Letters From Paul—Use Your Gifts: Joel 2: 28-32; I Cor. 12: 2-13
In 2002, American Idol premiered on television for the first time. In the subsequent 21 seasons, many wonderful singers’ careers have been catapulted into stardom and led to many amazing, tearful success stories. But the real fun of American Idol, if we’re willing to admit it, are those who are convinced they sing like Beyonce or Tony Bennett, but instead sound like a cross between a dog howling and a cat upchucking in the early morning.
Come on, admit it, it’s always humorous to see someone whose ego is 100 times the size of their skill. There were some on American Idol who were absolutely flabbergasted to learn that they did not have this wonderful gift of singing. And usually, they got very angry when reality hit. But for others, the gifts that God had given them shined through in a way that could stir even the frostiest person to appreciate the skill and ability of these gifted people.
On Pentecost we often read the Acts scripture where the fire came, and the wind of God’s spirit whipped through those assembled in the room with Jesus’s disciples. They received gifts—languages, knowledge, speaking—all manner of God-given abilities. But how do we handle the gifts that God gives us? It’s important to know THAT God gives gifts, but more importantly, we need to know what to do with them.
Paul tells the Corinthian church that some of the gifts include wise advice, special knowledge, great faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning, languages, and interpretation. There are a great multitude of gifts which God gives us. I think you can add things like music, leadership, organization, and more to the list. Whatever gift we have which lifts up people and supports God’s church is a gift from God for us. In other places in Paul’s writings, preaching, teaching, and more conventional leadership gifts are added to this list.
The first question is what is your gift? You can’t opt out on this one. Many folks will say, “Oh I’m not gifted, I’m just plain and simple.” We try to wiggle away from this by pretending we are too generic to have been gifted by God. It’s the same as the student in class who feels unprepared and sits there praying the teacher won’t call on them. Verse 7 doesn’t give you that wiggle room. It says, “A spiritual gift is given to each one of us so we can help each other.” So, we ask the question…what is your gift?
Some churches will hand out spiritual gift assessments. I’ve seen many of the newer, modern churches tried to do a multiple-choice assessment for what spiritual gifts God has given you. But that seems to undercut the power of the Holy Spirit to work. Think of it this way, you may visit a friend who is struggling, and they feel better—that is healing. You may be able to say to your friend, “I have a bad feeling about this person,” and that’s discernment. You may be able to give wise advice or figure out situations that defy the logic of others. These are all spiritual gifts. They are abilities, perceptions, and intuition which comes from something beyond what we can humanly perceive.
But the bigger question is what are you doing with your gifts? Paul goes on to write, “There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” Whatever gift you have, God should be working in and through you as you use your gift. When I think of our spiritual gifts and our call to share them, I think of an old children’s song: “This Little Light of Mine.”
The words say, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” In the verses we hear that we will not hide it under a bushel, won’t let Satan blow it out, and everywhere I go, I’m gonna let it shine. When we use our gifts for God, we shine that light of God’s grace into the world. Paul spent a lot of time talking about spiritual gifts with the Corinthian church. They were obsessed with them. In that church, it was much like the more they showed off, the more powerful they became. They used this political outlook on God’s gifts as well as clinging to their old pagan practices.
God’s gifts are not a ticket to power and privilege. They are a humble offering to the church and God’s people. Let me give you an example. A friend of mine really struggled as a child. He could not be in large crowds, or he would have a panic attack as a 4- and 5-year-old. Several times his parents were called because he was so painfully shy and overwhelmed by all that was going on. His kindergarten teacher at a small religious school set about making sure that changed. By the end of kindergarten, he was the lead in the school play and had almost fully come out of his shell, social anxiety or not.
What you do with the gifts you have speaks to the way you follow Jesus. A friend of mine, who is a talented musician used to only play nights in bars and clubs. He made great money. One Friday night near closing, a visibly drunk man came up and asked him to play something nice to round out the night. He needed to hear something that would help him. My friend played a very slow, soulful arrangement of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” then closed up for the night. The next night, this guy comes back, totally sober, and says that he had lost all hope that Friday night and was going to take his own life. But hearing that song, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” stopped him in his tracks, and he decided to get help instead. My friend still plays nights at the bars and clubs, but he also founded a group called “Bar Church” and they meet in different bars on Sunday afternoons to have church in a place where he knows people who wouldn’t set foot in a church might actually come. They had 300 at Easter packed into a bar all singing… “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”
Paul finishes out this part of his letter reminding the Corinthian church of their diversity compared to other churches. He writes, “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free.” Indeed, one of the strengths of the Corinthian church was how widespread the faith was, and how many diverse peoples came to follow Jesus. But as they grew, they struggled, and Paul calls them back to the central, most important thing, “We have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.” He wants them to focus on Christ and use their gifts for the good of God’s kingdom, not for their political gain.
Pentecost celebrates the birthday of the church. It is marked as the day that the Spirit of God came to those who follow Jesus and believe in him. It is also a day to be reminded that God has given us gifts. No one is exempt in this, and no one will be standing back in the shadows to disappear. We all have gifts from God. And the question Paul asks the church at Corinth, and indeed, us today is what are we doing with those gifts God has given us?
God doesn’t call you to be the best at prophecy. God doesn’t call you to have all the wisdom of the ages in discerning God’s voice. God doesn’t say you have to be world-wide teacher of the year. You don’t have to be the American Idol winner in everything you do. What God does call us to do, though, is use our gifts to the best of our ability, for the kingdom of God.
Each of us has a different call, a different gift, but we come together in this place, as this congregation to do the work of God in this world—proclaiming good news of saving love, welcoming those who need to know of God’s love, encouraging and uplifting those who feel broken, and drawing out the gifts and abilities that God has given. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” Thanks be to God that from the moment we take our first breath to our final moments on earth and every moment in between God is working in and through us, and never leaves us.
Worship Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/7338553769525475