September 12, 1999

September 19, 1999

What Gift Do You Have For Us?”
Romans 12:1-8

September 18,19, 1999

Rev. David Beckett

Have you ever been away from your family on a business trip or vacation and found yourself feeling the need or desire to buy them gifts upon your return? I know I have, but I work very hard to resist such urges. The downside to giving in to such giving on a regular basis is not just the huge dent it makes in your wallet. There is also the fact that, whenever you finally drag in the door of your home-sweet-home, the first words your little darlings greet you with are not "Welcome home, Mommy," or "We missed you so much, Daddy"--but "What gift do you have for me? What did you bring me?”

I wonder if we ever do the same thing with God? “What gift do you have for me, God?” It is true that God does have gifts for each one of us. But somehow we expect that God will present us with some fully developed, nicely wrapped package. We envision God saying, "Yes, I have given you the gift of teaching--now take this and go out and teach!" Or "For you, the gift of leadership. From this point on, you shall stand at the head of the church and lead it forward." Yeah, right. If only it could be that easy.

The problem with having such a literal expectation of God's spiritual gifts in our lives is that most of us end up standing around waiting for some "special delivery" package that we never receive. We think the gifts God will visit upon our lives must come from somewhere else. But Paul's message points to another location for the "gifts of God for the people of God." Paul urges his Roman Christian brothers and sisters to "be transformed by the renewing of your minds" (v.2).

It is true that God is the giver of spiritual gifts. But we must put ourselves in a reception mode. We are made aware of our gifts, not in an instant of insight, but through a process of time and growth, through the transformative power of a renewed mind--of a mind freed from the old restraining conformities of our past. This is the power that opens us up to the presence of all God's gifts already at hand in our lives. This is a gift we can take home to our families every day. It is the ability to rise above the behaviors and attitudes that are forced upon us by the demands of the world and to allow ourselves to be transformed by the unpredictable power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

There is a preacher in a church that has gone from 150 to 300 members in one year. He regularly receives critical anonymous letters from someone who signs each one, "The Thorn." Attached to the first note was an explanation: Since the apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh, this writer felt this preacher should have one too, and thus, these notes say things the minister doesn't want to hear. The pastor confided in a friend that he has the urge to find out who "The Thorn" is and send an anonymous letter signed, "The Hedge Trimmer." Sometimes rising above the negative behaviors and attitudes is difficult unless we allow the renewing power of God to transform our minds.

The Dalai Lama shows no anger toward the Chinese even though the policy of the Chinese government for years has been to murder Tibetans; destroy their culture, beliefs and everything they hold dear. When asked about his apparent lack of anger toward the Chinese by an incredulous reporter at the time he won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Dalai Lama replied something to the effect that: "They have taken everything from us; should I let them take my mind as well?"

God gives spiritual gifts according to God’s desire. While the gifts may differ...you may have the gift of teaching...the person next to you may have the gift of generosity...ALL gifts are equal. No gift is more important in God’s eyes than another. But we have difficulty seeing gifts through God’s eyes, don’t we? We tend to look at them through worldly eyes. And what does the world do? It takes God’s gifts and says that one is more important than another. People who have been gifted in ways that enable them to speak or sing or act or play sports in front of other people are elevated in our culture. We pay them huge sums of money. We idolize them. We say they are more important than teaching or caring for the sick.

This attitude carries over to the Church. Some of us have the gift of helping others behind the scenes but we cannot fully appreciate this gift because we think it is not as important as someone who can speak eloquently in front of a bunch of people. O how we need to listen again to Scripture. Here is a summary of what it says about spiritual gifts:

1. If you are a human being, God has given you spiritual gifts.

2. Your gifts are just as important as everyone elses’.

3. We need to discover our gifts and use them, not just in our homes and workplaces, but in the Church as well.

God bless us with a variety of gifts for a variety of ministries. These gifts are to be used for health of the church. Sure it’s important that we use our gifts in our homes and in our places of work. But it is also important that we use them within the fellowship of the Church. Christians using their God-given gifts become the power that energizes Churches.

A story is told about a landscaper named George. George's first job as a landscape contractor was to remove a large oak stump from a farmer's field. He also was using dynamite for the first time. With the farmer watching, George tried to hide his nervousness by carefully calculating the size of the stump, the proper amount of dynamite, and where to place it.

