Gifted People

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Romans 12:6

This month, the church celebrates the day and begins the season of Pentecost. The word means “50 days.” 50 days, with Easter being day 1. The celebration also coincides with a festival in the Jewish tradition that takes place on the 50th day after the Passover celebration called the “Feast of Weeks”, when the farmers of Israel would present their tithes (of their crops) to God. Christians celebrate the day as the arrival of the Holy Spirit, when the message that Jesus had shared with the world was now given to followers of Jesus to live out. What does that mean? It means that since Jesus is no longer here, we have been called and empowered to share the message of faith, hope and love, and that we will be led and protected by the same Spirit of God that lived inside of Jesus.

Which brings us to the subject of spiritual gifts. You see, as followers of Jesus, we too are given the Holy Spirit to live inside of us. Every Christian is unique and special, with particular gifts to share so that the world may know Jesus, and so that the church can be strengthened and more faithful. Did you know that you have a calling to ministry that only you can accomplish? That is the whole idea behind the concept of spiritual gifts. Jesus talked about it like this: “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 end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

How do we discover what our particular gifts may be? It takes looking inside of yourself and discovering who you are on the inside. Are you by nature generous? Do people seem to turn to you when they need encouragement? Can you keep a clear head when everyone around you is panicking? Do people ask you to pray for them a lot? Do you seem to be able to motivate others to action? Can you speak to others in a way that inspires them to grow in their faith? Can you tell the difference between the truth and what is either hype, fluff, or a lie? Do children seem to be magnetically drawn to your smiling face? All of these things are possibilities.

Look inside yourself. Discover not only what you do well, but also find the things that either excite you or break your heart, and there you will find your calling, your gifting. When we all find our spot, our giftedness, amazing God-sized things will happen. Can you see it yet?

“And we. . . are being transformed into Jesus’ image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

In Christ,
Michael

Faith, Like Baseball

“Well, beat the drum, and hold the phone, the sun came out today.
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.” John Fogerty

If you know me well, you know how much I love baseball. When I was a kid, I would leave my house at 9:30 in the morning during the summer (I would have left earlier but my mother said 9:30 was early enough), ride my bike over to Bill Siedler’s house, and Bill, his brother Bobby, and I would play baseball in their backyard until dark. Yes, we took breaks to eat. Sure, others would join us sometimes, or we would join them for awhile (the Woehr brothers, who lived next door to the Siedlers, seemed to always bring Danny's pet rats outside during a game we were playing), but mostly it was just us. Many nights, we would try to get that last inning in before it was too dark to see the ball. My childhood memories of summer are surrounded by baseball. When I did stay home, the nights were filled with the voices of Marty and Joe and their tales of heroes and villains clothed in uniforms of white and gray. Even now, baseball captures my imagination, and teaches me a lot about how life, and yes, how faith, work.

People can approach their lives like baseball fans do, and watching the behavior of fans gives an example. Yankee fans expect to have the world on a platter. With 20-something World Series championships, anything less than winning the World Series is a disappointment. Then there are Cub fans (Red Sox fans used to be like this, too, but they have won 2 World Series since 2004, so it’s different now). Cub fans, no matter how good their team is (and lately, they’ve really been very good), are always looking for disaster to strike. That will happen when it’s been over 100 years since your team has won it all. In ’69, the Mets stole their miracle after the black cat ran around in front of their dugout. In ’03, they were so close to the World Series they could taste it, but then Steve Bartman became the goat of the hour. Since 1945 (the last time they made the Series), they have lived under the so-called “curse of the Billy goat”. Reds fans (and I am one), as Paul Daugherty writes, are not so much demanding as expectant that after 9 years of losing and 14 years without a playoff berth, something good has to happen for their team, and soon.

So—what does any of this have to do with faith? Well, don’t we all deal with disappointment and hunger in life? Aren’t we thrilled when life is going well and people are excited about what the next day might bring? Don’t we all wish that sometimes people would be as loyal to faith when times are tough as they are to their ball clubs? Or maybe it’s the other way—fickle fans make us glad that our loyalty to God, and to our church, is stronger than that. After all, the result of our faith is more certain than the results produced by our favorite baseball team. Jesus has conquered death and offers us life that lasts forever. Which leaves us all with a question—do we get just as excited about God as we do about sports? I pray that we are more excited than that.

To borrow from Joe, this is the old lefthander rounding third and heading for home (remember, in life as in baseball, if you swing the bat, you’re dangerous).

In Christ,
Michael