Romans 12:6-8 - Homiletics

Grace and gifts.

It is presumed that every member not only refrains from disparaging or envying the offices of fellow-members, but fulfils his own office. And it is also presumed that, as there is no member in the human body without a function, so, in Christian society, the Creator and Lord has assigned to every individual a place to fill, a work to do, and service to render as well as to receive. In this comprehensive passage several great principles are explicitly or implicitly presented.

I. GOD 'S GRACE ACCOUNTS FOR HUMAN GIFTS . We speak of our fellow-creatures' "gifts," and say of some that they are "gifted," that they "have talents;" but what is involved in this language does not always come before our minds. Yet, if from the Father of lights cometh down every good gift and every perfect boon, surely the gifts of intellect and heart, the gifts of sympathy and ministration, are as truly and really from above, as are those we term the gifts of Providence. The risen and glorified Redeemer bestows gifts upon men. The Holy Spirit is given, and that Spirit's presence imparts moral power and adaptation and influence. Freely, and not of constraint, or because of our desert, is the Spirit given. It is ours to receive with gratitude, and to use with fidelity; but our receiving and employing are only possible through Divine grace and liberality.

II. GOD 'S INFINITE RESOURCES SUPPLY MAN 'S MANIFOLD NEED . We may well admire the goodness of our Father in heaven, in the bestowal of his gifts; his bounty, manifest in the universal diffusion of those gifts; and his wisdom, conspicuous in their endless variety. God has created man with many wants, and has so constituted human society that "no man liveth unto himself;" that we are mutually dependent one upon another for all our knowledge, happiness, and means of usefulness. Every congregation of Christians may be regarded as a collection of spiritual, as well as of more obvious and physical, necessities. The young need to be taught and trained; the misled need to be recovered; the feeble need to be confirmed; the sorrowful need to be comforted; the presumptuous need to be repressed; the petulant and quarrelsome need to be corrected; the inexperienced need to be advised. These, and other cases, can only be met by a provision inexhaustible in quantity and exquisitely adapted in character. In this and parallel passages the apostle takes pleasure in dwelling upon the vastness and variety of the resources which the Lord of all places at the disposal of his people. It is indeed a delightful thought: "All things are yours," etc.

III. THE WORK OF CHRISTIANS IN THIS WORLD IS THE FULFILLING A TRUST FROM GOD . We live, not certainly to seek our own pleasure, not certainly to respond to every passing social impulse, not even merely to develop our own nature and cultivate our own powers. We are summoned to take a higher view of life and its opportunities. As St. Peter expresses it, "According as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." It is good for the young and unformed to come under the control of a superior human mind and will, and so to shape life as to secure approval and commendation from a master, a leader. How much better for us all to live as those whose fidelity the Master in heaven is testing, and who are held responsible to him! When we read of God's gifts, we are not to infer that we possess them absolutely, in such a sense that it is in our option either to use or neglect them, that we are at liberty to treat them otherwise than as a sacred trust. On the contrary, "every one of us must give an account of himself to God." The talents the Lord has entrusted to his servants are for them so to employ that, when he comes in judgment, they may give in their account with joy and not with

IV. EVERY CHRISTIAN IS CALLED TO USE HIS GIFTS FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS FELLOWS . It is observable that every several admonition in this passage has reference to benefits to be conferred upon others. The Christian is called to look, not upon his own things, but also upon the things of others. This is the lesson which Christianity has from the beginning been inculcating; and modern society is for it under a debt, which is not always frankly and fully acknowledged. Some modern systems of morality and schemes of human life, as positivism, make the whole of religion consist in living for others (altruism). But it is vain to rear a superstructure without first laying the foundation. To induce and sustain an unselfish life, it is needful to begin with the counsels of God; to feel the one, sacred motive of the cross of Christ, to seek the guidance and aid of the Spirit of God. At the same time, unselfishness and self-denying benevolence are one great evidence of a renewed nature, and of the action of Christian principle.

V. CHRISTIAN MINISTRATION IS CONFINED TO NO CLASS , BUT DEVOLVES UPON THE WHOLE CHURCH . The apostle is not writing to the officers of the society at Rome, but to all in the city, who are "beloved of God, and called to be saints." The duties here enumerated are diffused amongst the community, amongst whom the gifts necessary for their discharge are graciously and wisely distributed. There is a mischievous tendency in human nature towards doing good by deputy. It is, indeed, right that a man should not meddle with work which is not his; but some, who profess to act upon this principle, not only neglect other people's business, but neglect their own. You may not be gifted with much power of teaching, but you may be able to show mercy. You may have little to give, but you may, if you will exercise your gift, prove able to console and sympathize. In any case, let us not fall into the error of supposing that, because we cannot do everything, therefore we can do nothing. One of the disadvantages attending a professional ministry is this—that many suppose that it is the exclusive business of the clergy to attend to the consolation of the saints and to labour for the evangelization of the world. The fact is that, wherever the gift has been bestowed and the opportunity for its exercise provided, there the responsibility lies, and there the service is required.

APPLICATION .

1. Let us ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"

2. Let us cultivate the spirit of mutual respect and consideration as fellow-members of Christ.

3. Let us co-operate for the great ends which the Divine Head of the Church has set before us, viz. the increase and the harmony of the body of Christ.