Many churches throughout the world use a Bible reading schedule called a "lectionary." It's just a fancy word meaning "selected readings." Posts like this reflect on the readings for an upcoming Sunday or other Church holiday, as found in the historic one-year lectionary.
1 Peter 4:10-11 tells us to use the various gifts of God appropriately. Then, oddly enough, Peter gives us only two gifts as examples. Yet they are strong examples, which may well encapsulate all that we do. Let’s look at them.
First, the one who speaks should be “as the one who speaks oracles of God.” In whatever we speak, we should desire to be certain. We speak with confidence. We strive for accuracy and relevance. Among all the useless chatter of our age, which has been prevalent in every age, Chrsitians speak as those who know what God has said. We speak of reality, even when that reality is unseen. And, like the early Christians, we make efforts not to obscure meaning in the ramblings of the pagans and philosophers, but to cut directly to the truth. This applies to all our speech. Through those words we can bring refreshment and hope to those around us.
Second, the one who serves, does it by the strenth Christ supplies. Jesus, who rose from the dead, will raise us as well. Jesus, who cared for the poor and needy while he himself was walking around with just the clothes on his back, helps us care for the poor and needy as well. Jesus, who understands all the intricacies of our world of work, supplies us with wisdom and understanding to navigate that world. Jesus, who knows how to preserve life, enables us to preserve life as well. Jesus, who knows how all the rhythms of this world work, gives us a rhythm of work and of rest.
In the end, we find our life is shown to others in word and in deed, the two elements Peter has identified as gifts of God. When those gifts are used in subjection to the Lord, they prove of great benefit to our entire world.
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