Gifted to give...

Good morning Church,

today, we’re going to continue our sermon series on 1 Corinthians, taking a look at chapter 12 today,

but before we do that,

i thought we can start by getting everyone to do a little exercise with me...

can i invite everyone to take out your phone

and I’m going to go to the mentimeter page, and i need you to answer a question for me...

› <slide on mentimeter>

using your phone, please go to menti.com and click in this code, where I need you to answer this question...

if you need to hide in the bunker because you know what there is going to be a air raid that is coming within the next 30 mins, and you have the chance to go to a bunker, what would you bring to the bunker?

› mentimeter.com

Well, friends, thank you for participating in this little survey that we conducted...

I’m sure most of you brought in things that are useful to help you survive the air raid,

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and not like this family over here, who perhaps inspired by what happened during the circuit breaker last year, over compensated and got too much of one thing and nothing else...

well, the funny thing about us sometimes, is that what is so plainly obvious in the natural, we don’t seem to understand, just because it is regarding the church or spiritual aspects...

<slide>

and this is exactly the issue that was happening here, in the Corinthian church, in this passage of scripture that we are looking at this morning,

as we continue our journey through the 1 Corinthians...

and today’s passage, we are looking at chapter 12, it talks about spiritual gifts...

and just like the bunker analogy which we talked about just now,

in which we were contemplating on what’s necessary to be brought into the bunker to survive an air raid,

things that can sustain us, and allow us to survive and thrive,

here, in this passage, Paul was talking about what were the gifts the spirit had given to the fledgling church in Corinth...

and why did he have to do so?

well, i suppose you would have gathered over the last few weeks, that there were lots of divisions among the members of the Corinthian Church, and there was this general sense of self-centeredness, among the Corinthians...

I suppose you can think of it as they were a victim of their own success, because Corinth was a prestigious cosmopolitan city with many of their inhabitants

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being freed men - former slaves who managed to gain their own freedom, former non-ethnically Roman soldiers who served in the Roman army and managed to get their prestigious Roman citizenship through many years of service as well as many merchants...

people who made it by what they perceived as the works of their own hands...

and therefore, there was a culture of one-up manship and everyone was successful in outdoing each other...

competition was the way of life and their worldview was that of a dog-eat-dog world and I win because you lose...

and so, when these people became Christians, they brought along with them their values and systems together with them into their church...

what resulted was the building of cliques within the church, and there was constant flaunting of knowledge to show they were more matured in the faith…

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flaunting their gifts even in worship services…

trying to show that they were more anointed and more matured through the exercise of their God-given ability...

what an irony!

and Paul wanted to address this...

so this passage wasn’t so much on spiritual gifts per se… but how you make use of them…

and specific to today’s passage, Paul was calling them out for having wrong views and exhibition of the gifts that were provided to the Corinthian Church…

and because Paul loved the church that he planted,

he wanted to give the new church a fighting chance to withstand the wrong ideology and to establish the right values,

so that these terrible behavior and attitude don’t cause the beloved church to be torn down...

so that divisions would not get the better of them and tear them apart...

he wanted to correct their destructive and unhealthy ways of thinking

and specific to today, he wanted them to know what the gifts given to them was for, and how to use them correctly....

and this is what today’s passage is about...

so, knowing the rough background of today’s passage,

let us now read the word of the Lord and draw a few reflections from today’s passage… that’s relevant to us today...

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1 Corinthians 12:1–3 ESV

1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 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.

1 Corinthians 12:4–7 ESV

4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

1 Corinthians 12:12–15 ESV

12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

1 Corinthians 12:16–18 ESV

16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

1 Corinthians 12:19–22 ESV

19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

1 Corinthians 12:23–26 ESV

23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

1 Corinthians 12:31 ESV

31But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

› this is the word of the Lord, <pray><slide>

looking at the scripture for today, i think the first thing that we can gleam from this passage is that we need to remember that our gifts we have are not ours because we are worthy of it, but because God wants to freely give it us...

i mean doesn’t the word gift give the nature of the gift away?

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what do i mean?

doesn’t the very fact that the word to describe the spiritual enablement for the people

being ‘gift’ tell you that it is something that is given to us, and not an entitlement or something we actually gotten because of our own merit?

