Let us pray: O God, you are the source of all the gifts we have, the source of our creativity and the source of the creation which surrounds us, inspiring us to be the people we are meant to be. Amen.

A couple of weeks ago I invited you to consider your passion, and think of it as something not to be bragged about, but rather as a gift from God; and a means by which God is glorified when we follow our passion freely and openly. That theme is once again explored in the scripture readings today, particularly in the reading from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

For me, the most important contribution of Paul to the Christian story is his image of the body of Christ. It is a powerful and empowering metaphor for the various skills, abilities, aptitudes and requirements that comprise a functioning community. The passage we heard from 1 Corinthians today is an expansion of the metaphor, a reminder that the body of Christ is more than the physical parts, but rather the composite of all the parts – as we often say in describing holistic human makeup – body, mind and spirit. Today's passage particularly makes mention of the spiritual gifts which we are given in different quality and quantity.

We all know that different skills and abilities are given out differently across the range of humanity. I might wish to have perfect pitch, but I don't – even though others do, but on the other hand there are characteristics and abilities which come more easily to me than for others.

This is what Paul is addressing in this portion of his letter to the Christian community in Corinth, but of course the very fact that we are still reading this letter some twenty centuries later means that it was not only important for the Corinthian Christian community to hear, but as well.

Important insights are worth repeating, and this in my mind is one of Paul's best insights.

In effect, Paul answers the question: Where does skill and ability come from? It's an important question, and certainly one that lies at the heart of our human existence. Regardless of how academic we are in nature, I am sure that there is not among us, who has not reflected on this – whether it was in reaction to an amazing feat being displayed, or in lament that we are not better at something ourselves.

What Paul is getting at, I believe is that it takes all of us – in all the range of passions, skills and abilities to make the world what it is meant to be. And furthermore he credits all that we are given as gifts of the Spirit – the presence of God within us – making us who we are, inviting us to glorify God in the appropriate use of those gifts given to us.

Now this has for a long time been an important part of my faith perspective. In that same reflection a couple of Sundays ago, I recounted how I came to the insight – recognizing that when I can comfortably accept the particular talents and abilities that are given to me and then use them not as a way of puffing myself up, but rather using them as a way of blessing and giving thanks to God and by contributing to the common good, then God the Creator and giver of creativity is appropriately thanked and praised.

We get a whiff of this existential dilemma in the passage from John today. You will recall that Jesus was at first reluctant to follow the wishes of his mother – who wanted to make sure that the host at the wedding was not embarrassed by having the wine run out. It's a curious little story within a story – this conflict between the motherly desire to make things right, and the desire of Jesus her offspring to make his own decisions and choose his own timing. Who among us has not played out that little back and forth in our own lives?

The mothers of course will say: see – he did the right thing after all, while the daughters and sons will say – but he did it in his own way and in his own timing. There is ever the interplay of freedom and autonomy in our interactions and it is refreshing and reassuring to see them played out – almost universally unreviewed and unreflected in the biblical story. But even more, we might wonder whether Jesus was following the other human response, namely that of not wanting to draw attention, not wanting to succumb to the sin of pride and hubris, for fear that people might think he was drawing attention to himself and away from God.

Well, we know how it ended, and the celebration was enhanced.

Paul suggests that the gifts we are given are not given “out of the blue” but rather as gifts of the Spirit – so that we are able to play our part in giving thanks and offering blessing to God – the creator and God the maker of all that is creative within us.

You will see this theme of discerning, accepting and using the spiritual gifts we've been given as part of the ministry we are called to follow in our faithful lives in the music which concludes the worship service this week. Come and Seek the ways of Wisdom, How Clear is Our Vocation Lord, and We Have this Ministry – a progression from seeking, to embracing and then enacting the way of God as it relates to our own lives, and the call to make the way of God known to those with whom we share the blessing, breadth, depth and variety of this human and divinely inspired life. Amen.