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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
August 12, 2024
Feast of Florence Nightingale
Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:4–11
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
Meditation - Peter Vanderveen
When I was in school there was always a set of students who were referred to as “gifted.” They were noted for being exceptional scholars or musicians or artists or athletes who, quite apart from any unusual drivenness or effort, excelled in performance. Their excellence seemed to come with ease – as if out of nowhere. Or at least it couldn’t be attributed to something definitive that could be easily replicated or shared. To say that they were “gifted” gave a nod to the idea that their talents were simply bestowed. They were given; and this was taken for granted. From where or from whom these gifts actually came was never discussed or investigated.
There was a time when people spoke of “God-given” traits, and this was meant to be taken literally. We are not, first of all, individuals abandoned to the task of brute self-creation. Quite differently, before we can even begin the task of making our own way, we are fundamentally formed and allotted a place and role… not just by genetics and context but also by God. And it’s this divine calling and purpose that ultimately affords us dignity. It’s not something we have of ourselves; dignity comes from God’s investment in us (if it had any other source it could be taken away). Gradually, however, the attribution “God-given” has lost its directness and become roughly synonymous with the merely “natural.” We are the poorer for this shift.
It’s easy to read Paul’s words simply as a description of human diversity. Each of us has something to contribute to our corporate life. That’s self-evident. But Paul’s emphasis isn’t on our complementary differences. His focus is on the fact that we manifest these gifts only insofar as God intentionally and continually gives them to us. Paul dares to say that God “activates” them. And it’s this dynamism – one not our own – that is the point.
J.S. Bach wrote the initials S.D.G. at the end of nearly all his compositions. It was his shorthand for “Glory to God alone” (Soli Deo Gloria). His music bears this imprint, and we hear it differently because of this. Imagine assigning the same origin and goal to all the things you do.
Prayer
Our Father, who is there, wherever it may be – who is really there,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen
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