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after all, if we look at the Greek word for gift, it is χαρισμάτων (Charis-ma-ton) which comes from the word χαρις, often translated into the word grace, which has this idea that something came not because the receiver deserves it or earns it, but it’s purely because of the goodwill of the giver...

for example, you don’t have to pay for the first few minutes you drive your car into a particular car park, because it’s the grace period...

not because it’s something you deserve, but because the car park operator was generous...

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likewise, the gifts that we have,

- the χαρισμάτων - that we and the Corinthians have, are possessed by us,

not because of what we did, or because we earned it, but it’s because of the grace - χαρις - of God, who freely and without obligation gave to us and distributes these gifts to us as God so determines…

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and so, what’s the significance of this?

the significance of that is since we are but stewards of our gifts and they don’t really belong to us and are not part of our identity…

we should be careful not to compare our gifts or be jealous of each others gifts as if they are a trophy or a badge of honour we earned… and to tell other people we have arrived…

but that’s precisely what the Corinthian church members were doing…

that’s why Paul was then telling them

don’t go around flaunting your gifts as if you deserve it, or you earned it!

don’t go round wearing your apostle’s pin, or prophet’s pin, or teacher’s pin, or miracle worker’s pin, or healer pin or tongue speaker pin....

as if that put you on a higher pedestal and expect special treatment because you possess your gifts...

that is such an erroneous view of the gifts of God...

and just because you have a more visible gift doesn’t make you more special than someone who’s gifts are more behind the scene...

In fact, Paul tells us that those gifts that are more behind the scenes, those gifts that may never been seen or acknowledged because they are not honoured in the traditional sense, those that the gifts that we appreciate more in church…

Those that pray behind the scenes, those that help set up our sound systems every Sunday, and manage the zooms, those that help out in admin and check people in every Sunday…

They are no less critical than those that gets seen…

there is no hierarchy of gift in terms of status....

and there’s no hierarchy of the people who possess those gifts…

because we are all the same before God…

we are all sinners turned to saints, saved only by the grace of God…

we all come before the God equally in need of God...

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we “… all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are [equally] justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” (Romans 3:23–24, ESV)

and

“All these [gifts] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Corinthians 12:11, ESV)

not as the individual deserves, but as the Spirit wills...

and the inherent message to us is this...

<slide>

we are but stewards of the gifts that had been given to us...

we should be careful not to accord special privileges to those who have more prominent gifts…

we should not be jealous of other people’s gift…

and we shouldn’t let our gifts become our identity…

and to miss the point is just like a valet driver at a prestigious club which is patronized by members who drives expensive cars,

Bentley, Porsche...

and even though the valet gets to drive those cars,

he doesn’t own the cars…

it would be a ridiculous situation if he starts to think that he is like those people who own those cars and start having a lavish lifestyle like the club members and chock up a huge debt…

buying and paying for things with money he doesn’t have…

because by driving those cars, he starts to think that he owns those cars…

I know it sounds ridiculous…

but that’s precisely what the Corinthian Church was doing...

those who had been gifted in speaking in tongues were doing that in worship....

at the detriment of the worship service…

that’s why Paul urged the congregation in 1 Corinthians 14:19

that if they were going to just use their gifts to elevate themselves, then he would rather they not use their gifts...

<slide>

and he rebuked them that rather than showing maturity, it was actually an act of childishness...

he says in 14.20

“...stop thinking like children...” (1 Corinthians 14:20, NIV)

So the first point for us this morning is this:

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1. Our gifts are a gift from God… and we didn’t earn it...

and i think that reminder is important to us because not only are we now reminded not to be proud of our gifts and try to flaunt it as if it is a badge of honour,

but i think it is quite an important reminder that we are accountable to God on what we do with these gifts, or in other words, how do we exercise these gifts...

and it really goes both ways… and even though we’ve been told not to abuse those gifts, we are also told not to hide those gifts…

and just as how we are cautioned to be careful not to flaunt the gift… we are also warned not to neglect these gifts….

let us go back to the very first three verses… what does it say?

<slide>

1 Corinthians 12:1–3 ESV

1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 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.

and upon a cursory reading, it would seem like verses 2 and 3 seem quite out of place right?

what does being led to mute idols and the assurance that one who claims the fact that “Jesus is Lord” is indeed a child of God have to do with spiritual gifts?

