Epiphany 2 - A variety of gifts...for all of us.

Yesterday was National Day of Service.
The theme of the day was “A day on, not a day off.”
People from all walks of life donated time, energy, money
to serve others in need.
I really wish we didn’t need such a day.
I really wish the world, or at least all Christians
would get it into their minds that service is our call every day,
not just once a year.
Christianity is not a passive religion.
It is also not an individualistic religion.
God calls us to love God and love our neighbor -
and that presupposes that we have neighbors,
other people around us, to love and to serve.
As Tertullian said at the end of the first century: one Christian is no Christian.

Only very few of us are called to spend their days in seclusion and contemplation,
and even when they are, their prayers are mainly in intercession,
lifting up others, the community, the world.
Or in the case of the Desert Elders, of Julian of Norwich and others,
they become teachers or writers,
sharing their experience of the divine for the benefit of others.

Christians are not called to only sit and look inward to know the light:
we are called to find Christ in other human beings, everywhere,
to hear the voice of the Father in their voices,
to discern the works of the Spirit in community.

Christians are called to action.
Go and tell. Feed the hungry. Heal the suffering.
Visit the prisoners. Show hospitality.
Serve!
The Bible is filled with exhortations - no, with commands!
We are followers of an itinerant Messiah
who didn’t seem to be able to sit still for more than two minutes,
who - as Dr. King aptly said - "didn't have much,
never wrote a book, never held an office, never had a family.
He never owned a house, never went to college.
He never went two hundred miles from where he was born.
He did none of the usual things that the world would associate with greatness."
But he served: he used all the gifts at his disposal,
even the gift of his holy death, to make other lives whole.
And we are apostles, meaning that we are sent forth,
on a constant mission to share the Good News in words and deeds.

We are storytellers - reminding others of God’s role in our history;
We are PR agents - introducing others to Christ our Savior;
We are builders of the Kingdom of God for all people and for all times.
We are busy people.

In order to do all that, God,
who loves us very much and doesn’t want us to be unprepared,
is showering all of us, at all times, with an abundance of gifts.
Through the work of the Holy Spirit we are empowered and equipped
for the hard work of loving God and living up to God’s expectations
and to love our neighbor and live in community and serve the whole.

Look at us. I mean, seriously.
There is no way we could do all that without God’s help.
And so we get it.
If you don’t believe you can serve
because you think you have no gifts of the Spirit 
it is because you haven’t been paying attention.
Or because you are just plain lazy.
Or because you are scared.

It happens to me sometimes.
I see a need. It’s right there, under my nose.
God is clearly calling me to do something to meet that need.
And I tell myself I cannot do it. I don’t know how.
I am only one weak unprepared earthling. I am overwhelmed.
It’s probably best if someone else takes charge.
Someone with more experience, someone with more knowledge, someone younger
(oh yes, I have said that to myself but woe to you if you repeat that to me!)
Many a time I have told myself that I just don’t have the right gifts...
Hmmmm...
let me tell you what I have discovered:
I have discovered that when I am put in the position 
of noticing the need of the world,
of feeling the pain of my brothers and my sisters in Christ out there,
I can be sure that God is providing all the gifts I need to serve.
Maybe I will not solve the problem in its entirety,
but I can do my part.

Eight years ago, when people were telling me
that they could see for me a call to Holy Orders,

a call that for the life of me I really couldn’t see,

I confided to the head of my discernment committee
that I didn’t feel I was equipped for ministry -
how can Little Old Me do what they said God wanted me to do?
You know what she said? She said “Licia, the gifts will come when they are needed”.

I was scared of the responsibility placed on my shoulders,
I was afraid people would figure out quickly that I wasn’t good enough,
that I didn’t have what it takes;
but the gifts have always come,
gifts of patience and understanding, gifts of preaching and teaching,
gifts of prayer and peace.

Remember in The Sound of Music when Maria is sent out from the convent
into the big wide world that is Austria 
wearing a hideous dress and shaken to the core?
To find some courage she sings I have confidence in me.
Well, I don’t. I don’t have much confidence in ME.
But I have confidence in the Spirit.
I trust Paul who says to me and to all of us:
The Spirit allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
And since this is not a whimsical Spirit but a Spirit with a plan,
I know that
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

So there: we all have gifts,
we just need to recognize them,
figure out what we are supposed to do with them, and do it.
Sometimes it is very clear, right off the bat.
Sometimes God puts an urge in our hearts,
a desire to do something about something,
a call to action.
Most of the time we need help in discernment from those around us.
We need to talk it over with some friends, some mentors, even a clergy person.
Often, we think we are not ready, we think we are not trained,
not experienced enough.
It’s alright.
After all even Jesus needed a bit of prodding at Cana of Galilee.
He even sassed his mom: Woman, leave me alone, my time has not yet come.
But the Spirit has an odd way of gently harassing us
until the work gets done.
So Jesus started his ministry right then and there turning water into wine...
and if that is not good for the community I don’t know what is.
My brothers and sisters
There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And the very same Spirit that pushed Jesus,
pushes us toward the need of the world
and gives us the power to turn it into joy.
So go in peace...to exhort and teach, to listen, to pray, to heal, to love and to serve.
Not just once a year, but every single day of your life.
You can do it because the Spirit is providing everything you need for the work.
And it is wonderful work indeed.
Amen