Tag Archives: Gifts

Gifts Differing

Ordinary Time
January 21, 2018

Scripture Reading: Mark 1:14-20

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. –Mark 1:16-20

A friend and I were planning a trip recently.  I had left our last conversation thinking we had reached a decision on our plans and just needed to finalize the reservations and so forth. The first words out of her mouth when we met were that she had received an ad in the mail about a meeting on Sunday where several travel agencies would explore various ideas on vacations. My first response was to say I could not attend because I had a conflict, which was true, but my gut was reacting with thoughts that we did not need any more input. At that point, it dawned on me that her process orientation and my goal orientation were bumping heads. One is not better than the other; both are necessary for good decision making. I am referring to Myers Briggs personality types*. In a nutshell, these types include 16 combinations of eight opposite traits: Introvert/extrovert, sensing/intuitive, thinking/feeling, and goal oriented/process oriented. The idea is that all of these types are necessary for our world but by their very nature they can cause confusion and misunderstanding. Learning about the types builds better understanding of communication.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus selected the twelve disciples that he did? Why Paul carefully taught that there are different gifts and all are important? God created an interdependent world. Synergy ** results when two or more are gathered together to go about the business of doing God’s work. Our investment in learning from one another and learning how to work with one another is directly related to the success of our work in God’s service

Prayer: Creator God, give us insight and wisdom to complement each others talents and skills so they may be used to your glory. Amen.

*For more information see http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-types.htm?bhcp=1

**Briefly the total equals more than the sum of the parts.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.

Gifts Differing

you-belong-serving-Christ-body-churchEpiphany
January 15, 2016

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 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 discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. –1 Corinthians 12:4-11

God intentionally created diversity. One would think that would be the only rationale we need to encourage us, even drive us, to make it work. Diversity has often been described as one of the greatest assets of the USA, if not the greatest asset.

Our scripture today talks about the diversity of talents. Most of us, who have been in the work force since Myers Briggs Personality Types were identified, have been trained to recognize that the workforce needs all sixteen types to flourish with productivity. And yes, that can result in differences of opinion. The fruit of the combined labor comes when people take the time to learn from the viewpoint of the other, put them together, and produce a better outcome. Why can’t we do that, not only in church, but also in government? We seem to prefer to model ourselves after prize fighters who go to and from their designated corners getting more and more battered and bruised until someone lands a knockout blow. It might be good for boxing; it is counterproductive everywhere else.

I don’t know whether If by Rudyard Kipling remains required study in school. It should be. If you haven’t read it for a while or ever, do:

If you can keep your head when all about you
   Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,…

Prayer: Lord, help us keep our collective heads and deal with the issues of our world. Amen.

*See If by Rudyard Kipling at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175772

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized 
Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council 
of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.

Transparent to God

Follow meEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 18, 2015

 Scripture Reading: John 1:43-51

When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’
— John 1:47-51

 What does it mean to you to comprehend that God knows everything about you? Psalm 139:1-6 describes this phenomenon:

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.

 I have what I think is a very strange reaction to the idea that I am transparent to God. I find it very freeing. All that time I invest in trying to be someone I am not is not wasted on God. All the time I invest in running from who I really am is also not wasted on God. Standing before God I am me, warts and all, and it is at that moment that my warts can be honed down and my gifts can be manifested and fulfilled. Of course, that is not just true for me, I believe, it is true for all of God’s children.

I think our scripture today describes Nathanael’s moment of transparency with God. It changed his life forever and his fulfilling his gifts is one of the reasons we know about God today.

Prayer: Lord, as painful as it sometimes can be, I welcome the transparency of our relationship and ask that you strengthen my confidence when you call me to use a gift with which I am not yet comfortable and that you ease my grief when I must give up habits of my heart that are not a part of whom you created me to be. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

What Has the Lord Called you to Do?

TalentsAdvent
December 8, 2014

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
   because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
   to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
   and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
  and the day of vengeance of our God;
   to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
   to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
   the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.— 61:1-3a

Could you make a list like this one? If you have accepted the spirit of God upon you, what have you been anointed to do? It might be a good experience to really stop for a time and think about that. I think God who created each of us instilled in us certain talents. When we are most at home in using those talents, we most likely are in sync with what God has called us to do. The challenge is to recognize our talents, to hone them by study and good use, and to apply them when appropriate.  All of these tasks are easier to say than to do.

I have noticed in my many years of working as a part of various churches, or any organization for that matter, there are people doing things because the things need to be done and nobody else will do them. The problem with that is the person is most liked working in an area where they have limited skills while not doing the things at which they excel. The whole body of Christ suffers when all its members are not working at their full potential.

This week take a few minutes and write your Isaiah 61. The Lord has sent me to . . . .
You might be surprise what your list includes. What are the things that bring you joy even if they are hard to do and may be frustrating? When while you are working do you feel closest to God?

Of course, we all have to do some things that are not our cup of tea but knowing where you are gifted is a good start toward fulfilling your calling.

Prayer: Lord, speak to me. Help me see my passions for service, my skills to address them, and what I need to do to improve them. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

Gifts and Callings

Living in the Spirit
August 14, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. — Romans 11:29 

I keep my car radio set on one of my local National Public Radio stations, which comes on whenever, I start my car. It is about 1.5 miles in one direction to my gym and about 1.5 miles in another direction to my church. (And, yes, I know intrinsically that there is something wrong with driving 1.5 miles to a gym, but I do.) It is rather bizarre what you hear in a 1.5 mile drive. Recently, I got a smidgen of something about humans only using 10 percent of their brains, which I understand has not been verified, but my guess is many of us do not use as fully as we could our gifts and talents.

Paul is challenging us in our scripture today to do just that, use whatever gifts and talents God has given us. He takes the challenge one step further when he indicates that first we all have a calling of God and that both the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Remember the parable of the talents. (Matthew 25:14-30)  Now the word “talent” used in this scripture is a form of money but I think it is also useful in its other meaning. In any case, the boss went on a trip and gave one servant $5 another one $2 and a third one $1 each according to his skills. The first two servants did really well and the boss was happy. The third one fearing his boss, if anything happened to that $1, hid it until the boss returned. The boss was not happy with that.

God expects us to make the most of our gifts and talents and use them to God’s glory. And by the way, I do not think it is a coincidence that this parable immediately precedes the story of the last judgment. You know the one when Jesus said:  “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”

Prayer: God who made us in your image, make us mindful of your gifts and your call to us. Invest us in your service as we invest ourselves in your call. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.