The
Readings (Isaiah 62.1-5), John 2.1-11 and 1 Corinthians 12.1-11) all talk about
signs - God blessing His people Israel,
Jesus turning water into wine and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are all signs or
evidence of the glory of God. Signs give
us hope in our faith and teach us to be signs of that glory. Everyone needs
some Epiphany moment - an experience or sign of God’s love in their lives. This
helps us believe in God and to be transformed into a sign of His glory in the
world.
1.
Isaiah
prophecies that God will bless Israel as a sign of His love
This prophecy was probably received either
during or just after the Exile of the Hebrew people in Babylon (586-538 BC)
when National pride was very low and people felt abandoned by God:
·
Isaiah prophesied their Loyalty will be “vindicated” in history
·
Other nations
will see their blessing & glory
·
Shame and disgrace would be turned to honour
and respect
·
New Identity as Chosen people – “married” to
their “builder”
·
Israel to be a sign of God’s love and glory
to the world
·
would ‘delight’ in His people
2.
Jesus
Disciples also needed a sign to believe in Him
Anyone can come up with good teachings and
make claims to spiritual authority. How do we know they are genuine? People
need personal experience or a clear sign to go from ‘knowing about’ and
affirming, to really believing in
teachings on the supernatural.
·
Jesus is reluctant to reveal His miraculous
powers – trying to fly under the religious radar and not blow his cover
·
Miracles attract attention – was a claim to
be the Messiah
·
Crowds would proclaim Him Messiah and He
would be unable to focus on teaching and forming His Disciples
·
Jesus compromise is to give a sign of his
love and divinity – at great personal
risk, that is masked in secrecy
·
The healing miracles of Jesus continue to
challenge believers to belief in the divinity
of Jesus
·
Many people can accept His teachings as
authoritative but have trouble with the
physical and healing miracles
·
Divinity
of Jesus is critical to His ability to be a sacrifice for the sins of all
people.
·
This is why we all need patience and some personal
experience of the supernatural
before we can move from ‘affirming the possibility of’ to ‘believing in’ the
supernatural worldview of the Bible – there is no shame in this!
3. The Good News is we receive spiritual
gifts in our Baptism!
Baptism is the point where we enter into a
personal covenant or connected
relationship with God. When we pledge our loyalty to God we are blessed with
spiritual gifts. These gifts are a sign to us that God – the Holy Spirit, is really there:
·
Gifts are given as Holy Spirit decides – not a sign of merit
·
Many church fights begin with pride
& jealousy over gifts
·
Named after what they seem to give us – Love,
Joy etc.
·
Gifts are given for the common good – we need
community
·
Spiritual gifts are like an energy, power,
knowing something or a special supernatural ability
·
Gifts become more powerful as we use them –
like muscles
·
Come more fully as we nurture and protect
ourselves spiritually – prayer, praise, self-examen, Confession
·
Wisdom – inner judgement on what is best
(Lucille)
·
Knowledge – how to do something (teachings, boat
on car)
·
Faith – belief beyond what is natural (in
supernatural)
·
Healing – prayer & touch for physical and
spiritual healing
·
Miracles – prayer that alters the natural
physical order
·
Prophecy – messages from the Holy Spirit
about the future
·
Distinguishing between spirits – Satan can
counterfeit
·
Tongues – allow us to praise God in other
languages
·
Interpretation of Tongues – required with
Tongues in public
4. Spiritual Gifts enable us to be signs of
God’s Glory in the world
·
Need to discern our spiritual gifts – many
people not aware
·
Need to protect, nourish and grow spiritually
in our gifts
·
Need to use them for the benefit of the
Community so each person becomes a sign of God’s glory for others
Why are we here – we are here to be
signs of God’s glory in the world!
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