Spiritual Gifts 1 of 4
"What are Spiritual Gifts?"
January 20, 2002
1 Corinthians 1:7
2nd Sunday After the Epiphany
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
larry@larryjameson.com
1 Corinthians 1:7
you do not lack any spiritual gift
as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.
In 1 Corinthians 1:7 Paul was
talking to a group of
Christians, and he wrote: "you do not lack any spiritual
gift".
Paul was speaking to a group.
In that group, everyone had a spiritual gift.
No one person had all the gifts.
Nobody had none of the gifts.
All together, the whole church had all the gifts.
In 1 Corinthians 1:7 Paul was not only talking to the
Christians in Corinth, he was also speaking to you and me.
Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church has every spiritual gift we
need
to survive and thrive, and do God's will for this community.
Olivet United Methodist Church has every spiritual gift we need
to survive and thrive, and do God's will for this community.
"You (Mt. Olivtet / Olivet United Methodist Church)
do not lack any spiritual gift."
I believe this is God's Word to our congregation.
I truly believe that God has given this fellowship
every spiritual gift we need to fulfill our mission.
No one person has all the gifts.
Nobody has none of the gifts.
All together, the whole church has all the gifts.
This is an introduction sermon, the first in a series of four.
Today I am going to try and answer the question
"What are Spiritual Gifts?"
Here are my points. Spiritual Gifts are:
1) God's Grace
2) special abilities and endowments
given to Christians
for the purpose of building up the body of Christ
3) something practical you can see
4) for Christians only
5) something we get to discover, cultivate, and strategically
employ
What are Spiritual Gifts?
1) Spiritual Gifts are God's Grace
The Greek word in the New Testament for Spiritual Gifts (plural)
is "Charismata".
In the singular, the word is: "Charisma".
The root of both words is "Charis" which means grace.
If you open your New Testament and see the English word grace
you can be certain
that in the original language you are looking at the word
"Charis".
(In almost every case this is true. But in the King James Version
of
the Bible, there is one verse found in James 1:11 that is
translated
"grace" but did not come from the word
"Charis". This is a quote
of an Old Testament passage and most modern translations use the
word "beauty" instead.)
Grace is God's unmerited favor.
Grace is how God relates to sinners like you and me.
God's amazing grace reflects his mercy, love, and justice.
Spiritual Gifts are very simply
nothing more and nothing less than the grace of God.
And it is God's grace poured out on the church
that gives us special abilities and endowments.
What are Spiritual Gifts?
2) Spiritual Gifts are special
abilities
and endowments given to Christians
for the purpose of building up the body of Christ.
What abilities? What endowments?
Here is a list of 25 Spiritual Gifts
that are identified by Scripture.
This list is not exhaustive. There are probably more.
Prophecy, Pastor, Teaching, Wisdom,
Knowledge, Exhortation, Discerning of Spirits,
Giving, Helps, Mercy, Missionary,
Evangelist, Hospitality, Faith, Leadership,
Administration, Miracles, Healing, Tongues,
Interpretation, Voluntary Poverty, Celibacy, Intercession,
Exorcism, Service.
No one person has all the gifts.
Nobody has none of the gifts.
All together, the whole church has all the gifts.
Here are three key scriptures that explain
what Spiritual Gifts are for.
Ephesians 4:12 tells us that spiritual gifts:
"prepare God's people for works of service,
so that the body of Christ may be built up...."
1 Peter 4:10 says that
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve
others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various
forms."
1 Corinthians 12:7 says
"to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit
for the common good."
Your spiritual gifts are always for others.
Your gifts are really my gifts.
My gifts are really your gifts.
The Apostle Paul used a metaphor that perfectly describes
the point I am struggling to make.
In order to understand what Spiritual Gifts are
and how they work, just consider the human body.
The human body is made up of different parts.
Each part is vital to the health of the total body.
No one part can do without the others.
All together, the different parts make up something beautiful.
1 Corinthians 12:7 says:
"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a
part of
it."
Do you want to know what Spiritual Gifts are?
Don't spent too much time looking at them one by one.
Look at the body of Christ. Look at the church!
Have you ever done that?
Have you ever stopped to think how beautiful we are?
We are gorgeous.
We are a vessel overflowing with God's abundant grace.
And if we keep our eyes on God,
and seek his direction,
there just isn't anything that we can't do.
We are the body of Christ.
God has given us a unique and special calling.
God called each one of us here
for a special reason.
And God
has called us to come together for service.
What are Spiritual Gifts?
3) They are something practical you
can see
and something effective that bring results.
The gifts are not difficult to understand.
You can put your hands on them.
I was in my early teens when I began to discover my gifts.
Two of my gifts are pastor and teacher.
When I was 14 years old, I already knew that.
