(1 Cor 12:1-11)
1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and
sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you
were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3Therefore
I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says
"Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord"
except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but
the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same
Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same
God who activates all of them in everyone. 7 To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 To one is given
through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of
knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the
same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 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. 11 All these are activated by one and the
same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
Second Sunday after
the Epiphany
January 17, 2016
Title: Do It
Yourself Work or Spirit Work
Cross~Wind UMC
Introduction
The example I think of is the first Back
to the Future movie. When Marty goes back to the 1950s, among the first
things he sees is a car pull up to the gas station, and five people come out to
pump the gas, check the tires, wash the windshield, and collect the money.
Marty, who has only known self-service, offered a quizzical look. I could get a
little nostalgic about full service gas stations, especially on cold winter
days. We had a few of those in Minnesota! It was nice to pull up to the gas
pump and have someone else do it all. You simply rolled down the window, told
them what you wanted, and payed them. Today, of course, instead of all those
people serving us, we get out of the car, pump the gas, and if anything else
needs checking we do it.
Craig Lambert, Shadow Work: The
Unpaid, Unseen Jobs That Fill Your Day, is the person getting me to reflect
upon such matters. We are now checking ourselves out of the supermarket and
depositing/withdrawing at ATM machines or over the smart phone. We can go on
the Internet and solve many things that might have in the past concerned us,
taken up time, and cost money.
Many of the things to which Mr. Lambert refers save us time. Doing it
ourselves is also a way of making us feel empowered, when we are able to do
what we thought only others could do for us. In fact, I vaguely recall pulling
into a gas station when we had the option of a full service island or a
self-service island. I am not much for mechanical things, so it was a little
scary to me to do self-service, but saving the money was nice. At first, I had
to pause and give it much thought, making sure I pushed the buttons in the
right sequence.
However, the entire “do it yourself’ trend in our culture can lead to a
spiritual dark side.
For example, it may make us feel exhausted, as we disburse our energies
in so many different directions. We might think of the story of Martha in Luke
10:38-42. The busyness of the business of our culture can distract us. The
urgent and the trivial can so easily take over our time. We need to learn to
focus upon what is important and valuable. Asking that question leads into the
realm of spirituality and discipleship.
My primary concern is the isolation that can happen as we busily engage
doing it ourselves. As wonderful as the Internet can be, we cannot learn about
following Jesus by staring at a screen. We may become skilled in do it yourself
projects (I am not; my wife is), but discipleship is not something you do
simply on your own. Learning to follow Jesus was not a do it yourself project
for the first disciples, and it is not for us today.
Paul writes about the importance of the community in discipleship in I
Corinthians 12-14. I encourage you to spend some time in meditation and
reflection on these three chapters this week. Each of us is part of a single
body, with something to contribute to the whole and to receive from the whole. That
is why participation in worship and group life is so important. You contribute
to the spiritual growth of others; others contribute to your spiritual growth. We
need to see ourselves as the body of Christ in this world! Paul also wrote
about the diversity of spiritual gifts that derive from the same Spirit. We
need to strive for the greater gifts and choose the “more excellent way.” The
Spirit works in and through each part of the Body of Christ, bringing greater
identity with Christ and the maturing of our love. “Love never ends.” True,
faith, hope and love will abide, but the greatest of even these is love.
The most important “shadow work” we do may not be the do it yourself
variety at all. It may well be the shadow work of worshipping, learning, and
serving that nourish the things that matter in our lives. Doing it yourself is
fine, of course. Yet, we must not miss one of the most meaningful and
purposeful aspects of our lives. Life is not a do it yourself project. A large
part of our life project is recognizing our need for others instead of
insisting that we can do it ourselves.
Application
I hope you will join me in wanting this congregation to be a body of
people that helps people discover the unique place God has for them in this
world. Paul gives us some good hints as to how to do this. He will make it
clear that this is not a do it yourself project.
First, are we in touch with the true actions of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
We have some small groups that are starting a study of the Holy Spirit.
