Monday 02 March 2015

Psalm: Psalm 119:17-32

Background

For the rest of this week, we shall be exploring one of therichest and most moving passages in all of Paul's writings as welook at four of the closing chapters from his first letter to theCorinthians. Corinth was a city port which Paul knew well and wherehe had spent quite a period of time (according to Actschapter 18). However, it's also evident from both his lettersto the Christian community at Corinth, that there were divisionswithin the church there, and also tensions in his relationship withthem.

All of which makes it quite remarkable that he could addressthem so tenderly about the nature of their mutual dependence uponone another and their sharing in the life of Christ, which is thetheme of this latter part of this letter.

Paul begins by reminding them that unlike in their pagan pastwhen they were led to worship false idols which were incapable ofspeech, it is now the Holy Spirit who inspires them to speak, notto bring curses upon Jesus, but rather to confess that "Jesus isLord" (v. 3).

Then, and no doubt reflecting on the diversity which has causedsome of the tension in the Christian community there, he outlineshow although there may be a variety of gifts and services to beoffered, it is the same Spirit, the same Lord, and "the same Godwho activates all of them in everyone" (v. 6). The important thingis that all these manifestations of the Spirit are to be used for"the common good" (v. 7).

Paul goes on to identify some of these spiritual gifts: the giftof expressing wisdom or knowledge or faith; the gift of healing orof working miracles; the gift of prophecy and discernment; the giftto speak in tongues or to interpret such speech. There are avariety of gifts, but for Paul the crucial thing is that they don'tbelong to individual Christians; rather they all come from God, whodistributes them through the Spirit. "All these are activated byone and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually justas the Spirit chooses" (v. 11).

To Ponder

• What kind of spiritual gifts do you discern in the peoplearound you?

• Has someone ever suggested to you that you may have aparticular gifting? What is it?

• How can such spiritual gifts be developed and used for thecommon good?