Series: Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gift
#2: Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts
Matthew 25:14-30 and 1 Timothy 4:14-15 (NRSV)
By John Gill ~ June 11, 2023

During the Depression, there was a sheep farmer named Yates, who struggled to make ends meet. Like millions, he had to rely on government handouts to provide for his family. One day, a geological crew came and asked permission to drill an exploratory oil well on his property. The man gave his permission. They drilled one wildcat well and struck oil - producing 80,000 barrels a day! Before long, more wells were added, each more productive than the last. For 30 years they pumped oil until the well ran dry. Obviously, it wasn't long before Mr. Yates was a wealthy man.

The day he purchased the land Mr. Yates gained the rights to oil and mineral deposits that may exist underground. Yet for many years he lived on the property without knowing that there was oil just under his feet. His buried wealth lay beneath the surface, just waiting to be discovered.

Many Christians are like Mr. Yates. They live in spiritual poverty, unaware of the precious gifts of the Holy Spirit that lie beneath the surface just waiting to be discovered. For some reason or another, they have refused to uncover the priceless gifts God gave them on the day they became a Christian. They choose to live in spiritual poverty by not tapping into the wealth of God's gifts available to them.

As you may know, this is the second sermon in a sermon series I am preaching on the Gifts of the Spirit. Last week, we looked at the purpose of Spiritual Gifts, or “charismata” in the original Greek. Last Sunday we learned that every Christian is given at least one and maybe many more, Spiritual Gifts to be used to the glory of God, and for the building up of the church. And we were each given a piece of a puzzle as a visual reminder that each person's gifts are unique and necessary if the picture of our church’s mission is to be complete.

Today, we will take the next step: to see that it is our responsibility to find out which Spiritual Gifts we have been given, and then to put them to good use for God's Kingdom.

As we said last week, there are a myriad of gifts that all come from the same spirit. But what are the various “Gifts of the Spirit,” anyway?

Before we can discuss what the Gifts of the Spirit are, we need to understand what they are not. There is some confusion among many Christians about Spiritual Gifts. Therefore, three words of clarification and caution are in order.

First, don't confuse Spiritual Gifts with your natural talents.

Everyone has talents: both believers and non-believers alike. You might have a talent for cooking or painting or music, for instance. Talents are an essential part of every person's personality makeup. They are inborn and developed throughout our lives. Our talents, of course, can be used for both good or evil, for selfish motives or for the benefit of others. Not so with Spiritual Gifts - they always are for the benefit of others. And as I mentioned last week, our talents and Spiritual Gifts may well be related - but not necessarily. But when our talents and gifts converge, the Holy Spirit redirects our talents to be used for God's glory. For instance, if you are a natural born salesman, you probably would be an effective evangelist for the gospel. So, talents are important. And they can and should be used for God's glory. So don't confuse Spiritual Gifts with your natural talents.

Also, we should not confuse the “Gifts of the Spirit” with the “Fruit of the Spirit,” that are listed in Galatians 5:22.

While our spiritual gift mix is unique and customized for each of us by the Holy Spirit, all Christians should exhibit all the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. All these fruit are expected of every Christian life, but not all the gifts. The fruit of the spirit are the qualities of the Christian life.

They are not discovered in the way that the Gifts of the Spirit are discovered. The fruit of the spirit defines what a Christian is, the Gifts of the Spirit define what a Christian does. The fruit of the spirit is a prerequisite if you are to effectively use the Gifts of the Spirit. It doesn't matter how many gifts you have, if you do not exhibit the fruits of the spirit, those gifts will be ineffective. As we learned last week when we were thinking about the Corinthian congregation to which Paul writes his letters: they had many gifts, but they were not living out the Fruit of the Spirit. Gifts without fruit is like a tire on your car without air. The ingredients are there but it is of no use. So don't confuse the Gifts of the Spirit with the fruit of the spirit.

We also must not confuse the Spiritual Gifts with the obligations of every Christian life.

All Christians are commanded by God to do some of the things that are listed as gifts. For example, all Christians are commanded to return a portion of their income to God, yet giving is listed as a spiritual gift. The same is true for evangelizing, exhorting, acts of mercy, and so forth. That means we cannot use our lack of a particular gift as an excuse not to do as all Christians are asked to do. Just because you don't have the spiritual gift of generosity does not mean that you do not need to be generous, and just because you do not have the spiritual gift of mercy does not mean that you do not need to show mercy to others. Those with Spiritual Gifts go beyond the basics. A person with the gift of generosity is what scripture describes as “a cheerful giver” - someone who enjoys giving to others and doesn't even keep track of what he or she gives.

