Worth Green, Th.M., D. Min.
In 1979, while seeking a Master’s Degree in New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, I took a class under Dr. John Koenig who now teaches at General Theological Seminary, the Episcopal Seminary in New York. The class was entitled, “The Gifts and Tasks of Ministry.”
Dr. Koenig said that for every task of ministry God assigns to the church, God gives a gift to an individual or individuals within the church. And for every gift that God gives to an individual, God has a task to be done, in the church and in the world.
There is a symmetry in that.
It is a beautiful thing when a person with the right gifts is assigned to the right tasks. For instance, Dr. Bob Sawyer, former President of the Southern Province Provincial Elder’s Conference, now retired, has recently assumed the task of Interim Director guiding our Board of World Mission until a new director can be found. One Board member was really excited, and told me that he was of the opinion that Bob is ideally gifted and suited to this task, be it temporary, or permanent.
Conversely, it is very difficult when a person is assigned to a task for which he or she lacks the necessary gifts. I shall never forget my first year in the Moravian Ministry. It was 1977. I started attending the monthly meetings of the Moravian Ministerial Association, and, at my second or third meeting, against all odds, I was elected the recording Secretary to the organization. I protested that I was not suited to the task, but to no avail. I can type like the wind. I am vain to a fault about my typing skills. My thoughts flow into a keyboard. By contrast my handwriting is slow, and coarse, and most of the time, I cannot read what I have written. I went through college and seminary without taking a note. That meant I worked twice as hard outside of class just to keep up. I don’t even like to sign my name. Though my final minutes were nicely typed, I was a miserable recording secretary, and everybody knew it. I am not surprised that, in the Moravian Church, I have never, ever been elected to any other office.
A healthy, thriving organization, church, or denomination, is an organization in which people’s gifts and the tasks assigned to them are well matched.
Conversely, a dying organization, a dying church, or a dying denomination is an organization in which people’s gifts and tasks are mismatched.
From an individual point of view, when a person is in the right place to exercise his or her gifts, there is great personal satisfaction. When we have found our place, all that we do, no matter how hard, is pleasant. We are like the author of Psalm 16 who prayed:
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. (AND) “As for the Saints in the land, they are the noble in whom is all my delight.”
On the other hand, people who cannot find the right place to use their gifts are frustrated, and often feel underutilized and under appreciated. They are likely to pray with the author of Psalm 13, “How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?”
Unfortunately, in today’s rapidly changing world of temporarily shrinking opportunities, fewer and fewer people in society at large have the opportunity to exercise their gifts. I will give but one example. Last year more young people were enrolled in various colleges and universities as Journalism majors than ever before. At the same time, many once great newspapers and magazines are struggling, and downsizing, and some are closing their doors. Those journalism students must learn to use their gifts in new ways, or they will be frustrated.
Dr. James Cone of Chandler Theological Seminary once wrote about how the African-American community of the early 20th century used to handle the disparity between their giftedness and the tasks that were available to them. He said—and I am quoting from memory, “Monday through Friday, many African-Americans were in jobs where their gifts were underutilized. Monday through Saturday they were porters, and waiters, and doormen, and cleaning women. They made it, and they kept their self-esteem, because on Sunday they were pastors, and deacons, and ushers, and members of great gospel choirs. Of course, they were ever the Children of God. The church gave people the outlet they needed to be all they could be.
Perhaps, in a time of change, the church can be that for many of us? I have noted that recently retired people have a special energy, as well as many special gifts they want to bring to the church. We must find a way to give them a place.
What is your Spiritual gift? Have you claimed it? This sermon is special to me because of the summer I spent at Princeton with Dr. Koenig. That summer Dr. Koenig asked each of his students to consider and identify the one gift of the Holy Spirit that was God’s gift to us above all others.
