Alleluia! He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Today is the second Sunday of the Easter season. This is the season of Alleluias, the season when we revel in the miracle of resurrection and ponder how we will respond to God's great gift of salvation.
After the gift of Easter, God granted us the gift of the church as well. In scripture, the church is named The Body of Christ. We read Paul's definition of Church, or Christ's body, in 1st Corinthians, Chapter 12. Through Paul's words, we are able to see the manifestation of the risen Christ in the world, through His body, the church.
It is truly a holy calling for us, to be Christ's body in the world. It is a sacred trust that God has given to us, a challenge to be taken up with gusto. It is a chance for us to demonstrate our faith and an opportunity to rise up together in obedience to our God.
Like the drawing of Christ's body that I shared with the children this morning, we, the covenanted people of Heritage Church, are to be Christ's body. We are to perform the same functions and work as a whole, united in purpose and in loyalty to our Savior.
As we look at Paul's words this morning, there are some very strong points that I think we need to understand if we are to work toward being Christ's body in this community and in this world.
First of all, there are many gifts. We each possess unique gifts that the body can use. The text mentions the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, the gifts of faith and healing, of miracles and prophecy and even tongues. These gifts are given by the same Spirit, the same Lord. They are activated by God, and are the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. All gifts, different as they are, are given by God for the building up of Christ's body.
Secondly, all of the parts of the body are necessary. They all are needed. If one is missing, there is something that will be left undone. The body must have both eyes and ears, plus hands and feet. Think of your body, and how out of whack you feel if one part, or maybe even more than one, is not working properly. All parts of the body are necessary. None is more important than the other, all are indispensable.
Thirdly, and I think this is the most important thing, all of the differing gifts are put in place by God. The body of Christ is arranged by God. It is not up to us to decide how the puzzle pieces will fit together, for God has already planned that. God has made sure that we are all in the right place at the right time. God knows what to do when one member of the body leaves this life and goes to the next, or when a new member joins and an old member moves out of town. God even knows how to arrange things when we can no longer do what we have been doing for years, or when we develop a new gift. God has this body of Christ, and every other one, totally in place the way that it is ordained to be, perfectly ordered to do God's will and proclaim Christ crucified and risen to the world, no matter what earthly changes might come our way.
Isn't this exciting? God has placed all of us here in this place, perfectly arranged, with specific gifts, all indispensable, that we will fit together as a whole body and reflect Christ to each other and the world. Wow!
So, how do we live out our lives as Christ's body. How do we know what our gifts are, given by the Spirit and ordained by God to fulfill the mission of this particular body? God knows us inside and out, as Psalm 139 expressed today, but often we do not really know ourselves.
Today, we will join together to participate in the taking of a Spiritual Gifts Inventory. In just a moment, the ushers will pass them out to you, along with a pencil, and we will take a few minutes to answer the questions that are on the inventory.
The purpose of the inventory is different than that of a personality test, like the Meyers-Briggs. With this inventory, we are striving to discover our gifts, but that is not all, because this inventory is about so much more than our selves. We are also striving to find ways in which we can serve God. When we see the gifts that God has given us, we can look for opportunities to serve God, obedient to the calling of our gifts, embracing their place in this gathered body and helping them to grow.
I'll ask the ushers to pass out the surveys at this time. You are to respond to each question with a 0-4 response, with 0 meaning that the statement is rarely true and 4 meaning that the statement is consistently true. When you are finished, you may begin scoring your inventory on the back of the sheet.
Inventory and scoring............
Now that we have completed the survey, we might be in for some surprises. While many of us might not be surprised by our results, I'll bet that some of the rest of us discovered we had gifts that we didn't realize. Remember, these are gifts from the Spirit. The story doesn't end here, when we find out about ourselves.
This is a two-part discovery process. What I'd like you to do this week is to take your survey home and ponder what it had to say about the gifts that God has given you. As you leave the ushers will give you a definition sheet about the various gifts and how they can be used in the church. Pray about your gifts and how they fit into this body of Christ. Ask for guidance as to how your gifts will benefit the body and be a witness to the resurrected Christ in this world. Then come back next week, and we will talk about using our gifts for the building up of the body of Christ, so that we may bring glory to God. Amen.
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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This page was last updated on May 09, 2003.