Spiritual Gifts: What Are They? - 1st Corinthians 12:1-11
It’s
your birthday…or maybe your anniversary…or maybe even Christmas. Sitting in front of you is a beautifully
wrapped gift. Maybe it is from one of
your young children (meaning they had help in wrapping it). Maybe it is from your grown kids. Maybe it is from your parents or
grandparents. Maybe it is from your
great aunt Betty Sue, you know the one who has always been a little off…excuse
me, I mean a little eccentric. Maybe it is from your spouse. Regardless of who it is from, you begin to
unwrap the present. Maybe you are like some of my family members, and you
carefully lift each piece of tape, slowly unwrapping the paper, either trying
to prolong the excitement, or maybe hoping to reuse the paper. Maybe you’re like one of the kids, quickly
ripping the paper off and tossing it about, excited to see what is covered up. Have you ever gone through all of that only
to unwrap and reveal a gift that left you sitting there wondering, or even
asking out loud, “What is this?”
This
kind of “What is this?” thinking caries over into the life of the church as
well. Over the years, I have been asked
in every appointment, that same question when it comes to understanding the
gifts of the Spirit. People hear about Spiritual
gifts and begin to wonder, “What is this?”
Harkers Island is no exception…so for the next four or five weeks we are
going to explore the significance of Spiritual Gifts in our lives. Today we simply ask, the question, “What are
Spiritual Gifts?” The best place to
start might be to eliminate any preconceived ideas by looking at what Spiritual
gifts are not.
First
of all, in case some think I am already doing this on Wednesday nights when I
am talking about “Jesus Fruit” or “Fruit of the Spirit,” let me note that
“Fruit of the Spirit” and “Spiritual Gifts” are two completely different
things. “Fruit of the Spirit,” as Paul
shares in Galatians 5 (“…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…”[i])
are the attributes that all Christians are to exhibit in our lives as we abide
in Christ and Christ abides in us—the Fruit of the Spirit are the character
traits that should flow from each of us.
What
else could we eliminate from our understanding of Spiritual Gifts? They are not acquired skills or natural
talents, those are found in believers and nonbelievers alike, though they might
supplement natural or learned abilities.
They are not necessarily specific positions or roles within the church,
though they might or might not be found within those roles. Spiritual gifts are not given for
self-gain—they are not given in order to build up ourselves or our bank
accounts. Spiritual gifts are not markers
of salvation…our salvation is based solely and completely upon the work of
Christ on the cross and while those who surrender to God’s mercy and grace will
find Spiritual gifts given to them, there is not one gift, such as some will
argue, that marks that a person has truly been saved. Finally, Spiritual gifts are not divisive…the
faithful exercise of those gifts will never bring about divisions within the
church. They are never to be used to
create a caste system within a congregation of those with or without a
particular gift.
So now that we know what the gifts
are not, we need to explore what they are, for it is not enough to say what
something is not—I could tell you that a frog is not a chair, but that still
wouldn’t help you understand what a frog is…
If we turn to 1st
Corinthians, Romans, and Ephesians, we find Paul offering us a listing of what
many, but not exhaustively, those gifts are: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing,
miracle-working, prophecy, discernment, tongues, interpretation, teaching,
ministry, exhortation, generosity, leadership, compassion, pastoral care,
evangelism, and apostleship. There are
many more that can be found throughout Scripture, but we’ll just stop with
these. It is easy enough here to see
that the list is quite extensive. I will
not try to define each of these gifts for you, for in doing so we would spend
until next Sunday right here…however, for those who are interested, I have
created these packets that I will leave up front for any who are
interested—these packets include a listing of the gifts, their definition,
their Scriptural foundation, and contemporary examples. If we run out, don’t worry, I can always
print more for next week.
Beyond that, though, we need to
consider what these gifts are, some of which we gather from Paul’s letter to
the Corinthians.
First, we note, just from the names,
“Spiritual Gifts” are just what their name implies. They are gifts. They are given by God to each of those who
have given their lives to Him through Christ—simply having passed under the
waters of Baptism, as we have talked about over the last several weeks,
qualifies one to receive these gifts—they are given by the Spirit to us as
gifts. They are not earned. We can’t suggest that Billy Jo surrendered
more of her life to God so she received the gift of prophecy, and Robert hasn’t
done much for God, so God only gave him, compassion.
Secondly, they are gifts that are
given, not by the preacher, not by a Sunday School teacher, but they are gifts
given to us by God, and activated by the Spirit of God moving in our lives…the
Spirit brings them into our lives, and the Spirit empowers their use.
They are given by God to us that we
might faithfully and effectively discover God’s will for our lives and serve
Him to the best of our ability. What
does that mean?
It means that those gifts are given
to us to be used. The gifts are not
meant to be set upon the shelf of our heart and mind and remain unopened and
unused. They are not like the sweater
you got from your grandmother (y’all remember how I feel about sweaters) or the
gawky piece of costume jewelry your husband gave you for your anniversary. These gifts are meant to be used in service
to God.
It means that if we are trying to figure
out what God wants us to do, if we are seeking to discern how God is calling us
to serve then as we discover the gift or gifts God has given us, we will know
what door to walk through. For instance,
if we learn that our congregation is looking for both Sunday School Teachers
and Musicians and we know that we have the gift of teaching, and not of music,
then that might lead us to commit to leading a classroom of students, rather
than playing a trumpet during worship.
Sometimes serving God with these
gifts will be easy, sometimes though, even having the gifts, serving will be
difficult and hard work (that means, keeping with our current illustrations,
that having the gift of teaching does not preclude a person from having to
spend time preparing a lesson, just as having the gift of music does not mean
that a person doesn’t have to practice).
However, if we find ourselves constantly frustrated and unable to
complete what we are trying to accomplish for God, we might need to stop and
see if we are operating out of the ways God has gifted us…after all, you can
use a wrench to drive a nail into a piece of wood, but it is a whole lot easier
when you use a hammer.
These gifts are also the way in
which God seeks to provide for the health and well-being of His Church. God pours out these gifts into each of us
that the Church may be the living Body of Christ in the world. It is through these gifts that God ensures that
each congregation is able to live out its commission to go into all the world making
disciples of Christ. It is the means in
which God ensures that each congregation is able to care for the “least of
these” in our community. It is the means
through which God enables us to live out our love of Him and our love for our
neighbor. It is the means through which
God continually reveals His Kingdom and moves us toward that day when every
knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
None of us here today can claim that
this is not about us…for as we will see in coming weeks God has gifted us
all. Not all of us have the same gifts,
but we all have gifts. God doesn’t
invite any of us to sit on the sidelines, but all to be involved, each gift is
important and to be used. We can’t claim
that we have done our time and already given our service, because while earthly
employers might let you retire with (or without benefits) after 20, 15, or even
30 years of service, God doesn’t have a retirement plan for any of us this side
of the grave. A gift may be given for a
season, and when that season comes to a close, but God will continually use His
Spirit to gift us that we might continue to serve. What we will learn, as we continue to delve
into an understanding of these gifts, that when we live and serve out of them,
doing what God has set before us, we will have a burning desire to do more and
more, knowing that God is going to bless the efforts, and as we do so, we know
that God will sustain us, and He will be glorified.
In the Name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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