This task was not as easy as it sounds. The reason is this: It is human nature for us to want to claim the gift that we like the best, rather than the gift that God has given us above all others. I was no exception to this rule. I was a preacher. I wanted my gift to be somehow connected to the pulpit. I wanted to think of my self as evangelist or as a teacher. I would have been happy to be a prophet, forth telling the Word of God with unusual authority. I wanted to be like the old TV advertisement for EF Hutton: “When EF Hutton speaks, people listen.” Instead, at the end of the summer, I was shocked to find myself writing that God had given me the Spiritual gift of discernment above all others. I thought that would be the end of it. Then, one day after Class, Dr. Koenig approached me, and asked to borrow my textbook, which he had authored. The next morning, when he returned it, I was pleased to see that he had written something on the flyleaf. I still have the book and I treasure it. He wrote:
7/31/79
To Worth—With thanks for our sharing this summer and a personal affirmation of your gift of discernment. John Koenig
Dr. Koenig’s affirmation of my gift was every bit as important to me as my discovery and acceptance of it. The community of faith always affirms our true gifts. It is the validation of them.
Now what is the gift of discernment? In 1st Corinthians 12, St. Paul says that the gift of discernment is the ability to distinguish between spirits.
The discerning person—and there is a sense in which we all must become discerning persons, knows that which proceeds from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that which proceeds from the evil trinity of the flesh, sin, and the devil. And remember, to speak of the devil, says C.S. Lewis, is to confess that we believe that Evil is greater than the sum total of its parts. To speak of the devil, says Emil Brunner, is to confess that the possibilities of evil are not exhausted by purely human evil. Billy Graham says there are two mistakes we make of the devil: To make too much of him, and to make too little of him. When we think of him with horns and a tail we do the devil a disservice.
As Christians we are supposed to seek that which is good, and to eschew that which is evil. We are charged with discerning spirits for one reason and one reason only, that we might discern God’s will for our lives, and, I believe, for the community of faith of which we are a part.
There is a sense in which all Christians have at least some ability to do this, because we all have the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit helps us discern, “interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit.” (1st Corinthians 2:13) According to John 16, the Holy Spirit convinces the world of sin, and righteousness, and judgment, and the Holy Spirit guides believers “into all the truth.”
This does not mean that every newly minted individual Christian will be granted immediate knowledge of everything that God is doing in the world. It does mean that God will give us direction in our personal lives, and that God does not leave the whole community of believers without guidance.
In “The Ground of the Unity” we Moravian Confess that “the Holy Scriptures are the only source and rule of our doctrine, faith and practice.” We likewise confess that we look to 20 Centuries of church history and tradition in seeking to understand the scripture. We are not the first generation to face the World and hear the Word as followers of Jesus Christ, the Word Made Flesh. We must learn from the history of the church. We must face the mistakes of the church, and we must treasure the successes of the church. Abraham Lincoln said that those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. That is as true for the church as it is true for our nation.
Of course, the Holy Spirit does guide us as individuals, too. When we obey God’s direction, we have great joy. Our lives show God’s presence. The fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.” The fruit of the Spirit— notice that “fruit” is in the singular, is found in Galatians 5. Conversely, when we fail to heed the spirit’s direction, we fall into sins like fornication, and idolatry, and enmity, and strife, and jealousy, and anger, and selfishness, and dissension, and party spirit.” That is also from Galatians 5. Galatians 5 has been called “the discernment chapter.” When we fall into these sins we “grieve the Spirit of God by whom we were sealed against the day of redemption.” (Eph. 4:30) The Spirit does not leave us—the Spirit tries to woe us back and correct our course; but we know that our fellowship with God is less than the best. We know that there is a distance between God and ourselves. We know, too, that this separation is not God’s fault, but our own.
I think that the gift of discernment involves at least five things.
1. We need knowledge of scripture. I don’t mean the ability to quote a verse that is handy; but the ability to place that verse in its context, and to know its function, and to know its history. How have Christians of previous generations understood this verse? How has it served them? Will it serve us? What was the original writer saying to the original readers? What is God now saying to us?
