In many of his letters, Paul enumerates a list of the gifts the
Holy Spirit bestows on those who follow Christ. His concern
for the churches he founded and supported through prayer and
letters of encouragement was that their members understand this
profound truth: All have received gifts by the Spirit for building
up the body of Christ, the church.

When I became the rector of a fairly large church, I
responded to the congregants’ call for a “strong leader” with
endless participation in all the committees and activities of
the church. Eighteen months later I was in the hospital with a
stomach condition. My doctor, a friend, said, “I have watched
you since you came to us. I can tell you what is wrong with you
clinically but actually you have a belly full of church!”

My doctor was right. I lay there exhausted believing I had
to do everything because I was the leader. That night in the
hospital I reread Corinthians on the meaning of the body of
Christ. God reminded me that all members have been gifted by
the Spirit. My job involved empowering my church members to
use their gifts for the health of the whole community of faith.

We who follow Christ have been given the Spirit of God
through our baptism. Our faith and wisdom comes through that
avenue. Through spiritual discernment, we employ the mind of
Christ. We begin to walk in a path made bright by God’s gift
of light. We know things only dimly, as Paul says, in this life.
There will come a time when we shall see God in all of God’s
fullness. Each of us has gifts to use for the very purpose we were
called to follow from the beginning.