Sunday
09/04/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Giving” (“Spiritual Gifts” Series –
Part 1 of 7)
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18
New Testament
Scripture: Philemon 1-21
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 14:25-33
My friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome again on this the
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Sixteenth Sundays after the Holy Spirit moved
in and on the disciples in that Upper Room in Jerusalem. On the day of
Pentecost, the Christian Church was born.
On that day, the disciples went forth loving, healing, and
forgiving, in Jesus Christ’s name. Those first disciples also quickly added to their
numbers, making a very small movement into a much larger movement. What started
with just handful of people, grew quickly, and today we are the world’s biggest
faith.
How do we grow the church though? I mean, we can tell
people about the Good News of Jesus Christ, and they can come to know Jesus
Christ, but how do we do this thing we call church?
One of the best ways that I think we can organize the
church, is through the call that God has placed on all of our lives. In addition
to this, God has gifted us all differently. These gifts that God has given us,
enable us to reach people for Jesus Christ and to transform form the world
differently.
While there are many gifts that we as people have in this
sanctuary right now, this morning I am beginning a seven week sermon series on
spiritual gifts. In beginning this series, today I want to talk about the
spiritual gift of “giving”.
Before getting into this gift thought, I want to cover a
few things about this series and the idea of spiritual gifts. First, there are
as many as twenty-five spiritual gifts in scripture. This number is more or
less depending on what you view as being a spiritual gift or not being a spiritual
gift. For some then this list is shorter, and for some it may be longer. Also
the scriptures that discuss spiritual gifts are primarily connected to the
Epistles or letters of the Apostle Paul, and one Epistle or letter of the Apostle
Peter. The scriptures that discuss spiritual gifts are Romans 12:6-8, 1
Corinthians 12:8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11, and 1 Peter 4:11. I
will read these scriptures to you in a few moments, but first I want to define
what a spiritual gift is.
I know that many of us don’t take the website,
www.wikipedia.com as a scholarly source, but in this case, I think that they
defined spiritual gifts rather well. This is what the definition of spiritual
gifts on Wikipedia is:
“In Christianity, spiritual gifts (or charismata) are endowments which may be given by the Holy Spirit. These are the supernatural graces which
individual Christians need to fulfill the mission of the church. They are described in the New Testament, primarily in 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12, and
Ephesians 4. 1 Peter 4 also
touches on the spiritual gifts. The gifts are related to both seemingly
"natural" abilities and seemingly more "miraculous"
abilities, empowered by the Holy Spirit” (www.Wikipedia.com).
So spiritual gifts are given to us by God, by the Holy Spirit.
We need these spiritual gifts in order to fulfill the full mission of the
church, which is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of
the world”. Given this, it is important that we know the spiritual gifts that
God has given us. This is why I have given out a test or an inventory for us
all to rediscover, or discover for the first time, what our God given spiritual
gifts are. This test or inventory covers sixteenth potential spiritual gifts,
as its maker must have determined that there were sixteen spiritual gifts. I
also have some charts of spiritual gifts to.
So did anyone take the spiritual gifts test? Were any of
you surprised by the results?
So before getting into the first spiritual gift that I want
to discuss this morning, which is the spiritual gift of “giving,” I want to
read to you the handful of scriptures that discuss spiritual gifts. I also said
that depending on what you interpret as a spiritual gift or not, you might
believe that the scriptures discuss as many as twenty-five spiritual gifts, but
I chose to discuss just seven. I did this so I don’t preach on this topic for
half a year, and also just to give an idea of some of the spiritual sifts. Again,
the scriptures that mention spiritual gifts are Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians
12:8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:28, Ephesians 4:11, and 1 Peter 4:11. The list of
seven spiritual gifts that I am preaching on and using come from Romans 12:6-8.
Let’s hear what the scriptures have to say about spiritual
gifts from God. First we will hear from Romans 12:6-8, which is the list of spiritual
gifts I am using in this preaching series. Romans 12:6-8 says:
“We have gifts that differ according
to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in
generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness” (Rom.
12:6-8, NRSV).
Now again, this is the list that I am using for this sermon
series, and by the way “exhortation” means encouragement.
The
next scripture that discusses spiritual gifts is 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, which
says:
“To
one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the
utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to 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” (1 Cor. 12:8-10,
NRSV).
In 1 Corinthians 12:28 the Apostle Paul writes: “And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second
prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of
assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues” (1 Cor. 12:28, NRSV).
