Oct 10 2019 I Corinthians 12:1-11

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
I like the idea of the manifestation of the Sprit. The Holy Spirit, something entirely spiritual, with no human form, that encompasses all that God is. In the reading the traits listed include prophesy, healing, teaching. In the world of today, the human skills include finance, caretaking, administration, building, dancing, inventing – all of the things people do in this world.

Paul is saying that Holy Spirit is transformed into these human traits. It’s not just that the Spirit provides for our individual human traits, or we receive gifts from the Spirit. These traits are the Spirit-made-human.

To me, feels entirely different than to think that I have received a gift from the Spirit. It’s another way to embody God, to see that the Holy Spirit as one part of the three-in-one-God works in me and through me every time I cook a good meal. It’s not my will, invoking a God-given gift. It’s God in the gift made active.

It’s no wonder that all of our actions, and skills and interests and abilities are all made for good. They are the Holy Spirit given human traits.

This morning, I’m thinking about the care with which I want to go about my day, with all of my God-made-concreteness being deployed for the common good. To use these traits for something less than love feels like a betrayal, like I’ve hijacked my manifested God traits for ill-will. Instead, I want to think about every movement, activity, and human trait as the Spirit made manifest, and in fact, use them for good.