ver.: 06 June 2008
The ultimate gift from God makes its most dramatic appearance in Job. After all the tumult that takes place between Job and his accusers, God the Almighty steps forward -- with all that awe-full power and majesty stuff that theological-types call 'theophany'. The key to the satisfaction found in the book's end is that it is God who is present; in a sense, almost like God was aroused from bed, wearing clouds as a hastily-grabbed bathrobe. No, not some angel on God's behalf, nor a pillar of fire. **GOD**! That alone can satisfy Job's plea, that alone can be reason to get repentance from Job, a most righteous man. In like manner, Moses at the burning bush -- neither bush nor flame nor mountain nor Moses were key to how important it was. God's presence is. The definitive expression of that presence was Jesus, who is 'immanu 'el (God with us), the original Christmas gift. In the Bread and Wine, we celebrate that Jesus is among us. The Father and the Son have each given the gift of their presence in some special way. Wherever they are, the Spirit is at work drawing us into it.
The gifts of God's presence and the freedom it creates are related to 'saving grace', the gift that rescues us from sin and sets us right before God. But when we speak of 'spiritual gifts' or 'charismata', we are speaking of a different kind of gift. They do not -- CANNOT -- mark salvation. These gifts are given not to save, but to empower the saved. They flow from what happened in baptism, as yet another way that what happened in baptism keeps happening in us for every new day.
Christian freedom is a gift, through the gospel, saving us from slavery to self and bondage to the alienating and destructive powers of sin. The sense of freedom which comes with the gospel, the feeling that one gets, the confidence of action which can come with it, are all 'feelable' gifts which show in our actions and our character.
The Holy Spirit can make new gifts for new situations. The gifts may grow
the faith of the one with the gift, or people they meet in life. The gifts may enrich the body of believers or society as a whole. Gifts of
witness and discovery, of change and stability. The Spirit is sovereign, and will give out gifts
as the Spirit wills it. The Spirit will do what is needed to further the
divine purposes even if it is not what we would expect or demand, and even
if it has never been done that way before. Even though Paul gave us rather
lengthy gift lists, I suspect he'd be the first to say that there are more gifts than he or anyone else could count.
"God is more anxious to bestow his blessings
on us than we are to receive them."
--------- Augustine of Hippo
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We may wish to have certain gifts and even ask for them (1 Corinthians 12:31 : "But eagerly desire the greater gifts"; Romans 1:10-12, where Paul says he prays for the Roman congregation to have gifts, and in part to use them to build up Paul himself once he arrived). But if it is not the will of the Holy Spirit, we will not get what we ask for. When we pray for gifts, we ask, not demand, and we accept what gifts we are or aren't given as being what the Holy Spirit wants for us.
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"To St. Paul, the Church of Christ does not
appear as some administrative organization, but as a living, organic ensemble
of gifts, charisms, and services. The Holy Spirit is given to all Christians,
and to each one in particular; and he in turn gives to each and every one
gifts and charisms 'which differ according to the grace bestowed upon us'
(Romans 12:6)." |
The Holy Spirit is free to give and to take the gift back and to give it again; the Spirit is in full authority over the gift itself. The Holy Spirit may come upon us to give healing to someone at a certain time. Then the gift may be gone. If we're working with the Spirit, the gift may come often, or be present at all times. Sometimes we're afraid and don't step forward, but that will stop the gift from helping anyone. The Spirit does not seize control to make sure we use the gift; we're given responsibility for its use. There are many ministers who are given the gift of speaking or teaching or pastoral care, but they spend their time on trips or meetings or on being a CEO instead. They make bad choices that hold back their gifts, hampering what the Spirit is trying to do with their lives. Your gift may not be what you think or hope it is. There are strong signs saying 'NO' that some people just blow right past. You may want to be an evangelist, but lose your bearings when you don't see any results in a short time. You may try to be a pastor, but other peoples' problems leave you a blubbering mess. You may want to be a counselor, but you find yourself constantly trying to be a fix-it. You may want to be a theologian, but you let doubts or agendas rule you instead of God. If that's happening, your gifts probably aren't what you think they are, and you need to get intense with God to find out what they really are. |
You're not responsible for the gifts you don't have, only for the gifts God gave you. So don't feel guilty about it, and don't let others make you feel guilty about it. Your job is to use the gifts you have and to be part of the community of support for those who have other gifts.