A good illustration of this is a baseball team. Every member of the team has to display a whole variety of skills in order to be on the team. But you have certain players who excel at fielding, hitting, pitching, or catching. Christians are on a team as well. The Christian life involves all the Gifts of the Spirit to some degree. But there are certain areas of the Christian life that each of us excels at. We win the game when all our players are using their special gifts for God's glory.

So now that we know what the gifts aren't, what are they?

Peter Wagner, in his book, Your Spiritual Gifts, gives this definition: “a special attribute given by the Holy Spirit to every member of the body of Christ according to God's grace for use within the context of the body.”

There is no definitive list of the Spiritual Gifts. However, throughout the New Testament the apostle Paul list gifts in three separate letters in our Bible. They can be found in Romans chapter 12, First Corinthians chapter 12, and Ephesians chapter 4. Many people have attempted to compile a list of all the gifts, some listing as many as 27, others fewer.

Here are those listed in the three chapters I just cited. I would like for you to raise your hand if you think you may have any of these gifts: prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, discerning of spirits, tongues, the interpretation of tongues, apostle, helper, administration, evangelist, pastor. If you are a Christian, you do have at least one of these gifts. Do you know your gifts?

Which brings up the next question: “How do we discover our Spiritual Gifts?” We can do this in several ways:

First of course, is prayer.

We must ask God to reveal our gifts. This means that we must be open to the Spirit of God speaking to our hearts that we might discern His will for our lives. In our prayers, we should not tell God which gifts we would like to have but be open to what God places on our heart. We must make sure that we have no selfish motives in our prayers about our gifts because, even if you discover your gift, if you use it selfishly, God will not honor it. So, pray!

A second way we can discover our gifts is having them affirmed by the body of Christ, the church family.

After a season of prayer and discernment, God will begin to reveal to you your gifts. As he does, share that insight with trusted Christian friends. See if they also see those gifts in you. Usually, those who know and love you already see the gifts that lie dormant in you, and will confirm what the spirit has told you.

Yesterday at the meeting of the Annual Conference, I was able to participate in the Service of Ordination, Commissioning, and Licensing – a powerful worship service as we celebrate a couple of dozen persons who have answered the call on their lives to serve God as ministers in the Church. Every one of those ordinand’s journey into ministry began with the discernment that God has given her or him certain gifts for ministry. We answered a “call” from God. And yet, in our United Methodist Church, that “call” must be confirmed by the Church. The very first step a candidate for ordained ministry takes is to appear before his or her local congregation’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee. The committee members listen to the story of their call, and then prayerfully discern whether or not they believe the candidate has the gifts and graces for ordained ministry. They must vote affirmatively before the candidate can progress through the process. On the way, the District Committee on Ministry must confirm them before they can eventually appear before the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry for recommendation to the Executive Clergy Session of the Annual Conference. Only when a candidate’s gifts and graces for ministry are confirmed by all those levels of the Church will they be ordained by the bishop!

Now, as a lay person discerning your Spiritual Gifts so that you are able to serve in the local church, - thankfully, the process isn’t as extensive – though it is no less significant. It is informal. Seek out your Christian friends or small group and share what you believe may be your Spiritual Gifts. If they agree, you likely have identified a gift!

The third step in discovering your gifts is experimentation.

Once you believe you have identified a spiritual gift, take it out for a test drive. How do you know you can do anything until you try? Seek out a place of ministry in the church or community that would utilize your gifts, and see how they fit. Trial and error will help you confirm your gifts. Does using this gift bring you joy and contentment? Does it come naturally to you? Typically, when you are functioning within your giftedness, it will feel like a good fit. If it doesn't, that may mean that you may have been mistaken about that gift. Or it may mean that for now, it is out of your comfort zone. Try it for a while, and pretty soon you will know. But don't give up! Move on to a different gift you believe you have, and experiment with that one. Eventually you will find your niche.

The final test is effectiveness.

