1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (NRSV)
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Chapter 12Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. Verse 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Verse 3Therefore 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. Verse 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; Verse 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; Verse 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. Verse 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Verse 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, Verse 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, Verse 10to 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. Verse 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
Devotion
There are gifts, and then there are gifts. God endows each person with them. Some are athletes, some are mechanics, some are financiers, some have green thumbs. We need these gifts for the real world to function. We give thanks to God for Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, President Dwight Eisenhower and many others.
But the Apostle Paul is not writing about these natural endowments. He is underscoring supernatural ones, gifts of God’s Holy Spirit. These, too, enrich, especially the community of faith. Every time the congregation confesses that “Jesus is Lord,” via the Apostles' Creed, it is the Holy Spirit’s work. Other gifts are needed, too, such as faith, knowledge, wisdom, healing, prophecy and tongues. While strange to many of us, they are regularly on the agenda of some congregations.
Prayer
Send us all the gifts we need, Lord, to be your witnesses to the world. Amen.