Sunday, May 28th: "Gifts of the Spirit"

Watch the sermon here

First United Presbyterian Church

“Gifts of the Spirit”

Rev. Amy Morgan

May 28, 2023

1 Corinthians 12:4-13 

Now there are varieties of gifts but the same Spirit, 5 and there are varieties of services but the same Lord, 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of powerful deeds, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

I was given a label at the end of kindergarten: Gifted. They gave us a test, and based on the results of that test, the students in my school were placed on different tracks for the rest of their elementary school education. That meant that from first grade on, you were either gifted, or you weren’t.

Gifted students got special field trips, more advanced curriculum, and encouragement to register for honors classes in middle school. Almost all the students who graduated at the top of our high school class had been labeled “gifted” in elementary school. 

This is not to say that students who were not in the “gifted” program didn’t do well in school or go on to have successful and fulfilling lives. But being labeled as “gifted” did empower and equip us for success in school, at the very least. It did give us an advantage over other students. There’s no way around it. 

And so, at times in my adult life, as I’ve reflected on this experience, I wonder how much of my accomplishments in school, and perhaps even in life, are the result of being somehow inherently “gifted” and how much should be attributed to simply being labeled as “gifted.” 

In the Presbyterian church, we make an effort to avoid the hierarchy that arises from labeling some people as gifted and others as, well, I don’t know what. Average. Normal. Un-gifted? We proclaim the theology of the priesthood of all believers. We encourage everyone to recognize and share their gifts with the life and ministry of the church. 

But on Sunday mornings, there’s still a pastor standing up here, above you all, in a fancy robe, doing most of the talking. Whatever we may say we believe theologically, our worship and ministry doesn’t always reflect that idea that we are all called and gifted equally to serve God. 

And so, today, I’m not going to do all the talking. I’m going to do a little teaching, unpacking this passage from 1^st Corinthians a bit. And then you all will get to have some time to explore your giftedness. Maybe some of you have done this before. Or maybe, like all the kids in the first grade at Oak Hill Elementary who weren’t labeled as “gifted,” you’ve never had a real chance to recognize and share your gifts. 

This text we read today should sound pretty familiar to all of us. We read it at every service of ordination and installation. For pastors, elders, and deacons. And at services where we commission people to other ways of serving in the church – as chaplains and mission workers and parish nurses. As Paul writes, there are varieties of gifts, and God calls us to use our gifts in a variety of ways. 

The gifts of the Spirit are diverse, and the list Paul includes in this passage is in no way exhaustive. It is meant to give a sample of the great variety of gifts the Spirit endows on folks in the church. 

So recognizing that diversity is the first step in acknowledging and appreciating the gifts each of us has received and can share. When we only acknowledge and appreciate gifts like preaching or leading music or doing mission work, we fail to see the incredible diversity of gifts God provides for the church. As theologian Debbi Thomas writes, “Diversity is at the heart of who God is, and so diversity is the right and natural trademark of God’s church…The fact that our gifts are varied is not an accident; it is a reflection of God’s own nature.”

When it comes to gifts of the Spirit, we are all gifted. Gifts of the Spirit are activated in everyone, not just those who get labeled “gifted.” Debbi Thomas claims this as “a sure sign of our belovedness,” a reminder that we are all special. 

When the theory of public education began to shift in this direction – away from labeling certain children as “gifted” early on and toward recognizing a variety of ways of learning and different definitions of accomplishment – it was widely derided and even labeled Communist. It seems to be ingrained in the American ethos that some must be better than others, that success requires someone else’s failure. 

But that is not the way of God. God created each human in the divine image, and each of those humans is uniquely gifted by the Spirit. And perhaps the most difficult part for us to accept is that the source of all our gifts is God. 

Our abilities to teach, serve, sing, even to have a shred of faith in the first place, are all gifts that are freely given. Not earned or deserved. Not something we can boast about or lord over others (as people in the Corinthian church were apparently doing). These are gifts, not skills we’ve spent 10,000 hours mastering. 

And finally, these gifts are not meant for our own good or our own gain. They are given to us so that we might use them for “the common good.” We receive and recognize the gifts of God for the sake of others, for the whole community. Debbi Thomas writes, “It is God’s intention that we rely on each other.  That we need each other.  If we take this communal responsibility seriously, and share what we’ve been given, we might find deep relief and release in our lives of faith.  We don’t have to do everything and be everything all by ourselves.  I can lean on your wisdom.  You can press into my faith.  We can serve each other.  No single person has to have every gift, because the ultimate recipient of God’s generosity is the church, not the individual believer.”

Discussion questions:

Share about a time you have felt fulfilled (satisfied, fully alive, energized, authentic) in some activity connected to the ministry of Jesus Christ (not necessarily THE CHURCH)?

Share about a time you received external affirmation (in words, or gesture, or outcomes) of something you did connected to the ministry of Jesus Christ (not necessarily THE CHURCH)?

What is something you’ve never done in service to the ministry of Jesus Christ but sometimes thought you might like to try?

Thinking about the previous three questions, can you (or your discussion partner) name a gift you might have? Don’t worry if it doesn’t sound “biblical.” Allow for some imagination! But do try to be specific.