Last night the Pacific Northwest was hit with high wind storms which resulted in power outages in many communities. Our church was even forced to cancel a Bible class due to the outages. Driving home in the dark, I was reminded of how vital electricity is to carry out our lives today. This can also be reflected in our spiritual lives.
This morning, while preparing to do this weekly newsletter after last night’s storms, I was reminded of what is lost when we neglect our spiritual gifts of ministering to others. My thoughts were drawn to Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Paul reminds Timothy not to neglect God’s source of power in serving Jesus. “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:6–7). Paul’s encouragement is to be faithful to his godly heritage and to God’s grace in his life. It is with this in mind that he encourages Timothy to stoke the spiritual fire in his life. Many of us know the difference additional oxygen makes on a fire while blowing or fanning the coals. A fire requires heat, fuel and an oxidizer, like oxygen. The fanning of a flame increases the burn and produces more heat. The same is true in our spiritual lives.
Let me state the obvious: With the absence of oxygen there is no fire! Paul’s powerful reminder for Pastor Timothy is to keep the spirit fire burning. He is reminded that our investment in our growth results in God working through us to touch the lives of others through our spiritual gifts. Paul reminds us, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them:” (Romans 12:6a). He also illustrates this by speaking of the different and necessary parts of our body, “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.” (1 Corinthians 12:18) He again reminds us, “when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” (Ephesians 4:16b).
I came into the office this morning with electronic beeps coming from all different directions. The security camera was off and would not restart. One of the file server backup units was screaming as well as another one in my office. The security system came back on with a reboot, but the two backup units had failed and it appeared that my computer power supply was another casualty. I realized at that moment that my work writing this newsletter would not have happened in the absence of power.
The UPS units will need to be replaced and my computer was out because of a failed surge strip. This made we wonder how many ministry opportunities are being missed by Jesus’ followers who are offline in their relationships with Christ and not involved in ministry. Let me remind us of the impact that we can have when we get involved in ministry using our gifts from The Lord. “for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7).
-Pastor Joe Parkinson