Renew: We All Have Different Gifts
Introduction: The Gift That Was Not a Gift
Have you ever gotten a gift you could not wait to open, because you just had to know what was inside? We just had Christmas, and it took me back to when I was a child at my grandparents’ house. There were presents everywhere, and one in particular was from my Uncle Dan. Now, what I can tell you about my uncle is that he’s a jokester. I picked up the present from him, and it was incredibly light—so light it felt like there was almost nothing in it. I remember thinking, What is it? Is there a card in here? Is there money? Of course, the kids were anxious: When are we opening presents? When is it time? And then finally it was time. I ripped the wrapping paper open and inside… was nothing. At first, I was confused. Maybe it slipped out? But no. With his quirky sense of humour, my uncle decided his present to me was going to be “a surprise”: a box with nothing in it. I think I did get another gift from him that was real, but I still call that the gift that was not a gift. And if we’re honest, I think there are moments in life when we can feel a little bit like that ourselves. We look at other people in the church, or our church looks at another church down the road—and we quietly wonder: Do I have anything to offer? Did I get nothing? Do we have anything meaningful to contribute? Those questions don’t only show up once. They show up at different stages of life, but in different forms.
The Human Journey: From Trying Everything to Staying Safe
When we’re kids, we’ll seemingly try almost anything. There’s an innocent joy in it because we’re not afraid of not knowing what we’re doing. We just jump in. At our house, we have a drum kit in the garage. My boys will say, “Dad, teach me how to play.” Now, I’ve never taught drums before, but everybody knows the jingle to George of the Jungle, right? So we get going: dun dun dun dun dun… And after about my one-minute drum lesson, four boys can make a racket for a couple of hours! There’s a lot of banging and not very much music—but there is joy. Because when you’re young, you’re not embarrassed by being a beginner. And that ability to learn when you’re young—that’s a gift. Over time, it can mature into competence, proficiency, even excellence. But then we move into adolescence, and something changes. Suddenly, we’re very aware that other eyes are on us. The freedom to look foolish starts to disappear. If I brought a drum kit up and said, “Who wants to learn in front of everyone?” most of us wouldn’t jump up with confidence. We might tap the stick a couple of times and say, “Pastor, that’s enough for me.” And then, as adults, many of us settle into what I call the zone of competence. We learn what we do well, and we stay there because it’s safe. We don’t want to take risks. We don’t want to look foolish. This reminds me of a scene from the movie Hitch. There’s an accountant who’s getting ready for his first date with the girl of his dreams, and they’re supposed to go dancing. He doesn’t know how to dance at all—he’s doing strange stuff, trying to impress. And his dating coach finally says, in effect: “Stop trying so hard. Just stay “in the pocket”. Just sway. Don’t go crazy.” And honestly, that’s how a lot of us live as adults. Stay safe. Stick with what we know. But if you live long enough, another shift comes. Capacity changes. Health challenges come. Energy ebbs and flows. Things that used to be easy require more effort, take more time, or might not even be possible anymore. And then a new version of the same question surfaces: Do I still have value even if I can’t do what I used to do?
The Core Truth: Gifts Are Given by Grace
This is where Romans 12 speaks with such clarity. Paul writes: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (Romans 12:6). Paul doesn’t say we have different gifts according to our personality, although our personality plays a role in how our gifts express themselves. He doesn’t say we have gifts according to our education, although education can sharpen some gifts. He doesn’t say we have gifts according to our stage of life. He says we have gifts according to grace. Which means wherever I am today—however different today is from the past—God has placed something into my hands as a gift of grace. It’s not earned. It’s not something I achieved. It is given. And that means that whatever we have, it is not nothing. So the question isn’t whether I have something to offer. The question is whether I will place what God has given me before him.
A Picture of Many Gifts: Not a Spreadsheet, but a Body
When Paul lists gifts in Romans 12:6–8, he isn’t trying to give me a spreadsheet of every possible spiritual gift that exists. He lists seven gifts here, but the point isn’t that this is the complete list. The point is that the body of Christ has a diversity of gifts, and those gifts are meant to strengthen the whole church.
So whatever God has placed in my hands, the call is to use it for the good of the body:
- Prophecy is speaking God’s truth with courage and clarity.
- Service is meeting real needs with practical love.
- Teaching is helping people understand and apply God’s Word.
- Encouragement is strengthening hearts that are weary or afraid.
- Giving is sharing resources with an open hand and pure motives.
- Leadership is guiding people with vision and responsibility.
- Mercy is moving toward suffering with compassion.
And the beauty is that no one person carries all the gifts. That’s by design. The point isn’t that I have every gift. The point is, as we discussed last week, that the body has what it needs.
Gratitude for a Congregation’s Gift of Service
One of the things I’ve learned over the past year at First Mennonite is that our congregation has a remarkable gift of service. As I’ve gotten to know our people, I’ve been blown away by how many have spent significant time—months and in some cases years of their life—serving others in practical ways: doing missions overseas in places like Africa and Asia, doing voluntary service with the urban poor in Chicago, serving in education on an Indigenous reserve in the southern United States. Those practical expressions live out something deeply Christlike. They are not flashy gifts. They are not “stage” gifts. But they are profound gifts. They show what it looks like to follow Jesus with hands and feet.
The Invitation: Don’t Despise, Don’t Overlook, Don’t Refuse
As we move through different phases of life, we have an ongoing opportunity to keep offering our gifts back to God—whatever they look like now. Instead of leading, I might need to learn how to follow. Instead of always serving, I might need to be willing to receive the service of others. Instead of being the one who shows mercy, I might need to let someone show mercy to me. Receiving from Christ through the gifts of someone else is not weakness. It is the body of Christ functioning the way it was designed to function. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Love is not only something I give—it is something I receive.
So here’s the invitation I want to leave with you: don’t despise the gifts God has blessed you with. Don’t overlook the gifts God has blessed others with. And don’t refuse to allow God to serve you through the gifts of someone else. Because together, we belong to one body, and together we can serve one another as we walk with Jesus and become more and more like him each day. Amen.