Series: Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gift
#1: The Purpose of Spiritual Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:1,4-12,27-31a and Romans 12:3-9a
By John Gill ~ June 4, 2023

Last Sunday was Pentecost Sunday, the day in the Church year we remember the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, giving birth to the Church. It was certainly an ecstatic “mountaintop” spiritual experience for the followers of Jesus – but it was more than that. It was a transformational moment in their lives. When the Holy Spirit fell upon them, their doubts and fears were gone, and they became courageous, boldly preaching the Truth of the Gospel that “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Cor. 5:19), and that trusting in Jesus, our sins are forgiven, we live in communion with God, and are assured of our salvation. The Good News of Pentecost is that the outpouring of God’s Spirit is still available to each of us as we open ourselves to receiving God’s Gift of faith and assurance.

It would have been enough that God grants us fellowship with Him through His Holy Spirit. However, there is more that takes place when the Holy Spirit falls upon us. Not only does God grant us the assurance of our salvation and boldness in our faith, God’s Spirit equips each person with a unique set of “Spiritual Gifts” – talents and abilities we can use to advance The Kingdom of God as we live as disciples.

For the summer and fall, I have decided to focus our sermons on the many and varied “gifts” the Holy Spirit gives to those on whom God’s Spirit falls. As we go through the Gifts one-by-one, you will find that some resonate with you more powerfully than others. The goal of the series is to help each of us identify which of the Gifts the Holy Spirit has poured into our lives – our “gift-mix” – that we can then put to use as we live into our calling as followers of Christ. Today and next Sunday, we will focus in a general way on the Spiritual Gifts before we take them one by one. I hope you will make it a point to be in worship (or listen online) throughout this important sermon series. So, let’s begin:

The “Spiritual Gifts” (also referred to as the “Charismatic Gifts”) are sometimes seen as being controversial in the Church. The word “charismatic” has become problematic for many people. When I was younger, the “Charismatic” movement was sweeping across many denominations, including some of the congregations my father served as pastor. Within many congregations in the 1970s, there were two factions: those who were “charismatic” and those who were not. The “charismatics” often considered themselves “more holy” than those who were not – and the “non-charismatics” looked with suspicion on those who were “charismatic” and spoke in tongues and prayed for exorcism of demons as being religious kooks. Not unlike the Church in Corinth in our New Testament – but more about that later.

As a teen, the Church my father served was somewhat divided in this way. My father and I both were in the “non-charismatic” camp, but my youth director was a charismatic. While I never became charismatic myself, I came to love our youth director and envied the passion of his faith. It became clear that I was missing something in my young faith – something I saw in him. Yet, I continued to be suspicious of “charismatics.”

Later, as I learned more and more about the Bible, I discovered something surprising! I AM charismatic! You are, too, if you are a Christian!

Now, don’t get all upset – I’m not going to start doing anything to make you feel uncomfortable (like speaking in tongues, performing exorcisms, or “slaying you in the Spirit”)! You see, when you actually study what the Bible says, you discover that we “mainline” Christians have misunderstood about the Charismatic Gifts. Because we are skeptical about the excesses of “charismatics,” we have tended to think that the Charismatic Gifts are optional – that we can choose to ignore them, or just leave them to the Pentecostals.

They are NOT optional! According to the Scriptures, the moment you accept Christ as your Savior and are “born again,” the Holy Spirit pours Gifts into your life. In fact, the Greek word, “charismata,” means “gift” – the same word you would use for a birthday present. And the “Gift of Tongues” – the Spiritual Gift we most often associate with Pentecost – is only one of a myriad of Gifts of the Spirit available to us!

So, what exactly IS a Gift of the Spirit? And, for what purpose does the Holy Spirit of God give us Gifts?

Michael Yosef has described “charismatic Gifts” as follows: “A divinely ordained spiritual ability or power given to you when you accept Christ and are born of the Spirit of God, to do the work of Jesus Christ in the Church until Jesus comes back.”

This definition tells us three things about spiritual Gifts:

1. The source of the Gift is the Holy Spirit, and therefore each Gift is unmerited, and freely-given. We don’t choose our Spiritual Gifts, they choose us!