Since the Holy Spirit empowers the gifts he has given, they will bear fruit. God will equip you to be effective in fulfilling your calling. If you begin practicing your spiritual gift, and there is no result, you may need to reconsider whether that is indeed your gift. For example, if you believe you have a gift for evangelism, but you never are able to bring anyone to Christ, you may not be an evangelist. That doesn't mean you're a failure. It just means you still have to find your area of giftedness.

You see, God gives gifts for a purpose, and God expects results. So pray, look for confirmation, experiment, and evaluate effectiveness. That is how you discover your gifts.

So far, we have looked at what gifts are and are not, and how we can discover our Spiritual Gifts. But what we DO with the gifts that God has given us is up to us.

In the scripture read this morning Jesus tells a parable, known as The Parable of the Talents. Now - a “talent” in those days referred to money, but certainly the principle of the parable also applies to Spiritual Gifts. Pull out your Bible or one in the pews, and turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 25 verses 14 through 30 and look at that text with me. Follow along as I make a few observations about this parable, and what it might say to us about our use of our Spiritual Gifts:

Verse 14 tells us that the master leaves his estate, and he entrusts his servants with gifts of money to carry out his work. When ascended to heaven, he left us with his mission to carry out. And through his Holy Spirit he gave us resources, or Spiritual Gifts, so that we might be successful. Isn’t it mind boggling to think that Jesus would entrust us with carrying out his plans?

Verse 15 describes how each gift is given, in different measure according to ability, but all are given equal responsibility for the stewardship of that gift. Whether five, two, or one spiritual gift was given, each servant was responsible to be a good steward of that gift.

Verse 19 reminds us that the master will return, and will settle accounts. In other words, God expects a return on his investment in our lives. He holds us accountable for the use, lack of use, or the misuse of our gifts. Those who produce – receive blessings, are rewarded with extra gifts, and experience joy. But those who bury, or leave undetected their talents and fail to be productive – they will receive condemnation, have their gifts taken away and given to those who will produce results, and experience harsh judgment. They are unable to enter into the fullness of joy of their master.

If we're honest, most of us have been more like that last servant than the first two. We have been nonchalant about our Spiritual Gifts, content to bury our talents. We have seen our gifts as non-essential to the Christian life. We have not taken our stewardship of the Spiritual Gifts seriously.

But the parable makes it clear: “God is not kidding around, he takes this very seriously!” That is the reason for this sermon series. I hope we will all begin to take Spiritual Gifts as seriously as God does!

The parable is emphatic: There will be a day of accountability! I believe that on that day, when the Master returns and you and I stand before him in heaven, he is not going to ask all the questions most of us expect: “How good you've been - or bad, not even what doctrines you believe.” That's not the essential question. Instead, I think he will ask these simple questions: “Did you faithfully use the gifts that I have loaned you while you were down on the earth? Did you put the interests of others first, or were you preoccupied with yourself, and ignored the gifts that I have loaned you? Did you fully exercise these gifts? Were you a good steward of these gifts, or did you leave your gifts buried?”

The overriding question the Lord is going to ask us is this: “Did you give me your best?”

Queen Mary was a very popular queen. She liked to spend every summer at Balmoral castle in Scotland. And because she was so beloved, she was able to wander across the countryside without an escort. One day she wandered too far. The sky became threatening. So, she stopped at the nearest cottage, knocked, and asked to borrow an umbrella. The lady did not recognize who she was, so she wouldn't give her new umbrella. She said to herself, “I can't give this stranger my new umbrella!” So she went to the attic, and found an old umbrella that had a few holes and a broken rib. With a faint apology, she placed it into the hand of the queen.

The next day came another knock at her door. There stood a man all dressed up in a uniform with an envelope in his hand. “The queen sent me to tell you, ‘Thank you for the loan of the umbrella,’” and then placed the old umbrella back into the hand of the stunned lady. Then she burst into tears, “Had I known it was the queen, I would have given her my new umbrella! Had I known it was the queen, I would have given her my best!”

God has given you his best - his Son, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He expects nothing less from us.

St. Peter, in his first Letter (4:1-11) states this: “God has given each of you a gift from His great variety of spiritual gifts. Ust them well to serve one another… Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.”

Friends, you and I are given gifts, and one day we will answer to God for the use of these gifts. What will your answer be?

© 2023 by John B. Gill, III