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well, to understand this, you must understand the prevalent worldview of the Greeco-Roman citizens, the people from where the Corinthian Church came from...

For them, they viewed their gods as beings who can be manipulated by men...

and these ways of manipulating them includes the use of powerful objects such as charms and amulets, and sometimes through the chanting of special formulas or incantations…

to control divine powers to fulfill their desires and wants...

and now that they’ve just become Christians,

for some of the Corinthian Christians,

their reaction after conversion was to have this very great fear of falling back into their old ways,

and are perhaps afraid of exercising the gifts that had been given unto them,

especially in the area of tongues because one of the ways in which pagan worshipers control divine powers was through oratory means, which to them was very similar to tongues...

so, with this worldview still very fresh in their minds, they were asking...

how do we know whether we are still saved, how do we know whether what we are practicing is really that of God?

which is why Paul started in this section by saying, anybody who says with conviction that ‘Jesus is Lord’, and truly means it, can only do so because the Holy Spirit is abiding in Him...

in other words, this in itself is already evidence that whoever is able to declare Jesus is Lord, is able to do so, only by the grace of God who empowers Him to do so...

this, we are reminded in Ephesians 2:8-9 which says that

<slide>

"8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

Which tells us that our salvation is not because of something we did, or the merits we have, which far falls short of standard required…

but it is by merits of God, who learned our salvation…

this therefore gives us the very deep assurance that we are the children of God and nothing is able to take us away from His hands...

and further in Romans 8:14-16, we are told that

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"14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God," Romans 8:14–16 (ESV)

And because the Spirit who is God himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God…

you are truly the children of God...

and the gift of life, which God gave you, and the use of the gifts that he gave you, are guided and given by God…

so the encouragement from Paul to the Corinthians and us is… fear not…

go ahead and use your gifts… it is from God… not of the pagan idols that you used to worship...

and in case you miss it, let me double-confirm you got the point… which is that the very fact that Paul talks about our identity in Christ or our relationship with God, tells us that there is a very close relationship between our relationship with God (which is a gift) and the gifts of the spirit

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This, we can see, if we look at verses 4 to 6 which says

"4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone." 1 Corinthians 12:4–6 (ESV)

and examine them carefully,

you will discover that this is an anaphoric progression...

these phrases are repeated with slight variances to emphasis a point....

i think it’s more obvious in the original language, which is Greek

look at this...

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"4 Διαιρέσεις δὲ χαρισμάτων εἰσίν, τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα·

5 καὶ διαιρέσεις διακονιῶν εἰσιν, καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς κύριος·

6 καὶ διαιρέσεις ἐνεργημάτων εἰσίν, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς θεός,

ὁ ἐνεργῶν τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν." (1 Corinthians 12:4–6, LGNTI:SBL)

and if we remove all the repeated words,

and look only at the words that are changed with slight variant,

we realise that gift, service and work are used in the synonymous sense…

just like how spirit, Lord and God, are used in the synonymous sense in the second part of each stanza...

and the point is this…

gifts that are given to us, because of the close relationship with God,

and are given to us to be used by us to serve or perform our work ordained by God...

and this work, as the last part of the verse explains to us, is empowered by God, are to be used according to God’s distribution and hence will, and is the continuation of the work that God is already doing in this world...

let me try that again...

the gifts that had been given to us, is not meant to be used by us in any random manner,

but is meant to be exercised in a way that is consistent with our identity and status as children of God...

to continue the work that Jesus started, which is to reconcile the world back to God and build up the community of God!

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it is as is written in verse 7, given for “the common good”

and how is this to be exercised?

it is through our close and constant connection that we, the body of Christ have with the head of the body who is Christ Himself!