Paul is saying some important things about how the Son and the Spirit work
together in forming a church and in forming disciples. No one can say, “Jesus
is Lord,” except by the Spirit. Note the beautiful way in which the Trinity
works together here. The Spirit draws the attention of people to the Son. The
Spirit lifts up the Son.
That may sound easy. We may say, well of course, Jesus is Lord. Today,
some people think the Spirit offers new revelation or new truth that leads them
beyond Jesus. If you believe that, it puts you on the “liberal” side of the
theological equation. Others think that one of the primary actions of the
Spirit in our world today is to bring people into deeper fellowship with
Christ. Count me among that group.
You see, we live in a society that tempts us to serve idols. They are
not divine. They do not speak or hear. However, the danger is that we will
become like them. Have we, in some subtle ways, succumbed to the temptation?
Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday observance is tomorrow, once put
it in a sermon entitled “God is able” in 1956 (1962) the following way.
There
is so much frustration in the world because we have relied on gods rather than
God. We have genuflected before the god
of science only to find that it has given us the atomic bomb, producing fears
and anxieties that science can never mitigate.
We have worshipped the god of pleasure only to discover that thrills
play out and sensations are short-lived.
We have bowed before the god of money only to learn that there are such
things as love and friendship that money cannot buy and that in a world of
possible depressions, stock market crashes, and bad business investments, money
is a rather uncertain deity. These transitory
gods are not able to save or bring happiness to the human heart. Only God is able. It is faith in him that we must rediscover.
You can see our
idolatry in the emptiness, the loneliness, the boredom of materialism, or of
hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure. People hope to satisfy the aching of their
hearts, the longing of their souls, the sense of desire for something
fulfilling, by material gifts and things. They find eventually that it is
empty.
Have we succumbed to the temptation
to make something else lord?
Second, are we aware of the unity
we have with other members of the people of God in that there is one Spirit who works in us all?
God must love variety. We have such different histories, gifts, and
passions. We have a variety of struggles we have overcome. Sometimes, however,
these differences are difficult to take. Are we willing, in a prayerful way, to
take note of, listening in a discerning way, to the unique working of the
Spirit in the lives of others? Difference does not have to be annoying. Each of
us has a unique role to fill.
A portion of a poem goes like this:
I am only one; but I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But I can do something.
What I can do I ought to do;
And what I ought to do,
By the grace of God, I will do.
(C. Farrar, "I am
only one.")
Third, are we developing the
gifts that the Spirit has been working in us?
In verses 8-10, Paul happily enumerates the diversity of gifts present
and possible. Whether the gift is impressive in its public expression, or has a
quiet quality, the same Spirit inspires them.
I love to teach. By the grace of God, I will do it as long as I have
breath. Frankly, when I am in a groove, whether preparing for a sermon, Triple
S studies, or another project, I can lose myself in it. I am hardly aware of
the passage time. Suzanne will say to me sometimes, “Earth to George.” I want
to be faithful in this passion, the gift, which resides in me.
I have seen bishops bring their unique gifts to Indiana. Some I
appreciated more than I did others. I am sure the same is true for you and
pastors. It was such a pleasure on November 22nd to work with Pastor
Chip and Pastor Dan. I hope you can open your heart to every pastor and receive
the gift that pastor has to offer you.
I urge you to develop your gift.
Fourth, are we using those gifts for the common good?
Too often, we use them to advance our own cause. Paul observed this
happening in the Corinthian church, which is why he penned Chapter 13. We can
become so definite about what the church ought to do that we lose sight that it
may be our agenda rather than what God wants. Discerning together as the body
of Christ is not an easy thing. However, the purpose of our gifts is clear,
"To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." God does not intend the diversity that we see
here today to split apart this fellowship.
God intends your gift to build us up.
Conclusion
The danger is that all this focus in our culture on doing it yourself,
as empowering as it can be, can lead to a spiritual problem.
