DAY 15 - What Do You Have That You Did Not Receive?

^{I Corinthians 4:1-7 (NIV) 1}So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. ²Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. ⁶Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, "Do not go beyond what is written." Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. ⁷For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Writing to the church in Corinth, Paul asks “What do you have that you did not receive?” It is all a gift. That seems rather self-evident. But the Christians in Corinth had forgotten it. They had received hope for life abundant and for life eternal, and they were taking credit for it.

“And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” The word Paul uses for “boast” is diakrinei, which literally means “half judgment” or “to put a difference between.” Half judgments divide us, draw us into isolation, and burden us with the belief that “it all depends on me.”

What do you have that you did not receive? Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten in your soul?

Jesus came to give us back this awareness of the giftedness of life. He spoke of it. He told stories about laborers receiving a wage they did not earn and about a prodigal son receiving generously from his father. His talk of God being so generous and so kind actually angered people. They believed that if God were that generous it would wreak havoc.

And Jesus not only talked about God being generous, He lived it. He blessed the food He ate, the wine He drank, the world He saw because they were gifts from God. He lived openly, freely, without fear. He did not grasp at life but allowed life to come to Him in its own measure for He knew a God who cared for Him.

Believing that all we are and all we have is a gift, or perhaps more importantly, remembering that all we are and all we have is a gift from God affects the way we live. If it all is a gift, we do not have to be anxious, we do not have to struggle to make the world meet our needs and our desires. We will not have the need to compare the gifts given to us with the gifts given to someone else, and we can be at peace.

When we believe all is a gift and God is the giver, we thank God daily for the gifts we are aware of. When we believe all is a gift and God is the giver we daily entrust our life to God and go about the business of the day, accepting with gratitude what is given and offering our time and talents in service to God. Jesus revealed to us the great generosity of God. It is all a gift.

From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 28, 1999

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles