Friday 24 January 2014

Background

The church in Corinth was marked by disagreements and divisions.Chloe's people had reported to the apostle Paul that there werequarrels among them and he appeals to them not to be divided. Hewants them to be in agreement and to be united in the same mind andthe same purpose (1 Corinthians 1:10-11).

The first verse of today's passage suggests that Paul isresponding to a question he has been asked by the Christians inCorinth: how are they to know which gifts are spiritual gifts fromGod? This was an important question in the early Church. Paulreminds them of their experience as pagans or Gentiles (non Jews)(verse 2) and then he relates the activity of the Holy Spirit towhat people say of Jesus (verse 3).

The second section of the reading (verses 4-11) speaks of anumber of spiritual gifts. Elsewhere, there are different lists sothis one should not be considered either definitive or exhaustive.The list is given after the points made in verses 4-7: there arevarieties of gifts, services, and activities but it is the sameSpirit who gives the gifts, the same Lord who is served, and thesame God who is at work; to each is given the manifestation of theSpirit for the common good. Having given the list of gifts, Paulmakes it clear that all the gifts are activated and allotted by theSpirit.

To Ponder

• What manifestation of the Holy Spirit for the common good haveyou been given? Do other people recognise this? Perhaps some ofthem believe that you have been given a different manifestation ofthe Spirit: if so, how do you react?

• How does the manifestation of the Spirit given to youcontribute to the common good? Could it contribute in a differentway in another context? If so, how?

• In the resources provided by Churches Together inBritain and Ireland for the Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity,today's reading is 1 Corinthians 12 - 13. One of the statementsincluded for today is, "Recognising and rejoicing in the gifts ofdifferent church traditions is a step towards Christian unity". Doyou agree? If so, what gifts of different church traditions do yourecognise and rejoice in?