Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Tuesday, 17 June 2014 "Use whatever God has given you"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Tuesday, 17 June 2014 "Use whatever God has given you"
Daily Scripture:  Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith. 4 For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function, 5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; 7 or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, to his exhorting: he who gives, let him do it with liberality; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Reflection Questions:
When we think, sometimes wistfully, about discerning God’s “good and pleasing and mature” will for our life (cf. Romans 12:2), we may think in terms of visions or dramatic, "out of the blue" messages. Paul believed realistic self-assessment could direct God’s people to God’s will. God’s will, he seemed to say, is that you primarily do what you’re gifted to do: "If your gift is teaching, devote yourself to teaching."
In his June 11 Insights blog, Pastor Steven Blair reminded us that love, unlike spiritual gifts, is given to, and demanded of, all of God’s people. In what ways can we exercise any of the various gifts Paul mentioned in today;s reading in love? How do you use your gifts to express God’s love to others?
What tools have you used, in school, church, your workplace or from other sources, to help you with realistic self-assessment? What have you come to understand about your strengths and limitations from using those tools? Are there aspects of yourself you'd still like to understand better? Are you open to the guidance of God's Spirit as you continue on that journey of learning how you function best?
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you healed and taught, and you (as a later writer put it) comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. And you did it all in love. Guide me as I seek to do the same. Amen.
Insight from Glen Shoup
To want what we have and to take what we’re given.  Why this seems to be such a profound struggle for we human beings I do not know, but I am certain that this struggle (and the collateral damage that comes from us or others choosing the wrong side of this struggle) lies at the heart of most of our problems.
Think about it.  Nearly everyone reading these words has enough and no need for more.  Enough for life’s basic needs to be provided—food, shelter, clothing—the honest fact of the matter is that for most of us, we have enough.  So why is it that so many of us find ourselves strapped with debt that cripples our ability for discretion or robs us of any sense of peace and contentment because of the impending financial weight we carry that seemingly, at any time, could come crashing down upon us; stripping us and our family of even our hold on life’s most basic provisions.  Yet, that’s the place we’re ultimately lead to when we refuse to “want what we have and take what we’re given” and instead we want and then pursue what others have or what we think we are entitled to or what we think we need in order to keep up with the Jones’ (who themselves are so choked by debt they can’t sleep at night)…living in this neighborhood…driving that car…wearing those clothes…our children participating in all the right clubs and leagues—if refusing to want what you have and take what you’re given doesn’t lead to bankruptcy court, it most certainly will lead you to the relentless (and soul-killing) pursuit of just a little bit more.
But it’s not just the acquisition of more money and stuff where we see clearly this ongoing, age-old struggle we have to want what we have and take what we’re given; no, we see this with painful clarity in our relationships as well.  Anyone who’s been married for more than a week—if they’re honest—will tell you they’ve encountered someone else who, at the very least, has caused them to wish that their husband or wife were more like—and at most, they begin to think that if only they could trade out their current spouse for that person, then everything would be great (until they really got to know that person and discovered that person’s irritants or discovered that the main issue isn’t the other person at all—it’s the person in the mirror!).  And when we’re single, it’s so easy for us to begin to think that if we just had this person or that person—then our lives would be so much better and fulfilling.  And you don’t have to look around our culture very long to see the severe damage we human beings do to ourselves, our children and others all because we insist on wanting what we don’t have and seeking to take what we haven’t been given when it comes to our relationships.
And of course that doesn’t even scratch the surface of a dozen other areas where we create such turmoil for ourselves and those around us because we just can’t seem to want what we have or take what we’re given with grace…and today’s scripture reading would seem to suggest that we face the same sorts of decisions in our journey of faith.  That struggle, to want what we have and take what we’re given happens even among people who are seeking to know and follow Jesus—and St. Paul nails the heart of the issue head on: don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think (Romans 12:3b).  Paul goes on to tell the Christians in the church at Rome that rather, they should consider themselves reasonably, or, as the NRSV translation puts it—we should judge ourselves soberly—instead of (if I may take some liberty with the translation)—considering ourselves while intoxicated with ourselves!
Paul goes on to say in today’s reading that each of us has a responsibility and a part to play, just as each member of the body has a purpose and a responsibility to fulfill—and whatever ours is…or perhaps said more clearly—wherever we find ourselves and whatever opportunities we find ourselves with in service to God and others…we should do those to the very best of our abilities.
What I really think Paul was getting at here is the importance of us understanding and choosing daily by God’s grace to want what we have and take what we’re given.
Rev. Glen Shoup is the Executive Pastor of Worship and a Congregational Care Pastor.
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