Do you enjoy doing puzzles? We always had a puzzle going on vacation every year and it was a lot of fun. Occasionally we would spend days and nights putting together a puzzle only to get to the end and find that one solitary piece was missing.Lost under the couch forever or eaten by the dog, losing that last bit of the picture made the whole effort feel incomplete. I hate it when that happens.

I think the church is like a 5,000 piece puzzle. Every person has a place and a part to play. When someone is missing, it doesn’t come together like it should.

When I read today’s scripture I immediately thought about puzzles and I kept hearing a hymn from our United Methodist Hymnal called “Many Gifts, One Spirit.” Do you know this song? Is it sung in your church? It is a beautiful interpretation of 1 Corinthians 12: 7-11, where Paul spoke about the gifts of the spirit that are given to each person for the common good. Like interlocking pieces of a puzzle, the Spirit uses our individual gifts to make a complete picture of the body of Christ.

“Many Gifts, One Spirit”
Al Carmines
UM Hymnal, No. 114

Many gifts, one Spirit,
one love known in many ways.
In our difference is blessing,
from diversity we praise
one Giver, one Lord, one Word
known in many ways, hallowing our days.
For the Giver and the Gifts,
praise, praise, praise.*

Paul outlined the gifts that this hymn alludes to: Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, spirit divination, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues. He makes the bold and strong point that while the gifts and the gift receivers were diverse, there is only one Giver who dispenses them all. The same Spirit gives according to what he wants to each person, or as the hymn says, “one love known in many ways.”

Do you see your particular gift on the list? This is not comprehensive. In Romans 12, Paul lists teaching, prophecy, serving, encouraging, giving, leading and mercy. Ephesians mentions other gifts as well, leading us to understand the importance Paul put on these things.

1 Corinthians 12 (Common English Bible)

⁷ A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good. ⁸ A word of wisdom is given by the Spirit to one person, a word of knowledge to another according to the same Spirit, ⁹ faith to still another by the same Spirit, gifts of healing to another in the one Spirit, ¹⁰ performance of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to tell spirits apart to another, different kinds of tongues to another, and the interpretation of the tongues to another. ¹¹ All these things are produced by the one and same Spirit who gives what he wants to each person.

The celebration of diversity is lovely in both the Scripture and the song. Sometimes we feel that we have little to offer. Feeling discouraged or left out can make us want to withhold our participation. Burnout, frustration, and life’s overwhelming circumstances can lead us to pull back and pull out. When we do, the bigger picture suffers. Everybody is somebody in the Body!

What is your gift? Are you using it in God’s service? People are counting on you to make the puzzle complete. Remember, the purpose of our diversity is our unity. May we come together as one to serve the One who calls us by name.

Hallowing Our Days by Mary Anne Mong