1 Cor 12:1-11; John 2: 1-11 Transformed by God’s Gifts E/DC/GR Jan 14, 2007

If you haven’t got all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you don’t want. So an unknown author in my calendar writes. I thought it fit particularly well for our spiritual gifts too. It’s quite amazing when you think of it. Just in this church family here, all the different gifts we’ve been given. Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, the ability to speak out on injustice, sensitivity. The list goes on in Romans - ministry, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, compassion. We could add to the list of gifts of the spirit, or gifts that build up the spirit. Music, farming and gardening, love, believing in another, courage.

How do we come up with the particular unique group of gifts that the Spirit gives us? I can’t imagine the Holy Spirit sitting down with a careful list of gifts, checking it twice, trying to decide who will receive which gifts. When we think of how the Spirit is described it’s more like scattering wild-flower seeds with delight in the most unpredictable outcome. We all have gifts. Are we able to go wild, and share them with the same loving abandon that gave them to us?

But it’s not easy to just share our gifts with that abandon is it? Just last week my friend had shared with our group how much she enjoyed playing in her church. No, she lives too far away to play here! But she says she feels really badly when people tell her how much they enjoy her music. Are we not practiced enough at accepting praise graciously? Did we grow up thinking it wrong to feel good about our gifts? “Pride goeth before a fall.” Absolutely true. But the other side of that wisdom is that not seeing the gifts God gave us goeth before a fall as well! Do we compare ourselves to others with the same gift and come up wanting in our eyes? Do we compare ourselves to others and maybe feel we are better at this particular thing, and it’s the comparing that leaves us feeling badly?

We also seem to underplay or undermine the gifts we do have and wish for others. Ever had that happen? Someone compliments you or tells how they appreciate your gifts and you brush it aside, because for you it’s so easy, it’s not like Great Aunt Gertrude’s or Jake’s gift. Of course the gifts we have are easy. That’s why they’re called gifts. They were given to us! The result is we don’t enjoy the gifts we do have.

You see, we miss out on a lot when we negate or ignore or don’t use the gifts God has given us. “The glory of God is people fully alive.” And we become fully alive as we become comfortable with, enjoy and share the gifts we’ve been given. We see people who begin to paint or teach or make music or garden or do woodwork, when they thought they couldn’t, or maybe didn’t even think about it! Transformation is the only word to describe what happens, as they grow in self-confidence and a sense of worth. We are transformed by the gifts God gives us.

The double miracle is that we become transforming powers in our communities when we do share these gifts. They’re not just for our enjoyment or benefit, but are given for the good of all. When the gifts are shared, not only do others benefit, but others are empowered to use and share their gifts as they see our transformation.

Can you get a sense of God’s delight in creation and the gifts and blessings God gives us? For too long we’ve seen God as at best dour, telling us we’ve done everything wrong, distant, cold. That’s not Jesus’ picture. But think also of the beauty, colour, vastness of creation. The wonder, potential and diversity of the gifts to people. It seems to be God’s nature to create, and that creation brings delight to God. Scripture tells us, that after each day of creation, God sees that it is good. When it’s completed, “It is very good!” When we accept our role as co-creators, and share our gifts and live our blessings, we can also share in that delight.

So suppose we’re ready to recognize we’re all given different gifts. We might even say, well that’s interesting. But does it make a difference in our lives? We may admire someone and their gifts. Or despise them. We may not understand the differences the other person has are actually gifts! Now that does affect relationships. That does make a difference in our lives. We relate very differently in family, community, and work, if we see ways of thinking, believing, behaving, expressing God’s gifts as different, not wrong. Romans 12 describes them as gifts differing. Only when we truly understand and accept ours and others’ differences and the gift in them, can we start to make a difference in our world.

Tom Tiller has an interesting perspective on relationships and how seeing gifts differently could change relationships and our world radically. He begins by telling a story of a couple who’d been divorced for 15 years and came for classes to be married again. They couldn’t remember why they’d gotten divorced. They said, “After all these years, somehow the divorce just didn’t work out.” Think of that. “The divorce just didn’t work out.” Or, “War just didn’t work out, so we’re trying peace.” “Arguing just didn’t work out, so we’re going to try negotiating.” “Yelling and screaming didn’t work out, so we’re going to sit down and actually listen to each other.” “Being enemies didn’t work out, so we’re going to be friends.” “Holding a grudge didn’t work out, so we’re going to forgive.” There are all kinds of reason for anger, hatred, bigotry, argument, being enemies. But God created us for relationship, for love, peace, understanding. What if we could say, “Being broken isn’t working, so we’re going to work for healing in ourselves and our relationships!”

How can we begin to live in such a way? A little boy was asked, “What are you learning in Sunday School?” He thought, then said, “Last Sunday we heard the story about how Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding.” “What did you learn from that story?” he was asked. “Well if you’re going to have a party, make sure Jesus is there.” How do we begin to heal ourselves and our relationships? How do we live with delight in the gifts God has given us? We begin by inviting Jesus to our party. Making sure Christ is in our life, our work, our church. Then we too will be transformed by God’s gifts to us.