A Rock-Solid Life... Gifted by God's Spirit

Living Stones

We’re finishing up our series looking at a rock solid life based on 1 Peter 2:5a. Over the last 3 weeks we’ve looked at how we weather the storms of life as living stone followers of Christ. We’ve been encouraged from 1 Peter to be in a spiritual home, to do good, and to endure trials.

Today, on Pentecost Sunday, we’ll move to another passage to look at how we are gifted by God’s Spirit.

Gifts

Can you recall your favorite gift? Maybe it was a Christmas present, birthday gift, anniversary trip, wedding gift, or baby shower present?

Thinking of the gift? Okay, on the count of 3, go ahead and shout it out: 1…2…3!

I bet the kids upstairs are going to be wondering why the adults are so loud. Well, those all sound like great gifts, and I’m sure you loved them and have many memories of playing with them, using them, or seeing them on display.

Can you remember who gave it to you? We may be able to say Santa or parents for several gifts. As kids, we can often skip right over the tag or card and head straight to pulling the tissue paper out of the gift bag or tearing into the wrappings! Can you remember what it was like to rip open the wrapping paper? That feeling of anticipation. What’s it gonna be?

The moment of elated tension that can either grow into a shout of, “YES!!! JUST WHAT I WANTED!!!” or into a meltdown of let down?

I recall several presents I received as a kid, but there’s one I remember really well. I even remember who gave it to me. It was my birthday, and one of my best friends gave me a gift. I’m not sure how old I was, but probably between 7 and 9. I remember that feeling of anticipation as I tore the tape off, as I ripped the wrapping paper, as light fell on the letters on the box. Ker-Plunk. Sadly that was both the name of the gift and my reaction. Oh, did I melt down. Considering all I remember of this, I really don’t know why I was this upset over this particular present. I mean, I was all about some Lego (and still am!), so maybe I was upset that I got a marble game instead of a Lego set. But it was a thoughtful, kind gift from my friend! I should have been grateful even if it was socks!

Now I feel like I need to tell you several more stories about gifts I’ve received over the years, ones where I didn’t react so poorly, where I showed gratitude and appreciation! Let me just say that I learned a lot. I ended up loving that game, and I remember playing it many times during my childhood. One gift we received more recently was a wedding gift from my grandmother. That version of me who was displeased with Ker-Plunk would never believe how excited I was about this Crock Pot! I was so excited about it, I even convinced Maegan to let me go ahead and open it and try it out.

That. Was a mistake.

As I was pulling the slow cooker out of the box, I didn’t realize the box was upside down. Nor did I realize the slow cooker was upside down. Well, not until the crash. The crash and shatter of the glass lid on the kitchen floor. Even without the lid, that crockpot served us well for many years (aluminum foil always works in a pinch)!

Recently, Maegan and I visited my brother’s house for the first time. As he gave us the tour, we kept noticing the gifts we have given him on display around the house: a nice wooden cutting board, a James Spann book, a print of the Birmingham skyline. So many of the gifts we’ve given him were in use, were placed where he and his guests could see and appreciate them.

When we gave him these items, and when others give you gifts, there is an expectation and anticipation that, as the receiver, he would (or you will) enjoy, use, and appreciate the gift.

We may be disappointed when we vist a friend and see the birthday gift we gave them months ago still in the gift bag with yellowing tissue paper. Imagine going to dinner at your newly married friends’ new apartment. Maybe months have passed, nearly a year, and you gave them a set of dishes as an engagement present. Yet after you offer to help set out the dishes, you open the cabinet to find the unopened box of dishes (from their registry). Your gift still sitting in styrofoam, gathering dust. In that moment you might move beyond disappointment and consider repossessing them and returning them to Target!

In thinking about these scenarios, I wonder what we do with the gifts God gives us. Specifically, what do we do with the spiritual gifts God has given to us? Do we leave them in the box, gathering dust? Do we prefer to play with the wrappings—popping the spiritual bubble wrap? Do we get angry that we didn’t get the gift we wanted? Or do we even know what to do with these gifts, like how to use them, what their purpose is? Let’s look now to 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 to see how Paul instructs the church at Corinth to use their spiritual gifts. Add info about the scripture being on the PPT slide or in their Bible (mention version) or on the guide when they text HERE. Give them time to find it.

Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. One Body with Many Parts 12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2015), 1 Co 12:1–13.

This is the word of God for the people of God, and we say, Thanks be to God.

The Context of Corinth

If we were to sum up the church at Corinth in one word, I’d say they were confused. If given a second word, I’d add conflicted. Throughout the letter, Paul says, “regarding your questions” and “let there be no division among you.” While we don’t have their letter to Paul, his response seems to focus on settling debate and division, which was apparently fed by a sense of spritual arrogance. So throughout the letter Paul works to correct the Corinthians.

