Pastor's Blog

“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. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (I Corinthians 12:4-7)

My understanding of the above statement, as it applies to us, is that God has great things for St. Matthew United Methodist Church to accomplish and many of them are not easy, but we are not sent into the fray unarmed. We are equipped for every good work. The problem is that our delegation of personnel and the deployment of assets at our disposal are imperfect.

It seems to be a widespread human predicament. There are great needs everywhere, but if the means to meet them are at hand, why must solutions wait? For example, someone has said, and I believe its true, that the world’s largest and most solvable problem is human loneliness. There are lonely people everywhere, but there are even more people able to meet, listen, and care. Similarly, we bemoan world hunger when there is enough food now, if equitably distributed, for all human hunger to end. Is it fair for us to wonder why the Lord
has not dealt with these problems when God has but we have not. If we were as good at doing God’s will on earth as it is in heaven as we are quick to pray for it, we would be an answer to the Lord’s prayer.

The same is true in the smaller confines of the local church and its ministries. God has given us the gifts but too often we serve as gatekeepers holding them back from their appointed purposes. We have the power for all things through the one who gives us strength, yet much goes unaccomplished because it never was attempted. If we complain of lack or want of the strength to do all things necessary, it is our faith that is limited not a failing of God.  Holding back when going forth is called for is one problem, yet there is another consideration that should be mentioned. All disciples are given gifts for the accomplishment of God’s will, but many are forced to squander genuine gifts by the necessity of merely filling holes left unattended by those divinely equipped for those tasks. In Romans 12:6, Paul writes “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given us…(so let us use them) if ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; giver, in generosity….” Our abilities, interests, time and talents are God-given and should be used to the fullest extent as God intends. If everyone uses their giftedness for the common good, we will have access to all God has placed in our arsenal for good.  As poet W.H. Auden wrote, “You owe it to all of us to be about what you are good at.” Amen.

Pastor Dave