Most Christian churches have a poor track record of encouraging each
other to seek gifts and encourage members to use their gift for the
mission(s) of the Church. We've talked a much
better game than we've played. Church leaders need to tell the flock that
these gifts are available to them. God not only commissions his followers
by giving them a task or calling; God also empowers them with the
spiritual gifts they need to carry out that calling. Indeed, church leaders
are supposed to be those who manifest a Spirit-led life, as a person and
as part of the body of believers. Some of what plagues today's church leaders
may be happening because they depend on their own collective strength to run the Church instead
of a more radical dependence upon God.
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Because they are given to all who believe, gifts are not proof that someone is more 'spiritual' than others, or that someone is 'saved'. There may be an openness to a particular gift, but there may not be not an openness to the Giver, nor to those who may be built up by the gift's use. One must trust the Holy Spirit to dole out the gifts as needed. Each gift has its own ways to be used. The gift may create special responsibilities (as for, say, a prophet or a priest), but usually the responsibility is for the godly exercise of the gift.
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"The Holy Spirit not only unites us, but also ensures our infinite
diversity in the Church: at Pentecost the tongues of fire were 'cloven'
or divided, descending separately upon each one of those present.
The gift of the Spirit is a gift to the Church, but it is at the same time
a personal gift, appropriated by each in her or his own way." |
Jesus told us that we will be known by our fruits. The fruits he spoke of were acts of love and a Godly character, not specific manifestations. There are so many gifts, and so many ways to put them to use for the church and its mission, that no one gift, no one sign, and no one calling defines us. The Giver does. If you look at any one gift that way, you're putting a limit on the sovereign Spirit in a way that Scripture never does. The gifts bear the fruit. As spiritual gifts are given to all who believe in Christ, something strange happens. Priests, pastors, scholars, theologians, and leaders are no longer the sole rivers for the flow of God's grace. The Spirit gives just plain folks the power to give the love and grace of God to each other, and to create (or better, recognize) sacred space here in this world. (This was always true, but the Church of the past had usually forgotten it.) Faithful people do this every day in tough circumstances, when and where something happens to reveal where the real hope is found. Yes, it sometimes seems weirdly superstitious and merely coincidental, but real spiritual meaning may lay beneath the superstitious surface, and people of faith don't believe in coincidence. |
Gifts don't make us superhuman. They're given to humans as they are,
or perhaps as God is leading them to become. The gifts are given to each
person individually, but they are given because that person is a part
of a people. They are given for that people, the Body of believers in Christ,
because they are part of a redeemed creation -- a Kingdom of God. The gifts
will be given as needed until that Kingdom is fully in place, at which time partial and 'sort-of' things such as the spiritual gifts will no longer be needed
because we'll have the full, real thing.
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"We ask you, O Lord, for the gifts of your
Spirit...........
Teach us to overcome divisions.
Send us your Spirit
to lead to full unity your sons and daughters
in full charity, in obedience to your will,
Through Christ our Lord. Amen."
-------- from *Litany for Christian Unity*, Pope John Paul
II. © Crossroads Publishing Co.
"I found that I believed in the action of
the Holy Spirit, but in a limited sphere; in me the Spirit could not call
forth from the organ all the melody he wished; some of the pipes did not
function, because they had not been used."
--------- Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens, *A New Pentecost*
(Crossroad/Seabury, 1975)
"The Spirit bears witness. Ecstasy and enlightenment,
inspiration and intuition are not necessary. Happy is the man who is worthy
of these; but woe unto us if we wait for such experiences; woe unto us if
we do not perceive that these things are of secondary importance."
--------- Karl Barth (attrib.)
"Man discovers his own wealth
when God comes to asks gifts of him."
--------- Rabindranath Tagore, *Fireflys* (1928)
"Fellowship among the spiritually-gifted
people exists because of their common possession of the one gift, Jesus
Christ. Christ himself is the one who really 'has' the spiritual gifts.....
As head of the body, he is the source and bearer of all spiritual gifts.
They function at his behest."
-------- Edmund Schlink (*The Coming Christ and the Churchly
Traditions*, p. 164 in the German edition)
"God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called."
-------- unknown; found online
Let thy living Spirit flow
through thy members all below
with its warmth and power divine;
Scattered far apart they dwell
yet in ev'ry land, full well,
Lord, thou knowest who is thine.
-------- 'Jesus, Whom Thy Church Doth Own', by Gerhard Terstegen,
transl. Catherine Winkworth.)
More pages on gifts and faith :
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