Little

             The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

            Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” (John 21:17)

 

            “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” (Luke 16:10)

 

            When Jesus asked Peter the first two times if Peter loved Him, He used the Greek word we transliterate as agape. Both times, Peter assured Jesus that he loved Him, but he used a word that refers to brotherly love (as in Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love.) The third time Jesus asks Peter the question, He uses the word referring to brotherly love. And each time, Jesus tells Peter that loving Him will cost something. For Peter, loving Jesus meant feeding Jesus’ sheep.

            If you read through Scripture, you’ll find Saul, who was small in his own eyes. You’ll read about Gideon, who was the least member of the least clan of the least tribe of Israel (Judges 6:15.) Later, God will whittle away at Gideon’s army until only three hundred men were left (Judges 7).  Many times in the Old Testament, the younger brother is given preference by God (Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and David), deviating from cultural norms. You’ll watch as a woman with just a little oil left in her oil jar pour out enough to sell to pay her debts. You’ll listen as Jesus teaches of mustard seed faith, of workers who only work two hours being paid as much as those who have worked all day, and (above) of those who are faithful in little things being trustworthy with more.

            I’m like Saul and Gideon. I see myself as being one of the least of these. I fully expect to fail.  “Not Good Enough” – a personal demon, has a key to the door of my mind. And while some would say, “Cast that demon out! Don’t think that way!” the reality is that I’m not good enough. No one could be – maybe not even Jesus Himself – because my standards aren’t realistic. I’m not smart enough because I couldn’t win an intelligence tournament with DaVinci, Jefferson, Einstein, Newton, and a host of others.

            I’ve heard my problem described in terms of financial wealth. How much is enough? A little more…a little more than the next person. And if I can’t compete with the best of the best, then I reverse direction and need to be a little less…a little less than the next person as if that somehow makes me more somehow.

            Enough of the pity party (which was just to illustrate the situation in which I think most of us find ourselves.) The point is that Scripture makes it clear that God works with the little, the insignificant, and with that which is “not good enough.” He seems to prefer them to the big and spectacular.

            So just as our little creativity that we don’t even think is creative is enough to establish us as creative, so a mustard seed of faith is enough to accomplish good things. And if we are faithful in small matters, God can trust us to be faithful in bigger matters.