The Web of Grace--October 28, 2022

The Web of Grace--October 28, 2022

"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 languages, to another the interpretation of languages.  All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses." [1 Corinthians 12:8-11]

Some things are simply not a matter of earning, buying, or even of choosing wisely.  Some things are just flat out gifts you find yourself having received, beyond your efforts, and the only question you are left with is, "What shall I do with the gift in my hands?"

Maybe it's really the things that matter most in life that turn out to be gifts we didn't pick, much less achieve, but which we realize have been given to us for the sake of others.

It's hard for us to wrap our minds around such an idea, I suspect, because American culture tends to teach us the opposite.  Ours is a society that believes everything is a matter of earning and achieving, and also a matter of my choosing, like ordering off of a touch-screen menu [hold the mayo, but I want extra pickles! And I must have dipping sauce!].  We pride ourselves on the belief that we have near infinite choice, and we praise as heroes the ones who say they have built their business empires and fortunes from nothing but their sheer grit and talent, even when it turns out those folks usually have had a pretty good leg up to get themselves kick-started.  And in a culture that wants us to tell our life stories as a matter of earning and making smart choices, it is hard to hear Paul say, "Actually, it's the Spirit who chooses to give us the aptitudes, talents, and abilities we have as the Christian community--so they're not matters of your smart selection or hard work to achieve them.  They are grace."

But that, of course, is exactly what Paul says: the skills, talents, and capacities we have in our life together as God's people are gifts the Spirit gives us, not that we have chosen.  And to say they are gifts means they are not given as payment or reward for our virtue or hard work, but rather as signs of grace meant for the good of all.  Accepting that truth means starting to unravel the tale we've told ourselves that we've gotten where we are by sheer smarts and hard work, when we are actually the recipients of grace that enables us to do well.

This is the trade-off of belonging among the Jesus community: we are going to have to let go of the myth that any of us are self-made success stories, so that our hands will be open to receive the gifts the Spirit chooses to give each of us.  And in that letting go, we will at long last have to admit that God's Spirit knows better than we do what each of us needs and how each of us contributes.  It will also mean recognizing that even the talents and abilities I most strongly think of as "mine" are actually God's gifts intended to be shared with all.  

All of that is humbling, but my goodness, it opens up the whole world to us in a new way.  What Paul wants his first hearers and modern readers to know is that we aren't alone in this life--we are not left to our own devices, and we are not abandoned to make good or bad choices with only our own smarts to direct us.  Before we were even aware of it, the Spirit gave us gifts, capacities, passions, energies, and talents.  And without waiting for us to choose the right gifts to "fit" our needs or situations, the Spirit has chosen what to give us that would benefit all.  That's always been the goal in the big picture for the Spirit--not just what will bring me success, but what will build up all of us.  And that also means that the Spirit's gifts to others are also meant for your benefit.  Every gift of the Spirit to you is also the Spirit's gift through you for the good of others. There is an amazing web of grace that binds us all together, then, in Christ--we are not just people who happens to believe similar things about Jesus, but we are mutual recipients and sharers of the Spirit's gifts for all of us.  So as we head out to face this day, with all the challenges, opportunities, and needs it will bring, we do it bound up together with the whole church alongside of us, equipped together to meet whatever comes, and supplied by none other than God's own Spirit, who first breathed life into creation in the beginning.

You and I can face what today brings--because we are not alone, and we are more than our own individual achievements or choices.

O Spirit of Life, open our eyes to the gifts you have put in each of our hands, that we can find strength in what you have given to others for our sake, and so that we can offer up what you have given us for the needs of others.