Walking on the Word

We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in min-istering; the teacher in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation, the giver in generosity; the leader in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.
Rom. 12: 6-8

Reflection

Each of us must answer the question, “What am I to do with my life?” Each of us has been given gifts from God and it is a lifelong task to find out how we use this gift for God and others. Those who do not find and use the gifts of grace God has given may miss the meaning of life altogether.

Some individuals spend their entire lives waiting for something to happen. I put this into a poem some years ago when I was waiting for a report on my cancer in order to determine whether the doctors would amputate my leg or just mutilate it and use a skin graft to cover the ugly area.

Waiting in the doctor‟s office when you‟re all out of sorts,
Waiting for the call to come, and for the lab. reports,
Waiting to board the plane, when traveling by air,
Waiting in the complaint line, arguing about the fare.
We spend out lives in waiting; why not live instead?
Or we may spend our final days, waiting „til we‟re dead.
J. Jacobson

In the book, The Trial, by Kafka, Joseph K. never comes to court. His case is never heard. He spends his entire life waiting for some official to take responsibility for his case. No one ever does and he dies either at his own hand or at the hand of someone unknown to him. He was waiting for some official to come and tell him what to do with his life so he never found the gifts of grace that God had given to him.

We are saddened by a story like The Trial, because it seems to be about you and me. We are sorry for many of our friends who seem willing to “die in the waiting room” because they never found their purpose for living. We will never discover our mission in life if we wait for the perfect church, the perfect teacher or the perfect task to fulfill in our time. Some years ago a person in one of my churches complained about the action of the General Conference. He said, “I would withdraw from the church, but I have been so inactive that no one would miss me.” You see, if you are not involved in the life of the church, you can‟t make an impact even if you quit. We recognize that we cannot do everything, but we can do something. Each of us has been given a gift that we are to use for the up building of one another in love.

To enter life fully we recognize the gifts of God‟s grace and use these gifts for the benefit of the community. Each of us has gifts for the growth and care of the Christian community we call Dove and for the greater community of the United Methodist Church. This means that each has a twofold responsibility before God and others. First, We discover our own uniqueness and talent that has been conferred on us by the grace of God. Secondly, Each of us has the responsibility to use this talent for the sake of the church, the community, and yes, for the sake of the world. If we read on in this same chapter of Romans Paul reminds us to, “Contribute to the needs of the saints; and extend hospitality to strangers.”

Prayer: Gracious God, you have given us gifts of grace for the healing of the world. Set us free to look into our own hearts with gratitude for our talents. Give us the courage of our faith to get involved with others so we can minister to each other in the spirit of Christ, who got involved in the life and gave him-self for the world. Amen.