Not For Profit

NOT FOR PROFIT

I CORINTHIANS 12:1-11

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Many times I have heard people refer to Jesus as the founder of the Christian church. This is not correct. Jesus never intended to form a new religion; he was born a Jew and died a Jew. He taught within his own faith tradition and never left it. Jesus offered a strong critique of how his religion was controlled by its power structure. In this way, he was like Martin Luther who was a reformer from within. The church began more as splinter synagogues or house-meetings under the Jewish umbrella. But some of them were also new church starts in pagan territories with no commonly held Jewish tradition to ground them. These communities were often the result of the Apostle Paul's missionary work.

If you want to credit an individual with founding the church, I think it would have to be Paul. He's the one who took those fledgling splinter groups and new starts and tried to form them into a cohesive unit. It was not an easy job. Take the church in the Greek town of Corinth-a chaotic church in a wild outpost. Corinth was the Las Vegas of its time. A port town, it had been rebuilt after having been destroyed in a war and it had become a magnet for people all over the ancient world.

These people brought their own religions with them; Corinth had more than two dozen temples to various gods. It was an active trade center-a lot of wealth changed hands there. And Corinth had a reputation as a kind of sin city.

Now in the midst of this town, a new Christian congregation is struggling to find it's identity and sustain its life. A few of them are rich; most are poor. Some of them have ecstatic experiences as they are praying, others practice a more sedate form of worship. Some are conservative about worship and want the old hymns exclusively; others are putting together a praise band and singing hymns with a rock and roll beat. They are beginning to growl at each other; their worship is splitting into factions and so is their church. What to do? What would you say? (I am grateful to Rev. Jim Eaton of the First Congregational Church of Owosso, MI for this description of Corinth and its church.)

Here's a portion of several of the letters Paul sent to this feisty church in an effort to promote some kind of unity of purpose.

I CORINTHIANS 12:1-11 (selections)

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ... 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.

To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

We might think of Biblical churches as being models for us. But like the rest of the folks in the Bible, they are not paragons at all. In fact, they are quite are imperfect. The churches in Paul's time had the same questions we do. What is faithful worship? What pleases God? How much do we accommodate to the world in order to be relevant? How much do we stand apart as social critics? There was no common answer to those questions then and there still isn't. But one thing was clear, the church was supposed to be unlike other gatherings and institutions. It was to be inclusive, respectful of all its members, and like Christ in its caring and healing ministries. And to value no give above another. A little like this story.

FOR THE COMMON GOOD

In the days before electric organs, a talented organist gave a very magnificent concert, bringing forth from the instrument all its glorious, thunderous tones. After people finished congratulating him, the little boy who had worked with all his might pumping at the bellows remarked, "We did pretty well, don't you think?"

The organist scornfully replied, "We? And what did you do?"

A month later, during another concert, the organist came to a stormy passage that required all the wind of which the bellows were capable. Suddenly the organ began to fade away.

The organist signaled for more wind. Instead, the boy pulled aside the curtain and said, "Well, is it I or is it we?"

I think this is one of the basics of Paul's teaching about gifts, whoever you are, whatever you are good at, you are just one piece in this big enterprise called the congregation. You may have an enormous talent, but you exercise it on the behalf of the community. The key to this passage is the phrase: "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good."

I have to say, the United Church of Christ, as a denomination, is structured to follow this principle naturally. Its pastors are just one vote among many. Its leaders are called forth from the congregation. There is no ordained hierarchy. But that doesn't mean we aren't prone to the same sins First Church of Corinth exhibited. Society hasn't changed much in 2000 years; we're still awed by great wealth, we still tend to attribute a higher value and more power to people who are already powerful, educated, and imposing in their speech.

We still are likely to be a bit intimidated by people who are more pious or more deeply prayerful than we are, we still disdain at the ones who don't seem to make as strong a commitment as we do.

Paul says, "Enough of that! It's not about you!"

To me, there are 3 important teachings in this passage.

