“Gifts of the Spirit”
2 Epiphany C –
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Grace and Peace to you from our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Last week, as we celebrated Jesus’ baptism, we hear that one of the benefits of baptism is that we receive “gifts of the Spirit.” We heard the phrase “gifts of the Spirit.” We see it in the Scriptures. But do we take it seriously? Or do we blow it off or minimize its importance for us? Do we hear and see “spiritual gifts” as the means by which we discover the meaning and purpose of our life? Do we understand that the meaning of our lives is to be lived out through the use of these gifts?
The simple truth is this: In baptism we receive gifts of the Spirit. These gifts, unique to each of us, equip us to live the life for which God created us. When we live our lives using these gifts of the Spirit, we no longer need to search for meaning or purpose; our lives radiate meaning like a warm glow. The purpose in our lives is clearly visible to everyone around us.
And this living out one’s baptismal gifts becomes, itself, a gift to others. A gift through which God changes the lives and transforms the hearts of our neighbors.
Henri Nouwen puts it this way: “We can speak about life as a long process of dying to self (the dying of the sinful self in the waters of baptism) so that we will be able to live in the joy of God and give our lives completely to others.”
I remember talking with a man about gifts of the Spirit once with a man who said, and this is almost a verbatim quote -- “All of what you said about these gifts is great. But I’m not spiritually gifted, I’m a carpenter. I do roofs and framing and sometimes some drywall. I’m a pretty good at catching walleyes, too. But meditating and stuff like pastors do, that’s not me.”
The man was honest and sincere, and I think he even felt a bit guilty; like he should be doing those things he perceived as “Spiritual”. It’s like he believed that a man who lives and works in the world of action cannot be “spiritual” and so cannot not have received gifts of the Spirit. Or if he did receive such gifts, he must have gotten somebody else’s. As if Jesus was not a carpenter, or a man of action. He was. And yet he lived in obedience to the Father and gave his life completely to others. And the whole point of Christ becoming human was that you and I would be able to live that way, too.
So this morning, let’s take a few minutes to reflect on your gifts of the Spirit. I’m not going to do an inventory or a test. I’ve used spiritual gifts inventories -- you’ve done them here on Time and Talent Sundays -- over the years with mixed results.
Instead, today, I’d like to suggest that we use Scripture and Prayer to begin to discover our Spiritual Gifts. I have to be careful here though because the word discover makes it sound like these gifts are something new. They are not. They have been with you since your baptism.
It’s very possible others around you have seen these gifts when you have been blind to them. Like when someone has told you, “You know, you really have a way with … fill in the blank . . . To which you, aw no, it’s just something I once in a while for fun, or “Well that’s just the way I’ve been raised” It’s amazing the lengths to which we will go to deny that we have a gift, at the same sort of really knowing we’ve got it; but we just don’t use. That why, no matter what your age, recognizing one of those baptismal gifts of the spirit can be a revelation.
Luther suggests “everyone should examine his gift. For just as we are unequal in our bodies, our talents, and our property, so we are unequal in spiritual gifts.” This is another way of saying that God sees us each as individuals. But it also says that these varied gifts are meant to be used in community in Christ, so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Luther is saying there is no reason that the spiritual gifts of a pastor shoulder be the same as a carpenter. Think about it. All the really important events in life -- birth, death, grief, joy, marriage, moving from childhood to being a teenager -- don’t way say about all of them that “it’s different for everyone. No one experiences this life events in quite the same way?” So it is with gifts of the Spirit.
You can’t set out to have such a revelation of spiritual gifts. It is not something to be achieved. It is, like any other gift, something to be received. And to received it you need to be open and available to that gift. And that where Scripture and prayer come in.
Texts for reflection:
Luke 3:21-22 Baptism
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 Gifts of the Spirit
· Clip from the bulletin or copy out.
· Tape it up: computer monitor, refrigerator magnet, clock radio on night stand. Don’t have to think, just keep reading it.
· Leave it up for at least 30 days
Prayer text:
· 1 Samuel 3:4,9 Prayer (Here I Am; Speak, for your servant is listening)
· Simple enough to memorize
· Think of it as that song you can’t get out of your mind.
o Here I am (inhale)
o Speak for your servant is listening (exhale)
What will be the results of this making yourself available to God? I don’t know. It will be for you to experience. But I believe in the power of God’s Word and the power of prayer. I believe that the catalog of gifts of the Spirit Paul lays out in his first letter to the Corinthians is not meant to be a complete list. Like the water splashing around and out of the baptismal fount, God’s gracious gifts of the Spirit will not only go where they will, but they will BE whatever he wills.
And so he may respond to your openness to him, to your desire to “open or unwrap,” so to speak, the gift he has given you. He responds in infinite ways. But what you receive will be uniquely for you, just as he calls you by name. Give Him time and faith.
Spiritual gifts, as Paul makes clear, are given to individuals and for their benefit, but they are all meant and called to be used for the well-being of the community -- the community of faith and the community of the whole creation.
What I have described above -- if every one of you do it faithfully over at least the next month -- will transform not only your life, but the life of this congregation. It is no exaggeration to say that a congregation all of whose members are aware of and using the gifts they have received in baptism, such a congreagtion is capable of incredible things in the service of the Lord. They will become a congregation that thrives and grows in all aspects of their lives together. They will truly be Spirit led and Spirit fed.
The bylaws we are recommending are written for just a such a Spirit -gifted congregation. They are designed to encourage the use of the spiritual gifts which God and given and which you have prayed over. For a healthy, thriving congregation filled with people who find the meaning and purpose in their shared lives in Christ Jesus, we must lived using the gifts of the Spirit which we received on our entry into the church at our baptism.
That is the message of baptism, that is the message of Paul today, the is the call of Christ to be his people in him. May the gifts of the Spirit gives us the tools and the hope to live together as disciples in Christ.
Amen.
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