Fr Peter Helman
"I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3)
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Beloved,
Richard Kuns preached a sermon recently that will stay with me for many years. He pointed out how frequently we make sense of our identities based on what we do. At social gatherings, for instance, we often ask a person we’ve only just met, “So, what do you do?” Of course, it’s a question worth asking, as we take interest in the lives of our neighbors. Richard nudged us onward, though, to consider who we are and whose we are. He posed a question of being rather than doing, for we are more than what we do. We must ask who we are made to be? How does what we do point us beyond the sheer accomplishment of activities to the fulfillment of our very souls?
Today is the Feast of Saint Simon and Saint Jude, and the reading appointed for Morning Prayer from the epistle to the churches of Ephesus mentions a certain measure of grace given by Christ to “each of us ... according to the measure of Christ’s gift,” a measure of grace that equips some to become apostles and prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Other Pauline letters list additional spiritual gifts, that of miracle working, service, exhorting, giving, leading, and mercy. Paul also writes of the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, the ability to discern spirits, the articulation of various kinds of tongues and their interpretation.
On the whole, I reckon any number of these gifts are more easily relatable than others. With pen and paper, we’re able to name the teachers, pastors, and servants, who minister in our midst. We know well the inclination and generous capacity of certain hearts among us to give and show mercy and lead. What about the evangelists among us who bring glad tidings of great joy? Who are the miracle workers and healers among us? Who are the apostles and prophets among us?
This morning I wonder which spiritual gifts dwell richly within you?
I'm glad to admit the question is not much of a question at all. The gifts of the Holy Spirit, without question, are already there to discover, for you are a child of God.
The well-known author and Presbyterian minister Frederick Buechner once wrote, “Your vocation in life is where your greatest joy meets the world’s greatest needs.”
The wisdom of this saying is as good a place as any to direct our steps toward the discernment of spiritual gifts? Where does your greatest joy meet the world’s greatest needs, and how can we join hands in service?
In the reading from Ephesians, Paul speaks of spiritual gifts by analogy in terms of the anatomy of the human body. Those whom Christ calls into the fellowship of the Church are made members one of another, and together they grow up into him “from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”
When we discover the gifts that Christ has placed deep within our hearts and then together, with gratitude, offer them back to God in service of the needs of the world, we will discover the fullness of joy. We will have done more than simply assume additional roles and responsibilities and in fact become the beloved community we were made to be. We will find our hearts set on fire with love that many waters cannot quench.
May God bless you today that you might be a blessing to all you encounter along the way.
Yours in Christ,
Peter+