What Are Your Spiritual Gifts?
- davidwperk
- Oct 12, 2023
- 5 min read
Devotional Reflection, Thursday, October 12. 2023
Proper 22, the nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:
4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
You will find the full text of today’s epistle reading at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 986)
AM Psalm 131, 132, [133]; PM Psalm 134, 135
2 Kings 23:4-25; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; Matt. 9:18-26
Today we celebrate the Feast of Edith Cavell . (See below.)
David's Reflections
In verse 1, Paul says, "Now concerning spiritual gifts." Wherever that phrase “now concerning” occurs in 1 Corinthians, Paul is answering questions posed by the Corinthians in a letter they had sent him (See 7:1, 8:1). We are not clear about what lay behind Paul's statements in verses 2-3 (see below). But, verses 4-11 are much easier to decipher.
Verse 7 reveals what God seeks to do through the giving of spiritual gifts to individuals within the church. "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." God blesses each of us with spiritual gifts to benefit the Christian community. God’s gifts do not come to give us some sort of thrill or spiritual experience.
A spiritual gift put simply is some sort of enablement from God that builds up the church. A soloist with a modest voice might move a congregation closer to God than someone with much more natural ability who lacks the gift of encouragement or inspiration. A spokesperson with modest abilities might give a sermon much more uplifting that someone with gifts of rhetoric and oratory who lacks God’s spiritual gift of prophecy.
There are numerous lists of gifts in several places in the New Testament and no two lists are alike. God's Spirit enables us to worship and serve, and we cannot begin to imagine all the ways the Spirit does that. The lists in the New Testament are not exhaustive or closed.
I would ask you what your spiritual gifts might be, and how are you using them to benefit the Christian community? Those are not the same as your natural talents, although a natural talent given over to God becomes a spiritual gift. Rather, your spiritual gifts might be "add ons" to your genetically determined abilities, enablements given you by God that are not based in your natural talent or ability.
You might discover your gifts by reflecting on the forms of service you find most fulfilling. You might discover them by recalling the areas in which you’ve known the greatest fruitfulness or for which you have received the most constant affirmation. Whatever those gifts might be, God has graced you with them for the benefit of others, especially for the undergirding and upbuilding of your faith community.
Spiritual gifts come to us just as the term implies, gifts of God’s love and grace. We do not achieve them; we receive them. Our role—welcome whatever God seeks to awaken within us. See Clark Pinnock’s prayer to the Spirit below.
Collect of the Day, Proper 22 The nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 234)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Edith Cavell, nurse and martyr (died 12 Oct 1915 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Edith Cavell
Living God, the source of all healing and wholeness: we bless you for the compassionate witness of your servant Edith Cavell. Inspire us to be agents of peace and reconciliation in a world beset by injustice, poverty, and war. We ask this through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, to the ages of ages. Amen.
Prayer to the Spirit.
Welcome Holy Spirit, come and set us free! Let each one catch the living flame and be ravished by your love! Let our souls glow with your fire. Help us overcome our forgetfulness of Spirit. [Clark H. Pinnock, Flame of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit (Downer's Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1996), p. 9.].
For stewardship of creation
O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and grant that we, remembering the account that we must one day give, may be faithful stewards
of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 259)
A Prayer for Light
O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 280)
Daily Office Epistle, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
12:1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
Daily Offices in The Book of Common Prayer
Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer
Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer
Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer
Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer
Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer
Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer
Comments