USING YOUR GIFTS

The Apostle Paul was a great list maker. Based on his writings in the New Testament Paul liked to categorize and compartmentalize his experiences and his thoughts in life. The passage I have just read from 1 Corinthians is but one example of the Apostle’s proclivity for such list making.

Indeed, if we are acquainted with Paul’s writing style, then the fact that Paul presented his readers with a list of spiritual gifts in this passage is not surprising. However, what is perhaps surprising is what he wrote in verse 7 of this passage. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” What did Paul mean? Could he really mean that every disciple has been given spiritual gifts?

In his writings Paul’s style was often deliberately volatile, combative, and confrontational. Yet at the same time it is abundantly clear that Paul was a very careful and cautious thinker and writer. Paul was attentive to detail and careful about expressing his thoughts. So, in verse 7 when Paul made a blanket claim telling us that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given to every disciples of Jesus Christ, I am confident that he meant that each and every person who genuinely professes Jesus as Lord is the recipient of Spiritual gifts.

There is no ambiguity in what Paul wrote. There are no caveats. What a claim! Paul’s basic message in this passage is that every person who professes Jesus as Lord has received spiritual gifts from God. Paul’s claim is nothing short of fantastic. It basically means that God intends for there to be no wallflowers in the church everybody has a role to play.

So, then, all of us have spiritual gifts from God. It is our calling to recognize them and claim them. In verse 7 Paul tells us that each believer is given spiritual gifts to use for the common good. As believers in Jesus as our Lord we are the recipients of God’s greatest gift, the gift of grace which has led us to profess our faith in Jesus.

The universality of Paul’s message is truly remarkable. The body of Christ is profoundly egalitarian in this sense. Each believer is the recipient of spiritual gifts, not just the leaders of a church but every member. It is not just the self-proclaimed spiritual prodigies that are the recipients of spiritual gifts but every member of the body.

Apparently, in first century Corinth, not unlike in our context today, there existed an attitude that spiritual gifts were reserved for a select few among the saints. Without going into a detailed description of the controversies in Corinth, let it suffice to say that in some way an elitist segment of the church in Corinth believed that their specific set of spiritual gifts were in some way superior to the rest of the congregation. In turn, others in the church in Corinth had to some degree accepted the claims of these folks. The net result was a division in the church between those who saw themselves spiritually gifted and those who lacked spiritual gifts. It had become a two tiered community.

In all honesty, scholars and historians do not know the specifics of this controversy and argument in Corinth which Paul addressed in this passage. What we do know is that Paul’s message was intended to correct the notion that only a small group in the church possessed spiritual gifts. In verse 7, Paul clearly wrote that EACH member of the body of Christ is the recipient of gifts from the Holy Spirit.

Paul then makes a list of specific spiritual gifts, from wisdom to healing, and from speaking in tongues to interpreting those who actually speak in tongues. Clearly, Paul intended this list to be merely indicative and not exhaustive. In other words, in his words on this matter Paul took the time to list a few high profile spiritual gifts which are regularly given to disciples, but it is equally clear that there are many, many, other gifts given to those who profess Jesus as Lord which are not listed in this passage.

Prior to making his list of specific gifts, Paul wrote in verses 4 -6, “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 them in everyone.” Paul was seeking to disabuse the Corinthians of the idea of super saints within the church.

At the risk of oversimplification, we can think about this matter in this way, when we are acting in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and bringing glory to God through our words and our deeds, then there is not a worthwhile distinction between one who demonstrates the ability to heal disease and one who demonstrates the ability to swing a hammer or sweep the floor. Simply put, for Paul within the body of Christ there is no theological justification for claiming a hierarchy of spiritual gifts. We have all received gifts that we are to use for the common good.

Paul’s message is a word on target for us. There are so many of us who are reluctant to acknowledge that we have spiritual gifts. For example, not unlike with the ancient Corinthians, we are tempted to elevate those who can pray eloquently in public to a higher status than those who are not comfortable with public prayer. Paul’s words remind us that the act of prayer itself is a gift from God through the agency of the Holy Spirit, and whether it is accomplished out loud using fancy words or whether it is formed in the silence of our hearts using the short and terse vocabulary of a person who is illiterate, it does not matter. The very act of prayer is pleasing to God. Prayer itself is the spiritual gift. Based on Paul’s message, there are no super-prayers, only those who engage in an act of prayer to the glory of God.

From a practical perspective, Paul’s message is incredibly important for us to hear and heed. It means that we all have something to contribute to the body of Christ. If you have the necessary knowledge and proclivity to fix the plumbing, or the HVAC systems, or rewire an outlet plug, and use these skills and this knowledge to the glory of God and the building up of the church (that is to say the common good as Paul refers to it in verse 7), then you have been given spiritual gifts.

Or perhaps you are shy by nature and feel insecure about teaching a Bible study class, yet you are more than willing to prepare food, serve food, and clean up the dishes after a church event. Contrary to how we customarily think about spiritual gifts, Paul’s message in this text tells us that you have in fact received a spiritual gift that is not categorically different from one who speaks in tongues – for you see, in both cases the gifts have been used to the glory of God and for the common good.

Paul wrote to his beloved church in Corinth to share a message that is still a word on target for us today. For the church in Corinth back then, not unlike in the church today, there are no unimportant jobs, only those jobs which need doing and go unfulfilled and those jobs which get done.

So, then let us ask ourselves, what has the Holy Spirit given me to use for the common good? What can I do to build up the body of Christ? Do you feel called to teach or preach? If so, then you have been given powerful spiritual gifts. Do you feel called to visit the sick and dying? If so, then you have been given powerful spiritual gifts. Do you feel called to sweep the floor and take out the trash? If so, then you have been given powerful spiritual gifts. Do you feel called to fix the plumbing and repair the furnaces and air conditioners? If so, then you have been given powerful spiritual gifts.

You see, Paul’s message is that whatever members do for the common good and to the glory of God is considered a spiritual gift. Truly, there is no theological justification for saying that the preacher is more important than the janitor, each has been given a gift to use. The only question is whether or not he or she will respond to God and use the gifts which have been given.

Let us use the spiritual gifts God has freely given us. Let us preach and teach. Let us mend and heal. Let us turn wrenches and swing hammers. Let us scrub and sweep. Let us organize and plan. May we do all of these things to the glory of God and in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. So may it be for us. Amen.

Reverend Marc V. Mason

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time: Jan. 14, 2007

Trinity Presbyterian Church

Travelers Rest, SC