The
Holy Spirit and the Gifts of the Spirit
Stephen
Terry
Commentary
for the February 25, 2017 Sabbath School Lesson
“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.” 1
Corinthians 12:4-6, NIV
There is something about the idea of God giving gifts
that tends to light up the eyes of many Christians. Maybe it is the memory of
Christmas gift giving where the mythical Santa, who rides through the air on
Christmas Eve with his magical sleigh and flying reindeer, lands on your roof
and pops into your house to leave presents that testify to how good you have been
all year. On the other hand, it may be because of the pleasant memories of
birthday celebrations that have accumulated over the years with presents given
to honor the growing birthday child. In both cases the gifts were given to
honor the recipient for what they had accomplished. How natural then for us to
see gifts from God as being an honor to us. However, what the young child and
perhaps even the young Christian may fail to realize is that the gifts are
really given because of the love others may have for the recipient.
Mother and Father, who know their child’s wishes,
personality and ability best, scour websites online and visit stores in their
community looking for the perfect gift that will not only please their child,
but also help them to grow and develop as a person through the gift they will
give. All the while, they are thinking of their child with love and warmth in their
hearts. What a delight when the special day arrives and they see the joy in
their eyes when they open that very special gift and understand immediately how
much thought and effort went into choosing exactly the right one. Tears and
hugs may spontaneously spring from the love the occasion expresses.
Imagine the love of God. He created us, so He knows us better even than our
parents. He not only knows all about us and our experiences, our heartaches,
and our loves, but He even knows something that no one else does. He knows why
He created us. He formed us in the womb according to the purpose He has for us.[i] This does not mean that we
are not free to choose our own path in life, but like a crescent wrench trying
to be a screwdriver, we will never find the fulfillment we were created to
experience if we walk away from the One who created us and seek to discard our
talents and innate abilities in favor of pursuing a life that was never meant
to fulfill us. We may, for a time, convince ourselves that we are making
progress in that alternate path of our constructing, but always there will be a
gnawing doubt that something just isn’t quite right, as though a piece is
missing from the puzzle of our lives.
God has endowed each of us with unique gifts, talents
and abilities from the womb, and like a pre-paid credit card given to us at
birth, those gifts may be awaiting activation. We may already be aware of them,
at least in part. A teenager may
experience it as an unexplained yearning to a particular interest or career
path. For instance, they do not know why they like playing an instrument; they
just do. They don’t know why their friends look to them to settle disputes;
they just do. They don’t know why others seek their help with understanding
their studies; they just do. They don’t know why others look to them for
leadership; they just do. But as we grow older these various gifts become more
pronounced. We may not fully understand why they are there. In fact we may
assume that everyone has them, but they just haven’t developed them. There is a
whole self-help industry based on that idea. But as long as our focus remains
selfish, no matter what gifts we may possess, we will still have that feeling
that there must be something more, something missing.
When we get in touch with the One who formed us, the one
who gave us those gifts, we will find that missing piece. This requires that we
first admit we have been walking away from Him and that doing so has been a
mistake. Then we must change our direction and start walking toward Him. When
we do, we will discover like Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars” that our abilities,
our gifts, are really part of something much bigger than ourselves. We will
find ourselves resonating with a universal quality that is derived from God
himself –the quality of loving service. We will learn that the gifts He has
created in us are to be used in service and ministry to others.[ii] Some might have us believe
that this is something that takes place after baptism, perhaps when we receive
the Holy Spirit.[iii]
While there may be some further development of the gifts we were created with,
or added gifts that build upon that earlier foundation, God intends us to be of
service to others from the very beginning of our lives, according to our
ability. The fact that we do not recognize this is less because of a delay in receiving
the gifts to do so and more a denial of the very purpose God intended. Parents
do not raise their children with an understanding of purpose, perhaps because they
were never given that understanding as a child either. Peers also do not often encourage
service to others, tending to encourage self-indulgence more often than
self-sacrifice. Given these things, no wonder we have difficulty finding that missing
piece in our lives. Fortunately, God continues to reach out to us that we might
“plug in” and discover that purpose and seek to fulfill it.
Often His chosen vehicle for doing so is other
individuals who have already discovered their purpose and are working toward
it. Perhaps the most pre-eminent individual that touches lives in this way is
Jesus. He knew His purpose and gave His life fulfilling it. The act of service
toward others engendered in His death on the cross proclaims loudly over the
ages of the greatest service of love ever given.[iv] As His followers, who
have discovered something of our purpose, also have the ability to touch the
lives of others with loving acts of kindness and service. This, in turn, will
open their hearts to begin to understand something of their purpose as well.
But in this service we perform, we perhaps should understand one thing. God
loves diversity. He has not tasked us with awakening others to their purpose in
order to have them develop the same gifts and abilities we have. We are too
easily swayed into believing that instead of diversity, God wants uniformity.
Even nature teaches us that this is not so.
When any species becomes so few in number that it lacks genetic diversity, it
becomes prone to two problems. First, inbreeding within such a limited gene
pool can elevate the number of gene related birth defects, further weakening the
species. Second, the species may more easily plunge over the edge into an
extinction event since the natural selection that would normally protect them
from a catastrophic event like a plague or an environmental disaster will not have
a sufficiently diverse base to function. There is greater strength, greater
survivability with diversity. This seems to indicate that God made us diverse
for a reason. Therefore, as we are all uniquely made in order to maintain that
diversity, we might assume that our gifts are diverse as well, and for the same
reason.
We often like lists. Maybe because we like to check them
off one by one as they are taken care of. Perhaps this love of lists carries
over into our understanding of the idea of spiritual gifts. We then look for
these biblically listed gifts among God’s people as though these were all the
gifts that God would bestow. But I suspect that the gifts may be as diverse as
His people, with even those with apparently similar gifts nonetheless
manifesting them in slightly different ways. As a result we may be taking a
chance of being mistaken when we haul out a list and say this is a gift and
that is not. For example there is no list of gifts in the Bible that speaks of
the gift of simply listening with patience and understanding while someone
unburdens a hurting heart. But that is a very precious gift that many do not
possess. There is also no list of gifts that speaks about knowing when someone
needs help and providing it without being asked. That also is a wonderful gift
that many do not possess, but some do. Perhaps then we would do well to go
beyond the gifts mentioned in scripture and seek God for understanding of the
very special and unique gifts He has given each of us. If we ask Him, He will
likely show us our gifts by giving us opportunities to use them. Wouldn’t that
be exciting?