1. EVERY GIFT IS VALUABLE - DON'T JUDGE ONE ANOTHER

First, he is counteracting a spirit of judgment among the Corinthian Christians. They tended to create a hierarchy of talents, valuing some over others. And doesn't this then lend itself to a hierarchy of people? That is so not the way of Christ. Every person is cherished -no matter their economic status, education, gift ... well, read the Pilgrim welcome statement. We tried to say it and we try to live it. But do we? We like to applaud David when he plays his typical virtuoso postludes. But let's give a hand to Waldo who vacuums our rugs in the middle of the night and to the anonymous person who notices when kitchenette has gotten cluttered and grubby and swoops in to clean it, or to the Council when they spend Sundays after communion cleaning all those teeny glasses. We celebrate accomplishments on a Sunday morning but what about celebrating a quiet, honest life that never even gets noticed. Paul would say every cog in this precious wheel is important.

2. WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING TO CONTRIBUTE - HONOR YOUR TALKENT AND USE IT

Second, he assures us that we all have something to contribute. The list in the passage I read is only a partial one. Other gifts are specified in other letters. It is offensive to the Creator of this wonderful machine if I set myself up as better than another. But it is also a mistake to denigrate my own gifts or fail to recognize what I have to offer.

Olive Tiffany recognized her gift. I once served a church as Minister of Education and we had Bible Sunday there just as we have here. But it was a big church and we gave out dozens of Bibles. Olive was a calligrapher and she carefully lettered bookplates for every single one of those Bibles, every single year. They were gorgeous. But she grew old and her hand trembled. And the bookplates ceased to look crisp and beautiful. The letters were shaky and sometimes a word was misspelled. I was a little embarrassed by these rugged looking plates and tried to find a way to pass the bookplate duty on to someone else. But Olive's gift was calligraphy and it gave her such pleasure to do them. Finally, I realized that I was the one with the problem. There was something quite wonderful about the bookplates that Olive lettered so lovingly. There was something special about this old woman who knew her gift and intended to use it for the glory of God. I began telling the children that if they got a Bible with one of Olive's shaky bookplates, they should cherish it because it was a sign of someone who gave of herself for them and never wanted to stop.

3. USE YOUR GIFTS FOR THE COMMON GOOD

Third, all of these abilities, talents, gifts, personality traits are not something to be boasted about or used to glorify ourselves, but for the "common good." That's where my sermon title comes from. We're to give of ourselves not for our own profit, but to create a better world and a more loving community. That's a very big distinction from the society in which gifted people use their talents to accrue fame and large sums of money.

It's not the pastor or the intern or the ministers of music and education who are the church. It is the whole community spending themselves for the common good.

I know I feel a little pang when I hear about the folks who are going off to New Orleans on a mission trip and I'm not; or about Tom and Emily and their ministry to Honduras. I know I feel a little inadequate when I compare myself to the people in our care-group who are so self-giving and faithful in their care for others and their outreach to them. I'm amazed at the amount of volunteer hours put in by our some of our church officers and volunteers. Do you have that tendency to compare yourself too?

But I try to realize that I have my own gifts: to appreciate what God has given me, and to take delight in them, not hide them under a bushel and to not feel I have to be like somebody else. I'm supposed to be me and to use my own abilities for the common good. One interpreter said that the word "gift" in Paul's writing might better be translated "assignment." It's the mission God has assigned to you.

Everybody's gift counts. I wrote this in my annual report because I've been thinking about how much we need this wide range of personality and talent which makes our church a diverse and welcoming place. I looked out on the congregation and here's what I saw. You will find your place among this company-in this cloud of witnesses who make up our beloved community. And we so need you to be there. Here are just a few of your gifts.

THE GIFTS I SEE AT PILGRIM

Singing. Giving food. Praying. Greeting people in a friendly way. Making phone calls. Giving help. Asking for help. Clearing brush. Cooking. Teaching Sunday school. Going to Sunday school. Making coffee. Giving money. Asking questions. Confronting racism and homophobia. Saying, "How are things going?" and really meaning it. Being a skeptic. Encouraging others. Helping to civilize our children. Organizing things and people. Making Art. Serving communion. Receiving communion. Putting your body in the pew every Sunday.

Friends, these are just some of your gifts, given by the Spirit for the common good. Thank you for using them on behalf of this beloved community.

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