.png)
As we gather, we recognize that we live, work, pray, and play
in the traditional, unceded lands
of the Cowichan Tribes and Coast Salish People.
We continue to commit ourselves
to the work of reconciliation and relationship-building
with our First Nations neighbours.
Call to Worship:
Jesus manifested his glory,
and his disciples believed in him.
John 2.11
O Come. Let Us Worship.
Collect for Today
Almighty God,
your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ
is the light of the world.
May your people,
illumined by your word and sacraments,
shine with the radiance of his glory,
that he may be known, worshipped,
and obeyed to the ends of the earth;
who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Proclamation of the Gospel:
John 2.1-11
May the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable to You, O Lord. Amen.
" What Will Your Gift Be? "
"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.
I am sure all of us have struggled over choosing gifts or identifying gifts. You’re invited to a wedding; so, what gift do you bring? Or to a birthday, or a baptism celebration, or some other special occasion.
Making a decision over gift is possibly one of the most difficult decisions we make. Some of the questions:
• Will it be expensive enough?
• Will it be the right colour?
• What if they don’t like it?
• Will others be judgmental over our gift,
• And if we choose to give money, will it be judged on the amount that we have given?
There are so many questions when it comes to gifts.
I think back to when my parents were married. Today, when we read an account of the Bridal Shower that my mother received so many, many, many years ago, items like Teacups and saucers, aprons, tea towels, spoons, mixing spoons, utensils, embroidered pillowcases—all everyday items to be used.
Speaking of simpler times, who would have thought that 2000 years ago, running out of the 'good stock' would be a disaster?
I like it—when they run out of wine at the wedding in Cana.
Guess who comes to the rescue? Mom!
My interpretation goes something like this:
‘Mary arrives and says, ‘I’ll go talk to my son about this. I’m sure he can do something to help you out.’
Well, we know the rest of the story.
Jesus says to the wine stewards,
“Fill those jars with water, and take them to the master at the banquet.”
Here comes the part of assessing the gift.
I feel so sorry for the poor bridegroom! Imagine his embarrassment! This new wine is better than the wine he initially provided for the wedding banquet!
Back to, ‘What will your gift be?’
The words of Paul, to the church in Corinth, tell us a great deal about people, about community, about shared life.
Paul uses the example of 'spiritual gifts' to teach an important lesson—a lesson, which in many forms, is very simple.
First of all, judgement has no place in the Christian community. Actually, judgement, in reality has no place. Yet, we all do it at times.
What Paul discovers, when in Corinth, is what God gave to a community that was tearing itself apart. And so, Paul addresses these issues.
Well first, we are reminded that the list we read today is not exhaustive. In fact, we’ll go on in other parts of the Scripture and read of more gifts even. It is the beginning, though.
So, instead of using these gifts to build up the community of faith, these spiritual gifts, as Paul is witnessing, were tearing the community apart, because there’s a judgement over which gift is best—which is better.
The spiritual gifts were being used as symbols of power. Great divisions were being created in the community.
Why? Well, some felt one gift versus another was more superior. Paul reminds, and Holy Scripture reminds us, that when we begin to judge the value of a gift, it is a misuse of the whole idea behind, in this instance, the value of the spiritual gift.
It is not unlike my reference in the beginning talking about wedding gifts. When we take them all together, they create all that is required for life.
And when Paul and our Lord talk about spiritual gifts, they are talking about seeing them as a whole—one no more significant that the other.
When you look at the illustration I gave you, from the list of shower gifts my mother received, she had been provided with the tools to set up a family home. Each one was as valuable as the other. I’m sure people—some people might have looked at the embroidered pillowcases and thought, ‘Wow! Isn’t that wonderful!’ But at the same time, a good rolling pin was just as significant.
The spiritual gifts, then outlined by Paul here in I Corinthians ch.12, although not exhaustive, but when taken together--they give the faith community help in becoming an effective community to be more united.
These gifts were never meant to divide.
We can be divisive if we insist on using, or suggesting, one gift is better than the other, or one has a higher value.
I know I have shared this with you before:
But when I entered into the community at seminary, and sitting around the students talking about their faith experience, and some talking about how the Holy Spirit had touched their lives, and that was what brought them to seminary, and I thought, “Boy, my life is pretty dull. I don’t ever remember that!”
But what I do remember is that I cannot see a time in my life when faith was not part of the directive for my life!
And, so I ask, “What is your gift?”
Remember, Jesus never used the gift of turning water into wine to gain any favours. We don’t share our gifts in the world, and particularly in the life of the Church, (or we should not be sharing them) with the idea of gaining favours.
In fact, although John doesn’t share this with us directly, but it would appear that they didn’t even thank Jesus. And it also appears that he simply went on his way from there.
Jesus gives—gave—one of the greatest gifts, and that was faith.
The greatest gift we give to God is faith and believing in that faith. The gift of faith becomes an unusual power when we trust it.
As Jesus did, it is always good to stay in the background and let faith be the leader.
When we trust in our faith, each gift we offer will yield gratitude.
Makes me wonder, what it would be like for the bride and groom if they were to open their gifts, and there were no tags saying who it had come from.
I wonder what that experience might be like.
And so, that’s what faith is like. There’s no gift tag! May we all make our lives a true gift!