Jennifer Maldonado had not been at her new job long enough
to get her first paycheck. She had been
laid off from her previous job and she has a four-year old son with
autism. She was happy to find employment
and the people with whom she worked seemed to be a good fit for her.
Her colleagues at her new job had formed a lottery pool to
play the Power Ball Lottery. Each
employee contributed $20 to the pool. Jennifer turned down the opportunity to
participate because she couldn’t afford it.
Some of her new colleagues told her they would lend her the money, but
she declined.
When Jennifer came to work Sunday, her colleagues were
having a big celebration. They had
matched enough numbers in the Power Ball Lottery to win one million dollars! She was
slightly disappointed at first because she had not participated, but she
quickly overcame that disappointment to be happy for her colleagues.
Then they informed her that they had unanimously voted in a
matter of only seconds to share some of their winnings with her. Upon learning of their decision Maldonado
said, “They’re such great people, I wouldn’t put it past them doing something
so phenomenal and so gracious, honestly.”
In a Today show poll 41% of people said they would not have
shared their winnings with Maldonado, “you have to be in it, to win it”. Only 18% said, “yes, it’s the right thing to
do.”
Maldonado was right.
Her colleagues were phenomenal and gracious.
Those are the themes of this weekend. Jesus
graciously died on the cross for all human beings. It was a phenomenal act of love; one that we
did not deserve and can barely fathom. The
only perfect person who ever lived, died a brutal death, so we could live. We don’t deserve it, can’t earn it and didn’t
participate. Jesus included us. It is phenomenal and gracious.
Jennifer Maldonado was overwhelmed
by her colleague’s generosity.
I am overwhelmed by God’s love and
grace.
Accept
God’s love.
Celebrate Jesus’ resurrection!
Happy Easter!
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