“Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give thee.” (Acts 3:6, KJV)
Peter and John were on their way to worship when they were confronted by a beggar. Peter responded to him, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give thee.” The gospel puts us all on common ground. The requirements and rewards come the same to all. God requires of each of us such as we have.
I have long been convinced that the time and attention we give others is a telling mark of our concern as Christians. In our relation to others, we need to pay attention both to silence and speaking; both are the “such as I have” available to all. Bonhoeffer believed silence and speaking are part of our discipleship, writing about it in The Cost of Discipleship. “Silence is nothing else but waiting for God’s Word and coming from God’s Word with a blessing. But everybody knows that this is something that needs to be practiced and learned, in these days when talkativeness prevails.”
Sometimes, my personal preference to fill silence is my failure in conversation; I talk far more than I listen. Not listening, I miss a great opportunity. But when I listen, I am saying to the person, you matter; I value you, I will hear what you have to say. Such as I have, I am giving, and that is blessing another.
When we read scripture, we also engage in listening, as Bonhoeffer illustrates:
“Reading biblical books forces everyone who wants to hear to allow himself to be found where God has acted once and for all for the salvation of men. Forgetting and losing ourselves, we too pass through the Red Sea, through the desert, across the Jordan into the promised land. With Israel we fall into unbelief and through punishment and repentance experience again God’s help and faithfulness. All this is not mere reverie but holy, godly reality. We are torn out of our own existence and set down in the midst of the holy history of God on earth. There dealt with us and there He still deals with us…we’re the reverent listeners and participants in God’s action in the sacred story, the history of the Christ on earth. Only in so far as we are there, is God with us today.”[2] Having listened, Christians sometimes find a necessity to speak. For Bonhoeffer, “it is inconceivable that the things that are of utmost importance to each individual should not be spoken to one another.”
John Wesley appreciated this, designating Christian conferencing as an important spiritual discipline. This discipline is practiced in small groups gathered for the purpose of sharing fellowship to build up each other, sharing need, ministering and praying for each other. It is a setting where explicit Christian conversation takes place. The practice we get in such a group enables us to “speak as Christians” in everyday life, where, according to Bonhoeffer, such speaking is much needed.
“It is unchristian consciously to deprive another of the one decisive service we can render him. He has the same great necessities we have, and needs help, encouragement, and forgiveness as we do. Why should we be afraid of one another, since both of us have only God to fear? Why should we be afraid of one another’s silence? Why should we think that our brother would not understand us, when we understood very well what was meant when somebody spoke God’s comfort or God’s admonition to us, perhaps in words that were halting and unskilled? Or do we really think there is a single person in this world who does not need either encouragement or admonition? Why, then, has God bestowed Christian brotherhood upon us.”
Such as I have, I give thee. Saints like Bonhoeffer remind us that all have time; and God requires of each of us to give such as we have, both in silence and in speaking.
Moment of Reflection: Think about the past few days; how have you listened and spoken with others? Did you give “such as I have”?
Prayer: Ever speaking and listening God, give me the wisdom and willingness to know when to be silent. Give me words and willingness to speak them, when it serves you well. Amen.
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