Spiritual Gifts (2)
1 Corinthians 12:12- 30
This morning we are talking about
spiritual gifts. I hear from many of you, “I do not have gifts” or “My gift
is not important.”
Why is it that when you ask
to a group of little kids if they can sing, all of them raise their hands? If
you ask if they can draw, all of them are ready to draw. Ask them if they want
to be in a play, all of them raise their hands and want to be part of the play.
Do you realize that there will be fewer hands by the time they start to grow up?
And when they become adults, almost no hands are up.
What happens to us? Do we
lose our sight that God can use us?
God promised to give us
gifts. Do we ask for gifts?
Do we want to have spiritual
gifts?
Three kinds of gifts:
Speaking Gifts: word of wisdom, prophecy, evangelism, pastor-teacher
Service Gifts: Administration, faith, giving, helping, serving, and
mercy
Sign Gifts: Distinguishing spirits, miracles, healing, speaking
in tongues, and interpretation.
We can find them written in
four books in the New Testament: Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4
and 1 Peter 4 There are more than 20 gifts.
By the way, we are all called
to witness, or serve, or give. Therefore, be careful. Some of these gifts are
for all of us to take part. But obviously some of us are better servants, some
are better in teaching. Some are preachers… and so on.
What can we learn from all these gifts?
1. The giver is the Spirit of the Lord.
The focus is on the Giver and
not on the gifts themselves. I get
irritated to see arrogant Christians when they boast with their gifts. They
talk more about their gift rather than Jesus. It is clear that is not from the
Spirit. Galatians 5:5 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with
the Spirit.” Let the Spirit of the Lord work in us. Some churches do not give
room for the Spirit of the Lord to work. “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Eph
4:30a). “mi
derdmetzenek sourp hokin.”
2. There is diversity in the body.
In the first three chapters, Paul
talked about unity in diversity.
We have different kinds of
gifts but the same Spirit gives them.
We have different kinds of
services but the same Lord.
We different kinds of work,
but the same God gives it to all.
Do you see the TRIUNE GOD
at work?
Please notice the word different,
different this or that.
The word gift comes from the Greek
“charismata”. The root of this word is “chara” meaning grace.
These gifts are divine gifts, divine abilities, works done for the glory of God
and not man. You know what? Some of the results of these this gifts one cannot
see. This does not mean you did not use your gift. As I said before, the
center is God. It is not important if you see the results or not, the
important is that God sees them. The focus is on the GIVER and not the
RECEIVER. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to
his good purpose.” (Philip 2:13) When
God work in us we can do things, we can accomplish things. However, we are different
from each other.
Let me illustrate to you how
different people will respond to a certain act. Let us say, on Monday night we
had dinner and Bible study in the Fireside Room. Someone dropped his plate
and made a big mess on the carpet:
Gift of prophecy: That’s what
will happen when you are not careful.
Gift of giving: By the way,
it is Ok you can have my plate.
Gift of service: Let me give
you a hand; let us clean this place together.
Gift of teaching: The reason
you dropped your plate is that you were walking with the wrong kind of shoes on
this carpet. You lost your balance.
Gift of mercy: Please do not
feel bad, forget it, it can happen to anyone.
Gift of administration: We
should not meet in this room for food. We have Hallajian
Hall. Bob, take the broom, Margi bring vacuum cleaner, Armine, move the chairs, Hartley bring new plate….
We all have some kind of gifts
given by Holy Spirit. We all are different. We need each other. Remember
Paul in the first chapter of this letter:
“Therefore you do not lack
any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.”
The Corinthians did not have the problem of having gifts or not having them;
the problem was one was boasting on the other. The small gifts were marginalized.
Ask yourself this morning. What
is my gift? Do I use my gift for the glory of the Lord, or do I use it
for my interests?
3. Identify your gift:
“Now to each one the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (7). Paul uses the
word “manifestation.” To manifest is
to describe the works of Holy Spirit, in Armenian haydnel. It clarifies; it makes plain the work of Holy Spirit.
Every born again Christian,
dedicated Christian is given at least one gift.
Please notice once again, it
is given for the “common good”. Your gift is not an end; it is means to build
the body.
Once the piccolo player gave up playing in the orchestra. He thought that no
one would notice this small instrument when all the brass and strings were
playing. The conductor stopped the orchestra and asked the player, “Why did you
stop playing?” Your input is very important.
If you have a problem finding
your gifts, talk to me afterwards, or to anyone of the Deacons. We all have
something to share and use for the
4. Use your gift; we need
each other
Our gifts are not for
decoration, they are to be used. If you have a set of instruments in
your garage, what do you do with them. Do you just clean, polish and put them in
their places? Of course not. You want to use them.
1 Peter 4:10 says, “Each one
should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully
administering God's grace in its various forms.”
Our gifts are used in a
body, and not solo. We are interconnected.
We need each other. Paul is
using the human body metaphor. Each single unit of the body small or big needs
the others. They are interconnected.
General Eisenhower once rebuked one of his Generals for referring to a
soldier as “just a private.” He reminded him that the Army could
function better without Generals than it could without its foot soldiers. He
said, “If this war is won, it will be won by Privates.”
Again let me summarize:
“Spiritual gifts are divine abilities distributed by the Holy Spirit
to every believer according to God’s design and grace for the common
good of the body of Christ.”
Next week we will find out that
Paul goes further telling us that gifts are not enough; even using them is not
enough. We need God’s love.
But for this week. Ask
yourself, Do I have a spiritual gift?
Do use it for the Glory of
the Lord?
Amen