When the New Testament was put together, the wisdom of the day said to arrange all of Paul’s letters not in chronological order, or alphabetical order, but believe it or not, in order of length, from longest to shortest.  Why that seemed best, I have no idea!  But that’s the reason Romans is the first letter from Paul in the New Testament.  It is the longest of his letters–sixteen chapters!  That’s a long letter!  Scholars think Paul was writing from either Corinth or Cenchrea.  Paul had not yet been to Rome, and he was anxious to get there.  His letter to the Romans was most likely the last letter Paul wrote, at least the last one that was compiled into our scriptures, probably written about 57 A.D.  In this letter, Paul is writing to prepare the Roman believers for his visit, to articulate the basics of Christian theology, and to help them work through the division between the Gentile and Jewish Christians in Rome.

Paul opens his letter very graciously.  First, he wants the Romans to know that, although he is an apostle with a lot of experience under his belt, there is no spiritual hierarchy in the Church.  He is called to be a saint; they are called to be saints.  Jesus’ disciples may come from different places and have different lifestyles, we may have been at this discipleship thing for a long time or a short time, but we all have equal standing before the Lord.  We are all called to be saints.  Paul wanted them to know he was not writing to them, as some kind of spiritual superstar talking to spiritual amateurs.  He was talking to them as peers.

This is important to keep in mind, because, well frankly, sometimes Paul can sound like a know-it-all.  Maybe he’s gotten feedback to that effect, because he really does seem to be trying to get this letter started with some bridge building language.  In verse 7, he extends a blessing and wishes them grace and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  I do not think Paul meant this to say that he already has the grace and peace, and the Romans don’t.  I think this blessing is a way of saying, I want God’s very best for you.  I want God’s very best for me.  I want God’s very best for us.  So I am going to ask God to give you grace and peace, even as I have asked God to give me grace and peace as I write this letter.  It is a true wish for connection and unity.

Then Paul goes on to tell the Romans that he is thankful for them and that he prays for them.  Paul is thankful because he has heard about the good work they are doing, and he is praying not only that they will be strengthened in their work, but that the way will be opened for Paul to come and see it for himself.  He wants to encourage them.  He wants to learn from them.  He wants to be genuinely connected to them.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  In less then twenty verses, Paul will switch gears and start talking about the wrath of God!  I don’t think anyone would ever call Paul warm and fuzzy.  But before we get deeper into the content of Paul’s letter, I just wanted to stop and affirm the noble aims at the start of the book.  Paul wants to come to Rome to share with them “some spiritual gift” to make them strong.  And he wants to come to be encouraged by the Romans, as they together work to build the kingdom of God.

It’s interesting how Paul said he wanted to share “some spiritual gift” with the Romans.  I checked over a dozen translations of the Bible, and in chapter one verse 11, every single one of them uses the wording, “some spiritual gift.”  None of the translations give us anything more specific.  What do you think Paul meant by that?

The Greek word for spiritual gift is charism, which is where we get our word charisma, which means multiple spiritual gifts.  We will be talking about spiritual gifts quite a bit in the coming months.  There are three main New Testament passages that list various spiritual gifts, and every person who believes in Jesus has at least one of them.  Does this surprise you?  Every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of them.  This indwelling of the Holy Spirit not only offers us ready access to divine comfort and guidance, but also gifts us in unique ways to serve God and others.

But notice what Paul says here—that he is anxious to impart some spiritual gift to the Romans, and that he is anticipating that they will impart to him a spiritual gift as well.  In other words, the spiritual gifts don’t just come to us straight from heaven.  God’s good gifts are often imparted to us through the witness, example and influence of other people.  Have you ever thought that your spiritual gifts might be contagious?

A few years ago, as the corona virus pandemic took hold, we got used to hearing the term “virus shedding”.  People who contract the virus are contagious for a certain amount of time, whether or not they feel sick.  Even if we didn’t hold hands or hug or kiss, the COVID virus could be spread just by being around someone who was infected, because infected people shed the virus.

That’s a negative example of being contagious, of course.  But think positively!  Who has shed their good graces on you, and changed you?  Who has imparted to you some spiritual gift, thereby encouraging you in the faith?  Recently I learned about an online forum for writers called “Substack”.  I don’t know why they call it “Substack” except that instead of having a huge stack of unread books on my desk, now I can have a small substack of unread emails in my inbox!  I get two emails a week from pastors who write essays on Substack.  By reading their writing, they are imparting to me “some spiritual gift”.  Some weeks, they give me the gift of faith.  Some weeks they give me the gift of wisdom.  Some weeks they give me the gift of writing, because their ideas help spur my own!  Where do you go to “get infected”—to have some spiritual gift imparted to you?

