Spiritual Gifts: Who Gets The Gifts? - Acts 2:14-21

During the French Revolution, there were three Christians who were sentenced to die by the guillotine.  One Christian had the gift of faith, the other had the gift of prophecy, the other had the gift of helps.

The Christian with the gift of faith was to be executed first.  He was asked if he wanted to wear a hood over his head.  He declined and said he was not afraid to die.  "I have faith that God will deliver me!" he shouted bravely.  His head was positioned under the guillotine, with his neck on the chopping block.  He looked up at the sharp blade, said a short prayer and waited confidently.  The rope was pulled, but nothing happened.  His executioners were amazed and, believing that this must have been an act of God, they freed the man.

The Christian with the gift of prophecy was next.  His head was positioned under the guillotine blade and he too was asked if he wanted the hood.

"No," he said, "I am not afraid to die.  However, I predict that God will deliver me from this guillotine!" At that, the rope was pulled and again, nothing happened.  Once, again the puzzled executioners assumed this must be a miracle of God, and they freed the man.

The third Christian, with the gift of helps, was next.  He was brought to the guillotine and likewise asked if he wanted to wear a hood.

"No," he said, "I'm just as brave as those other two guys." The executioners then positioned him face up under the guillotine and were about to pull the rope when the man stopped them.  "Hey wait a minute," he said.  "I think I just found the problem with your guillotine."

Faith, Prophecy, and Helps…three of the many Spiritual Gifts that the Spirit of God pours out upon His people.  Last week we asked, “What are they?” We came to discover that these gifts are given by God through His Spirit to those who have surrendered their lives to the saving grace and Lordship of Christ.  They are given, not for our own gain, but to be used in service to God in the revealing of His Kingdom and the building of His Church.  Today we ask, “Who Gets The Gifts?”

I don’t know when the change occurred.  It was not happening when my dad was a kid, I asked him.  I don’t recall it happening when I was a kid.  When we were kids, and you went to a birthday party, the only person that received gifts or presents were the birthday boy or girl.  Now there may have been a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey or some other game where there was a winner, and that person may have received a prize, but as a regular thing, like I said, the only person that received gifts was the one having the birthday.  However, something changed between when my dad and I were kids and when Anita and I got married.  Birthday parties have changed.  It seems that now if a child goes to a birthday party for someone else, taking them a gift of course, they come home with a gift, or maybe even a “gift-bag” with multiple gifts.  Sometimes the kids come home with gifts or gift-bags that are worth more than the birthday present they took.  It seems a little overboard to me, but the philosophy somewhere developed among children’s birthdays that “everyone who comes to the party gets a gift.”

Now while “everyone who comes to the party gets a gift” may be an over the top reaction of parents to a birthday party, it is not an over the top reaction of our Heavenly Father…it is another sign of His Amazing Grace.  When we stop to ask the question about Spiritual Gifts, “Who gets the gifts,” the answer is “everyone who comes to the party” gets a gift of the Spirit.  “What party,” you may ask.  The weekly party that celebrates the resurrection of the Son, Jesus Christ, and the pouring out of God’s Holy Spirit, giving birth to the church…so in a sense, you could say that it is a resurrection/birthday party that we have each week as we gather to worship God.  Sometimes we forget that this time we gather together is a time of celebration.  We come in here heavily burden from the weight the world puts on us and we sit around with glum faces and tired bodies and forget we are here because Christ has risen from the grave and the power of the Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the world giving birth to the church.  My brothers and sisters, this is a party,and to all who come to the party and participate, to all who will surrender their lives to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…they are given one or more Spiritual Gifts.

On the Day of Pentecost, as Peter seeks to explain to those gathered what is going on, he turns to reference the prophet Joel who conveyed this message from God, “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.  Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit.”  It is this prophecy of Joel that the Apostle Peter proclaims has come to pass on the day of Pentecost when everyone from different nations is gathered in Jerusalem, yet they hear the Galilean disciples in each of their native tongues.

Paul echoes this understanding of “everyone gets the gifts,” in his first letter to the Corinthians: “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed…Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.  To each is given a manifestation of the Sprit for the common good.

I think that too often we get in a habit of thinking that others are given gifts for ministry, but not we have not been given any gift.  We may look at the preacher and say, “he or she has a gift of the Spirit;” we may look at members musicians and say, “they have gifts of the Spirit;” we may look at Sunday School teachers, and say, “they have gifts of the Spirit;” and then turn around and say, “we do not have any gifts.”  We couldn’t be further from the truth, because if we say that, either we are wrong or the Scriptures are wrong…and we know that God’s word is not wrong…God’s Word is Truth and Life.  So let’s go with God’s Word is right and we are wrong.  God’s Word says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,” not just preachers, teachers, singers, and musicians.  God’s Word says, “…there are varieties of gifts…but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”  “All” and “everyone,” not “some.” 

That being the case, everyone of us here, all of us who have come to the party, have been given a gift or multiple gifts by God.  Peter and Paul both emphasize through Acts and Paul’s letters that God is not a God of partiality, God’s love and desire is for everyone and all of Creation.  God is not going to look down upon His people and say, “Gift, Gift, Gift, Gift, No gift, Gift, Gift, No Gift, Gift, Gift.”  God gives all of His children Spiritual Gifts…the only way that they differ is in what the gift is.  Rather than saying “Gift, gift, no gift,” what God will say is “Prophecy, Teaching, Helps, Faith, and so on…”  There are different gifts and no one person has all the gifts, but everyone has some gifts.  Are some folks more important than others because of the gifts they have received?  That’s our discussion for next week…

The important thing to remember today is that you have responded to the invitation and come to the party and God has a gift for you…in fact since we are at the party, we know that God has already given that gift to us, we just need to spend time discovering it if we don’t already recognize what it is.  Part of that discovering process is praying that God may reveal it to us, so may we ask God to help us open the gift and see what He has given us.  Another aspect of discerning where to find your gifts is by using what is called a Spiritual Gifts inventory which uses a series of questions that considers our responses to given situations and from them draws out an understanding of our gifts.  I have placed copies of one of those inventories here on our first pew for anyone to pick up after worship.  After completing an inventory, we then pray some more and begin to talk with our brothers and sisters in Christ, to seek how God might be directing us to use these gifts.  My friends, let us seek to understand all that God gives us, that we might open, understand, and be thankful…for we all have a gift.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.