THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
"And there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord" (1 Cor 12:5). To strengthen the consolation, the Apostle brings in the Son and the Father.
Here he gives the gifts another name, wishing through this also to provide greater consolation. Therefore he says, "There are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord."
When the one who received less heard of a gift, he might have grieved. But when he hears of a ministry, he will not, because this word signifies toil and work.
Why do you grieve, he says, if God commanded another to labor more and spared you?
"And there are diversities of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit" (1 Cor 12:6-7).
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What, you ask, is an operation? What is a gift? What is a ministry? They are only different names, but the realities are the same.
He calls both the gift and the ministry an operation. "Fulfill," he says, "your ministry" (2 Tim 4:5). And again, "I magnify my ministry" (Rom 11:13).
Likewise to Timothy he says, "For this reason I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you" (2 Tim 1:6).
And to the Galatians: "He who worked in Peter for the apostleship worked also in me toward the Gentiles" (Gal 2:8).
Do you see how he posits no difference between the gifts of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit? He does not confuse Their hypostases. May it never be.
Rather, he shows the equal honor of Their essence. What the Spirit gives, he says, God the Father works, and the Son distributes and appoints.
If one were less than another, he would not have said this. Nor would he have consoled the grieving man in this way.
Next he consoles him in another way, namely, by saying that the measure of gifts communicated to him, though small, serves his profit.
After saying, "the same Spirit," "the same Lord," and "the same God," and so calming him, he adds another consolation in the words, "But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for profit."
Someone might say, "What of it, if the same Spirit, the same Lord, and the same God are there, when I received less?" The Apostle says that this is for profit.
By "manifestation of the Spirit" he means signs, and rightly so. As a believer, I know who has the Spirit, namely, the one who is baptized.
For the unbeliever, however, this is nowhere visible except through signs.
From this again there follows no small consolation. Although the gifts are diverse, the disclosure is the same. Whether you have much or little, you are equally disclosed.
Therefore, if you wish to show that you have the Spirit, you have enough for this purpose.
So, if there is one Giver, and what was given to you is a gift, and there can be disclosure, and this is most useful for you, do not grieve as though you were despised.
God acted thus not to dishonor you, nor to abase you before another, but out of condescension toward you and the desire for your benefit.
To receive more and not be able to bear it is what is useless, ruinous, and worthy of grief.