I didn't know that I was going to be here
in Warwick and Galena
when I was 45 years old.
But I had a deep conviction
that God had his hand on my life
and that I needed to go to school to prepare.
So I finished high school in 1974
and I finished college in 1978.
Then I went to seminary, and graduated in 1982
And a little later on
I went to seminary again, and graduated in 1992.
Sometimes I tell children that I'm in the 22nd grade
because I've had 21 years of formal education.
That's a long time.
But if you are going to be a teacher, you need an education.
Q: What did I do that for?
A: For you.
My gifts are for you.
Your gifts are for me.
We are called to build each other up
and to serve.
Spiritual gifts are the practical, visible, and effective.
When I give pastoral care to people, they know it.
When I give pastoral care to people, they respond.
When I teach, people learn.
I'm not saying I'm the best pastor
or the best teacher in the world. I'm not.
But I can do it, and I have a gift for it. And it shows.
It is something you can see.
If our church is going to be healthy and grow,
we need all the spiritual gifts
to function.
You bring your gifts. I bring my gifts.
We struggle together to be faithful, and God brings the victory!
The exciting thing is
we are not alone on this journey.
We get to discover, cultivate, and employ
our gifts together.
There are no other options.
The ear cannot hear without the body.
The foot cannot walk without the body.
Spiritual gifts are a body thing.
You have heard some people say,
"You don't need to go to church to be a Christian."
Well, that statement is true, but sort of limited.
You don't have to have a body to be an ear.
You can be a ear. But you won't hear.
You don't have to have a body to be a foot.
You can be foot. But you won't walk.
You don't have to go to church to be a Christian
You can be a Christian. But you won't function well.
God designed us to be together.
I didn't make this up. Read the Bible.
This isn't a pride thing.
This isn't a humility thing.
This is a practical thing.
God calls Christians to function as a body.
I can't be effective without you.
You can't be effective without me.
Together we compliment one another
and we can do amazing things.
And what we do together, with God's help
is practical and has results that can be seen.
What are Spiritual Gifts?
4) Spiritual Gifts are for
Christians only.
Now that is a pretty narrow statement,
but it needs to be in our definition.
Yes, of course God gives special abilities and endowments
to non-Christians.
That is truly self evident.
But according to the Bible,
the special abilities and endowments
that non-Christians have are not Spiritual Gifts.
Why?
Because according to Ephesians 4:12
the purpose of Spiritual Gifts is to
"prepare God's people for works of service,
so that the body of Christ may be built up...."
The special abilities and endowments
that non-Christians have
are not devoted to, surrendered to, or empowered by
Jesus Christ.
That is key.
Just because you are really good at something
does not mean
that is your spiritual gift.
Forgive me here for being really obvious.
Human talent
human skill
human abilities
are human.
Spiritual gifts are
spiritually empowered.
Don't both come from God?
Yes, they do. Everything good comes from God. (James 1:17)
Then why aren't all talents, skills, and abilities
considered Spiritual Gifts?
Only those abilities
which are first and foremost
surrendered to the authority of Jesus Christ
and furthermore
are being used in a practical way
to build up Christian disciples
helping them to grow
and furthermore
are not being used for selfish motives
but are entirely consecrated to
the benefit of the body of Christ
and furthermore
have been tested by God's Word the Bible
and confirmed by the church
Those are Spiritual Gifts.
Spiritual Gifts are for the body of Christ.
Spiritual Gifts are for Christians.
What are Spiritual Gifts?
5) something we get to discover,
cultivate,
and strategically employ
The Good Lord willing,
on February 3, the third sermon in this series will be entitled:
"how to identify your spiritual gifts"
So I'm not going to try and explain today
how you can identify your Spiritual Gifts.
But I am going to say,
you need to do it.
You need to discover what God has planned for you.
This is a maturity thing.
It is a sign of maturity if you can say,
"I know that I am a Christian."
Theologians call that the doctrine of assurance.
Do you have assurance of your relationship with Jesus?
Then keep on going.
Build on your confidence and learn what it is that
Jesus has uniquely called you to do in his kingdom.
Then, once you know,
cultivate your gifts.
Nobody ever said it was going to be easy.
I went to school for 21 years
and I am still learning A LOT
every year I am in the ministry.
Cultivate your gifts.
Then, work together with other Christians
to strategically employ your gifts.
Form a team. Get into ministry. God will bless that.
What I just described,
happens over and over again
in the church.
That is what we do.
That is how we make disciples.
We discover, we cultivate, and we strategically employ
Christians.
What are Spiritual Gifts?
They are:
1) God's Grace
2) special abilities and endowments given to Christians
for the purpose of building up the body of Christ
3) something practical you can see
4) for Christians only
5) something we get to discover,
cultivate, and strategically employ
Thanks be to God!
Amen!