The Gift of Serving and Helping
IN THE STUDY:
There are four separate lists of spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit in the New Testament 1 Cor. 12, Rom. 12:3-8, Eph. 4:7-12 and 1 Peter 4:10-11.
In 1 Cor. 12:4-6 Paul indicates varieties of gifts, varieties of service, and varieties of working. He indicates it is the same Spirit, the Lord and same God who gives and inspires these gifts. Although the gifts are diverse there is only one giver. Each time he states this truth he relates the gift to a different person of the trinity “the same spirit,” “the same Lord,” and “the same God,” i.e. the Father. Paul uses three different words to denote the gifts themselves: v.4 Gifts of God’s grace: v.5 Forms of service: v.6 Energies, activities or powers.
Putting these three words together, spiritual gifts might be defined as “certain capacities bestowed by God’s grace and power which fit people for service”-John Stott.
As previously mentioned in an earlier study, there are at least 21 gifts mentioned, and it is obvious that these were not expected to be an exclusive list but samples of the types of gifts given by the Holy Spirit. The first gift mentioned is the gift of service. There is nothing miraculous about the concept of some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit i.e. the gift of teaching, encouraging, giving money, doing acts of mercy, or of serving. Other gifts such as the utterance of wisdom, possessing knowledge, having faith, likewise do not anticipate a miraculous content.
Both Peter and Paul call “serving” a spiritual gift (Rom.12:7; 1 Peter 4:11). The term they use means any kind of ministry either pastoral or practical. The term referred to a waiter who served at meals like Martha (Lk 10:40). A similar word was the use of the term “helps”. This gift of helps is to be understood in the light of the service of ordinary Christians to bring strength encouragement and practical aid where it is needed.
IN THE PULPIT:
In any of our Churches we have people who demonstrate the gift of service. There is not a church dinner that doesn’t have behind it the exercise of the gift of serving. Everytime the gardens of the disabled need tending, our volunteers from Wesley Home Care provide practical aid for an invalid widow or church member to do some ironing, the gift of the Spirit of God is being exercised.
Those that print and fold our Church paper, lay-out the Communion Emblems, hand out the hymn-books, vacuum Wesley Centre carpets, and complete any other form of service for God, are fulfilling part of the Gift of the Spirit. Everyone within the Christian community has the ability to exercise this gift. In the Upper Room there were two sacraments-one centering round the bread and wine, the symbols of sacrifice, and the other centering round the basin and towel symbolizing the sacrament of service. Every time the Christian Church meets for Communion it should be equipping itself for the practice of the gift of service within the world. Following the hour of worship, the week of service begins.
In washing the Disciples’ feet Jesus gave an example of service. Greatness expresses itself in service. That service must be completed in humility. The servant is not greater than his Lord, and we are called to take up the towel and “do as I have done.” Leslie Weatherhead tells of a lady who visited a girl and asked her about her Church life. Was she a Church Member? Baptised? Attending Sunday School? Interested in helping people? A good girl? And because the girl did none of these things the lady concluded “And if you die what will you do if you have to tell God you have done none of these things?” The girl who had given herself in a lifetime of service to her family who were in desperate need, said “I will show him my hands,” And so must each of us.
Every Church has the call to serve the needy. Every Church faces some needs in its area. Because we cannot meet every need in our area that is no reason why we should not be meeting some. What acts of service is your Church completing? What acts of service are you completing? Are you allowing the gift of service from God’s Holy Spirit to be exercised through your life?