I mean, remember that we are the body of Christ… and Christ is the head…

This is what Colossians 1.18 tells us…

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we are not the body of ourselves, and verse 12 reminds us that we are

“…one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13, ESV)

which tells us that we all belong to Christ our head, and unless we continue to listen to our head who is Christ and draw strength from Spirit, who is the Holy Spirit,

<slide>

we will all be running around doing our own things like headless chicken...

i mean have you seen a headless chicken before?

if you’ve never been to survival school before, or went to a wet market before NTUC became so prevalent,

i remember in the past when you bought a chicken, you went to the market and bought a chicken that would be clucking and alive and you had to prepare it at home, in your kitchen...

and one of the most unplesant task you had to do to prepare the chicken was to literally decapitate the head in one swift move...

and i remember one incident the chicken will still be flapping its wings and running around the kitchen until it eventually run out of energy....

it sure was making lots of movement, but wasn’t doing very much in terms of productivity or effectiveness...

and that is the picture of us, the church, we don’t continually being connected to our head and drinking from the spirit and working together...

we will be doing lots of movement, lots of program, lots of running, lots of energy expended and lots of feathers (and perhaps feathers ruffled), but not really doing anything that is effective or perhaps not even God-honouring...

<slide>

and so, the second point that I would like to share from today’s passage is this:

2. We need to exercise our gifts carefully, according to God’s will

and perhaps a related point is this...

note in verses 15-17 it says:

<slide>

1 Corinthians 12:15–17 ESV

15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

and the point is this:

<slide>

3. Everyone needs to exercise their gift...

Isn’t it obvious from the verses?

here we have the ridiculous portion that tells us that there are certain parts of the body of Christ that for one reason or another, refuse to take part in the bodily activities...

But Paul’s point is this… everybody is part of the body regardless you want to be part of it or not...

as long as you’re a Christian, you are part of the body of Christ...

and we all know what’s it like to have pins and needles in our foot if we’ve sat in the wrong position for a long period of time right?

and can you imagine how ridiculous it is if the foot refuses to work and you have to move around dragging your feet.... (no pun intended)

and sometimes that is the picture of the church, because some parts refuse to be part of activities of God…

and if your counter argument is this...

no lah…

My gift is so insignificant, it wouldn’t make much difference in the kingdom of God lah...

<slide>

Paul says in verse 22 that

1 Corinthians 12:22 ESV

22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

less prominent or less used doesn’t mean it is useless my friends...

everyone of us needs to play our part in the kingdom of God...

sometimes, your so-called less prominent gift may be the very gift that is needed at the point of time and is the one that makes world of the difference when called upon...

I mean can you imagine you bringing all your canned food to a campsite and forgetting a less prominent tool called can opener?

<slide>

or how about i illustrate with the B-17 Flying Fortress, one of the most iconic aircraft in WWII that perhaps was critical in turning the European theatre around...

https://www.azcaf.org/plane/b17g-flying-fortress/

This was a relatively small plan by modern day standard,

had a crew of 10 people...

2 pilots, one person who operated the radio, one navigator, one flight engineer, 4 gunners, and one bombardier...

out of all these crew positions, all of them had to do their job at most phases of flight except for one person…

the bombardier, or the one who actually dropped the bomb...

he only did his job so to speak for only a few minutes out of an 8-hour flight....

but i’m sure you’ll not think that his job is redundant right?

I mean, what’s the point of flying 4 hours, fighting through heavily defended airspace, well into the enemy territory, and not have your bombardier with you?

if you can’t bomb the target, what’s the use of calling your plane a bomber aircraft?

someone who does his work perhaps 2% of the time doesn’t make him useless...

and the encouragement is this...

everyone of us need to exercise our giftings...

no matter how small a role you play, or how small a role you think you play...

friends, we are on a mission here...

a mission that had been started by God and we all need to be involved...

there are no passengers in this flight, friends...

everyone needs to be involved and we need all hands on deck...

come, exercise your gifts and let us all do our part as part of the body of Christ, to fulfill his great work in this world and reconcile the world back to him...

and i urge you whoever you are to come and get on-board and serve in the church in the various ministries we have…

using your gifts..

whether it’s ushering, or worship leading or musicians, praying, outreach, whatever...

let us exercise our god-given gift to partner God in his work on this world for the common good in this world...

let us remember that <slide>

1. Our gifts are a gift from God… and we didn’t earn it…(which means we shouldn’t boast about it)

2. We need to exercise our gifts carefully, according to God’s will (and not according to our own devices)

and

3. Everyone needs to (get involved by exercising) their gifts… (no excuse, no passengers)

amen...