The S Word # 6

TWO TALES AN APOCRYPHAL TALE
By Douglas Hambidge #6

There was the fourth slave who took what was entrusted to him. He worked with it; he traded with it. He traveled far and wide to make the most of what he had. Hearing of the master’s return he boarded a ship laden with the success of his efforts. A storm struck the ship and it sank. The slave barely survived, and arrived back with nothing.
And the owner said to him. “Well done, good and faithful servant; you did everything you could with what was entrusted to you. Because you did what you could, come, celebrate with me.”

A TRUE TALE

I met a woman in Kampala, Uganda, a city where hundreds of thousands of children live on the streets. They are victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
She is a very ordinary woman, a widow, and not a wealthy one either. She saw the children scavenging in the garbage dump. She knew that something should be done, but she also knew that such a task was completely beyond her resources. Then she determined to do something. She gathered street children ranging in age from five to ten, and took them into her home as her new family.
As she said, “I can’t solve the whole problem, but I could do something, and that’s what I did.” And I can hear the Master saying to her, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

A FINAL WORD

We have not heard the final word on the parable of the slaves. Jesus often refers to slaves in his parables. Our versions of the Bible usually translate the word “servant,” but he was talking about slaves.
Jesus’ final word is this:
“I no longer call you slaves; I call you friends. You are my friends if you do what I tell you.”