What Have You Been Given?
The church fathers claimed that of all the sins, pride is the greatest and most deadly. Pride exalts self at the expense of everyone else, even God; pride is often idolatry! The Apostle Paul in training the church family at Corinth said, “What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:7) It is a natural tendency to want to claim that we are self-made people, but this is never true, no matter how lowly our backgrounds. We all receive amazing gifts.
From the time I was conceived my parents gave me the gift of life. My mother gave me the gifts of feeding and care. My father gave me the gifts of wisdom and strength. My siblings gave me the gifts of acceptance and teasing. My friends and neighbors gave me the gift of community. My church family gave me the gifts of faith, hope and love. My teachers gave me the gift of education. My wife gave me the gift of her love and the pledge of her lifelong faithfulness. She gave me the gift of being a husband. My children gave me a completely new understanding of the world and the gift of being a father. My mistakes gave me the gift of wisdom. The mistakes of others gave me the gift of not having to try some things for myself. My sufferings gave me the gift of patience. My struggles gave me the gift of endurance. Unexpected love gave me the gift of grace.
Long before I was born, people were giving gifts to me! Abraham gave me the gift of following God, even when you do not know where you are going. Isaac gave me the gift of willingness to lie on the altar as a living sacrifice. Jacob gave me the gift of hope that scoundrels can become something more than they have been. Moses gave me the gift of courage that the power of evil does not have the final word. Miriam gave me the gift of exuberant praise after doubtful victory. Ruth gave me the gift of understanding that the bonds of faith are stronger than the bonds of flesh. Samuel gave me the gift of listening for the voice of God and then responding with “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening!” David gave me the gift of fearlessness when he walked out to face the giant with the words “You can’t” ringing in his ears. Jonathan gave me the gift of humility when he traded his role as future king for friend of God’s anointed. Jeremiah gave me the gift of resolve when he said, “If I do not speak God’s word it becomes a fire in my belly and I cannot hold it in.” Esther gave me the gift of boldness when she took the risk to confront the king to save her people. Jesus gave me the gift of himself – everything he had offered on my behalf. God gave Jesus, and Jesus gives to me, the gift of resurrection!
Since that Sunday morning nearly 2,000 years ago a countless number of people have given their hearts, souls, minds, and strength to living as disciples of Jesus creating a great chain of faith that stretched all the way to my heart. What spiritual treasures have been handed down to me? Every one of them. I have not created any of them, I merely opened my hands and my heart and gratefully received them.
Perhaps my greatest contribution is to recognize the gifts I have received and to commit to passing them on. “From his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace, because while the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16-17)