2. The nature of the Gift is spiritual-empowerment. They come from beyond ourselves, outside our natural talents, skills, and expertise. They may complement our talents and skills (or not), but even when they do, the talent or skill is refocused to be used for God’s glory.

3. The purpose of the Gift is to equip us for ministry to others, as an expression of our faith, fulfilling our calling as members of the Church, the Body of Christ for the world.

So, as you can see, all Christians are “charismatics.” You can be “a charismatic” without speaking in tongues! In fact, very few of us have that particular Gift. But every one of us as Christians have been allotted at least one Gift – probably several more! And since the Gifts are given by God for the edification of his Church, it would behoove us to know which Gifts we have been given, and to use them for God's glory!

Throughout Paul's letters, it is clear that, while there are many Gifts, there is One Spirit who gives them. Over and over, Paul uses the image of the body as a metaphor for the interrelatedness of the Gifts of the Spirit. But, that isn’t the only symbol I can think of which addresses the purpose of the Spiritual Gifts.

This week, as I have been considering the myriad of Gifts the Holy Spirit showers on His Church, the image of a jigsaw puzzle came to mind. As you came into worship this morning you were given a puzzle piece. Please pull that out and place it in the palm of your hand. For the remainder of our time this morning, I'd like for you to hold that piece in your hand and consider what your puzzle piece says about your Spiritual Gifts. So, what does this metaphor tell us?

1. First, it tells us that every Christian has one piece of God’s puzzle.

I’m convinced that one the of greatest handicaps which hampers the effectiveness of Churches today is the low self-esteem of its members. Yes, we are told in our scripture lesson this moring, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think,” (Romans 12:3), but instead, to be humble and self-effacing. And, it is true that pride and arrogance are sins. But, the Scriptures also tells us to be confident in the Lord: From Hebrews 10:35-36, “Do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” If we believe that to be true – that we are made worthy and are perfected in love by God – then we are of infinite worth. There is nothing prideful in knowing your Giftedness and using those Gifts for the benefit of others and the advancement of God’s Kingdom, for God’s glory. We have every right to have confidence in using the Gifts the Spirit has given us.

That means that no believer can say, “when God was passing out The Spiritual Gifts, He passed me by.” If that is how you feel then one of three things is true: Either you have never accepted Christ; You have not yet discovered your Gifts; or you know what they are, but you refuse to use them.

God promises in his word that, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have been given at least one of the Spiritual Gifts.

So firstly, the puzzle piece in our hand reminds us that each one of us has a Spiritual Gift to share.

2. The second thing we learn from our puzzle piece is that, just as each piece is unique in a jigsaw puzzle, so it is with the Spiritual Gifts.

God gives as God chooses – it is not our doing, nor our choice! As our first lesson from First Corinthians tells us, “God has appointed” and “activates [the Gifts] in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” So, no two people possess the exact same combination of Spiritual Gifts – they are uniquely customized for each individual.

According to the website, ScientificAmerican.com, “The chance of two finger-prints being identical is less than one in sixty-four thousand millions,” or “one in 64 trillion.”1 The Holy Spirit has given each one of us our own “gift-mix” or blending of Gifts distinctly our own. Just like your puzzle piece, you are unique – which means that you are the only person in the history of the world who can fulfill the potential of your Gifts.

So far, we have learned that we each have Gifts, and that our combination of Gifts is as unique as our fingerprints.

3. The third thing our puzzle piece teaches us is that each piece is equally important.

How could you say that one puzzle piece in a jigsaw puzzle is more important than all the rest? Yet, in the Church, sometimes we seem to think that certain Gifts are more important than others. The Corinthian Church to which Paul writes his letters seems to be having a problem with this. Within that congregation, there appeared to have been factions based on the Spiritual Gifts – with prideful bragging that those with certain Gifts were better or more valuable to the Church than others. Paul would have none of that! And so he uses the image of the human body to make the point that each Gift is important, even essential. He actually devotes two entire chapters to this issue, including the famous “love chapter,” 1 Corinthians 13, concluding that, over all the Gifts, love must prevail.

