Sunday Praise & Worship 10:00
Christian Education - 10:00 - Casual Dress - Loving Childcare
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Sermon Notes for Romans 12:3-11 Key verse: Romans 12:5 “So it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Paul begins this section in his letter to the church in Rome by reminding us that we are all part of Christ’s body and that we belong to each other. God has called us into community and Jesus continues to shape us into his likeness. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us! But, how do we use that power? We will be looking at that together over the next several weeks, as we examine how God has shaped each of us individually to serve the whole community using the acronym SHAPE: S-Spiritual Gifts; H-Heart; A-Abilities; P-Personality; E-Experiences.
Today we start with Spiritual Gifts. People often mistakenly believe that they do not have any gifts if their gift is not one of the evident ones, such as teaching or preaching. However, God gives gifts to every single follower of Jesus. Just as parents eagerly await for their child to discover and open Christmas gifts, God looks forward with great anticipation to our discovery and use of our gifts. Therefore, God does not hide these gifts from us, but rather gives us opportunities to discover them as we serve others. Again, the gifts do not belong to us for our spiritual fulfillment, but rather they belong to God and to the community to build up the body of Christ.
Romans lists seven such spiritual gifts, which some scholars view as the ordinary gifts. The number seven also signifies completeness in the Bible, so Paul may have seen these gifts as summarizing the wholeness and unity of the gifts. We can find other lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible in passages such as 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4:11. The seven gifts Paul lists here in Romans are prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation (encouragement), giving, leading, and compassion. Other gifts include hospitality, discernment, apostleship, evangelism, faith, healing, tongues, interpretation of tongues, helping, knowledge, mercy, miracles, pasturing, and wisdom. These lists do not represent every spiritual gift, however they include the main gifts that we might see at work in a community of faith.
Paul encourages us to use whatever gift we have with a spirit of humility, recognizing the power behind it originates in God. He also instructs us to serve using our gifts with as much skill and energy as we have. In other words, once we discover our gifts, God calls us not to hold back but to develop the gifts and offer them generously and freely without reserve. So, we see a paradox there: we cannot hold back on our gifts for fear of not appearing humble, but we cannot use our gifts arrogantly. Instead, God invites us to gain our sense of worth from using the gifts God gives us when we feel that God is calling us to use them. Paul captures that essence best when he speaks to those with the gift of prophecy: “So if God has given you the gift of prophecy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you.” We all, then, must use discernment to determine when to use our gifts and when to hold back. Yet, God will let us know, if we listen with love in our hearts.
Love, then, remains key for Paul. Everything we do must be done in love for each other and for God. This love will do what is good for others rather than what is evil, offering practical care for one another and real affection. This love also leads us to honor one another, serving each other as if we were serving the Lord. Finally, this love also enables us to avoid common traps relating to gifts, traps such as comparing our gifts with the gifts of others, projecting our gifts onto others and getting frustrated when others cannot do the same things we can, or rejecting our gifts out of fear of inadequacy. When we remember that we belong to each other and that we each have the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, all things are truly possible!
Questions for Reflection 1—What thought first comes to your mind when you think of Spiritual Gifts? What gifts do you believe you have? What gifts have others told you that you have? When have you felt most fulfilled in serving someone else? What gift were you using at the time? Have you ever felt frustrated serving God? Were you trying to use a gift that you do not have? Have you seen any patterns in when you feel God’s power at work in you?
2—Which of the traps tempt you most? Comparison? Projection? Rejection? How can these traps prevent you from using your true gift?
3—How do you see our Skyline community reflecting the truth that “we all belong to each other? How can you use your spiritual gift to make that more of a reality?
4—How did the Holy Spirit speak to you in worship today?
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