Advent – Week 3 Message
Hello. I am Rick Merfeld, president of Caught Up in Christ Ministries. Welcome to Week Three of our special Advent series of spiritual first aid for believers and seekers.
We have three goals for this Advent series. We want to
- help everyone be more confident in the story of God
- be more aware of where each of us fits into the story and how Satan is trying to trip us up
- and be better equipped to compassionately and effectively share the Good News of Jesus this Christmas.
Week one, we looked at the roots of our Christmas trees to fully understand the beautiful meaning of Christmas. Last week we investigated areas of darkness in our life and in the lives of our family members, and friends, and even the strangers among us. We studied how sin separates us from God. And we outlined six practical ways to restore this harmony and leverage the light of Christmas to help people and to alleviate darkness.
I think it bears repeating what we learned about darkness. Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply occupies spaces vacated by the light. The good news is that we don’t have to fight darkness. We just need to turn the light on because in the presence of light, darkness knows where to go.
This helps us understand why Jesus describes believers as the light of the world. And as people of the light, believers are called to help other people walk in the light, not the dark. One of the ways to do this is by sharing spiritual gifts.
This work is part of a process I call spiritual triage. Just like medical responders assess situations before acting, we look for signs and listen for clues to assess a spiritual situation before acting. This Advent season, are you assessing your own spiritual condition? Are you concerned about a family member, friend, or even a stranger among you?
As we better understand a situation, we can seek out remedies that will help. In providing spiritual remedies, we become spiritual first-responders. This week, we’re going to identify remedies or gifts that will help us on our own spiritual journey. We’ll also look at gifts that we can give to our family members, friends, and maybe even a stranger or two this Christmas.
When I was a boy, I would go through the Sears catalog and circle all the toys I wanted for Christmas. When it comes to looking for spiritual gifts, our best resource is the Bible. Speaking of the Bible, how are you coming with your 7-day Gospel challenge? If you haven’t taken the challenge yet, it’s never too late to start.
Let’s turn to God’s Word and ask St. Paul to tell us about the spiritual gifts. It helps me to remember that Paul, whose name was Saul before his encounter with Christ, was a chief enemy of Christ before Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus. You can read that amazing story in Acts 9: 1-30. The change in Paul’s life was tremendous. It must have been because we’re still talking about him and reading his words 2000 years later!
In chapter 5 of his letter to the Galatians, Paul lists the gifts of the Spirit. They are “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5: 22-23)
Note that the “S” in “Spirit” is capitalized. Paul recognizes that these gifts come directly from the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I want to make sure we catch the significance here.
If you’re a parent or grandparent, you know that we don’t have to teach our children to be mean, we must teach them to be kind. We don’t have to teach our grandchildren to be impatient, we must teach them to be patient. People don’t need help learning how to hate. People need help learning how to love.
This is more evidence of the impact of sin and how separation from God makes a measurable impact on our life and our community. This also points to why we need Jesus, acting through the Holy Spirit to set things straight.
Is there anyone on your list who could use a little joy and peace this Christmas? Can you think of anyone who could benefit from more patience, gentleness, and self-control?
If so, put them down on your spiritual gift list.
This may seem like a simple list, but the magnitude of these gifts becomes clear when we contrast these gifts with the list of passions and desires listed earlier starting in verse 19. Take a deep breath, this may be hard to hear.
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.” (Galatians 5: 19-21)
Was it hard to hear or did it sound like a preview of tonight’s prime time TV shows?
Spiritual first aid is done in the field. Our field is pretty messy these days, isn’t it?
Can you think of anyone you know who is struggling with any of these passions and desires? Can you think of anyone who is struggling to break free of a pattern of unhealthy behavior? If so, put them down on your spiritual gift list.
As we nurture healthy relationships, and listen carefully to the people around us, we get a better picture of their spiritual condition and ours, too. Utilizing spiritual triage, we can better identify the spiritual gifts that will help them and help us.
We share best the gifts we possess. There’s a funny story about Mahatma Ghandi. A woman brought her child to him one day. The woman wanted the child to eat less candy every day. Ghandi asked her to come back in three weeks.
Three weeks later, the woman returned with the child. Ghandi spoke up to the boy. “You need to eat less candy every day.” The woman was shocked. “Why couldn’t you tell me that three weeks ago?” “Because,” Ghandi said. “I needed to do it first.”
In a similar way, Paul urges Christians to live out the spiritual gifts.
“And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. We should not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be envious of one another.” (Galatians 5: 24-26).
And Paul finishes up this message by encouraging believers to restore those who’ve failed, guard against your own sin, help bear other’s burdens, and stay humble. (Galatians 6: 1-3, paraphrased)
This is where prayer comes in. As believers draw closer to God, we ask for the grace and mercy of Christ. As we seek to provide gifts to those around us, we ask that God soften hearts and open minds. Only heaven will reveal how someone comes to faith in Christ, but it is always in response to the Holy Spirit. If we get to play a small part, praise God. As the old saying goes-pray as if everything relies on God; work as if everything relies on me.
I know, none of us get it right all the time. We are all works in progress. If you don’t have a firm grip on the gift you want to share, then simply tell people about the Provider! And how they can draw closer to Jesus, asking the Holy Spirit for the gifts they need.
One final note before we finish. St. Peter, in his first letter, urges his readers to, “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, but with gentleness and respect.” (1 Peter 3: 15)
As we live out the spiritual life, people will notice that we are different and ask us for an explanation. This is our opening to tell them about Jesus and how he makes a difference in our life.
Next week, the week of Christmas, we’re going to wrap up these spiritual gifts for delivery. We’ll take a closer look at how we can compassionately and effectively share the Good News of Christmas with our family members, friends, and maybe even a stranger or two.