But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and if he begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and put him with the unfaithful. 47That slave who knew what his master wanted, but did not prepare himself or do what was wanted, will receive a severe beating. 48But the one who did not know and did what deserved a beating will receive a light beating. From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.

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When I was a child, my father instilled in us our obligation to help those less fortunate.  I would see pictures of children from around the globe in terrible situations…starving, abused….and whisper my thanks to God.  The text this morning was an often quoted one in our household. 

I found two articles on the web that exemplifies not only the best in us but the also the worst.  These real life stories are better than anything I could write.

Nairobi (ENI). Church leaders in Kenya are criticising a hefty pay rise that lawmakers have awarded themselves, terming it a betrayal of the East African country's citizens. The reaction follows the passing on 30 June of a bill aimed to increase the salaries of those in parliament to levels where the prime minister could earn one third more than Britain's prime minister and 10 percent more than the president of the United States. "It obvious this is the wrong direction. How can we pay them more than those of the developed countries?" said Roman Catholic Archbishop Boniface Lele of Mombasa in an interview with ENInews on 5 July. "There's a lot of poverty in this country. Many people are dying of hunger and disease." If implemented, the change would make the Kenyan members of parliament among the world's highest paid lawmakers. [353 words, ENI-10-0461] 

By Colleen Walsh, Harvard New Office, Thursday, April 3, 2008 (condensed)

Melinda Gates: ‘We say, where are the biggest places that need change in the world and what is it we might impact?’

Melinda Gates is likely the happiest woman alive.

That is, if a recent study, co-conducted by a Harvard Business School (HBS) scholar, is any indication — it shows that people who spend money on others are happier than those who spend it on themselves.

Though the exact level of happiness of the former general manager of information products at Microsoft may be hard to quantify, her fierce dedication and passion for her humanitarian work were clear.

On Thursday, (March 27) Gates took part in a frank discussion about her role at the head, along with her husband, of one of the world’s most prolific philanthropic organizations.

Since its creation in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $16.3 billion in grants to programs that range from global health and development initiatives and the U.S. educational system. It currently oversees an endowment of roughly $38 billion. Its assets include a gift by billionaire Warren Buffet, who in 2006 announced he would bestow the majority of his fortune, in annual installments, to the couple’s foundation.

Listed on the organization’s Web site are its two driving principles: “All lives — no matter where they are being lived — have equal value,” and “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

A strong family foundation is key, said Gates, who was encouraged early on by her parents to “give back.” She and her husband, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, were both taught that helping others was paramount.

“We came to our marriage,” she said, “with these values already instilled. … There was no question for us that this set of resources that Bill had amassed at Microsoft was going to be given away.”

In choosing what to support, Gates admitted it’s never easy to say “no” to heartbreaking requests, but that it’s crucial to consider where the money can have the biggest impact.

Keenly aware of the advantages that attending top-ranked schools provided them, Gates said the couple decided to look closely at inequities in the U.S. educational system. They felt the nation’s early-education system was being funded in a way that high schools weren’t.

“The place no one seemed to want to tackle was high school … and we said that’s the place where we are going to focus in the U.S.”

Learning that millions of lives around the globe are lost each year to diseases that in the United States are easily remedied with readily available medication spurred the couple to focus on the the developing world.

When determining which health problems to fund, the pair regularly consults an annual chart that notes the mortality rates of specific diseases, as well as how particular illnesses sharply curtail a person’s healthy and productive life span. AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis top the list.

“We say, where are the biggest places that need change in the world and what is it we might impact?” Gates said. “We are the catalyst in many cases — or the voice for the diseases we’ve chosen.”

The mother of three, who cried tears of “unbelievable joy” after learning of Buffet’s decision to hand over most of his wealth to her organization, said the gracious donation has allowed the foundation to supplement its health programs by addressing issues such as the elimination of poverty.

The beauty of a big foundation, said Gates is its ability to take risks.

“We want to spend our money wisely, but we also want to take risks; we want to make big bets. You are not going to fix malaria by trying one vaccine at a time. … We need a portfolio of products, a portfolio of vaccines, knowing that of the 10 vaccines we are going to try for malaria, we are going to be lucky if we have one or two that hit.”

Inspired by a growing public interest in social enterprise and philanthropic work, Gates predicted that future solutions would come from the combined work of the private and nonprofit sectors and government institutions. Her organization and others like it, she said, help by shining a light on problems, bringing all parties to the table to talk about solutions, and funding a variety of efforts.

“Foundations,” she said, “can show a way or a plan [forward].”

Another key to success is finding talent that can make change happen. Bringing together people who have unique skills is critical, but so too is identifying where other talent may be found.

“You darn well better make sure that wherever it is that you are working on, you are working with the local and the regional people,” she said, “who understand the culture and understand the nuance and understand how to put these new systems in place.”

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To read the article in its entirety, please see:

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2008/04/%E2%80%98to-whom-much-is-given-%E2%80%99/

Interesting, isn’t it, that Bill and Melinda Gates were taught the value of giving as children within their core families?  Certainly proved effective indeed, yet I wonder, is it an obvious and emphasized topic of sermons in your church?  It would be interesting to find out if the churches in Nairobi placed this virtue high on their agenda. 

We pastors need to call attention to helping others as an essential part of our lives, but also need to emphasize that parents have a responsibility to instill this virtue in their children. 

I was taught not only through word, but example.  Giving of myself  became second nature.  As children, we helped with the holiday food baskets my parents distributed to the poor, plus many other projects.  I began volunteering on my own when I was 15 years old as a candy striper in a hospital.  Ask your congregation what they are doing on an active level in this regard.  Be sure to also ask the parents if their children are involved in any charitable work.  Think about it!