The Beijing Olympics has come and gone. Sadly, our athletes did not win a single medal, let alone a gold medal. Yes, we won a gold medal in Wushu. But it did not affect our medal standing because it is just a demonstration event. I am not putting down our athletes. They tried to compete against all odds. I guess it’s so frustrating on their part to be told to do or to achieve something but they just can’t do it because they lack the logistics during their training. Our government failed to invest in sports development.
I thank God that He is not like our government when it comes to the game of life. When God calls, He enables. That’s a saying that I have always believed. Let us open our Bibles in 1 Peter 4:10-11. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”[1] As we continue our study on the “one another” commands, we will see that when God calls us to engage, to get involved, He empowers us to do just that. This morning, we will launch into a series on spiritual gifts.
When we talk about the spiritually gifted, we usually think it belongs only to super-Christians or pastors or missionaries. But to ordinary believers like us, we can’t imagine ourselves as spiritually gifted. But verse 10 says, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” Note the words “Each one… has received”. That’s you and me. God has empowered EACH ONE of us to engage. He gave every believer at least one spiritual gift. In the Greek, the root of the word “gift” is “grace.” That’s why we also call it “grace-gifts.”
You may be asking, “When did we receive these gifts?” The moment we received the Lord Jesus as Savior, not only did He save us, He also gave us spiritual gifts. Like our salvation, we received these gifts by God’s grace. That means God gave it to us not because of our merits but because He chose to freely give it to us.
What are gifts? In his book “He Gave Gifts” Chuck Swindoll gave this definition: “A spiritual gift is a skill or ability that enables each Christian to perform a function in the body of Christ with ease and effectiveness.” When you are gifted to do something, you can really do it well.
Now a spiritual gift is not a natural talent. Singing is a talent. Though a singer can be called a gifted singer, singing is not a spiritual gift. When we were born physically, we were born with talents. When we were born spiritually, we were born with spiritual gifts. But we may express our spiritual gifts through our talents. For example, a believer may have the gift of encouragement and the talent of singing. She could encourage people with her songs. A spiritual gift is also different from a ministry or an area of responsibility in the church. For example, a person who has the gift of teaching does not automatically have to become a pastor or a Sunday school teacher. He may express it through writing children’s books.
Is there a list of gifts in the Bible? Let us read verse 11: “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides”. Here in our passage, Peter gave only two examples of gifts, speaking and serving. If we want to research more about grace-gifts, read also Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12-14 and Ephesians 4:11. We will look into those passages in the coming weeks.
Now that we know God gave us gifts, we may be asking, “So what? Now what?” It is now our responsibility to discover and develop our gifts. Let us go back to verse 10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” Note the clause, “faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” The New American Standard Bible translated it this way: “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” We are accountable to God for our use of His gifts. We are His stewards or managers. “The word denotes a slave who was responsible for managing his master’s property or household and for distributing wages, food, etc. to its members”.[2]
Imagine you have a close relative who lives in the US of A. Every birthday, every Christmas, every special occasion you send a gift. You would really look for a special gift and at great expense mail it to your relative. Now, an opportunity came for you to visit her. You flew all the way to America. Upon entering her house you scanned it, looking for the gifts you sent. You found none. You look for that beautifully carved, wooden Last Supper in the dining area. It’s not there. You searched for that Magic Sing microphone you sent with all those song chips in the living room. You could not find it also. When your relative left for an errand, you stayed behind and tried to find your gifts. Lo and behold, you see them in the storage area. Still wrapped… Gathering dust… Unused… How would you feel? Tell me, would you believe your relative if she says that she appreciates the gifts you have been sending her? Now, tell me, how would God feel if you fail to use the spiritual gifts He gave you?
Why did God give those gifts? Again, look at verse 10. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” Underline the words “to serve others”. Remember the context of this letter. The Roman government was persecuting them. That’s why Peter wrote in verse 7, “The end of all things is near.” In times of crisis, people tend to be selfish. But, the apostle gave a series of commands: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others”. These commands are closely related because, in the Greek, verses 7-10 are actually one long sentence. When people think of themselves, believers should love one another deeply. When persecution displaces believers from their home, others should give them shelter even if doing so would cause them to incur the wrath of their enemies also. When people wanted to be served, believers should instead serve others, using the gifts God gave them. God has empowered us to engage so that we can EXPRESS LOVE to others. Talk is cheap. It’s easy to talk about love. But action best expresses love. God gave us gifts not for ourselves but for others.
The second purpose why God gave us gifts is found in verse 11: “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” Circle the conjunction “so that”. God has empowered us to engage so that we can EXALT HIM.
How do we glorify God when we use our gifts? First, we exalt Him when we discover and develop our gifts. “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.” If God gifted you to preach, then preach! If God gifted you as an administrator, then seek opportunities to express your gift, for example help in organizing events. Of course, we can still do something even if we are not gifted to do it. That is not an excuse for failure to serve. We should serve whenever and wherever we are needed. It’s actually a good way to test if you are gifted in area. Just do it. It’s easier to steer a car when it is running rather than when it is parked. But, once we see where we are gifted, we ought to make that our focus of ministry.
And we exalt God when we depend on Him. “If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides”. Even if we are gifted to teach, for example, we cannot rely on our own strength or wisdom or knowledge to teach. No matter how good we are in teaching, we will not accomplish much if we will not depend on Him. It is also amazing that God gave us both the skill and the strength to do what He wants us to do. When we discover and develop our gifts, then when we depend on Him as we use our gifts, “in all things God [will] be praised through Jesus Christ.”
Brothers and sisters, God has empowered each one of us to engage so that we can express love to one another and so that we can exalt Him. “To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Let us pray…
[1]All Bible verses are from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted.
[2]The New Linguistic and Exegetical Key to the Greek New Testament.
