Second Sunday after Epiphany, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11                                          

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

I’m old enough to remember the height of the Charismatic movement in the American church. In fact, I became a disciple of Jesus during times of arguments over tongues, healings, and other less spectacular gifts (no one cared much about those), and now most of that has been woven into an increasingly confused evangelical movement. It pains me to write this. But perhaps if a bit more discernment were to have been exercised in those days, evangelicalism in America wouldn’t be in the morass in which it finds itself today. 

Heavy heart about that. But our epistle reading for the week was a centerpiece of the Charismatic confusion and I believe with a bit more history, (my own in the church), and the teaching of mostly now-dead guys (my favorite theologians), I have come to better conclusions than I probably also made those many years ago. And the conclusions are based on something fairly simple. In the eleven verses slated for reading this Sunday there are nine (9) specific references to God, the Holy Spirit and a couple “side” references to God more generally. NINE-PLUS!!!

All that to say that perhaps we were reading that passage years ago and missing the forest for the trees. Nine mentions of anything in eleven verses should be a huge “Aha!”. The focus of our passage this week is the source of gifts, before we ever get to gifts given. And for the marvelous gifts He does lend us, we should remember most pointedly that HE HIMSELF is the gift of God to us. He is our anointing, our “Christ-ing”. He is our life in the most powerful and pragmatic expression.

Perhaps we could have learned and still can, that the Giver who is Himself a Gift, comes first. Then leave the lesser gifts to distribute “as He wills.” (cf. 1 Cor. 12:11) Sounds like the Bible, doesn’t it?