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What are the Gifts? Part 1
At some point in all of our lives, we have taken a career or interest inventory. In high school, they are very popular. Perhaps you took one in college when you were deciding on a major or in the military so your superiors would know where to assign you. We can find them in magazines, online, in bookstores. These inventories can help us determine what career is right for us.
But have you ever received the results of the test and scratched your head and said, “Huh? I’d never thought of that before. What in the world did I select to come up with that?”
My husband took one of those a few years ago, and his top test result said he should become a stained glass window repairer. The closest he’d ever been to stain glass was admiring them from his pew! But the list of career options caused him to think even more clearly about what interested him and where his interests, his skills, and the possibilities of finding meaningful employment all intersected. Before he knew what field he wanted to study, he had to know all of the possibilities.
Discovering our spiritual gifts is similar. We can take interest inventories, we can pray, we can ask others. But before we start discerning our spiritual gifts, we need to know what the possibilities are. During the past several weeks, we’ve looked as several scriptures that relate to spiritual gifts and that list a variety of them. The New Testament lists 20 gifts in a variety of passages. No one passage has them all. Today and two weeks from today, we’re going to take a quick romp through the Spiritual Gifts so we can know what our gift possibilities are as we determine which ones we have been given for this season in our lives.
As we go through each of these gifts, be open to how which of these speaks most clearly to you. Perhaps it is a surprising gift. Maybe you never thought of having a particular gift, but as you think about it, it starts to interest you more.
Think of these reflection questions for the gifts:
· In what ways do you use this gift at home, at work or in relationships with friends?
· In what ways can you improve your use and knowledge of this gift?
· Where do other people see evidence of this gift at work in your life?
1. Administration
This gift is defined at face value. It’s the ability to organize people, information, inventory, and systems in a manner that makes them efficient and effective. They are the folks who pay attention to details while at the same time have the ability to look at the big picture. Jethro was a Biblical figure who had the gift of administration. When he saw that his son-in-law, Moses, was dealing with the Israelites every whine and complaint from sun up to sun down, he told Moses to appoint 10 elders in the community to field the complaints and only send up the really big problems to him. Jethro was a systems man. He had the gift of understanding how God’s people could run more efficiently. He had the gift of administration.
2. Apostleship
An apostle is someone who, like the 12 apostles of Jesus, have the gift and desire to share the Good News of Jesus’ love to new, forgotten or lost people. They are willing to leave their comfort zones, either for a few moments to be in a conversation with someone who is very different, or for years as a missionary in a culture different from the one they were raised in. The disciples of Jesus changed into apostles after Jesus’ resurrection when they left the people and places they had always known and took risks for Jesus. Someone with the gift of apostleship is comfortable with a variety of people, is eager to share their faith in word or deed, and ready to take a risk for Jesus.
3. Compassion
Compassion is probably one of the most prevalent gifts, but also one of the most difficult to live into on a day to day basis. Most of us can probably think right away of someone who has the gift of compassion. These are the folks who cannot help but help. They are moved by the plight of others and respond with a sense of urgency to people who are hurting. Gandhi and Mother Theresa are the two most famous people of the 20th century with the gift of compassion. But we don’t have to live among lepers or engage in hunger strikes to have and use the gift of compassion. Folk who volunteer at the Kennett Food Cupboard or The Bridge food and clothing ministry have the gift of compassion. Writing your congressperson to support increased food aid for the hungry or supporting a friend or loved one through a grueling cancer treatment is also showing compassion.
4. Discernment
Discernment is the God-give ability to sort truth from fiction, to use wisdom to guide decision making and are deeply connected to the Holy Spirit. They have a “gut” or intuition that always seems to be right on target – but it’s more than being a good guesser, it’s being in tune with God’s Spirit. If you have the gift of discernment, people may frequently come to you for advice. Having people with this gift provide input and leadership is crucial to making new ministries and programs succeed. Philip in the book the Acts of the Apostles exhibits the gift of discernment. He is willing to approach
5. Evangelism
Billy Graham, the Gaither family, Michael W. Smith – all these people had the obvious gift of evangelism. They filled stadiums and theaters around the world and shared with them the Good News of Jesus Christ. But evangelists are also people like Mrs. Flanders and Mrs. Cherry, my fourth grade Sunday School teachers, who fervently taught me about the Bible and about Jesus. People with the gift of evangelism show the gospel with their actions and tell it in their speech. Most people with this gift work one on one with others individually or in small groups. They don’t force their faith down the throats of others or beat them about the head with the Bible but gently share Jesus in loving and helpful ways.
6. Exhortation
An exhorter makes you happy to be around them. They are always encouraging, even when sharing a painful reality or truth. They give pep talks that aren’t empty clichés but deep and meaningful insights. They build up, they encourage, they are people whose default in life is set to optimism. The character August Boatwright from the book and movie, “The Secret Life of Bees” is an exhorter. When the young Lilly, a white girl in 1964, tries to find the place where her deceased mother escaped to before she died, she finds the Boatwright home, where three African-American sisters live independently. One sister, May, is consumed with the sadness of the world. Another sister, June, is distrustful of everyone, especially this young white girl who appears on their doorstep. August, however, is open and welcoming. In gentle and encouraging ways she creates a safe place for Lilly to learn about her family and to grow into a young woman.
7. Faith
The gift of faith, as The United Methodist explanation puts it, is “more than a belief in Jesus Christ, but an abiding foundation of confidence that God works all things together for good and that the people of God can rise above any obstacle.” People with the gift of faith are those who seem fearless in their faith; no obstacle, no barrier, no event can shake their belief in God’s redeeming plan for the world. People with the gift of faith make wonderful teachers, small group leaders and mentors to newcomers to the faith. The elders in the church frequently have this gift, that is developed, tried and tested over time.
But we use all of our gifts, ultimately in love, giving glory to God who first loved us through Jesus Christ. In today’s gospel lesson, Jesus talks very clearly and very movingly about holy friendship, about love for one another. We are to love each other – not just fellow believers but all people around us – because Jesus has first loved us. And nowhere do we experience his love more directly than at the Communion Table, during the Lord’s Supper. When we approach this table, we come with all of our burdens, all of our desires, all of our needs. Here, Jesus meets us and loves us with his very body – the bread and the cup nourish us spiritually, emotionally and physically, revealing in our minds and hearts the places we are gifted, so through the gifts we can truly become his body in the world.