Sermon Title: "Activated By the Spirit"
Date: January 17, 2010
Minister: Rev. Charles Ensley

Lesson:  1 Corinthians 12:1-11

“Activated.”  The word jumped out at me when I read today’s lesson.  I can’t believe that’s a word Paul used.  “…gifts…are activated by the one and same Spirit…”  Activate is a 20th Century word.  You activate the button and Scotty beams you up.  I checked eight of the most commonly used versions of the Bible in the last half century, and found that the oldest, the 1611 King James, used “worketh,” three others used “are the work of,” one used “gives,” and another “operation of.”  Personally, I prefer the 1946 Revised Standard which used “inspired.”  Which caused me to question whether I’ve preached on this lesson since the New Revised Standard Bible in the pew was copyrighted in 1989.  Surely I would have noticed the word “activated” before!

I can’t pretend to understand what religious life the First Century Corinthians practiced before they converted from pagans to Christians.  But it is possible that in their worship of various idols, there was one idol for knowledge, another idol for wisdom, yet another idol to pray to for healing, and so on.  How could they possibly understand they were now to believe in one God who made these things possible, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Why, that would be as difficult as making them understand there is a Creator God, a Son, and a Spirit, but it’s all one God!

So Paul tried to explain to these folks that each of them in the congregation had individual gifts within them that they could contribute to the greater good of their church.  Paul was quite aware that not all of the Corinthian Christians had the same gift, but that was as it should be.  We know from the larger context of First Corinthians that some persons whose gifts were more public or dramatic viewed their talents as status symbols, as though they had a “superior” endowment from God.  Some acted as though their gifts were so different from others in the church that they couldn’t see the connections.

So Paul emphasized not the diversity of their gifts, but the unifying—non-obvious—relationship that existed among them.

And he was clear:  The church needs all the gifts, and none of the gifts are inferior to the others.  Some might seem lowlier, but on the Spirit’s scale, they are all weighty, and each is critical to the church.

The heart of Paul’s message is in these sentences:  “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”     (1 Cor. 12:4-7)

What Paul wanted his readers to understand was that there is a relationship between each of the gifts that church members possess that makes the message of the church what God intends it to be—that the non-obvious connections between those gifts make the whole of the message more than the sum of its individual parts.

And Paul sees God’s Spirit working behind all of this.  Each gift was given not according to any kind of human merit or because the one receiving it was better qualified, but because of the wisdom of God’s Spirit.

Think of it this way:  A congregation can have a gifted preacher who delivers moving and powerful sermons that relate the teachings of Jesus to everyday situations and move people to want to be a part of the church.  But if John Dooley, with the gift of hospitality, who arrives early on Sunday morning to make the coffee and put out the donuts for fellowship time decides he can’t be bothered doing it any longer, something critical is lost in that congregation and the preacher’s message is diminished.   Bay Shore Church without donuts?  Why would you even bother coming?

I don’t imagine that anyone comes to this church for the first time and says, I came to sing in the choir, or I came to play handbells, or I came here to teach Sunday School, or I came because I think I’m qualified to be moderator.  Each of them may find the Spirit has gifted them with a certain ability, and then proceed forth to use it.  And considering who has sung here, or played handbells, or taught Sunday School, or served a term as moderator, what a waste it would have been if they had not utilized those God-given gifts.  And the same is true if the members with the gift of prayer don’t exercise that gift, or those with the other gifts say, “Not me.”

One pastor says that every time he baptizes an infant or a child, he is mightily aware of the necessity for the variety of gifts in his congregation.  The baptism ritual which you recited last Sunday includes a response from the congregation that you will work with the family to raise that child in the Christian faith.  However, unless the people of the congregation exercise their spiritual gifts, that’s an empty promise.

As the pastor, my role in the spiritual nurture of those children is always limited.  I can pray for them.  I can try to communicate some basics to them through simple children’s stories when they are young.  When they’re teenagers, I am involved in teaching them about the church and Christianity when they go through confirmation.  And there are a few other opportunities, such as serving as a counselor at church camp.

But aside from those brief contacts, spiritual nurturing will be done—or not done—by you, the church members.  Of course the parents should play a key role, but within the church, it will be the work of faithful nursery caregivers, Sunday School teachers, youth leaders, Vacation Bible School organizers, as well as individual members who praise the children when they perform in the spring musical or sing a solo at the Christmas Eve recital or achieve some small milestone in their lives—or perhaps even go and seek them when they have gone astray.

Is all of that obvious at the time of baptism?  Probably not.  But it’s precisely those non-obvious connections within the church that make it strong.

Last Sunday afternoon Rev. Susie and I witnessed an excellent example of that.  Squeezed between the meetings we both attended before and after worship, and before the confirmation class met that evening, we spent two hours in Downey at the ordination and installation of a new minister.  Annica Terrones, born in Sweden, went on a mission trip to Peru at age 19 while in college.  There she met her future husband.  Fast forward to the last decade, where both he and his brother arrive in Southern California and begin to do Latino ministry for the United Church of Christ.  Annica goes to seminary, and was ordained last Sunday to carry on Latino ministry at Downey Memorial Christian Church, a congregation which came to the realization that there was a transition going on in their community and, if they still wanted to be active and relevant, they had better address it.

The congregation at the ordination was extremely mixed:  clergy and laity from the United Church of Christ which was ordaining her, clergy and laity from the Disciples of Christ in whose church she was going to serve, the local Catholic priest and Presbyterian minister.  There were European Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Samoans, Swedes.  Annica’s parents from Sweden sang a duet in Swedish, which Annica translated on the spot.  Her husband speaks only Spanish, as does she, as fluently as she speaks English.  She translated the Spanish parts of the service for us, switching between languages as she says she does at home with their children, as well as singing herself.  The opening hymn, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, we sang three verses in English, one in Spanish and one in Swedish.

There was, for me, a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit activated there amongst all those people, inspiring each one with differing gifts—all of which serve to build up Christ’s church. 

It’s only natural to focus on our own gifts and contribution to the life of the church and the spreading of the good news.  But if we fail to appreciate all the other non-obvious relationships that combine to form a web, a matrix, that truly empowers the Christ Body, the church fails to reach its full potential.

God has given differing spiritual gifts to each of us, for the common good, Paul says.  Let us all use them to make that obvious.