All Are Gifted

Isaiah 62:1–5 ESV

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

1 Corinthians 12:1–11 ESV

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Trouble in the Text

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Theological Perspective

First Corinthians is Paul’s impassioned plea for unity in the church. Throughout the letter, Paul responded to a dizzying variety of dissentions, including the manifestation of “spiritual” phenomena in worship and the broader community life. To deal with this issue, Paul stressed the multiplicity and complementary nature of spiritual gifts. All of his intricate rhetorical strategies were intended to counteract self-centered and divisive understandings of spiritual capacities, reframing them in light of the need to edify the entire church.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Theological Perspective

the gifts have a definite purpose: the edification of the entire community. A genuine spiritual gift is not granted to individuals for their own private spiritual delectation.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Theological Perspective

Finally, Paul insists that the work of the Spirit cannot be disassociated from the person of Jesus Christ. Paul reminds the Corinthians that it is the Spirit who enables the confession that Jesus is Lord.

If we are not using our gifts and celebrating the gifts of all people, we fail to adequately profess Jesus as Lord.

Grace in the Text

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Theological Perspective

First, his repetition of the word “gifts” (charismata) makes it clear that the source of any genuine spiritual phenomenon is not the self but the Holy Spirit. Spirituality is not an innate human capacity simply waiting to be activated by a little individual effort. Our piety, no matter how impressive, is not a natural endowment, like an aptitude for playing the piano, or the product of resolute willpower.

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Theological Perspective

Paul emphasizes the sheer variety of these capacities, thereby expanding the concept of “spiritual gift” that he had introduced. As liberation theologians have recognized, this expansion has an egalitarian thrust. All Christians receive gifts, not just an elite few. The Christian life and Christian ministry are not the personal property of an exclusive class of spiritual superheroes. Paul’s extensive list of gifts implies that all of them, not just the sensational ones that attract the most notoriety, are valuable. The specific nature of the gift is no grounds for claims to superiority. The fact that all such gifts are rooted in the same Spirit and serve a common purpose rules out malign calculations of relative value.

Trouble in the World

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, Volume 1 Pastoral Perspective

In today’s society, when someone is called “gifted,” it usually refers to an ability that lifts the individual above the rank and file, implying greater promise and potential for success in that area of expertise or innate talent. The gifts that are affirmed reveal what society values most, such as intellectual prowess, athletic skill, or leadership potential. Paul’s assertion runs counter to that cultural definition: he says that everyone is gifted.

In today’s society, when someone is called “gifted,” it usually refers to an ability that lifts the individual above the rank and file, implying greater promise and potential for success in that area of expertise or innate talent. The gifts that are affirmed reveal what society values most, such as intellectual prowess, athletic skill, or leadership potential. Paul’s assertion runs counter to that cultural definition: he says that everyone is gifted.

It’s easy to say that there is a more important sort of person to have in a church or to say that those gifted in a particular way are the more desirable. But that sort of thinking will be the church’s demise.

Karen Stokes, “Pastoral Perspective on 1 Corinthians 12:1–11,” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year C, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 254.It’s easy to say that there is a more important sort of person to have in a church or to say that those gifted in a particular way are the more desirable. But that sort of thinking will be the church’s demise.

Grace in the World

Just imagine what we can accomplish as a church is we celebrate the value and gifts of all people!