Paul teaches the Corinthians, and through the scriptures, teaches us. He makes two points. His first point is this: Since all Gifts are Gifts from the Holy Spirit, this means that, on the one hand, we cannot say,” My Gift is too small, or that others have bigger Gifts." When we say such things, we are slandering the Holy Spirit, in effect telling God, “You gave me the wrong Gifts, you made a mistake!” Or we may say, “The preacher has all the Gifts, I'm only a layperson.”

In fact Paul insists: There are no first class or second class Christians. All Christians are Gifted, and all Gifts are equally important. Clergy and laity are equally valuable in the body of Christ – they just have differing roles – because they are differently Gifted. So, NEVER say, “I’m JUST a lay person!”

So, on one hand, we can’t say, “My Gift is insignificant.” But, on the other hand, we must not boast that our Gift is somehow better than others.

Earlier in this same letter (4:7), Paul warns about pridefulness in relation to God’s Gifts. He says, Do not be “puffed up in favor of one against another. For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a Gift?” Or, as I might paraphrase the Apostle, “Why do you go around acting like it's all your own doing, when it is really the Gift of God… it has nothing to do with you!”

Of course, it may be true the God gives some people more conspicuous Gifts, but they are not more important than any other Gifts.

There's a story I heard once that makes this point: it seems that all the various parts of the human body got together to debate which of them was the most important. There was the heart, the brain, the mouth, and so forth – from the most prominent parts to the least. Finally, the lowly neck.

The brain spoke to the neck, “Neck, you don't do anything! If you disappeared, you wouldn't even be missed! With that the neck became angry and got uptight. It began to tense and spasm in fury, causing intense and excruciating pain. The pain got so extreme that the brain could no longer think, and the entire body could hardly move. After the pain subsided, they got back together to continue their discussion. All the body parts agreed – that the neck was the most important of them all!

The moral of the story? You don't have to be a heart, brain, or mouth to be the most important. You only have to be a “pain in the neck.” Friends, don't discount your own Gift – because all Gifts are equally important.

So, our little puzzle piece reminds us that each Christian has Gifts, that those Gifts are unique, and that all Gifts are equally important.

4. The final lesson we learn from our jigsaw puzzle piece is that each piece of the puzzle is necessary for the picture to be whole.

Our family enjoys putting puzzles together, as may your family. In fact, every time we go to visit Terri’s mother’s house, it seems that there is a jigsaw puzzle in progress on the dining room table. Throughout our visit, each family member takes his or her turn at searching the pieces to contribute toward the completion of the puzzle. Our goal before we leave is to complete the puzzle’s image. Inevitably, there is a competition to see which of us can put the final piece in place. When we do, we all have a sense of accomplishment.

However, once in a while, as we near the completion of the puzzle, we discover that one piece is missing! We search all around the table, on the seat cushions and the floor, until that final piece is found and in place. And, if the piece is never found, - guess what usually happens to the puzzle – IN THE TRASH! What good is a jigsaw puzzle that is missing pieces?!

It is so frustrating to not complete our mission! It's the same with the Church. Our congregation also has a mission to complete – a vision to fulfill. I believe that the Church will never function as it ought until every member has discovered and uses their spiritual Gifts.

God has given our Church a mission with vision - a description of what the picture of our Church ought to look like. Do you remember what our Church’s vision statement is? Hint- it's right on the front of our bulletin every week. Let’s say it together: “The vision of Tomoka United Methodist Church is to be a visible and active presence of Christ in our community.” In other words, it is our mission that, when those in our community look at us as a congregation, they can see Jesus. However, that picture of Jesus will be incomplete unless every piece of the puzzle is in place.

You are holding a piece of that puzzle. The Spiritual Gifts God has assigned to you are your contribution to the puzzle, which reveals the image of Christ for the world.

You see, the Gifts of the Spirit God has given us are not for us alone. They are for the Church, that we together might become the body of Christ for the world. Our Gifts are unique; they are equally important; and they each are required to complete the puzzle and reveal the image of Christ.

In your hand is a puzzle piece. What you do with it will determine if we complete the image of Christ for all the world to see - or not.

Don't let yours be the missing piece!

1 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-chance-of-identical-fingerprints-1-in-64-trillion/

© 2023 by John B. Gill, III