One area of spiritual smugness was in the practice of spiritual gifts. So to correct the divisions, Paul appeals to unity of the giver of spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit, with the Trinity. Notice he doesn’t invoke the theology text book doctrine of the Trinity—rather he says in 12:3, “No one speaking by the Spirit will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.” So how is this appealing to the Trinity? Paul is saying here that the Spirit, as part of the same Triune God as the Son, cannot speak against himself. It’s like the famous Abraham Lincoln “a house divided against itself cannot stand” quote, which is actually a quotation of Jesus from Matthew 12:22-28. In Matthew, Jesus answers accusations that he is using demonic power to cast out demons and work miracles by stating, if I’m fighting the demonic powers using demonic powers, then the demonic powers will fall. “But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.” (Mt 12:28). Back to Paul’s argument, if someone claims to speak for God stating that God (the Spirit) claims Jesus (God the Son) is cursed, then that person is not speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, by the same logic, Paul is arguing that the Spirit has one proclamation: Jesus is Lord. If you’re following along with the outline, this is our first point. We are gifted by God’s Spirit with one proclamation, that Jesus is Lord. The Triune God works in unity; therefore, He has one message as He works out his mission and plan. Theologian Millard Erickson writes, “The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son. His work is the expression and execution of what the three of them have planned together. There is no tension among their persons and activities.” (Erickson, 264).

When we think about the giver who gave us a gift, usually the gift is not something that is out of character for the giver. Imagine you were to give a good friend who is diabetic a gift basket of candies, cakes, and sugary sodas—that could be deeply unappreciated, the opposite of kind, and frankly an insulting gift. I mean, there are prank gifts and then there’s this. This gift would speak rather poorly of you, at least casting you as insensitive to health and dietary preferences. Or, if I were a deeply committed vegetarian, would I be a good giver to give my fellow vegetarian friends Omaha Steaks giftcards? A few of you and Ron Swanson from Parks & Recreation may think yes, but...This sort of gift giving would certainly reflect a tension in my personal ethical views and my activities. With God, there can be no such tension. So any gift of the Spirit will work to advance the mission of God, and therefore allign with the Spirit’s message that Jesus is Lord.

For the Common Good

Additionally any gift of the Spirit will work in unity with God’s purpose. So the second thing we need to notice is that we are gifted by God’s spirit with one purpose: To help each other (V7). So if you’re following along, point 2 on the outline is gifted by God’s with one purpose: To help each other. Spiritual gifits, as the NIV translates the latter half of verse 7, are “given for the common good.” Apparently some among the Corinthians felt that the purpose of the gifts was not for the common good, but for their own gain or glory. God does not give one the gift of teaching to glorify the teacher, but to edify the church. God does not give the gift of evangelism to make the evangelist well known, but to spread wide the good news that Jesus is Lord. God does not give the gift of hospitality to make the host or hostess well liked, but to welcome the stranger, the visitor, the seeker into the family of God.

What does this have to do with us? Well, it is a reminder to us that first, the gifts are to be used, not hoarded or kept in the box. Second, the gifts are not just for you or me individually, but for the community. So if you know how you are gifted, consider how you can use it for the good of this spiritual community, as well as the larger community whether that looks like our town, your neighborhood, your workplace, or your own home. If you are unsure how you are gifted, begin spending some time in prayer and Scripture. Pray that God would show you how He intends to use you, what in ways you sense His leading. Then look for ways to join his mission, serving in the church or serving and ministering outside these walls.

If you have siblings, did you ever receive a group gift? Something that was not just for you, and you were required to share it? Or did you ever get something that was intended for a sibling project you all had to work on together? What about a gift that you had to use to help your sibling? Let’s say your parents gave you a computer, but the caveat was you had to use it to help tutor your little sister for at least 30 minutes before you were allowed to use it?

So we’re gifted by God’s Spirit with one proclamation and one purpose. We see a unity of the Spirit and his ___________________________________________

Let’s back up a moment. Paul continues to show the unity of the Spirit in verses 4-6. While there are many gifts, there is one giver, the Holy Spirit. There are many forms of ministry or service, but they are all done to serve the same God. There are many ways in which God works, but the same God is at work in each of us. See the pattern here? Many gifts, one Giver. Many ministries, one Ministered to. Many works, but one Worker. Why so much repetition of many? Why many gifts, ministries, and works? Because there are diverse needs and members within the church, and God knows who needs what. God, through his Spirit gives us the gifts we each need in order to minister in different ways to very different people with very different needs. Each of us in this room has some of the same basic needs, but we all have different struggles, temptations, and trials.

Therefore, to some God gives the ability to minister in a special way through offering wise advice—which is used appropriately by advising wisely those in need of it. To some God gives the ability to minister through a message of special knowledge—this is meant to be shared, perhaps one on one, perhaps to the whole congregation, depending on who needs that word. Whether the gift God gives is healing, faith, performing miracles, prophesy, discernment, or tongues, the point is not so much the gift, rather it is the need within the community that the gift is given to meet. That’s the ministry of the Holy Spirit working through and among the people of God.

Just as the gifts and needs they’re given to address are diverse, so are the people of God. In V12, Paul uses the example of the body’s diverse parts making up one human body.

Gifted by God’s Spirit with one proclamation: Jesus is Lord (v3)

Gifted by God’s Spirit with one purpose: To help each other (v7)

Gifted by God’s Spirit through diverse gifts for diverse needs to diverse members. (4-6, 8-10, 12)

The spiritual gifts are where the Holy Spirit’s unity within the Trinity works through the Church’s diversity of gifts, needs, and members.