Epiphany 2 (Year C)

20-1-2013

Pastor Lester Priebbenow

The "Gift" and the "Gifts" of God's Spirit

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Now, concerning what you wrote about the gifts from the Holy Spirit. I want you to know the truth about them, my brothers and sisters. You know that while you were still heathen, you were led astray in many ways to the worship of lifeless idols. I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say 'A curse on Jesus!', and no one can confess 'Jesus is Lord', unless that person is guided by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all. The Spirit gives one person a message full of wisdom, while to another person the same Spirit gives a message full of knowledge. One and the same Spirit gives faith to one person, while to another person he gives the power to heal. The Spirit gives one person the power to work miracles; to another, the gift of speaking God's message; and to yet another, the ability to tell the difference between gifts that come from the Spirit and those that do not. To one person he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said. But it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.

During the weeks immediately after Christmas the 'customer service' departments of many retail stores

are very busy as people queue for an exchange or a refund on Christmas gifts. These gifts may not be acceptable for any number of reasons; they are broken, faulty, the wrong size or colour, or perhaps they are simply unappreciated.

The congregation of new Christians in Corinth had asked their church's founding apostle, Paul, whether certain gifts they had received were right for them to keep. These were not physical gifts like Christmas presents but supernatural gifts, claimed to be from the Holy Spirit, the likes of which had never been seen before; and some of which bore a striking resemblance to the pagan practices of their pre-Christian days.

People claimed to be receiving revelations directly from God; words of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy and discernment. Some had received an outstanding abundance of faith to trust God against impossible odds. Others had experienced sick people being completely healed, or other miraculous things happening in response to their prayers. Some had received the ability to speak in languages they had never learned and others, the ability to understand what they were saying.

These gifts were intended to be a blessing to the mission of Christ in Corinth, but some were wondering if they were the right gifts. That question became particularly pertinent when the gifts began to cause problems in the congregation. Some who had received them became 'puffed up' with pride. Others who did not receive gifts became envious of those who did. Many became suspicious and mistrusted the gifts because they caused division and dissention in the church.

As St. Paul answers their questions in his First Letter to the Corinthians, he also teaches us some things about the "gift" and the "gifts" of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the life of our Church.

Paul says, before we talk about the "gifts" of the Spirit we need to talk about the "gift" of the Spirit Himself in our lives; the very same gift that you and I received in Holy Baptism. How do people know they have the right gift? St. Paul reminds his hearers that the Holy Spirit's genuine work is easy to recognize because He always gives glory to Jesus. A falsely-claimed gift of the Spirit will not do that. Either it will not say anything at all, like the dumb idols the Corinthians used to worship; or it will make the wrong confession that actually rejects or curses Christ instead of glorifying him. The true gift of the Spirit will always result in the confession that "Jesus is Lord" which cannot be made apart from God's Holy Spirit.
It is also important for us to recognize the "gift" and the work of God's Holy Spirit in our lives. It is the Spirit who brings the incarnate Jesus – God's Son in human flesh – who is God's 'Christmas gift' to the world, right into our own individual lives. Through the Spirit, Christ is born in us and lives in us by faith. How do we know we have the right gift?

You and I know that we have the "gift' of the Spirit when we are led to believe and confess "Jesus is Lord" – Jesus is my Master, Jesus is my Saviour, Jesus is the Messiah promised throughout the ages as the Saviour of the world, the Lord of life who lived, died and rose again in payment for my sins, who will reign as Lord forever.

The only proper response to the gift of the Holy Spirit is to allow Jesus to be our 'Master'; to allow the Holy Spirit go to work on our lives, on the old nature and on everything that comes naturally to us: pride, selfishness, greed, envy, dissention and so on. The works and words of our old nature do not confess "Jesus as Lord." Instead, they reject his claim to be our master; but in the Spirit's power we seek to acknowledge and own him as Lord and to give glory to him in our lives.

We know God's 'Christmas gift' is right for us when Jesus remains our Immanuel – God with us - and when Jesus keeps making himself known as God's Son and as our Saviour every day of our lives.

The same truths also apply when it comes to discerning the "gifts" of the Spirit in the Church, whether these are our God-given talents or supernatural gifts. Paul's answer to the question about the validity of certain gifts can be boiled down to three simple pieces of advice, the first of which is: Make sure the gifts also bring glory to Jesus!

If any gift is used to bring glory to any individual within the church, or imply that one member is better than another, it is not the right gift – or the right use of that gift. It doesn't matter how impressive it seems that some people receive direct revelations from God, work miracles, speak in languages they haven't learned, or display any other gift, if the use of these gifts doesn't give glory to Jesus.

St. Paul wrote that there are 'varieties' of 'gifts', 'abilities' or 'ways of working'. Every Christian and every church is different and so the Spirit will give different gifts according to each need and each situation. There is, however, one common thread in all genuine gifts: 'the same Spirit ... the same Lord ... and the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.' Every genuine gift or ability is a gift of the Triune God to be used to bring glory to Jesus.
We should never assume that the nine gifts mentioned here in 1 Cor 12:4-11 (or those elsewhere in the New Testament: e.g. 1 Cor 12:27-31, Rom 12:6-8, Eph 4:11-13) should be exactly the same as gifts the Spirit uses to build up his church today. St. Paul says of God: as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.' He gives the gifts that 'he wishes' to give, not always those that we want (or think we need), because he knows best which will bring glory to Jesus.

St. Paul's second piece of advice concerning the gifts of the Spirit is: Value each member for the gifts they have received! Paul writes: 'The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person.' Just as each person is of equal value in God's sight, each person is also gifted in some way and equipped exactly for what God would have them be and do in the church. No one should ever say, "I don't have a gift," or "I have the wrong gift," or "My gift is insignificant." The person who serves Christ faithfully in a small way, according to their own ability, is just as valued as another who serves in a prominent way. St. Paul concludes: 'it is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as he wishes, he gives a different gift to each person.'

St. Paul's third piece of advice concerning the gifts of the Spirit is: Every genuine gift is to be used for the good of all! Paul writes: 'The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.' If a person desires or uses a particular gift just for his or her own satisfaction or notoriety, then that gift is not worth keeping. Genuine gifts of the Spirit are given for the good of others, for the building up of the fellowship of the Church and furthering its mission in the world. Genuine use of those gifts will always seek to build up other people and the church, never to tear them down.

Paul's three pieces of advice may be summed up in one: The genuine "gifts" of the Holy Spirit reveal the work of the living Jesus, incarnate in his earthly body – the Church – just as the genuine "gift" of the Holy Spirit Himself brings the work of the living Jesus, incarnate in the body of every baptised believer.

So let's pray that we may be 'great receivers' of the "gift" of the Holy Spirit – given in baptism and received daily by faith through God's Word – so that we may daily acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Let us also pray that we may be 'great receivers' of the "gifts" of the Holy Spirit that he 'wills' for 'each one' of us – to glorify Jesus and to benefit one another. The genuine "gift" and "gifts" of the Holy Spirit are never faulty and never need to be returned or rejected for any reason!