1 Corinthians 12:3-13: Gifts Over Character, A Subtle Cancer

Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. - 1 Corinthians 12:3-13

God does what he wants with his people. Christians do other Christians a disservice by focusing on their gift rather than their character. We want to listen to this pastor or this author or this Bible study leader, acting as if they have a special connection with God. If there's anything the book of 1st Corinthians teaches us, its that the gifting of God in a person may not be connected with the character of God in a person.

Samson was a gifted individual in the Old Testament. Even Spirit-empowered. But no one would hold up Samson as a role model to follow. God figured out how to use him, even in his death, despite his character failings.

In fact, God is so willing to give flawed individuals special gifts, that it makes me wonder sometimes if character is worth it. Can I not worry about character and just take the gifts? Get the shiny bits of the Christian life but never really change inwardly? May it never be! Because like Samson, our character will destroy whatever we try to build exploiting God's gifts for our gain and many that we care about can be hurt in the process. The gift will cease, and only the character will go with me into heaven. 

As Paul says, we are like a single body working together. Selfish cells may grow and flourish for a time using the life sustenance that is given them, but they are still called a cancer and are eventually cut out or irradiated. I don't want to be cut out, I want to find God's path to thrive in the body.

Psalm 104:24-35: They Acknowledge God, Why Don't We?

How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.

There the ships go to and fro, and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.

When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works—he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord. But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul. Praise the Lord. - Psalm 104:24-35

 Life is a gift. Each breath is a gift. Death is the cessation of that gift. What we do with that gift is the question that each day asks of us. Will I praise God? Or will I repudiate God by my actions or my unwillingness to acknowledge him? The author points out that even the sea and the fish are better than we are, because they are constantly aware of the God who creates them, provides for them and then brings them to an end. Why don't we?

Acts 2:1-12: Equal Before The Generosity of God

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ - Acts 2:1-12

"What does this mean?" In the Old Testament, the spirit empowered judges, kings and prophets. But in the New Testament, as Jesus promised, the Spirit was dispersed among the followers of Jesus. And not just among the super-heroes of the nascent church, but to pretty much anyone. 

What does it mean for the church that we were all anointed-chosen by God? With God being indiscriminately generous, you would think there was no room for pride. Children, adults, servants, men, women, old and young have full access to the good news of Jesus. God is good and not a respecter of persons. 

But we still try to rank and measure who is higher on the ladder. Who is smarter, more experienced, more disciplined, more insightful, more gifted, or even more damaged or more redeemed? I find delight it understanding the words of God and the more delight in understanding more than my brother and sister. We take the undeserved gifts of God and try to claim we are better and deserve more. Like opening a package we find under our Christmas tree and then comparing it with what the other kids got.

That's not what the gift of the Spirit is for! The Spirit is a sign posts saying, "You are God's. Look how amazing God is!" Paul says, "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." (2 Cor. 1:21-22) In the same way that everyone is equal before the cross of Christ, everyone is equal before the generosity of God. Will I recognize the goodness of God to others as just as deserved as what I received?

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11: Past Performance, Future Returns

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. - 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

When the author of Hebrews wrote "For the joy set before him he [Jesus] endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Heb. 12:2b-3), he could have been writing an outline for how Peter viewed the Christian life. Jesus had hope, joy, suffering, shame and victory. For Peter we also have hope, joy, suffering, shame and victory. Jesus himself said, "A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." (John 15:20)

We aren't the only ones with these worries: we're all struggling because we share the same enemy-the devil. We keep tossing these worries to God and the very act of tossing is an act of faith. It is really difficult to assume this. It seems so blind. However, unlike the promises of investment firms, past performance by God is a guarantee of future returns from God. Will we trust him?

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35: Closer Than Blood

May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.

May you blow them away like smoke—as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

When you, God, went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance. Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord, to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice. Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the heavens.

You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God! - Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows...God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing.." One of the biggest forms of idolatry is the idolatry of relationships-the view that, if everything is ok with them, then everything is all right with the world. But relationships are always temporary. Either through physical distress, emotional abandonment or circumstances beyond our control, relationships--even those relationships which are in fairly good shape--cannot provide protection against the world. Since all people are like grass that withers, therefore the relationships built on those people will eventually disappoint because the people disappear. So what remains is the relationship that does not wither or fade--the one who can be the closest relation to us-Jesus.

When Jesus asked his hearers: “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” He didn't really have a choice in who is mother or brothers or sisters were-who his family were- physically. But he looked around at those sitting with them and said that the family he chose was more critical than the family he was born with. Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” 

Sometimes, the ones who realize this sooner are the ones for whom all relation has been forcibly removed through death, abandonment or betrayal. They learn, as we should, that God is not the distant grandfather, but instead the closest relation we have.

 

Acts 1:6-14: Not Me, But You

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. - Acts 1:6-14

What next? This was the twist ending within the twist ending of the movie. First, the hero died in full view of a lot of witnesses, but (plot twist) he comes back to life and apparently it was foreshadowed all along. Second, the hero comes back but he doesn't try to "win" the way that we were expecting him to win. After Jesus came back from the dead, the disciples saw it as a major triumph, putting the kingdom plan back on track again. Yes, the hero died, but God's Messiah came back to life in triumph over the devil and all other enemies. They thought they would stop God's kingdom, but they couldn't and Jesus has returned to prove that they still can't.

