Thoughts on giving and receiving the day before Thanksgiving
By Dave Andrusko
On Thanksgiving most people will not be nearly as blessed as the Virginia branch of the Andrusko clan. Tomorrow my wife, four kids and their spouses, two grandkids (with a third on the way), and my wife’s sister and brother will be with me at our son’s house to celebrate what is my favorite holiday of the year.
The kids will, as their habit, grouse/moan when my wife Lisa (as is her habit) asks what each has to be thankful for. Surrounding with blessings all around me, it’s at moments like that that I think of Luke 12:48, “To whom much is given, much will be required.”
Unfortunately, we cut it off there. The second half of verse 48 reads
and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Beyond reinforcing the meaning of the first half, is there anything else that has special meaning, particularly for pro-lifers? I believe there is. Consider….
*We are required to do what we can on behalf of unborn children and the vulnerable elderly. Think of that as a special, elevated form of obligation, one that requires to think afresh.
We customarily think of an obligation as something we are virtually compelled to do. However, for us, in our situation, it is a gift, indeed a blessing. We are privileged to be part of the greatest movement for social justice of our time. That’s my kind of “obligation.”
*Likewise for the second half of verse 48. More will be required of us than we’ve already given. Is that reason for thanksgiving?
Yes! Consider Luke 6:38. The New Living Transition renders it
Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands–all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”
Talk about words of encouragement: “The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”
Moreover consider the use of the word “entrusted.” I was looking up what ordinarily people, like me, think of when they encounter that word. One man wrote
“Trust” is something we believe while “entrust” is something we do because we believe. Entrusting is more than just believing, “Entrust” is “trust” in action!
We believe that unborn babies are deserving of legal protection, unconditional love, and, as is often the case, parental sacrifice.
Luke 12:48 instructs us that we are to put that belief into action while Luke 6:38 assures us that we will be blessed many times over for what we do for the most vulnerable among us. That’s incentive, is it not?
A final thought for this final post the day before Thanksgiving. A long while back I read a story in the Washington Post (which I just looked up again) by the author of a book titled, “The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When.” Ralph Keyes wrote
To make the point that we must plan not just for our time but for posterity, [President John F.] Kennedy would often quote “the great French Marshal Lyautey” who, he said, once asked his gardener to plant a tree. When the gardener cautioned that the tree wouldn’t mature for a century, JFK said the marshal replied, “In that case there is no time to lose, plant it this afternoon.”
Each and every day pro-lifers are planting respect for life, love for women and girls in crisis pregnancies, and a sense of duty and obligation to both mothers and their unborn children in the next generation of pro-lifers.
What a blessing. What a privilege.
Happy Thanksgiving!