The Gifts We Possess by the Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata

Chris Girata

A Message from the Rector, the Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata

We are moving through the season of Epiphany and on our way to the beginning of Lent next month. This year, Lent is quite late, giving us a bit of extra time in the “season of light.” Epiphany has always been one of those in-between seasons, often forgotten between Christmas and Lent, but this year, we have a bit of time to consider what Epiphany offers us.

Epiphany is strongly linked to Christmas because both root themselves in the Incarnation of God in Christ. The word “epiphany” comes from the Greek and means revelation or manifestation. In the earliest records of the church, Jesus’s birth was celebrated as a revelation to the world, and specifically to those who represent the non-Jewish world: the Magi. In Matthew’s Gospel, the story of the Magi traveling to welcome and worship Jesus represented the new way in which God was unifying all of humanity.

Some centuries later, when Rome incorporated Christianity, the birth of Jesus shifted to the celebration of Christmas. In the Eastern Christian traditions, the feast of Epiphany became associated with Jesus’s baptism, differentiating it from the celebration of Jesus’s birth. Today, the distinction between the arrival of the Magi and the celebration of Jesus’s baptism still anchors the different celebrations of Epiphany, yet we can point to the common root of revelation that God is doing something new in the world, and that new action is meant to unify us all.

Jesus’s birth and baptism, and the recognition of Jesus’s Incarnation by shepherds and Magi, can still inspire us today. When I think of birthdays, of Christmas, and of those who visited the newborn Jesus, I can’t help but think of gifts. We give and receive gifts on birthdays and at Christmastime, and the Magi brought royal gifts to the baby Jesus. Whenever we give and receive gifts, the purpose of those actions is to recognize and celebrate identity. The love of one another, and even the love we receive from God.

Gifts are important to our Christian discipleship. Sometimes those gifts can be physical, but more often those gifts are spiritual. Most recently, I’ve been teaching on St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians in my Wednesday Bible study. In chapter 12, Paul writes:

Paul emphasizes spiritual gifts because he is hoping to encourage mutual respect for all the ways in which we differ. Even the most homogenous group of people can acknowledge the differences and diversity among them. And when we take the whole of humanity, it’s clear that we have a beautiful variety of skills, interests, personalities, and abilities—spiritual gifts!

Spiritual gifts are important for Christian disciples to understand and use well. The array of gifts we possess gives us a glimpse of the beautiful complexity and diversity of God’s Spirit, and in turn, we are called to use those gifts together to help build up God’s way of love on earth. I doubt anyone in our Saint Michael community would disagree with the idea that we each have a unique set of gifts and that God calls us to use them, but being confident in our gifts and committing to using our gifts is a process.

The process of growth that helps us know and use our unique gifts is perhaps the core of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. When Jesus offered the unifying greatest commandment—Love God and love your neighbor as yourself—he was offering us the macro frame to know and use our spiritual gifts. When we develop a deep sense of loving God, we not only receive and reciprocate God’s love, but we see what is most profoundly lovable in us, that which God loves, as a spiritual gift to be honored. We then take that giftedness as the foundation for how we can extend love through our gifts to our neighbors.

Learning to love ourselves as God loves us so that we can extend love to our neighbors is a fundamental concept of discipleship and what drives us in this church. When I speak of discipleship, I’m not speaking of a program to do or not do at our convenience. When I speak of discipleship, I’m speaking of a committed way of life that responds to Jesus’s great commandment. I’m speaking of a path that guides us more deeply into our own spiritual identity, unlocking the power of our own spiritual giftedness, so that we will be compelled into the world by God’s love to love others.

When we speak of discipleship, we speak of spiritual giftedness. And when we speak of spiritual giftedness, we speak of wholeness. We have been journeying together through the seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, with the theme of Peace on Earth. God’s peace is a promise of wholeness, realized by embracing God’s powerful love for us. You have been wonderfully and beautifully made, with uniquenesses that have purpose in God’s world. Now, as we look toward the spring, we will continue to journey deeper.

In just a few short weeks, we will begin the Forty Days of Lent that helps us prepare for the Great Fifty Days of Easter. Together, we will explore two related themes that encourage a deeper understanding of and commitment to our spiritual giftedness. In Lent, we will explore our true “strength in weakness” before God, in order to root ourselves more powerfully in God’s “great promise.”

The journey we walk together is one that will help us grow in ways we can only imagine. Together, we commit to a life of incredible discovery and impact that extends the hope of Christ inside each of us. Together, we help build up God’s kingdom of love, transforming one heart at a time.

**This article was written by the Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata and was featured in the 2025 Spring Archangel.

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