"The Gift"

It's a real honor to live and work among such a gifted group of people. We have apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in our small congregation in just the right number. Of equal importance are those with gifts for music, writing, finance, cooking/baking, sewing, art, landscaping, carpentry and other building crafts. Each of us has been given the gift God knew would be needed in this period of St. Paul's ministry in Christ name.

We have apostles. Apostles are leaders. These are people who analyze, create and develop our ministry. Apostles get things started, recruit people with the gifts needed for a particular work and then coordinate the work, seeing that everything is done according to Gods will. They also keep the spirit and energy up. These are your sisters and brothers who are called to serve on the church council and to chair committees.

Apostles need to be careful, of course, that their positions of authority and influence dont get them into power trips. They avoid this temptation by regularly consulting the true Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. Thank God for giving us a number of apostles.

God also gave some of us the gift necessary to be prophets. Contrary to popular belief, prophets are not tellers of future events. Rather a prophet has the gift of being so closely connected to God that they hear God speaking. They then share that message with us. It may be a vision of what we can be, a word of warning, some instruction or guidance, etc.

Prophets must be careful because it is easy to become misled into thinking their own biases or preferences are automatically that same as God's. Prophets keep clear on whose message they are to proclaim by regular Bible study an prayer. Thank God for giving us some members with the gift of prophecy.

I've seen our evangelists at work, so I'm glad to say we have several evangelists. They prepare welcome bags for visitors, do PR, bring non-member children to VBS, and engage in any number of other outreach activities. But, most of all they invite people into relationship with Jesus. Now, of course, we are all called to witness to our faith and invite others to a relationship with Christ, but some have that special gift for witnessing and inviting. While evangelists may certainly serve on the evangelism committee, their main work is out in the world.

Evangelists must be careful to be clear about the object of their witness so that people know they are being invited into a relationship with Christ and Not just into membership in a church. Evangelists discern the difference between these two by keeping aware of the activities and needs of the larger Church - both their own denomination and the church throughout the world. Thank God for our faithful evangelists.

Every church needs pastors, of course. The gift of pastoring is not at all limited to the person who goes to seminary, gets ordained and stands up front on Sunday. The word "pastor" means shepherd. A shepherd keeps watch over the sheep and sees to their needs. Because of the multiple demands made on ordained pastors today no one person can do all the pastoring. Also, members live farther away and no longer are as interconnected as in the past, making it more difficult to be aware of people's needs. Therefore, a church needs many shepherds today.

A church can have any number of members gifted in member care. St. Paul's has some very caring people who are always ready to organize a meal, visit or do other acts of love in a crisis as well as in times of joy. Our shepherds visit shut-ins, prepare funeral meals, visit parents of newborns and families that suffer a loss, call absentees, and respond to other needs as they arise.

Shepherds need to keep a sense of balance and have clear boundaries as the temptation for shepherds is to become over-involved with the sheep. This can lead to disrespect for others privacy or dependency. Shepherds avoid this by following Jesus examples and by checking with those they shepherd as to their needs. Thank God for our caring shepherds

Finally, in terms of the list of gifts in the Church at Ephesus, we have a number of people with the gift of teaching. We have wonderfully creative teachers in our Sunday school and for our Bible classes. As important as our Sunday school teachers are though, this is not a gift limited to those who teach a class. We also have people who do special teaching and those who teach by example. I can't tell you how often I've been inspired/taught by the faith demonstrated by some of our members, young and quite old. These members also have the gift of teaching.

Teachers need to be careful that they teach the true word of God, but this should be no problem so long as they immerse themselves in the Word. Thank God we have a wonderful group of people with the gift for teaching.

Since St. Paul was addressing a specific issue in the Church at Ephesus, the list of gifts in his letter is limited. I don't think though that he or God considers one kind of gift as more important than others. It is vital that those who have received the more practical gifts of God resist the temptation to think that their gifts are any less important. Just because a person doesn't have the gift for leading the church or for visioning or for teaching doesnt mean that their gift is of less value.

Each of us was given the gift God knew would be needed here in this time and place. The gifts St. Paul lists are intended to be used to equip the saints for the work of ministry. In other words, our apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers are also support personnel who help others develop and use their gifts. Those with gifts not listed by St. Paul need to resist the thought that the gift they have is common or unnecessary. Far from it. God wants each of us to regard the service we are able to render as the gift of Christ to the community through us.

Yes, we can and should take pride in whatever gift we have because it is a gift from God.

We need also note the purpose of the gifts we received. Just as God intended the gift given each individual for a higher purpose - building up the body of Christ, the Church - He also intends that we use the amassed gift we have as a church to build up the body of Christ, the whole Christian Church on earth. We do this the same way we discern and use our individual gifts for building up St. Paul's as a community of the faithful. We reflect on what is unique about St. Paul's. We nurture and develop that uniqueness. And we maintain an open connection to God so He can show us how we fit into His whole plan of salvation.

I don't know about others, but I find this exciting. What greater sense of identity, purpose, belonging and fulfillment can there be than to know that I (and each of you) have a special gift from God, that this gift was intended from before creation to be joined with gifts received by others to serve God's plan in this place and time, and that all of this fits into a grander plan for the entire world that has been evolving over eons and will find completion in the time to come. Yes, it is an honor to live and work among such a gifted group of people.