However, to make a move in our
growth as disciples of Jesus, we will need to recognize our need for each other
instead of insisting that we can do it ourselves. Let us not allow the quiet,
still voice of God go unnoticed.
Going deeper
Whereas the previous subjects concerned the status of married and
unmarried believers, virgins and food sacrificed to idols and other related
communal issues, Paul now begins a protracted section of his letter (viz.,
chapters 12-14) that considers spiritual gifts, particularly how they are to
function in the gathered community. Barth uses the passage to reflect upon the
general notion of balancing disciplined congregational prayer on the one hand
and free, hearty, and spontaneous prayer on the other. He sees Paul wrestling
with order and spontaneity in these chapters. He thinks the solution is for the
minister to prepare for “extemporary” prayer, with due attention to connecting
to the congregation, the historical connection to tradition, and to the need
for stability of form.[1]
I Corinthians 12:1-13 has the theme of the gifts of the Spirit.
(1 Cor 12:1-11)
1Now concerning [here is another issue mentioned by the
Corinthians in their correspondence with him] spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be
uninformed. [agnoein, referring to ignorance or disregarding] 2You know that when you were
pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. [His
concern is to wrench these believers out of their pagan religious culture. What
is the risk to them now as believers? What Paul says about idols is consistent
with similar Old Testament traditions. For example, Psalm 115:4-7 declares,
“Their idols are silver and gold, / the work of human hands. / They have
mouths, but do not speak; / eyes, but do not see. / They have ears, but do not
hear; / noses, but do not smell. / They have hands, but do not feel; / feet,
but do not walk; / they make no sound in their throats” (cf. Psalm 135:15-18). Nevertheless,
once again, one wonders, if idols are merely a convenient religious fiction, what
possible danger could they currently create for the Corinthians? Since no
definitive answer to that question is evident in these verses, some measured
speculation seems warranted. To that end, therefore, if Paul did have Psalm 115
in mind when he penned his words to the church at Corinth, we might find the
source of his distress in Psalm 115:8, which declares, “Those who make them are
like them; / so are all who trust in them.” In other words, because of their
previous allegiance “to idols that could not speak,” one of Paul’s concerns for
the Corinthians is that they might unwittingly become like their speechless
idols and thus conclude that their speech is, in final analysis, irrelevant. However,
how could they become like the dumb idols that they formerly served? While
someone might conceivably argue — based on a literal reading of Psalm 115 —
that the Corinthian believers might actually become speechless, such a
conclusion appears unlikely. On the contrary, the Corinthians rarely, if ever,
seemed to suffer under any sort of voiceless mandate. Indeed, their more common
problem was that they spoke too much and too often as Paul’s two examples in
verse 3 suggest (cf. chapter 14). In sum, Paul’s examples of conflicted
religious speech seem to confirm the supposition that the Corinthians were
prone to frequent and excessive speech. Paul's first comment in verse 2 starkly
reminds contemporary readers just how diverse and deeply pagan the environment
in which the early Christians lived and learned. Until quite recently, the
Corinthians had been participants in this pagan culture, worshiping human-made
idols.] 3Therefore I want you
to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let
Jesus be cursed!" (anathema)” [Paul insists they are not truly in the Spirit. The Spirit
does not tear up the historical roots of faith. The Spirit does not set out to
undermine the foundations of the institution, the church, the Bride of Christ, which
Jesus the Christ called into being. It may be hard to imagine just what
circumstances could lead the Corinthians to query Paul about the spiritual
pedigree of those who curse Jesus' name. Perhaps it is in part a reaction
against these worthless idols, constructed by human hands and out of human
ideals, that some group has arisen that "curses Jesus." If this is a
Gnostic offshoot, emphasizing the spiritual nature of the all-powerful risen
Lord, they may well have rejected any need for or recognition of the human side
of the man Jesus. In this state of self-delusion, the pagan adherent is liable
to say almost anything, even something that is blasphemous to a particular
pagan deity. To Paul, this is unimaginable for a Christian. Christians might
experience moments of spiritual power, and even speak in unintelligible tongues.
