The Gifts of God
Romans 12:3-9 (NIV)
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his[a]faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
The Apostle Paul wrote this to the Roman Christians, a mix of Jews and Gentiles, who weren’t getting on particularly well together. As we have seen recently in Wednesday Focus, people of different nationalities, races, religions don’t always mix well.
But the Gospel calls us beyond treating our differences as negatives, as we’re all in the same grace-filled boat of the Body of Christ with Jesus as the Captain. As with any crew on a boat, there are many different jobs to do that require different skills, gifts, and abilities. Everybody is not expected to do every job.
Paul uses the metaphor of the body to show the same thing:
4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
God expects us to be mature enough to look at ourselves realistically to notice the gifts he has given us and to use them appropriately. The gifts are for the good of the entire body, not for the ‘bigging-up’ of the individual members.
Nobody is gifted to everything, and it’s a mistake to think that anybody is. Clergy are not expected by God to do everything – there’s a whole congregation of people he has gifted who should be exercising their gifts along with the clergy who will have their own particular gifts.
And when we look at the gifts God has given us, he expects us to use them – not to sit on them, not to think that someone else will do something about them, and not to try and do something we’re not gifted to do. So, God expects us to be realistic about who we are and how he has gifted us, and to both rejoice in that knowledge, and get on and do the things he has called us and gifted us to do.
Prayerful Questions:
- Are you aware of how God has gifted you?
- What do you find yourself doing naturally that brings blessing to others? This is often a clue as to how God has gifted you.
- Are there areas of service that you really struggle with, and that actually bring you stress, that make you feel like life is constantly an uphill battle, and that you are just not growing in? This can be a clue that you’re working in an area that God has not gifted you. Perhaps there’s someone else who is gifted in that area that you need to move over for.
- Do you find yourself praying for more gifted labourers to be sent into the Harvest?
Prayer for Presence
Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you of falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of you r soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.
John O’Donohue – Benedictus.
Hi folks - don't have anything insightful to say, just saying "hello" from a long way away again, and appreciating the long-distance contact with Walthamstow. Back home on Friday - looking forward to being at St. Mary's again on Sunday morning...
Posted by: Dom | April 16, 2008 at 07:30 PM