You Are Gifted!

2nd Sunday after Epiphany, 1/17/16
1 Corinthians 12:1-11


You Are Gifted!
I. In great variety and abundance
II. By the same Holy Spirit
III. For the good of all


When I was in first grade, I had a cousin who went from 2nd grade to 4th grade. He completely skipped 3rd grade. He was really smart and the faculty at his school felt it would be wasting his time and theirs to hold him to the normal progression. So, do you supposed I was happy for him? Did I praise God for making him so gifted? Did I send him a note and tell him how proud I was of him? Not a chance! Instead, I was filled with envy. My heart and mind were convinced the whole situation wasn’t fair.

In today’s world of education, it’s common for schools to offer gifted programs. If budgets allow, those gifted programs are offered throughout the spectrum of the curriculum. Whether it’s math, science, literature, or history, gifted programs allow students who excel in one or more of those areas to proceed at a pace that challenges them and enriches them.

But what about the students that don’t have those gifts? Or what if they have the gifts, but a program for them doesn’t exist in their particular gifted area? Are they more likely to consider themselves less gifted? Are they more prone to envy those whose gifts are recognized by others? Are they led to feel that their gifts are less important?

That’s the way it is in our sinful world. We’re prone to envy the gifts of others or despise the gifts we have. Meanwhile, we don’t use what we have properly, and we can even hinder others from doing the same.

That’s the sad situation that was occurring among the Christians in Corinth to whom St. Paul wrote these words. Instead of envying and despising the gifts God gives us, we should be using them to the glory of the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ.

That Lord of glory helps us do just that in the encouraging words before us this morning. Make no mistake about it, you are gifted! May love for Jesus fill you to use whatever gifts God has given you to his glory!

Part I.

Maybe I’m the only one, but it seems to me there are far fewer products today that are promoted to be one size fits all than there used to be. There is some appeal to a one size fits all concept, especially when you don’t have the opportunity to try the item on to see if it fits. You don’t have to. One size fits all. But more often than not, it really doesn’t fit you very well. Too tight in one area; too loose in another. Too long here; too short there.

When our God gives us spiritual gifts, he doesn’t offer them all in one size, shape and color. He doesn’t mass produce exactly the same gift for every one of us and assure us that it will fit just fine. No, he gives gifts in a great variety and abundance. Just look again at the list Paul made. Wisdom. Knowledge. Faith (which would seem to mean a faith that works miracles or a faith that is truly remarkable). Healing. Powers (meaning able to perform various miracles). Distinguishing between spirits (which means the ability to know which spiritual messages are from God and which ones aren’t). Speaking in tongues. The ability to interpret tongues. Since Paul mentions all these gifts in this letter, it would appear that all these gifts were present in the congregation at Corinth. That’s amazing when you think about it. We might wish we were as gifted. But there we go again—desiring the gifts God hasn’t given us.

Instead, consider this great, biblical truth—each Christian has at least one gift; most Christians have many gifts. I see that very thing as I look out over all of you. The talents and experiences and knowledge that you’ve gained as you carry out your lives is broad and varied. What you can’t do so well, she can. What you can do well, he can’t. But he can do something well that someone else can’t. What interdependence! It’s amazing!

Every one of those gifts and abilities are combined by this body of believers so that we can accomplish the work that God has given us to do. That work is simply this: to proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. That’s the mission Jesus has given to his church. How amazing that he makes sure we have the gifts to accomplish it.

You are gifted. You’re gifted in great variety and abundance.

In the work environment, there are far too many pariahs, but two that stand out in my mind are the lazy fellow-worker and the complainer. Would you agree? The lazy worker just makes more work for you and everyone else. The complainer whines all day long and drags the group’s morale into the gutter.

