Devotion - Wednesday, October 23

This morning I was reading from I Corinthians 14.  Paul is addressing the issue of speaking in tongues.  This is a religious practice that is not experience by most of us.  But it is still a sign of the Spirit's assent for others.  It was quite popular in Paul's day, so much so that in I Corinthians he seems to recommend that it become less prominent.

"He who speaks with a tongue should pray for the power to interpret," he writes.  How are those around me edified when I speak a word they can't interpret?  "I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue."

Paul's emphasis is on spiritual gifts as a way of building up the whole community; not merely as a means of building up ourselves.

I doubt whether many of you have been around folks who speak in tongues.  But I am pretty sure that you have been around folks whose focus is on those acts of piety which focus on individual benefits.  Paul's words need to be applied to such practices.  We are called to follow Jesus for reasons greater than to find ourselves relocated to some heavenly sphere.  We are invited to walk the way of Jesus, which is a path of care and compassion for others.  Our relationship with God not only brings the assurance of grace into our lives but into the lives of others.

The marks of the Spirit's presence in our lives may include a confidence in life eternal; the marks of the Spirit's presence in our lives would surely include a servant's heart and hands.