Wednesday, 10 April, 2002

For by the grace given to me to say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with a sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Romans 12:3

For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; iministry in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. Romans 12:4-8



The gathering of the whole brings us the gifts that can and do make a community work by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is even so with a small group of people. What we see listed above are specific gifts that help to build the body of Christ. There is also the need of others in our lives to encourage our faithfulness. At various times in our lives, we may need someone else to be our source of encouragement or to remind us that we are indeed forgiven and can enter into today resting on God's love for us that has the power to transform us. The "we" of our baptism is always meant to be a living "we". In that way, we are connected to others as people who look after the welfare of all...and we do that by using our various gifts. My gifts, are not "my" gifts. They are always the gifts I am called to bring to the community and offer for the well being of others and the group as a whole.



Connection: Today there may be people in the body of Christ who may need to hear from you a word of encouragement and hopefulness. On the other hand, you may be in need of just such a gift from another. Sometimes, we have to make sure there are people in our lives who will be gift sharers with us.



Benevolent Lord, you bring us into the richness of your glorious Reign and then you ask us to be a part of the glory through the gifts we bring to the table. Encourage us to offer our gifts freely to others as you freely offer your Son for the welfare of your whole creation. Amen.