The same can happen in a church environment. When God’s people are unwilling to use the gifts God has given them, it either makes for more work for the others, or kingdom work simply doesn’t get done. When God’s people are content to sit on the sidelines and simply whine about things, it drags others down and hinders what could be done. That’s why I thank God for every day of harmony among us. Let’s realize that none of us uses the gifts God has given us to their fullest potential. It’s one of the sins we laid at the cross of Christ during today’s confession of sins. And it’s one of the sins washed away by the sacrifice Christ made on that cross. Forgiven and restored, we now look for opportunities to put to use the varied and abundant gifts God has given us. You are gifted!

Part II.

The source of a gift is important. For instance, you may have received Hershey chocolate in your Christmas stocking and you enjoyed it. But what if the stocking right next to yours was filled with Esther Price chocolate? Would you still consider your chocolate to be special?

In dispensing spiritual gifts, our God doesn’t use multiple sources. That would lead to discord among his people. It would lead some to sinful pride and others to sinful despising of their gifts.

Instead, listen to what Paul says about spiritual gifts. “All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.” If the Holy Spirit is the single source of all spiritual gifts, that places all spiritual gifts on the same heavenly level. One gift is not intrinsically more valuable than another. It’s not that one gift is critical to kingdom work while another isn’t. They all come from the same Holy Spirit.

And since he is omniscient, he knows exactly which gifts are needed, the numbers of gifts to give, and the individuals who should receive them. There’s no such thing as a spiritual gift lottery. These gifts are given as the result of divine planning and knowledge.

One more thing. Rest assured, when the Holy Spirit gives you a spiritual gift, it’s not a case of batteries not included. When he gives a gift, he always provides the power and motivation to use it. That motivation is love for our Savior-God, a love that the Holy Spirit instills in us by grace through faith. When we consider all that our God has so graciously done for us, that he gave us his best in his Son, spiritual gifts can’t help but be engaged in God’s kingdom work.

You are gifted! You’re gifted by the same Holy Spirit.

In the science of motion, force must take resistance into consideration. What’s resisting the forward motion? In kingdom work, love for Christ is the force empowering God’s people to use their spiritual gifts. What’s the resistance? There are many, but one of the greatest is envy. Look at the way God’s people admire that Christian for the way she uses her spiritual gift. Why can’t I be like that? Why didn’t the Holy Spirit give me such a grand gift? And when envy is left alone to fester, it breeds contempt. The envious person begins despising a fellow Christian who is using his or her gift to the glory of our Lord. How can that be? It’s part of the sinful nature that lurks within us all. The greatest gift is the gift of the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith and keep us in the faith. That faith overcomes the sinful nature and empowers proper use of our spiritual gifts and even the encouragement and the gratitude for others to use theirs all to the glory of the Savior who died and rose again for us. You’re gifted!

Part III.

There’s one final resistor to the pious use of spiritual gifts. It’s the very opposite of envy which we just covered. It’s sinful pride. If my sinful nature can’t get me to envy the gifts of others and, in doing so, to hinder the use of the spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit actually gave me, then my sinful nature, as it’s so prone to do, will swell with sinful pride. The use of my spiritual gift will become all about the humanistic center of my universe—the god called ME. I will want others not only to know that I’m using my gift, to thank me for it and to encourage others to do the same, my sinful pride will even want others to envy me, because when they do, then in my own idolatrous little world, I am better in some way than they are.

Paul slices out the cancer of sinful pride with these words, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” The gifts God has given you are to be used for the benefit of others. You’ve heard there’s no “I” in team. There’s no “I” in church either. Not even an “m-e.” It’s all about the common good. How will I use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given me to help others, to build them up, to strengthen them, so that together we can reach more people for Christ? That’s using your gifts to the glory of your glorious Lord.

The last thing Satan wants you to do is to use your spiritual gifts to the glory of the Lord. So watch out. When you are moved by love for the Lord he will try anything and everything to ruin it. But you have the glorious Lord Jesus on your side. In fact, he lives within you. And therein lies the power and the strength to use the spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given you. You are gifted! Don’t ever forget that! Amen.