Spiritual gifts are something of a mystery, and we cannot just conjure them up at will.  But we can put ourselves in situations where we get positively infected by other people’s faith.  We can be tremendously blessed by people whose experiences and preferences differ greatly from our own.  They have a vantage point we don’t have, a window into the work of the Holy Spirit we might not otherwise see.  No wonder Paul was so anxious to get to Rome and learn from the Roman Christians!

Paul’s life story reminds us also that there is a lot to we can do to develop our gifts.  Spiritual gifts begin with a supernatural touch from God.  But then those gifts need fertilizer–training, mentors, time, challenges, inspiration, love—in order to eventually bear fruit.  Our spiritual gifts, in some ways, become our life’s work.  Reading the book of Acts reminded us just how much Paul endured, how sacrificially he continued to serve and persevere.  Developing a faith that courageous and resilient was his life’s work!

I read once that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a person who was surely blessed with the spiritual gift of preaching, took twenty-four seminary classes on preaching!  By way of comparison:  I took three.  Most seminarians only take one or two.  For Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to take 24 courses in preaching shows that he was committed to developing the gift God had planted within him.  By developing and using his gift, he inspired generations of people.  He imparted to them “some spiritual gift”—perhaps it was the gift of hope, or a vision of dignity and justice, or a willingness to stick to peaceful means instead of resorting to violence.

So we’ve got some questions to wrestle with today.  First, what are your spiritual gifts?  You can find many different spiritual gift assessments online, including at umcdiscipleship.org.  Second, what are you doing to develop your gifts?  Third, where to do you go “get infected”—to have some spiritual gift imparted to you?  And fourth, where is God calling you to go, so you can impart some spiritual gift to someone else?

It’s good to give thought to our spiritual gifts periodically, because I think they do change over time.  I wonder if that’s why Paul used the term “some spiritual gift” to be deliberately vague.  How was he to know what gifts the Romans needed?  How was he to know what we might receive?  His prayer, his wish, his hope was simply to be open to what God might have in store for him.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot as our team of five volunteers prepares to go to Rwanda in October.  What do we have to offer them?  What might we receive from them?  Paul was super excited to visit the Romans, because he knew he would be encouraged by being with them.  “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”  God was at work in Rome!  Seeing the unique ways God was leading the Christians in Rome would be like iron sharpening iron for Paul.  They would learn from him.  And he would learn from them.  I am super excited to visit Rwanda—even though part of me is genuinely nervous about the long travel and the logistics and the food and the time change and all those things!  But I am super excited to visit Rwanda because I know God is at work in Rwanda1  I know I am going to come home encouraged in the faith.  I know I am going to come home having received some spiritual gift.  I only hope the gift I impart is an equal blessing to the people we meet.

On Pentecost, we talked about how the Holy Spirit came upon all the believers.  The Holy Spirit IS the gift!  The Holy Spirit offers comfort, guidance, protection, peace, and challenge.  The Holy Spirit connects us to Jesus, who is no longer walking the earth.  The Holy Spirit connects us to the power of God to create, redeem, and persevere.  The Holy Spirit IS the gift!

But the Bible also talks about gifts of the Holy Spirit.  These might be leadership gifts, such as the gifts of teaching and preaching.  They might be compassion gifts, such as mercy and healing.  They might be spiritual life gifts, such as wisdom and prophecy.  And they might be supporting gifts, such as giving and faith.  How do you think God has gifted you?  What are you doing to develop those gifts?  Who might need the spiritual gift you can impart?  And where might you need to go/who might you need to spend more time with so you can get infected in the best way with someone else’s spiritual gifting?

There is an African proverb, “If you want to go quickly, go alone.  But if you want to go far, go together.”  That idea is at the heart of our United Methodist connectional system.  We are connected as saints, as peers, as people of equal standing before the Lord.  Some churches may have greater financial resources that we can share with, for example, Cokesbury UMC and their summer lunch and learn program for the community.  But every time we give, it has the potential to be a mutually edifying experience.  We give not as spiritual superstars to people who are spiritual amateurs.  We give as people in need of catching something good, of having others shed their spiritual gifts on us.  We give in a spirit of openness, knowing that even as we impart some spiritual gift to others, we can receive as well.

Friends, we are called to be saints, not to journey in faith quickly, and certainly not to journey in faith alone.  Together, we can go far, if we will develop our gifts, and allow ourselves to be strengthened by the gifts of others.  Mutual encouragement amongst peers.  What a beautiful vision for the kingdom of God.  Amen.