Let us pray: O God, all that we have comes from you. May these words be ones which celebrate your presence around and within us. Amen.

    There’s a style of bible study which begins with a discussion among the gathered community on anything and everything but the chosen passages of scripture. It might be a discussion of world events, or a discussion of what is going on in the life of one or more of the participants. Anything is up for grabs, and quite naturally the subject of discussion usually ends up being something that is uppermost on the mind of one or more of the people gathered. After some discussion, a choice is made among the several topics or issues that were raised, and only then are the scripture passages considered. In addition, they are considered with this question in mind: What do these passages have to say about the topic that was chosen from our initial discussion?

    As you can probably guess, I have used this style of bible study on many different occasions. In one sense it is always surprising what the passages have to say when used that way. In fact, if you had consulted the passages first, you might often say that they have no connection whatever with the topic that eventually becomes the one of the day, but when the order is turned upside down, some amazing insights can happen. Analysis of the technique reveals why the method seems to work well beyond first impressions. I believe it works because it allows us to think outside the box, and it works because everything is connected in some way or another.

    That’s the way things went for me this week. Usually, I try to let the passages speak to me first. The topic for consideration comes out of what they say, along with some commentary that I use in my preparation for worship. There are parameters around this method as well. The first is the fact that the scripture choices have been determined already - and presumably there was some reason to connect them when they were gathered into a set of readings. Some weeks it is easier to see the connection than others, and some weeks I would just as soon speak against the connections as I would try to discern why they were chosen to be together.

    As I said, this week was different. A month ago, a group of people from this congregation gathered on a Friday evening and Saturday in a congregational retreat. One of the themes that directed our time together and which also emanated out of it was the theme of “gift”. We used a variety of different methods to determine some of the gifts that this congregation possesses and some of the gifts that we have as individuals. One of the ways we did that was to write a letter to the “angel” of Yellowknife United Church. Some of that correspondence has been shared already in the announcements over the past few weeks, and on the bulletin board back there. The theme has also been taken to the church school classes, and you will see that the bulletin board is sprouting some angel wings. The participants at the retreat also did an exercise that helped us to determine our own Spirit Given Gifts, those particular things that God has blessed us with, and which God invites us to use to further God’s work in the world. The retreat  was a good enough experience that we thought we should bring some of what we did back to you. As I’ve already mentioned, the angel letters have been appearing, and next week during worship there will be an opportunity to learn more about all of this. I spent part of a study leave last week doing some further work on the theme of being gifted by God, and in particular I learned of a very exciting method which allows groups of people within a congregation to match and combine gifts in a way that strengthens and empowers people to be about God’s work in a very affirming and positive way. I’m looking forward to an opportunity to try the method out sometime soon. I have it from a colleague with whom I met last week that the method translates very well from the book to the actual and it really does work. Hopefully that is just enough mystery and positive encouragement to whet your appetite to try it out. More on that later!

    So, to get back to the way I began this reflection - instead of letting the passages speak to me this week, I let the theme of gift direct my reading of the passages we heard a few minutes ago. Once again the method provided some interesting insights. At first glance, the passage from Job sounds like a wet blanket. In fact, if I were to sum up this passage I would do it this way: God says to Job: Who do you think you are, you insignificant person, don’t you know that I am powerful beyond your ability to comprehend? Can you make it rain, can you bring lightning, can you decide how much land and how much water there should be on earth? While the passage may be about gifts, it certainly does not seem to be about the gifts of Job. Likewise the passage from Mark’s gospel. James and John, arguing about their place in the kingdom, are properly put in their place by Jesus. Once again, if the passage is about gift at all, it appears to be a warning to those who would claim by their gifts to be among the high and mighty. Fair warning indeed.

    But these passages are not the be all and end all of passages about being gifted by God. There are many other more positive passages within the scriptural record. They need to be considered alongside the ones we heard today. But today’s passages are important as well. What they tell us is something very important. The gifts that God has given us are not about us, and how important we are, and what place in the pecking order they entitle us to claim. The gifts we have from God are the gifts we are to use in furthering the kindom of God - I hope you heard that correctly - the kindom of God, which I prefer as a less hierarchical image of what it means to live in the presence of God, and with the way of God as our way. A similar image comes from the letter writer Paul, who talked about the body of Christ and then pushed the metaphor even further by referring to the hands, feet, eyes and ears of the body - the community of followers of Jesus. An important image because it reminds us that we are not all gifted in the same way.

    I believe the message from today’s readings is very important for us as we go about discerning our own gifts. I believe it changes the way we see ourselves if we consider the gifts that God has given us. I find many people very reticent to demonstrate and use their gifts. Perhaps this comes out of a humility discerned to be a Christian trait. No doubt about it, humility is a theme which is part of what it means to be Christian, just ask James and John. But this does not mean that we should hide our light under a bushel. If God has given us a particular gift then why should we not use it, not to build up ourselves, but to help people along the way of God, to empower others to use their gifts to do God’s work. In fact, I would go so far to say that if we have been gifted by God and are hesitant to use it, then we are failing to honour God who made us and who gave us a gift to share with the world and with those around us. Likewise, we fail to honour God when we don’t allow others to use their gifts. When we call upon the people who’ve always done it, and fail to honour the fact that others might share some of the same gifts, we diminish the spirit given gifts that God has entrusted with us as a community of God’s people.

    On the retreat we used a few different methods to discern gifts - some individual, and some group. I think it is fair to say that when we used the tool that helped us discern our spirit given gifts there were some surprises and some affirmations. Some people discovered new gifts, or at least a new way of understanding their gifts. Some people were surprised that some of their gifts did not appear. That doesn’t mean they are not gifts. The tool is not an everything for everyone kind of instrument. It simply is one way of helping people discern their gifts. There are other ways to discern gifts as well.

    Some of us just know what our gifts are. Some of us need to be challenged to try out new gifts - sometimes others see our gifts better than we see them ourselves. Gifts can be discerned in prayer. Gifts can be discerned by trial and error. Gifts can be too narrowly defined, and gifts can be too broadly categorised. Sometimes it takes outside of the box thinking to see the gifts we have. One of the most encouraging things I discovered in the new method of discerning and matching gifts that I mentioned a few moments ago was the way in which it challenged participants to think about their gifts. It suggested questions which help to broaden our thinking and narrow the focus so that new gifts can be discovered and particular gifts can be strengthened.

    In case you are wondering, the new method I learned is called Asset Mapping. It may not be new to you at all. As you’ve probably discovered it has excited me a great deal, and I do look forward to ways in which we can use it to use our gifts as God’s people.

    In our communion liturgy, the words which form the title to this reflection are often used. I expect that when we hear them we think of the bread and wine. Let me close this reflection for now, although I hope you sense that this reflection is not at a close. I hope in fact, that it forms a kind of beginning. I hope the next time you hear those words - the gifts of God for the people of God, that you think of all the ways God has gifted you and gifted us and that it creates in us a resolve to really use those gifts as the people of God. To be continued ... Amen.