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| “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness” |
| —Matthew 25:21 |
When I was a teenager and was working at Radio Station WESB in my hometown, I had the great privilege of engineering an early Sunday morning radio broadcast created by a local pastor, Rev. John F. Olexa. He billed himself on his program as “a prophet of doom with a message of hope.” He was one of the finest men in ministry that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
His tag line may sound a bit corny. But, John Olexa was anything but corny. He was a loving, caring, devoted servant of God who overcame a debilitating illness, polio, that had left him with a very awkward gait. He was quite short in stature. However, God had given him a booming voice and a very articulate way of opening God’s written Word and unpacking the truth of Scripture.
I greatly enjoyed working with “Pastor Johnny,” as many people called him. He taught me a great deal about preaching effective sermons. And, he taught me even more about humility in service to Christ and His Kingdom.
In addition to pastoring two of the local Evangelical United Brethren Churches, John served as the head of the Bradford District Youth Fellowship, as well as overseeing the Youth Fellowship for the entire Erie Conference of the EUB Church. He asked me to serve as treasurer of the District Youth Fellowship—partly, I’m fairly certain, because he knew that my dad served as treasurer of our local church, which was the largest EUB Church in the District. No doubt Pastor Johnny felt that my dad would help me keep the books straight, and he was right.
“Use the talent God has given you to the best of your ability,” Pastor Johnny would often say. “Then, rely on the Holy Spirit to multiply the effectiveness of your God-given talent.” I have felt those words set a definite course for my life. I owe a great debt of gratitude to the Rev. John F. Olexa. And, I look forward to seeing him again in heaven.
Jesus would certainly agree with Pastor Johnny’s statement regarding the use of one’s talents and abilities. Notice these words of Jesus, as He tells His followers the “Parable of the Talents (or Bags of Gold),” as found in Matthew 25:20-21:
“The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
In the “sweet by and by,” we all long to hear Jesus say those precious words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Our devotion to serving our Great King begins today, at the start of this new day. We can, and should, determine to use whatever gifts God has given us to the best of our ability and then rely on the Holy Spirit to multiply the effectiveness of those God-given talents.
