Same Source, Different Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:3-11
1) Christians Have the Same Source
2) Christians Are Equipped Differently
Picture yourself among the Christians on the first Pentecost. You’re gathered together with others fifty days after Easter, waiting for Jesus to pour out his Spirit, God the Holy Spirit, upon you. Before the sundial shadows 9am, you hear a loud, rushing wing and everyone has a tongue of fire resting over them. You speak of God’s wonderful truths as you have before, except this time it’s in a living language you never studied. As the crowds wonder and mock you, Peter gets up and explains what’s happening: Joel’s prophecy is being fulfilled! And whoever calls upon the name of the Lord with believing lips will be saved.
Fast forward to today. You’re with a body of believers fifty days after Easter. But there’s no loud, rushing wind, tongues of fire, fluently-spoken foreign languages, or fulfillment of specific Old Testament prophecies. Though the Holy Spirit is certainly present among us and in us, there’s no special sign of his presence. But his promise still stands: whoever calls upon the name of the Lord with believing lips will be saved.
Though our Pentecost celebration looks quite different, there are a number of similarities as our verses from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 point out. Both have Christians who have the same source yet are differently equipped by the Holy Spirit. For he is the source of every Christian’s faith and resultant life. Yet he differently equips each Christian as he so desires. From this same source with differently equipped gifts, we Christians then use them for the same purpose as that first Pentecost: for the common good of creating and nourishing faith through the Word of God.
1) Christians Have the Same Source
The Corinthian Christians to whom the Apostle Paul wrote our verses had suffered from divisions. Divisions that were partly fueled by their misuse of the vast variety of spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit had equipped them with. Paul here begins a three-chapter treatise on spiritual gifts by explaining the most important spiritual gift: faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The only way a sinner can have this faith is by the Holy Spirit. If you are confirmed member of Grace or one of our sister churches, you perhaps remember how Luther’s Catechism summarizes the Bible in saying, “I believe that I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” (Third Article; What Does This Mean? ©2017)
Not only does the Holy Spirit get all the credit for us coming to faith, he is the same source for our resultant life. The Apostle Paul describes that there are various kinds of gifts, ministries, and activities. These gifts are those qualities and abilities that God has given us to serve him and our neighbor. These ministries are the public services we offer whether it be in the name of Grace, our personal lives, or in keeping with being a good neighbor. These activities are our general capacity to do just about anything that is God-pleasing. From where do our various kinds of gifts, ministries, and activities come from? Our triune God, whether it be nearly 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem or today at Grace-Tucson.
However, would you say that the Holy Spirit is the sole source for your faith and resultant life, let alone for every Christian? Perhaps we forget what we learned in Catechism class when somebody asks, “How did you become a Christian?” We should respond in saying it was the Spirit and him alone. But we respond as so many others wrongly do: it was we who fanned to flame the spark of goodness we have, it was we who opened ourselves up to God so he could then come to us, it was we who brought ourselves to God and accepted his invitation to become his child through faith. Any answer that robs the Holy Spirit of sole credit for our faith not only goes against what the Bible teaches, it denies the same source we all have for our faith in Christ.
Or consider your resultant life of faith, your various kinds of gifts, ministries, and activities. From where did you get all those? Isn’t it from our parents, teachers, friends, and role models who shaped us in our formative years? Isn’t it the church or another organization that gave us the opportunity to serve in some way? Isn’t it ourselves for wanting to use our gifts, ministries, and activities in the first place? Though nature and nurture have a part to play, they aren’t the source for our life of faith. That goes solely to our Triune God whom we often forget to think of or thank.
Though we often fail to give the Holy Spirit the credit he’s due, he is the source for our faith and resultant life. He was so for those Christians who celebrated Pentecost nearly 2,000 years ago. As Paul says and Luther’s Catechism correctly summarizes, it’s only because of the Holy Spirit that we have faith in our hearts and can confess with believing lips that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. With that faith comes what Peter promised to the confused and mocking crowds, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21 EHV) Saved from the guilt and punishment of sins for they are forgiven, taken away, and replaced with Christ’s own righteousness. Because the Spirit is the source of our faith, that means we can call God the Father our Father (as we do in the Lord’s Prayer) and his Son our brother who lived in our place, died on the cross, and rose victorious from the grave. As a good and perfect brother, he then shares his victory with us and assures us that his home in heaven will be our home one day.
This Holy Spirit is also the same source for our various kinds of gifts, ministries, and activities. Through nature and nurture, he has uniquely fashioned us to serve our Triune God and neighbor
in thankfulness and praise. And he did that by equipping us all differently with our individual set of spiritual gifts.