However, these experiences never carry believers away from their confessional
foundation or lead them astray from the community of the faithful. It would be
impossible for the Spirit to lead a believer to utter a curse on Jesus.] and no one can say "Jesus is Lord"
except by the Holy Spirit. [Those who have
genuinely become a bonded part of the Spirit-bred, Spirit-led community of
faith announce reverently "Jesus is Lord." Pannenberg points out that
we see Paul distinguishing members of the Trinity, writing of a distinction
between the risen Lord and the Holy Spirit.[2] In this
case, the Spirit shows his deity by teaching us to recognize and confess the
deity of another, that is, the Son.[3] In
context, one of the concerns is authentic spirituality, which Paul is
identifying as the common confession of Jesus as Lord. On the contrary, a
Christian ecstatic experience would ground believers in their faith, not set
them off on a flighty path. Christians in the Spirit would be
empowered to recognize and proclaim, "Jesus is Lord." Paul
wants to make crystal clear that the Christian experience of the Holy Spirit is
antithetical to the pagan understanding of episodic moments of ecstasy.
Apparently, many new Christians still believed that they could participate in
familiar but heathen religious rites without losing their connection to the
newly established Christian community. Paul argues that these rites are so
intensely personal that in effect they separate or disconnect the new believer
from the church. They stressed the diversity of the private experience at the
expense of the unity of the communal sharing of the spiritual gift. The
apostle's constant refrain is that spiritual gifts are for mutual edification,
something that cannot happen if everyone is doing his/her own thing without the
direction of the Spirit. In verse 13, the power of the Spirit through baptism
does away with the distinctions of race or social status by the power of the
Holy Spirit through baptism. Paul's use of the metaphor of the body makes this
plain (12:12-31), as does his insistence that love is the greatest gift of all
(chapter 13). Furthermore, in chapter 14 Paul argues that the gifts of prophecy
and tongues are only useful if the church, rather than the individual,
benefits. Therefore, those who are still worshiping the pagan deities are being
enticed and carried away in noisy, sensational self-delusion. The pagan gods
are powerless and voiceless (v.2). So, not only is the pagan experience an
individual one, it is also nonsense - there is nothing spiritual about it. By
means of these antithetical declarations, Paul makes the following point:
Whereas some speech is compatible with the Spirit, other speech is not. To
paraphrase, since you Corinthians are no longer pagans, and idols are lifeless and
cannot speak, when you speak by God’s Spirit — who is and gives life, and also
speaks — there are acceptable and nonacceptable forms of speech.]
[Barth, in a discussion of the ministry of the community, notes that
Paul makes emphatic use of the image of the body and its members. Throughout
this passage, he will address gifts, services, and workings of the one Spirit.
Paul affirms that the body is one, and that as such it has many members. The
one body lives in the plurality of its members. In addition, the many members
are one body. Therefore, the plurality have no right alone, but exist for all.
Yet, this image is something real for Paul, for the vision he has before him is
the body and members of the Head Jesus Christ. Paul is thinking of the one
ministry and witness of the one Son. He thinks of the fellowship that the
Father has in the Son with humanity.[4]]
Paul carefully addresses the still confusing fact that while there is
only one genuine Spirit, it manifested its presence in a variety of ways. This
diversity in unity is, in fact, the greatest strength, the unique
gift, of the Holy Spirit. Instead of forcing an unvarying unity of experience
on believers (as required by so many other first century cults), the
Spirit of God allowed for, indeed helped develop, the flowering of uniquely
individual expressions and experiences within the faith community. Barth, in a
discussion of freedom in limitation, will discuss these verses in the context
of vocation or calling. While the calling is from God, it concerns the
individual and is for the individual. Such a calling is not strange to the
individual. The balance here is between one Spirit and differences in the
distribution of the gifts.[5]
4Now there are varieties of
gifts (charisma), but the same Spirit; 5 and there
are varieties of services (or ministries, diakonia), but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of
activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
[The Spirit does not force an unvarying unity of experience on believers. Rather,
the Spirit develops the flowering of uniquely individual expressions and
experiences. Interestingly, Paul expresses his concern for unity by using
Trinitarian language with this reference to Lord, Spirit, and God. Such
statements by Paul will become the basis for the orthodox teaching regarding
the Trinity. Barth refers to this in his discussion unity in Trinity by saying
that one who prays to the Father, believes in the Son, and whom the Holy Spirit
moves, is a person whom the one Lord meets and unites to the Lord. The
presupposition and goal of the church in the development of the doctrine of the
Trinity is the unity of God. Activities have varieties, but the same God
energizes all of them in everyone.[6]] 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the
common good. [The gifts, services, and activities have the purpose of
mutual edification. His point is that benefitting individually is not enough.
