One and the Same Spirit
1 Corinthians 12:3-13[1]
When you take a good look at the many different ways in which Christians
practice their faith, you may wonder what all of them have in common. There are
so many different approaches to living out the Christian faith. You don’t have
to go any farther than Lincoln to see that. Some are traditional, some are
definitely not. Some are conservative, some are middle of the road, and some
are very liberal. Some don’t even have the word “church” on their sign! And
many have removed any identification with a denomination like “Presbyterian” or
“Methodist” or “Baptist” altogether from their name.
When you go beyond the confines of our culture, it can be even more
challenging. As we look at the diversity in the Body of Christ around the world,
it can leave us wondering whether there is anything that unites them in any
meaningful way. Of course, some churches don’t want to be united with those who
do things differently. They think “difference” means “heresy.” However, I would say that while the way
believers worship and their understanding of the faith differs from one culture
to another, there is a common thread of faith in all of them. I’ve worshipped
with churches in Germany, Romania, Switzerland, Nicaragua, The Philippines, and
Cameroon. Wherever people are able to comprehend a larger body of Christ, I
have felt right at home.
I think one of the most important reasons why this has been true is
because the Spirit of God is working in their midst. That’s part of what St.
Paul has to say in our New Testament lesson for today. He says, “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” (1 Cor. 12:4-6). I think Paul makes
it clear that different approaches to the faith are to be expected. These are
the “varieties” he speaks of. Not everyone in every church everywhere is going
to do everything exactly the same way. That’s not a problem, it’s a sign of
health and vitality in the church!
Throughout his letters, the Apostle attributes all life in the church to
the Spirit of God. When the church thrives, it is because the Spirit of God is
working among us. When the church comes together in a way that unites believers
from across cultural, political, national, and ethnic boundary lines, it is the
work of the Spirit of God. When the members of a congregation like this one
share in the serving one another and the world around us, it is because the
Spirit of God has enabled us to do so. For St. Paul, every aspect of the
church’s life and ministry comes from the Spirit of God.
The surprising element in all of this is the fact that God has chosen to
accomplish this work through people like you and me. And to do this, he gives
us the “gifts of the Spirit,” which St. Paul says are given to each person “for
the common good” (1 Cor. 12:7). In other words, every single person has some
“gift” from the Spirit that is to be used for the benefit of the whole church. What
that means is that for the church to thrive all the members of the body have to
share the gifts they have been given. We may have a variety of gifts, but all
of them come from the same Spirit and are meant to build up the body of Christ.
I think one major mistake people make when they look at the “gifts of
the Spirit” is that they try to see where they fit into the lists of gifts
mentioned in the Bible. But I don’t believe St. Paul ever intended for the
lists of gifts he mentioned to be taken as the only possibilities. They are
examples of the ways that the Spirit of God was working through people in the
churches of his day. To be sure, some of those gifts are timeless. There will
always be a need for teaching. There will always be room for generosity. There
will always be a place for leadership. But I would say that your “spiritual
gift” may not even be in any of the biblical lists. That may make it a little
harder to discern how you fit into the body of Christ, but it also gives you
the freedom to be the person God made you to be.
When I look at the way we approach our life together, I’m afraid many
may consider this “spiritual” model for the success of the enterprise we call
“Church” too ambiguous. We’re much more
comfortable with clearly laid out plans, exhaustive manuals of operations, and sound
policies and procedures. As valuable as policies and procedures can be, they
are not what gives life to the church of Jesus Christ! What gives life to the
church is when we all put our “gifts of the Spirit” to work for “the common
good” and “with the strength that God supplies” (1 Pet 4:11).
I think this is one of the lessons that the church has had to learn and
re-learn over and over throughout the ages.
We can accomplish nothing of lasting value if we try to do it in our own
strength, by our own talent, through our own wisdom. It is only as we carry out
our service through the empowering presence of the Spirit that we can hope to truly
build up the body of Christ and offer our service to the world around us. I think if every individual in every church
across this county took seriously the call to serve the body of Christ in this
way, we would be astonished at the transformation that would result. To be
sure, I believe it would look very different from anything we might imagine.
And I’m also quite sure there would be far more diversity that we might like.
But as we recognize the work of the Spirit in people putting their gifts into
practice for the benefit of the church in wondrously varied ways, we will see
that it is all the work of one and the same Spirit.
[1]
©2017 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 6/4/2017 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
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