1 Co 12:1-11
14 January 2001
"For the Common Good"
Today's epistle reading is the first of three in a row that deals with a subject as divisive today as it was almost 2000 years ago: gifts of the Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul, in writing to the Corinthian church, takes the time to respond to questions that have been put to him. Several times he says, "now concerning." In chapter 7, it's concerning marital issues. In chapter 8, it’s concerning food offered to idols. And in chapters 12 to 14, it’s concerning the thorny matter of spiritual gifts.
I feel weird having to use words like "divisive" and "thorny matter" when talking about the gifts of the Spirit, something that should bring us together in love. But then, we argue about a lot of things that should bring us together in love, so what are you going to do? I guess that’s why Paul adds to his statement, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters,” the comment “I do not want you to be uninformed.”
It's probably inevitable that there will be disagreements among us poor, flawed humans over such vital and intimate matters as how God relates to us through the Spirit. It's especially difficult when we try to put into words something that almost defies explanation. The church of today doesn't have a much better grip on this than did the church of Corinth in Paul's time.
It doesn't really take in-depth analysis, as we read through Paul's letter, to see just how much unrest there is among the Corinthians. They’re arguing about almost everything: which faction has the best leader, sexual practices, believers taking each other to court, behavior during the Lord's Supper, not to mention the questions I've already talked about. Confusion reigns.
One of the most basic questions Paul addresses is this: exactly who has the gifts of the Spirit? Considering the confusion in the church, the way Paul begins the chapter seems appropriate. He follows his "now concerning" with the word pneumatikwn (pneumatikōn), literally, "spirituals" (v. 1). And he's not talking about "Kumbayah" or "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"! While some understand "spirituals" to mean "spiritual persons," most translations go with "spiritual gifts."
And that flows right along with Paul's message. He reminds his Gentile audience of their past lives, worshipping idols that couldn't speak. Now these young Christians are speaking all kinds of things. Many of them are competing to see just who is the most spiritual. The apostle warns them: what matters isn't who makes the most noise or who makes the biggest splash, but what is actually said. Just because someone is spiritual doesn't necessarily mean that the inspiration is from the Holy Spirit!
Another basic, but related, question Paul tackles is this: what are the gifts of the Holy Spirit, anyway? The apostle resists the temptation to issue a narrowly-defined list. In fact, the list in today's reading is but one of several he mentions. Other inventories of spiritual gifts appear later in chapter 12, in verse 28 and in verses 29 and 30. On other occasions, when writing to the Romans (12:6-8) and to the Ephesians (4:11), Paul gives additional items in that category.
This is a question we haven't left behind. We especially see it when we compare members of different types of churches. Not that there are just two kinds (I know that there are many more than that!), but on the one hand, we have the Pentecostal / charismatic churches, and on the other hand, the mainline churches. The Pentecostals and charismatics tend to focus on the more spectacular gifts, mentioned in our reading in 1 Corinthians, such as healing, prophecy, and speaking in tongues. The mainliners usually emphasize the ideas in Romans and Ephesians, like teaching, generosity, and compassion. Of course, these are obvious generalizations; you can find people in almost any church who go one way or another, as well as those who affirm that all of them are of equal value.
Still, it's no coincidence that we tend to denigrate that which is different from us. Pentecostals have been called "holy rollers," and Presbyterians have earned the nickname, "the frozen chosen." Almost all of us laugh at those names now, but they weren't intended as compliments. I'm especially aware of all this, since I've been part of both traditions. In my own life, I've had to bridge the gap between two different, and sometimes…antagonistic, church environments. I'm sure the same is true for many of you.
Like the Corinthian believers, we label each other because we figure that our gift or our piece of truth is better than what others have. Or maybe, it just makes more sense! "Hey, I can be reasoned with. I'm not weird like those other people; thank you very much!" In next week's epistle reading, which compares the church to the parts of the body, Paul goes into all of this in a deeper way.
But for now, his way of bringing everyone to their senses is to let them know that, yes, there are varieties of gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. And it's true that there are different ways of serving, but we're all serving the same Lord. And while there are various kinds of empowerment, it's the same God who activates these in all of us. It's not only okay that we differ from each other, but that's how it was meant to be.
If you notice, the apostle couches his explanation in words that recall the Holy Trinity. This is no accident. The believers of Corinth need to be brought back to their foundation, to their center. Their focus shouldn't be on the gift and on themselves; it should be on the Giver and on everyone around them. This is the antidote to the disease of hyper-individualism. In the Trinity, we see the perfect community of love.
As he says in verse 7, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." For the common good. There's no place for grandstanding, for showing off, just as there's no place for cutting others down.
To do so would be to ignore the fact that we're talking about gifts for the common good. The first part of that phrase is "gifts." Gifts, by definition, are not things we earn. They aren't payment or compensation. We don't work for them, and very often, we don't even deserve them. For firsthand testimony, question Banu about the gifts she has given me!
The second part of the phrase is "for the common good." How's that for a crazy idea? Paul gives the Christians in Corinth something to ponder: we're to use what we've been given to help each other! But if everyone does that, how will we know who's the most spiritual?
Verse 11 helps put things in perspective: "All these [gifts] are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses." Just as the Spirit chooses. In other words, this is God's call.
Today, we’ll be ordaining and installing elders and deacons. They, too, are gifts of the Holy Spirit, drawing from the idea in Ephesians 4:11, which describes various church positions as “gifts he gave.” Unlike the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, we Protestants don’t consider ordination to be a sacrament. Still, unlike many Protestants, we Presbyterians do ordain our elders and deacons. This reflects Paul’s statement in Romans 11 that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (v. 29). Once an elder or deacon, always an elder or deacon.
The language of today’s epistle reading finds its way into our ordination and installation service. You won’t need to listen long for it—it’s right at the beginning. That sets the tone for what we’re doing—or more precisely, what the Spirit is doing through and among us.
You see¼ultimately, we all are gifts to each other. Have you ever thought of someone as a gift? Have you ever told someone that he or she is a gift? It’s easy to do that when people are loving and pleasant. But sometimes you wonder if you can return the gift for a refund! That nasty fellow—who cuts you off in traffic and lets you know that he thinks you’re number one¼though not with his index finger—he is a gift. Your neighbor—who lets her dog stay outside while you’re trying to sleep, a dog that barks and barks and barks—that neighbor is a gift. And believe it or not, everyone in this sanctuary is a gift to you.
The point is: we need each other, and by the way, this is a segue to next week! Even when we do things that drive each other nuts, the reality is that we've been given to each other. As we seek the transformation that is the gift of the Holy Spirit (another preview of next week), we become gifts to each other that are worth having. No waiting in line at the return counter!
In the Spirit of God, living for the common good and for our own good are one and the same thing. However this isn’t something that we achieve by cultivating a loving, pleasant attitude. In order to understand and live the life of the Spirit, we must seek God, and we do that partly by spending time reading the Bible. Without reading, studying, and breathing the scripture—without the scripture correcting, teaching, and transforming our beings, we will never be able to discover the true joy of practicing our gifts. Without discovering the life-giving power of the scripture, we might be nice to each other, but we won’t learn to accept each other as gifts.