You have heard now twice about the gift of speaking in tongues, or people
uttering things that are not understood in our own language. In some churches, the
spiritual gift of speaking in tongues is a regular occurrence. To people like
the founder of the Methodist Movement, John Wesley, it was a rare and
miraculous occurrence. It could happen, but it would be extremely rare, and as
result was not embraced. So much so, that in our United Methodist Church Articles
Religion, John Wesley spoke out in Article XV against speaking in tongues. Now,
I believe it is possible, but I have never witnessed it in a Methodist Church.
In
Ephesians 4:11, the Apostle Paul writes: “The
gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some
evangelists, some pastors and teachers,” (Eph. 4:11, NRSV).
The
last scripture reference we have in scripture about spiritual gifts come from 1
Peter 4:11. 1 Peter 4:11 says: “Whoever speaks
must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so
with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things
through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever.
Amen” (1 Pet. 4:11, NRSV). In this scripture, these could be spiritual gifts,
depending on your scriptural interpretation. Once again our test of sorts, only
lists sixteen spiritual gifts. So there are many different numbers of spiritual
gifts.
In
talking about just seven spiritual gifts, what I have tried to do each week of
this series in connect our given gospel reading somehow to the spiritual gift
that I am preaching on. This series will end on Sunday October 16th,
on Laity Sunday, and that day will be the spiritual gift of “serving” will be
discussed. If the laity of course, chose to preach on the spiritual gift of “serving”.
Our
first gift this morning again, is the spiritual gift of “giving”, as given to us
by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:6-8. According to the same www.Wikipedia.com source
that I read for this morning, the spiritual gift of “giving” is defined as say: “Those with this gift share their own possessions with
others with extraordinary generosity. While all Christians should be givers,
those possessing this gift will go beyond this normal giving”
(www.wikepedia.com).
From
the United Methodist Church’s website www.umc.org it says regarding the gift of
giving this:
“The gift of giving is the deep
commitment to provide whatever resources are needed to support God’s will and
plan. In addition to radical generosity, those who possess the gift of giving
have the uncanny ability to discover and channel new sources of money, time,
and energy to needs. Money management skills, grant writing abilities, and the
easy knack of asking for donations and cultivating donors are among common
skills of gifted givers” (www.umc.org). Friends, brothers and sisters, do you
have the spiritual gift of “giving”. The United Methodist Church website also
includes these questions regarding the spiritual gift of “giving”:
“Reflection
Questions:”
·
“In what ways do you use your gift(s)
at home, at work, in relationships with friends?”
·
“What other gifts best complement
giving, and enable you to increase the value and impact of your gift(s)?”
·
“In what ways can you improve your
use and knowledge of your gift(s)?”
·
“Where do other people see evidence
of this gift(s) in your life?”
In our Gospel of Luke reading for
this morning, which is often referred to as the gospel passage on the “cost of
discipleship,” Jesus Christ lays out more clearly what it means to follow him.
Jesus tells that following him means something, that it is “costly,” and that
we should really consider the choices we are making in following him (Lk.
14:25-33, CEB).
Jesus
was basically saying then, if you want embrace the spiritual gift of “giving”
at the highest level that, “none of you can become my disciple if you do not
give up all your possessions” (Lk. 14:33, CEB). Some clergy, monks, nuns,
missionaries, and etc., are sometimes called to this level of “giving” and
sacrifice. The rest of us can’t do this, as we still have to work, produce, and
keep the world going.
There
are also many scriptures on giving. Giving of course can be money, time,
energy, resources, love, and etc. There are many ways to embrace the spiritual
gift of “giving”.
Here are but a few scriptures on
topic of giving. Proverbs 21:26 says: “All day long the wicked covet, but the righteous give and do not hold
back” (Pro. 21:26, NRSV).
In the Acts it says in
20:35: “In all this I have
given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering
the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give
than to receive.’” (Acts. 20:35).
One of my favorite scriptures and
the last one I will share with you on “giving” is 2 Corinthians 9:7. This
scripture says: “Each of you must give
as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God
loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7, NRSV).
“Giving” my brothers and sisters,
can be a hard thing. It can be a hard thing, because we have to really trust that
God will honor and bless our giving. When we do give of our time, our talents,
and our resources though, we are then enable to do amazing thing for others,
through God, and through the church.
So friends, sisters and brothers, whether you took the spiritual
gifts test or not, do you have the spiritual gift of “giving”? If so, how do you
plan to use the gift that God gave you to transform the world for Jesus Christ?
Next week, I will be discussing the spiritual gift of “Mercy”.
I would invite all us this day and this week to pray and reflect upon the spiritual
gifts that God has given us. May we all bring glory to God, the three in one,
the one in three, through the many gifts he has given us all. Amen.
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