Finally, he and the farmer moved to the detonator behind his pickup truck. With a silent prayer, George plunged the detonator. The stump gracefully rose through the air and then crashed on the cab of the truck. George gazed in despair at the ruined cab, but the farmer was all admiration.

"Son, wth a little more practice, those stumps will land in the bed of the truck every time!"

When we face adversity, do we look at the crushed cab and give in to despair, depression and discouragement? Or do we see how close to the bed we came and express joy and optimism? Shouldn’t our focus be not on the crushed cab, but how close to the bed we have come? Can we find the courage to face our fears and stop avoiding situations where our gift might slip to the surface? Isn’t it time we pray and ask God to help us discern what are our priorities in life?

One of the realities of spiritual gifts is that when we use them, they don’t drain us. They give us life! For much too long the people of God have been doing things that they thought they should be doing for God, but in reality it wasn’t their gift, and it has been sucking the life energy right out of them. The joy of knowing God and God’s gifts is that when we use them they actually gives us life energy!

There is a wonderful Danish/French movie called Babbet's feast which I highly recommend. It tells the story of a strict religious sect who wished to forsake this world's pleasures--food, drink, romance--to prepare themselves for the coming of God's heavenly kingdom. One senses that in the beginning the sect had life and joy. But a generation later, human traditions rigidly enforced have replaced the early joy of salvation.

Led by two sisters--one who forsook the love offered to her in order to serve these fanatics and another who denied her profound musical gift to stay at home for the same, the community gathers to eat their weekly worship meal of ale bread and boiled fish, washed down with a glass of water. A French maid, Babbet, serves them week by week, month by month, and year by year for a total of 14 years--always the same drab meal of ale bread and boiled fish. And the community, as a result of their piety as drab and bland as their supper, utters platitudes about loving each other even as they mutter against each other "You are a crook" "Well you are a cheat." To which an old man responses strikingly out of context , "Hallelujah."

It is then that Babbet wins $10,000 francs in a lottery and enormous sum for the times. The sisters are sure that she will cease to be their servant since she has enough to live out the rest of her days. Babbet asks if she might have the honor of preparing a feast in honor of the birth/anniversary of sect's founder. The sisters had planned on having a supper to honor their father but had thought boiled fish and ale bread might be a more appropriate fare. Yet since it is the first time in 14 years that Babbet has requested anything, they reluctantly grant her wish. It turns out that Babbet was once the greatest chef in all France who had to flee due to persecution of another kind. This culinary artist spends her entire winnings on this meal for twelve people. As the sisters see the delicacies arriving they become profoundly nervous, and gather the cranky old sect together to apologize. They did not know what she would do, perhaps they shall burn in hell for having granted her this wish. She brings them rich wines and fanciful foods. How sinful. The faithful, not wishing to offend Babbet, nor to perish eternally for having actually enjoyed the meal, vow together--we shall eat but not enjoy. We shall not praise the food only prayers shall leave our lips. And finally they vow "We have no taste buds" lest they taste the devil's pleasures.

When the evening comes Babbet prepares the greatest feast ever seen. She indeed is an artist and ale broth gives way to delicious turtle soup, bread gives way to the most succulent of crepes and the water is replaced with France's finest wine. Try as they might to deny their taste buds, the faithful taste joy for the first time or at least for the first time in a long time. Old flames of love--genuine love with all platitudes vanquished--are rekindled and voices raise together joyfully in song. The old crank says "You are crook" with the response "Right you are and you are a cheat, but God is merciful." And together they laugh knowing themselves clearly for who they truly are. Together they laugh knowing God's mercy for the first time. Sinners together yet saints by God's mercy. Thanks to Babbet's gift, her sacrifice of all that was hers, a meal is granted that teaches them that GOD has given us taste buds and celebration, true faithful celebration glorifies God. They were drawn into eternity not by avoiding this world, but by celebrating God and God's gifts.

Perhaps you have denied your giftedness for many years, or others have squelched your gift. Or perhaps you are like Babbet, who is patiently waiting for just the right time. Life is too short to be acting like this gloomy band of believers. God is with us and eager to reveal to each of us our unique, special gifts. And so we muster the courage to approach our God with a question, “What gift do you have for us?” And God responds, “I am so glad you asked!”

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