2) Christians Are Equipped Differently
When you hear of spiritual gifts, think of them this way: those qualities and abilities that God has given us to serve him and our neighbor. The Bible gives many examples of these spiritual gifts. On Pentecost, the Spirit temporarily equipped Christians to tell others of God’s wonderful works in living, foreign languages they had never studied. In our verses this morning, Paul lists these spiritual gifts: a message of wisdom, a message of knowledge, heroic faith, miracle healing, powers to do other miracles, prophecy, evaluation of spirits, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. There are still three other places (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:27-31; Ephesians 4:11-12) where spiritual gifts are mentioned! While there is some overlap, there’s also more common ones like serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, and leading. Needless to say, there are many examples of spiritual gifts, those qualities and abilities that God has given us to serve him and our neighbor.
The Holy Spirit has equipped each Christian with their different set of spiritual gifts. You may be wondering, “what are my spiritual gifts?” If you’re a confirmed member of Grace, you may remember seeing a form in your new member packet called “My Gifts for Serving the Lord.” On it is a sample list of gifts that our members regularly use in Grace’s name. It includes a variety of specifics to help us conduct worship, serve others, meet our unchurched neighbors, teach God’s Word, and keep things running in a good and orderly way. I know that you have at least some of these spiritual gifts, even if you haven’t used them in Grace’s name.
As you count your spiritual gifts, did you wish you had what others have? Do you perhaps feel a little bit of jealousy? “If only I were like so-and-so or could do this-or-that! Then I would be much better at making a difference. Didn’t the Holy Spirit know better?” And so we tear ourselves down and question how the Holy Spirit has equipped us. Perhaps we swing too far the other way and feel pride in our spiritual gifts. We know what a blessing we are to God’s church. If it wasn’t for us, that activity would have failed and that person would not have been touched by the gospel. How easy we get a big head, lose sight of the one who equipped us so, and take credit that isn’t ours.
The Holy Spirit didn’t equip us differently so as to make us jealous or prideful. He did so as he desired in keeping with his godly wisdom and desire for our eternal good. And knowing that rids us of our jealousy. If the Spirit wanted you to have someone else’s spiritual gifts, he would have equipped you so. The absence of that spiritual gift doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you. It means that you’re equipped to serve God and your neighbor in a different way. Knowing it’s the Spirit who equips us rids us of our pride. It’s not because of us that we’re such
a great blessing to God’s church. It’s because of the Holy Spirit who equipped us so and worked through us.
Knowing the Holy Spirit has equipped you differently also shows how there’s no one quite like you. Maybe you’ve heard that in a less-than-flattering way. That’s not how God says it to you. You’re not an oddball among other Christians, but a child of God who’s specialized to serve him and your neighbor like no one else. No one else was raised with your combination of nature and nurture. No one else has your spheres of influence or circle of friends and family. No one else has been equipped like you with your set of spiritual gifts.
Closing Encouragements
He’s done all this so you may work towards the common good: the creation and nourishment of faith through the Word of God. The Apostle Paul also had to teach this to the Christians in Corinth. They knew how differently the Spirit had equipped them, but not how to correctly use their spiritual gifts. Rather than waste them through inaction or misuse them through selfishness, they were to work towards the common good. And there’s nothing better than showcasing God’s Word so sinners may confess that Jesus Christ is their Savior and Lord and live for him and their neighbor.
So take stock how you can work towards the common good. Remember the source of your faith and resultant life: the Holy Spirit who alone brings us to faith and equips us with our various kinds of gifts, ministries, and activities. Reflect how the Spirit has equipped you differently than anyone else. If that’s difficult, talk with your friend who knows you better than you know yourself or call up the Grace Central Office to update your form called “My Gifts for Serving the Lord.”
And work towards the common good: the creation and nourishment of faith through the Word of God. When you’re asked to serve in the name of Grace, give it special thought so you can help us carry out our mission statement. If something could be improved or added at Grace, take the initiative and be part of the solution by talking about it with your pastors or lay leaders. Consider the contacts you alone have among the friends and members of Grace as well as those who don’t know Jesus as they should. Share the Word of God with them and offer to come with them so you both can grow and strengthen your faith. Look for opportunities for the Holy Spirit to do his wonderful work of creating and strengthening faith through the Word of God so that the joy of Pentecost may not be just a yearly celebration, but a regular occurrence. And you can do so for you are differently equipped by the same source of the Holy Spirit for the common good. Amen.