The work of the Spirit is not simply for private use. The sign the Spirit is
working is that it connects with others and benefits others. The diversity of genuine spiritual gifts works toward unity
and harmony. The working of the Spirit will not disintegrate the bonds of faith
that hold together the community. Barth will stress that the work of the
Spirit is that of a community in a specific place. The gifts of the grace
granted to this community do have variety, but they all have one thing in
common that guarantees their co-operation and the unity of the church. The real
point is that they are all gifts of the same Spirit, who divides to every
individual severally as the Spirit will.[7]]
8 To one is given through the
Spirit the utterance of wisdom [perhaps
practical exhortation], and to another
the utterance of knowledge [perhaps exposition of Christian truth and an
intelligent grasp of the principles of the gospels guided by reason and led by
the Spirit] according to the same Spirit,
[These two gifts seem important because Paul mentions them first. They serve
the church in a practical manner. Preaching and teaching build up the
community.] 9 to another faith
by the same Spirit, [the confidence in God to do great or extraordinary
things. He means faith to move mountains, as said in 13:2.] to another gifts of healing by the one
Spirit, [the power to help those with sickness of mind and body, which, as
we now know, have a close interaction.] 10
to another the working of miracles, [mighty deeds, such as exorcism.] to another prophecy, [something like Old
Testament prophets who spoke as messengers of God. God inspired them to utter
the deep things of God for the conviction of sin, edification, comfort, and
sometimes predicting the future.] to
another the discernment of spirits, [an intuitive discernment of whether
the spirit of God inspires a person.] to
another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. [ecstatic
utterance and its interpretation.] 11
All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one
individually just as the Spirit chooses.
Paul spells out some of the diverse expressions the Spirit
can take in the lives of different believers. However, as Pannenberg points
out, the tasks are always changing with changing situations. Paul does not
claim the list fixes the number or types of gifts, but rather, stresses the
unity of the gifts in the midst of diversity. In fact, the intent of the
diversity is to serve the one body, and therefore unity.[8] Paul is
making the multiplicity of expressions of the Spirit a theme of theological
reflection in this entire passage. He did so in debate with some people in
Corinth who lifted up one experience of the Spirit as authentic. Paul opted for
no one form of authentic spirituality. He found justification for the multiple
expressions of the Spirit working and the mutual need to tolerate the way the
Spirit was at work. He stresses that the variety means that the Spirit does not
work equally in all. His concern was to see to it that the differences in gifts
did not occasion conflicts and schisms. Instead, all should recognize that the
same Spirit is at work in all these gifts, imparting the gifts as the Spirit
will, and that the proper concern for all with their different gifts should be
what contribution they could make to the upbuilding of the community. Thus, the
individual gifts of the Spirit supplement each other in the life of the church.
