Christmas wasn’t that long ago, and many of us can still remember how special it
felt to get gifts from our loved ones, whether family or friends. What are some
of your favourite gifts that you received, and were you able to give people you
love special gifts too? God loves to give us gifts too! Just like the people
like to pick out just the right gift for you so that you’ll love them and use them,
so God loves to give us gifts that are spiritual and fit who we are, gifts that
we can use. Spiritual gifts and abilities given to us by the Holy Spirit to
help us for ministry, to bless the church, and to help others come to know the
good news of salvation through Jesus. The best thing about God’s gifts is that
they don’t wear out, in fact they get better as we use them, and they can’t be
taken away from us by anyone else. God gives us these gifts to help us know him
better and to become more like Jesus as we use them.
The fun part of being given these spiritual gifts from
God is discovering which gifts we have and how we can use
them to serve others. You can take a spiritual gifts test, or talk to your
friends and other people that you respect and ask them what gifts they see in
you. Then try using them. Sometimes it’ll come really easy and you’ll go ‘wow,’
and sometimes you’ll try them and see that you’ll need to work on growing your
gift, and sometimes you’ll find out that you don’t really have a gift in that
area, but that’s alright too, the important part is trying. Our gifts are not
to make life easier for us, but to be used for others and for God.
Why is it important to know our gifts and use them? Peter reminds us that Jesus is coming back again as
king over everything and everyone. Jesus returned home to heaven after being
resurrected from the dead, dying on the cross so that our sins are washed away.
Peter wants us to be ready for when Jesus comes back. Jesus said we should
always be ready because he’ll come like a thief in the night when no one’s
expecting him, but God doesn’t want anyone to be lost, so he’s patient in
sending Jesus back so everyone will have an opportunity to know Jesus. Peter wants
Jesus’ church to be ready and strong, praying for each other and for all people
to come to accept Jesus as their Lord. We’re using our gifts to build our
church on Jesus and his teachings and life. Prayer’s a powerful gift from God
to help us in this.
Part of being ready is learning to live with love for
each other. Peter tells us that love
covers a multitude of sins. We hear an echo to the cross where Jesus’
love for us takes him to the cross where he dies to wash away our sin. What
amazing love! Jesus tells us in John
15:12, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved
you.” Love strengthens our gifts: we receive gifts from God because he loves
us, and he wants us to use our gifts in love to bless others, to help them see
God’s love through how we use our gifts, especially when we forgive them when
they do something wrong against us. We forgive them out of love like Jesus did.
We pray to God to forgive them and help us to forgive them like Jesus, because
this helps us to build strong relationships with each other. I see this
happening every Friendship evening as you pray for each other and with each
other, showing love, God’s love to each other, using your gifts of prayer, a
really special time.
Part of love is showing hospitality to each other without grumbling. Hebrews 13:2 reminds us, “Do not forget to show hospitality to
strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without
knowing it.” Hebrews is talking about when Abraham invited 3
strangers to eat supper with him and his wife Sarah. After they ate, it turned
out that 2 of the strangers were angels and the third person was the Lord! This
is why Paul reminds us in Romans 12:13 to “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice
hospitality.” We never know when we might need to help someone
out by inviting them to have a meal with us, or even providing them with a room
and bed for a night or two. Hospitality is a spiritual gift that God gives some
of us. This gift is rooted in love that comes from God, caring about each other
and even strangers.
Now Peter tells us, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received
to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If
anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If
anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all
things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the
power for ever and ever. Amen.” We’re all called
to use our gifts to serve others, and by serving each other, we’re sharing
God’s
grace with them. Jesus tells a parable about a king
giving his servants talents to use while he went away. He was excited about the
servants who used his talents and even made more, but he was angry at the one
who did nothing, and so he kicked him out.
The Holy Spirit has given a lot of different kinds of
gifts to the church because the church has so many different
kinds of people. There are many different types of people in the world, so one
kind of gift isn’t enough. Yet even though the gifts are different, they all
come from the same Holy Spirit, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:4–7, “There are different kinds of gifts, but
the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the
same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in
everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one the manifestation of the
Spirit is given for the common good.”
Some of the gifts the Holy Spirit gives are the gifts
of teaching, showing mercy, wisdom,
helping others, praying, encouragement, hospitality, giving, and lots more. The
Holy Spirit gives each one of us gifts, there’s no one who doesn’t have a gift.
My brother Glennie never spoke, never walked, he could smile and make different
sounds for each one of us. But happiness was his gift, every time he saw you,
he smiled and reached out to you.
Our gifts are not about making us look better, or to use for ourselves, they’re meant to be used to
bless the church, to bless others, and to bring glory to God. When we use our
gifts the way that God wants us to, we bring glory to God, and other people
praise God through Jesus. When we use our gifts, we’re doing ministry for God,
meaning that we’re all ministers! All Christians have things they can do in
church or community for Jesus. We’re not called to simply receive the blessings
of other people’s service, we’re also called to use our gifts and then, as Paul
shares with us in Ephesians 4:16, “From him the whole body, joined and held together by
every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part
does its work.” The other wonderful
thing about using our gifts is that using them for God’s work, it brings us
joy, knowing that it pleases God. When we use our gifts to serve others, we
should do it with confidence that we’re doing it for God and it makes the
church stronger.
For us to use our gifts in healthy ways, we need to stay connected to Jesus. Jesus uses the
image of a vine and branches in John 15:5–9, “I
am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will
bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me,
you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked
up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in
you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s
glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. “As the
Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.” So, as
we leave from here, go knowing that God has given each of you gifts to use to
serve others and to build his kingdom. As we work together using our gifts, we’re
able to accomplish much more than on our own. May you continue to discover new
gifts that you’ve been given, new ways of serving and loving the Lord and each
other.
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