But that's not what happened. In fact, Jesus rides off into the clouds and disappears. So the disciples need to regroup and have a deep think. They go to the upper room and ask themselves, "Did Jesus also foreshadow any of this plot twist as well?" Could this be what he meant when Jesus said, earlier this week, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12)

The disciples need to rethink two big questions: What does the kingdom look like? and How do we get to the kingdom from today? For the first question, Jesus has put a big stopper on the idea that the kingdom is going to pop down and replace all of the bad guys with good guys and everyone lives happily ever after. So we need to have our eyes opened to a kingdom where the primary activity is not in the acquisition and deployment of power to achieve God's goals. He decided 2000 years ago against that plan of action. In fact, he demonstrated it by giving up power.

For the second question, Jesus firmly says that he's not going to be the one to do it, but rather the Spirit-enabled followers of Jesus are going to do it. That is: not me, says Jesus, but you. Now the disciples all knew what a bad idea that was, since they knew what fools they'd been as far as understanding how to act over the last three years. But God seemed to be using this bad idea and foolish disciples to bring his kingdom into effect. 

Am I willing to be the weak and foolish one that he teaches and leads in the kingdom path?

1 Peter 2:2-10: A Watered Down, Tepid God

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. - 1 Peter 2:2-10

Settling. I have watched my chicken search for food. She will search under every shrub and pot looking for something good to eat. And if she doesn't find something good to eat, she will try ordinary grasses and leaves. And if she doesn't find those, she will eat the bland chicken food in her coop. And if she doesn't find that, she will randomly try to eat almost anything, including my jeans. 

But then there is the lid of the can where her treats are stored. But then is there is the sound of my wife or I calling crrrrrr to her. Her response is immediate, fervent and unrelenting because those are the sounds of the treats-the best of her foods being readied for her. Whatever she was doing before, it becomes as nothing to her and her attention is undivided. Even if she is laying an egg, sometimes she will left her labor unfinished.

Sometimes I think I forget how we "tasted that the Lord is good" and forget "crave pure spiritual milk". I just settle. I decide at some point that my sluggish pace to "grow up in [our] salvation" is good enough-the best that can be expected--and that my life with a watered down, tepid God is sufficient. In short--I settle. The startling amazement of coming "out of darkness into his wonderful light." gets lost.

I find that sad. Flashes of his glory and greatness fly by but there is no craving, just futile flailings of desire. I sense this, so sometimes I work in my mind's eye forward from the beginning until now, to retell the story of how God brought me to this particular place of blessing. Sometimes I work backward ,tracing the cause and effect as God's grace wended its way towards me. That takes effort and time. But when I have come back to the place of wonder, as I can marvel at his genius, compassion and power, I try to cement that moment in my memory of God as an aid to refocus and remember my deep, deep craving to be close to God.

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16: Live Up To Your Name!

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.

Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me. Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.

Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God. My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.

Let your face shine on your servant; save me in your unfailing love. - Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

 It's rough having a reputation like God's. For someone to match him he must be righteous, quick, strong, safe, faithful, loving and reliable. The writer of the psalm knows these things about God and then asks God to protect the reputation derived from these--his own name--by rescuing him. "Live up to your name!", he pleads with God. Not "I'm your servant" or "I'll do whatever you ask" but "for the sake of your name lead and guide me and keep me safe from the trap that is set for me"

I think that (a) this shows an awareness of God alone being the one who decides when things will happen ("my times are in your hands") and (b) God is motivated by what motivates God. We don't have any leverage on God to twist his arm into doing what he wants. Instead the psalmist goes back to what God wants: that his character, works and reputation are on display. The psalmist basically says: let people see what kind of person-what kind of name you have-by helping out someone who is following after your dictates. Was God bound by the psalmist's words? No. He can do what he wants. But if it was the right time and the right way to point people to himself, then maybe it was the right time to save the psalmist. 

At some point, we have to do what Jesus did when he quoted this chapter from the cross, "Into your hands I commit my spirit." Do the right thing and leave the outcomes to God. There is wisdom in knowing when to ask God and knowing when to let God do his thing. 

Acts 7:55-60: What I Wish I Could Protect

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. - Luke 7:55-60

They didn't want to hear, so they covered their ears and yelled. They didn't want to become unclean, so they left their coats with Saul. Stephen's ideas were dangerous and they wanted to go back to a world that was safe--where nobody said things they shouldn't and nobody did things they shouldn't and nothing someone did could inconvenience their day. They sought the safety of a little bubble, where they could look out but nothing could get in.  But to insure that level of detachment from the world also radically diminished their ability to be God's representative in the world.

Why did they do that? Because they had something precious. I can understand that. Safety was at a premium in the violent and hostile world that they lived in. That desire for safety leaves me with closed ears to hear anything, much less the truth of God. I know the world can be unkind and destructive and I don't want anyone or anything to break the little good I've managed to scrape together in my life.

Stephen showed an alternate vantage point: he could see who would defend him and protect his world: the Son of Man to whom he could commit everything, even his spirit and that safety enabled him to die with grace and forgive his attackers. I want to place my safety in the hands of one who can guarantee it long-term.