The only criterion of authentic spirituality is the relation to confession of
Christ, as he says in verse 3, and the relation to the one Lord means
commitment to the unity of Christians in the fellowship of the church by mutual
participation and love in the unity of the body of Christ. For him, these
thoughts on the theme of multiplicity and unity point the way for the church in
every age.[9]
As a metaphor of how
all this works, a body is one, but also has many members. The members of the
body are many, but are part of one body. Christ is the same way. His point is
that the aim of the Christian is the well-being of the whole body. Barth says
that one meaning of this description is that the existence of the church
involves a repetition of the Incarnation of the Word of God in the person of
Jesus Christ in that area of the rest of humanity that is distinct from the
person of Jesus Christ.[10] In a discussion of the
“being” of the community, Barth will stress that “body of Christ” stresses
Christ is a body. Christ is one in many. Jesus Christ is by nature body. Such a
statement is why Paul will stress the necessity of unity and plurality in the
community. The gifts, services, and workings have a bodily nature that
recognizes the order and freedom needed within the community. The resurrection
of Jesus is what allows Paul to tell the Corinthians they are the body of
Christ in verse 27. The body of Christ as seen in the community points like an
arrow to the unity of humanity in Christ. The exclusiveness of referring to
church as the body of Christ is relative, provisional, and teleological. He
will stress that the community is the body of Christ in the election of Jesus
Christ from eternity. It became the body of Christ and individuals members of
it due to their election in the death of Christ on the cross and proclaimed in
his resurrection from the dead. The work of the Holy Spirit is to realize
subjectively the election of Jesus Christ and to reveal and bring it to
humanity. The Holy Spirit awakens the poor praise on earth.[11] Pannenberg
finds a kind of representation in a broader sense in any social group in which
individual members have special functions that both single them out and enable
them to contribute to the unit as a whole and to the other members, this
passage being an example. In a working society, the different members do
particular jobs for others, and all the members relate reciprocally to each
other. They are “for” each other and must act in solidarity in this sense.[12] As Paul
continues, in the one Spirit, we were baptized into one body, whether,
in dissolving race and class distinctions, Jew or Greek, slave or free, and we
all drink (could refer to baptism or even the Lord’s Supper) of one Spirit.
Pannenberg will stress that the Spirit is the means
through which the reconciling work of Father and Son find completion. For Paul,
the fellowship of Christians with God and each other rests on their
participation in the one Jesus Christ to whom each of them is related by faith
and baptism.[13] By the Spirit we are
baptized through the one Spirit and immediately we drink of the one Spirit.[14] Here,
he says, Paul describes as a work of the Spirit the incorporating of believers
into the one body of Christ by baptism, by which they also receive sonship.[15] The
Holy Spirit binds believers together in the fellowship of the body of Christ
and thus constitutes the church, as the Spirit is present as its lasting gift.[16] Baptism
incorporates individuals into the body of Christ and thus relates them to the
unity of the body. Baptism establishes the identity of individual Christians
and integrates them with their separate individual qualities into the
fellowship of the church.[17] As
such, the church becomes a provisional sign of the eschatological fellowship of
a renewed humanity in the kingdom of God.[18] He also
sees here that the redemptive work of the Spirit is present in individuals and
society. Individuals receive the gift of the Spirit in baptism, but the gift is
not in isolation. It binds them to fellowship with each other. All of this
points us toward the goal of the work of the Spirit, renewing individual life
and corporate life.[19]
[1]
CD, III.4 [53.3] 114-5.
[2]
Systematic Theology Volume 1, 269.
[3]
Systematic Theology Volume 1, 321.
[4]
CD IV.3 [72.4] 856-9.
[5]
CD, III.4 [56.2] 603.
[6]
CD, I.1 [9] 348-9.
[7]
CD, IV.2 [64.4] 321.
[8]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 372.
[9]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 18.
[10]
CD I.2 [16.1] 215.
[11]
CD IV.1 [ 62.2] 662-8.
[12]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 419.
[13]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 15.
[14]
Systematic Theology Volume 2, 451.
[15]
Systematic Theology Volume 3, 16.
[16]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
3, 134.
[17]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume
3, 459.
[18]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
3, 478.
[19]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
3, 552.
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