Humility

1 Corinthians 12:4-11

“4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

God gives all believers gifts of the Spirit.  There are a variety of gifts and Paul listed a few, such as knowledge, wisdom, healing, prophecy, discernment, and speaking in tongues.  Some members of the Corinthian church believed that the more visible spiritual gifts (like tongues and teaching) were greater gifts than gifts that were not so visible and public (like discernment and wisdom).

The Corinthians were so prideful that instead of being thankful, they assigned a rank to the gifts of God.

Paul informed the Corinthians that all gifts were given and activated by the same Spirit for the glory of God and good of the community and the world.  No gift was to be frowned upon or looked down upon.  

All gifts of God are holy and sacred, given to us not as we deserve them… but as the sovereign God chooses.

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself or herself more highly than he or she ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3-8)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Living Our Faith

1 Corinthians 12:1-3

“1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.”

Jews who were cursing Jesus and calling him a criminal also claimed to be speaking by the spirit of God.  This worried the Christian Jews of Corinth.  How could the same spirit that indwells Christians curse Jesus Christ?

Paul’s reply was that no one who is truly speaking by the spirit of God will ever curse Christ, the Son of God.  Likewise, only those indwelled by the Holy Spirit can truthfully and sincerely say that Jesus is their Lord.  Others may lie and say that Jesus is their Lord, but only those who, because of their faith were given God’s Holy Spirit, can honestly say this.

Simply put, a person of faith will live their faith…

and their lives and words will tell us all we need to know.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Reverence

1 Corinthians 11: 21-22

“20 When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper. 21 For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk. 22 What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!”

In the early Church, Christians would come together for a meal called a “Love Feast” as well as the Lord’s supper.  Apparently, in the Corinthian church, the Love feast had become corrupted and changed in such a way that it was taking precedence over the and in some cases taking the place of the Lord’s supper.

The wealthy members of the church would bring elaborate meals and wine, while the poor members came with less or nothing to eat.  Instead of sharing their meal as a proper Love Feast dictated, the wealthy would sit among themselves and eat their meal and drink their wine while the poorer members went hungry.  In some cases, some people over indulged in wine and became drunk.

The Love Feast, in which there should have been sharing and unselfishness, which should have been a preparatory ritual leading into the Lord’s supper, had become a selfish, drunken meal of overindulgence.  

How do we approach our rituals and sacraments today?  Do we remember their purpose and significance?

Do we participate with humility and reverence? 

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)