Another sermon in the sermon series on the expansive nature of God's love and God's claim. The passage from John is one my favorite stories to preach, and of course, the passage from 1 Corinthians is used often in liturgy and in Bible studies about community. Because of the sermon series, I have a particular lens through which I approached the texts. I enjoyed preparing and preaching this sermon.
“To Each Is Given”, January 19, 2025; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; I Corinthians 12: 1-11; John 2:1-11
Now 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.
Introduction: another week reflecting on the expansive nature of God’s call and God’s claim on our lives.
This week, we turn to Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth and listen as he shares with them the inclusive nature of God’s gifts among us.
Move 1: but first, we must reflect a bit on the Holy Spirit.
a. We Presbyterians often ignore the Holy Spirit.
1. Through the years, when people share their faith statements in a variety of settings such as confirmation,
or the examination of incoming ruling elders and deacons,
or in a Sunday school exercise,
or maybe a retreat project,
or even in my work at presbytery examining people seeking to be examined to be ministers and committed pastors,
the most neglected part of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit.
2. we do pretty well with God the creator, the omniscient and powerful parent-like God who calls the world into being
3. And, of course, we excel in talking about Jesus,
the crucified one,
the resurrected one,
the risen lord who invites us to his table,
the one with whom we are invited to have a personal relationship.
I suppose in his humanity, we find someone with whom we can relate a bit.
4. But the Holy Spirit?
flames of fire
blowing winds
we are uncertain what to make of the Holy spirit and often ignore the Spirit in our own thinking about God and our theological reflection.
b. But not Paul!
1. he lifts up the role of the Holy Spirit.
2. He announces that the Holy Spirit is at work in everyone who confesses Jesus Christ as their Lord.
3. To each, he tells us, is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
4. God’s Spirit is not the domain of a few, but the Spirit is at work in every single Christian as the Spirit so choses.
5. We may not understand the Holy Spirit, but it does not keep the Spirit from being at work in each of us.
c. we also might note that the Greek word used for gift is charismata (from which comes our English word, charismatic), typically translated as “gifts.”
It is important to note, however, that this rare word is a cognate of the Greek word, charis, meaning “grace.”
Thus for Paul these diverse gifts of the Holy Spirit flow directly out of God’s grace.
to see the Holy Spirit at work is to see Gods grace at work in or lives.
Thus we cannot claim these gifts as our own possession or a product of our innate talents.
They always remain divine grace-gifts. (Richard Carlson, former NT professor at Luther Seminary; https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/second-sunday-after-epiphany-3/commentary-on-1-corinthians-121-11-4)
to each of us is given a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Move 2: which means everyone God calls has a gift.
a. One of the things we know about the church in Corinth is that it was full of people who were probably a lot like us.
1. Intentionally, or perhaps unintentionally, they created a hierarchy of spirituality and gifts.
2. the Corinthians apparently argue about who is the better follower of Christ based on whose gifts matter more than the others.
We’ve already seen this type of competition earlier in the letter when Paul admonishes the Corinthians for placing an emphasis on whether they were baptized by this leader or that leader.
An elitist approach to spirituality was developing with different classes - the spiritual superheroes top the list;
then maybe the average people spiritually;
then, those who seem to show no spiritual gifts.
the gifts from God are being used to separate people,
to elevate some and put down others.
the Corinthians took a good thing and twisted it for selfish purposes.
b. now, however, now Paul writes to them concerning spiritual gifts.
1. he begins by noting that everyone who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord has done so by the power of the Holy Spirit,
so all professing Christians have been filled with the Spirit.
an all-encompassing understanding of how God is at work in the world and all their lives.
2. Paul goes on to say, “to each is given….”
not to some is given
or, some of you receive a big dose of the Holy Spirit and others are given just a little
But, to each is given a manifestation of the Holy Spirit
c. Notice that Paul then lists a variety of gifts.
1. If you research gifts in Paul’s letters,
or gifts in the New Testament,
you will find that this list in Chapter 12 will be different than the list of gifts Paul writes about in this section of his letter differ from the gifts he mentions in other parts of this letter;
which are different than the gifts he mentions in his letter to the Romans;
different than the gifts he mentions in Ephesians.
2. a reminder that the variety of gifts reflects both the varied people who make up the church in Corinth
and the varied needs God addresses by giving gifts to help meet those needs.
2. If we take a bird’s eye view of gifts listed in scripture, we see the following:
teaching, encouragement, evangelism, shepherding, prophecy, wisdom, knowledge, healing, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, faith, helps, leadership, giving, administration, service, giving, leadership, mercy, hospitality and distinguishing between spirits.
3. to each is given….
which means to you is given
and to you is given
and to you is given
We all receive gifts by the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. Consider your own gifts.
if you have trouble identifying your gifts, ask someone close to you. I bet they can identify a gift God has given to you.
d. WE all have gifts, and we all have a mandate from God to use our gifts.
1. the Gospel of John reminds us that even Jesus had to be encouraged to use his gifts.
what a great story we read this morning - there Jesus is at the wedding in Cana when the mother of Jesus discovers they have run out of wine.
She imposes on Jesus to do something about it.
Jesus does not want to get involved.
Can’t you see him there, enjoying the reception - the wedding, we remember, is before Jesus has started doing miracles and teaching and healing.
But here comes his mother: “Jesus, they're out of wine.”
Use your gift.
take care of it.
Jesus responds with the “My hour has not yet come,” the theological response that also means,“c'mon mom, leave me alone.”
For whatever reason, Jesus is not ready to share his gift and reveal who he is.
But his mother will not let him hide his gift in the moment. She tells the servants, “do whatever he tells you.”
And Jesus does.
e. Just as we live in the assurance that God gives us gifts to use,
we also live in the expectation that we will use our gifts.
6. Part of the role of the church is to not only help us develop our gifts, but to help us identify our gifts
and push us to share our gifts.
To each is given….
From each is expected the use of those gifts.
Move 3: Finally, Paul reminds us that the point of the gifts is for the common good.
a. to each is given a gift for the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.
1. news flash - God does not give each of us gifts for our own personal use and personal purposes.
2. our God-given talents are not for us to use to get ahead of everyone else, or elevate us about others.
3. the Spirit works in each Christian not so much for the benefit of any individual Christian but for the benefit of the entire community.
b. as Paul will explain later in this chapter, people have different gifts and collectively we make up the body of Christ.
1. The hands and feet and nose and eyes,
all with different gifts
all with the same task - to be the body of Christ in the world.
2. Perhaps you have read the historical novel The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society,
An interesting story that, in part, deals with the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society that was a reading group during WW II on the occupied British Isle of Guernsey that used their group as an excuse to break curfew and engage in some resistance to the Germans.
In describing one of the key members, Darsey, it is noted that “Ðarsey had the rare gift for persuasion – he never asks for anything for himself, so everyone is eager to do what he asks for others.” The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, 37.
What a beautiful description of how God's gifts were intended to be used:
He had a clearly identifiable gift - others saw it in him;
he used his gift
and everyone noticed that he always used it for the good of others.
Conclusion: To each is given
to you is given
the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
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