Discovering the Gifts of God within Us

The saddest thing in life is to feel we have no gifts, or the gifts we have are slowly oozing out from our grasp.

We all know our “Dear Friend” who intrudes obnoxiously into every conversation and sets himself up as somebody he really isn’t. The gifts he gives, the contributions he makes, are most often inappropriate. All the while, he buries the real person within. The real gifts he possesses barely show. He does not show his true person to anyone.

One of the most beautiful traits of personhood is to receive a gift from another, openly, graciously, and thankfully and then incorporate that gift into one’s life. When we receive a gift from another, we are beholden to that person for giving us part of their life, both what was given and received.

True human life is like a river. The inflows are the gifts we receive and incorporate into our lives as part of us. The outflows are the gifts we give to others. The gifts we give are the part of our life we share with others to their enrichment.

Paul Tournier in his book “The Meaning of Gifts” points out that some gifts are given for the giver’s sake with an ulterior motive in view. Some people give to make others love them, because they feel unloved. Some give because they feel guilty and want to make it up to another. Some give to make a person beholden to us, so we can dominate them. Think of the Political Action Committees that make candidates beholden to them. Some give because they enjoy giving. God loves a cheerful giver. Some give to express love. Some give simply to share their gifts with another. It is most important to recognize gifts as gifts.

In a meeting with our Representative Ron Wyden Monday night, someone expressed that this Earth is not ours, because we have not created it. This Earth is a gift from God and one he shares with us. It is not ours to ruin.

Paul’s lesson from Epistles talks about gifts that flow into our lives from the Holy Spirit and flow out of our life into the lives of others.  There are a variety of ecstatic gifts that come from the Holy Spirit. There are a variety of “divine acts” or energizers that God keeps working through in all kinds of ways in everyone. Each one of us is given the gift of one’s own enlightening of and by the Holy Spirit, always towards a beneficial end.

To one person is given, through the Holy Spirit, the word of wisdom. To another, the word of discernment, given by the same Spirit. To another, believing is the gift of acceptance (trust) given by the same Spirit. To another, the gift of healing is given by the same Spirit. To another, the ability is given to perform wonderful works through the power of the Spirit. To another, the gift of preaching the message of God is given. To another, the ability is given to judge all kinds of Spirits. To another, the ability to speak in different kinds of tongues is given. All of these are the workings of one and the same Holy Spirit, differing in each, as the Spirit wishes.

There are variety of ministries and ways to serve the Lord. The word for giving in Greek is diakaneo which means to wait on a table or break the bread of life. We recognize this word as the root word for Deacon. We can be servants, serving as a waiter at the table of life. We can find the gift of ecstasy, from the Greek word ekstasis, which means to stand outside of or transcend oneself. This gift is the experience of an inner vision of God or of one’s relation to or union with the divine. We can find the gift to serve as an energizer, from the Greek word energeia which means energizer or ministry.

Remember story of the wedding in Cana. Cana was a small-town some miles northwest of Galilee. The wedding was held by a family of moderate income, in the same bracket as Mary and Joseph. The family could not afford enough for the wine and the wedding. For Jews and the Rabbis, wine was essential for the wedding. “Without wine, there is no Joy!” Running out of wine would have brought embarrassment. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at the wedding. Jesus was also invited with some of the disciples. When the wine ran out, Mary instinctively turned to Jesus. Mary said to Jesus, “They have no wine! Do something.” Jesus says, “Let me handle this in my own way. My hour of emergence as Messiah has not yet come.” (Mary may have thought different as mothers often do.) His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you to do.”

There were 6 stone water pots needed for the Jewish purifying customs. Each pot held about 20 to 30 gallons. Jesus said, “Fill the water pots with water. The servants filled the pots to the brim. Jesus said, “Draw from them now, and take what you draw to the steward in charge.” They did so. When the steward tasted the water, it had become wine. The steward did not know where the wine came from. The servants who had drawn water knew. The steward called the bride and groom. He said to everyone, “Normally you set before your guests the good wine, and when they have drunk their fill, you bring the inferior wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus had performed the first of his signs of all his glory in Cana of Galilee, and his disciples believed in him.

Another marvelous little story is what happened before Jesus took the disciples away from their nets. He gave them a miraculous catch of fish, where there had been no fish before. They had a great fish story to tell about all the “whoppers” they caught and would bear retelling for the rest of their lives.

God’s greatest gift was the gift of his son. No longer separated by God, Jesus gave his own person, his own solitude, his own suffering given unto death. He lay down his life for his sheep. He gave the gift of eternal life. We remember the two people on the road to Emmaus. Think of the gift they received. “And I gave unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” There was the gift of recognition as Jesus said, “I know my own, and my own know me.”

There was the gift of intimacy. Jesus gathered the disciples and drew them into the intimate moments of his life. He shared his dreams, his fears, his disappointments, his victories, his death, and his resurrection.

God in Christ enters into the world. He is ceaselessly concerned about the smallest details of every person at every moment of life. God does not hold anything in our lives in contempt. For all is the mirror of the ultimate life we have with God. As Jesus was concerned about the egos of his fishermen disciples, he gave them a good catch before he took them away. Often, he brought them back to the same shores and talked about the beautiful symbols of nature. Consider the lilies of the field. Consider the birds of the air. He taught his children to enjoy the many gifts of earthly life.

Today, Jesus calls us to our gifts. He calls us to receive. He calls us to flow in and out of giving and in and out of the flow of the river of life. He wakes desires we will never forget. He shows us the stars as we have never seen them before. He makes us share with him, forevermore, the burden of the world’s divine regret. How wise we were to open that door, and yet how poor if we should turn him from the door.

Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone opens the door, I will come in and break bread. Open your eyes to the flow and discover his eternal gifts.