People have asked me about my doctrine of Holy Scripture. I can give it in great detail, but it can be stated in three words. “I trust it.” That is, I trust it to give me guidance, and do me good. I am confident in my ability to interpret it, and confident in my interpretation. This does not mean that I will always agree with you in your interpretation, or that you will always agree with me, but we can trust it together.
2. We need God’s love. In Romans 5, St. Paul says “God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. In his person Jesus fixes the personality of the Spirit. Jesus said that the right thing was the loving thing. He said that we are to love one another as he loved us. That is a sacrificial love. Love is “patient and kind, it is not arrogant or rude, it does not rejoice at the wrong, but rejoices in the right, etc.” (1st Corinthians 13) Of course, sometimes, love must be tough. Love sometimes says, “Yes.” Love sometimes says, “No.” Every parent knows what I am talking about.
3. We must make a commitment to living the truth, as we understand it. Discernment is about finding the will of God for a particular situation. In his book, The Will of God, Leslie Weatherhead points out that many people make a show of seeking God’s will, but, once they find it, and discover that it is uncomfortable, or difficult, or will require much sacrifice, or much effort, they are not as eager to live it out. Unfortunately, when faced with a situation that demands a decision, much of the time we merely do what we want to do, and then ask God to bless it. Many of us are like the wife of the preacher who was called to a new church at a much higher salary. Word got out in the congregation he was serving. A young friend of the preacher’s son went to him and said, “Well, is your daddy going to that new church?” And the preacher’s son responded, “I think he probably will. Daddy is still praying, seeking God’s will; but mama is already packing.” Of course, sometimes the reverse of that is true. We often make our decisions for all the wrong reasons.
4. We must be willing to listen to others. Listening is the most basic service of love human beings give to one another. If we are not willing to listen to someone, we do not love that person. Even in the church many of us care more for our opinions than we care for at least some of our brothers and sisters. I have my strong opinions of my own, but I have learned to listen and care for the opinions of those with whom I differ. In his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey speaks about listening. He says that effective people—and spiritual people who want to be effective people, “seek to understand, before they seek to be understood. “ Jesus lived 30 years among us before teaching us the Way of God for not more than three. Let me add that reading is a good way of listening. I listen to the authors of the books on my shelves. Some I agree with. Some I disagree with. I always enjoy the dialogue. I treasure the friendship and the guidance of many. Of course, we also read letters. Just this week I reread a packet of letters I received from the late Joe Gray when he was a missionary in Sierra Leon. I spent a happy hour. They were filled with talk of yesterday, and with wisdom for today.
Now some of you will say, “Wait, Worth, on Sundays I have a hard time getting you to listen. I know you are ADD, but….” That is true. On Sundays I feel like I am a host at a large party and I want to get around to everyone. I also have an agenda, people I need to see because of unfinished conversations and business. On Sundays I am easily distracted. However, I promise you this: If you come to my study, or if you invite me into your home, and you have something you need to say, I will not leave until you have had the satisfaction of saying it, in full. Try me.
5. We must have the patience to wait for the God’s direction. When in doubt, don’t! There have been times in my ministry when I have wanted to rush to judgment. To give the answer that everyone I respect and care for is giving. I suppose like everyone else, I have always wanted to be accepted and popular. However, I have sometimes found that God will not always allow me to do that. There are times when I know with all my heart that God wants nothing from me but silence, not opinions, but silence. There is a time to work and a time to wait.
Stephen Covey wrote the story of the man who was cutting down a tree in the woods. Another walked up upon him at his task and said, “You look exhausted.” The man cutting the tree responded, “Well, I have been trying to cut down this tree for six hours.” The walker said, “Maybe you should sharpen your saw, then you could cut the tree down quite easily.” The man with the saw responded, “I can’t. I am too busy cutting down this tree.”
Whatever else it is, the process is discernment, meaning the discernment of God’s will, is a process of learning when it is better to cut down the tree, and when it is better to sharpen the saw. When it is better speak, and when it is better to listen and learn, and to wait for God’s timing.
This is what I have come to believe about the Spiritual gift of discernment.
Finis