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Diverse Gifts and Abilities!

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“Diverse Gifts and Abilities!”

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (12:10) – January 19, 2025

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God created everything on the face of the earth. Just think of the myriads of different kinds of plants, animals, climates, languages, cultures. God made it all, and God rejoices in the countless variations and differences. What a diversity in creation! We can be amazed over and over, at the ever-renewable wonders of God’s creation, whether we look at a flower in a vase, through a microscope at a microbe, or at the photographs sent from the landing craft now exploring on the planet Mars.

When we consider our reading for today, we can also see that God made different kinds of spiritual gifts, as well. God’s plan is for human beings to live together, with one another, in community. The main purpose for these diverse gifts is for the common good. God wants us to use our gifts for one another. What an awesome opportunity! Here, God freely and openly gives us gifts—spiritual gifts—to serve one another.

Now, let’s back up. The Apostle Paul cites Jesus Christ as a starting point at the beginning of Chapter 12. He states the authority of Jesus, and even makes the statement “Jesus is Lord” a sort of litmus test for being a follower of Jesus Christ. After all, no one who is a pagan can say “Jesus is Lord” and really mean it (at least in Paul’s day, that was true). But there is a problem. The problem is us human beings.

We are fallen people. We sin. In and of ourselves, we have no standing, and are not righteous before God. As Romans 3:23 reminds us, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” But the Holy Spirit gives us a big assist here! The Holy Spirit helps us to say the words “Jesus is Lord!” It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we exercise these gifts that God so graciously gives to us!

Let’s look at what Paul says about these spiritual gifts. There are many kinds of gifts! Yet, there is one Lord. There are diverse abilities! Yet, one Spirit. I see a definite connection here. It’s all about God, and God’s immense creativity. Just as God created the world in all of its glory, beauty and diversity, so too the Lord created people in all their wonderful diversity, with diverse gifts and abilities for us to share with one another.

I started out quoting Genesis 1:1–”in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Looking back at Genesis, we can see that diversity is definitely in God’s plan for humanity from the very beginning. The sheer creativity of God in creation is so big and so varied. Musically speaking, there are countless variations on a countless number of themes. The only way I can figure this out is that God is pleased when we use our God-given creativity in any one of a myriad of ways—inventing, designing, doing, helping, making, thinking, crafting, composing, giving. And when we use our God-given gifts and abilities, it plain feels good inside.

When we look at this chapter in 1 Corinthians, Paul stresses that the church—the group of believers in Christ he was writing to–in all of its diversity, is a community. A great, big extended family, if that helps you think about it. I know that can remind us of the whole topic of the families each of us were born into–and some people don’t want to go there–with in-laws, out-laws, black sheep, and all the rest. But biblically speaking, this is God’s family.

This reminds me of my birth family, my family of origin. I am one of six sisters and brothers. The six of us are about as diverse as anyone would want to see. Across the political spectrum, in terms of talents, abilities, interests and activities, the six of us are so different from each other. Yet, we came from the same parents, and grew up in the same household. Even within my own family, there is such a rich diversity.

With God as our Heavenly Parent, we as believers in Jesus Christ are all sisters and brothers of one another. Why? Because God’s Word says so. Paul says, several verses down in this same chapter, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greek, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

There are different services, and different activities, yet there is one Holy Spirit over all, energizing all. And this is a corollary benefit: whatever happens, whenever people use their God-given gifts and abilities, God receives praise and honor!

Tomorrow, we observe a federal holiday, where we remember and give thanks for Martin Luther King Jr. His stirring words helped to move this nation toward justice, empathy and equity. His witness called forth the best of all of us.

Sadly, in recent years, we have seen the increasing rise of hatred, separation one from another, and white supremacy. We need to go forward towards those loving, caring and equitable ideas that Martin spoke of. We have been given these gifts to show the whole world that God means for all of us to serve one another, no matter who they are, no matter where they may be.

God can break through insular, tribal loyalties! God can and does knit all of us together as one humanity, one great big extended family. Plus, tomorrow as a Day of Service is not simply a day on the calendar, but it is a day on which all of us can serve and work, pray and hope, struggle and strive to – as Martin said – bend the arc of history closer to justice, and be shaped into the people of God that God’s prophets call all of us to be. Each day. Every day.

So, we can praise God that we have been graciously given these gifts and abilities to use, for each person we meet.  What an awesome opportunity! Here, God freely and openly gives us gifts—spiritual gifts—to serve one another, for the common good. How can you take that opportunity, and use these gifts for one another’s benefit, and continue to build the Beloved Community we are told of repeatedly in the Bible? Not just tomorrow, on the MLK Day of Service, but every day? How can you best serve God’s worldwide family? How can I?

God willing, we can and we will. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

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Servant? Leader? Both!

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“Servant? Leader? Both!”

Mark 10-45 Son of Man came to serve

Mark 10:35-45 (10:43) – October 21, 2018

Almost everyone is familiar with slogans and jingles. I could say, “You deserve a break today, so get up and get away to…”  What about “I am stuck on Band Aids, ‘cause Band Aid’s stuck on me.” Or, “It’s the most original soft drink ever in the whole wide world—Dr Pepper.” When I mention these jingles, you can almost see the product right in front of you. That is how vivid the slogan or jingle from Madison Avenue is. This advertising hook is planted deeply in many people’s brains and memories.

I am not going to mention any political party in this sermon, but currently, one political party today uses a slogan that bring images to many people’s minds today. (Either strongly positive, or strongly negative.) It is “Make America Great Again.” Again, a lot of people have vivid, strong ideas or thoughts about this slogan. Similar to the advertising jingles I just mentioned, “Make America Great Again” strikes deep in people’s brains and memories.

Greatness. What is greatness? Who is the greatest? That’s the argument among the disciples in the Gospel reading for today. I suspect that argument resonated deeply in their hearts and minds, too. The disciples all had a basic idea in their heads of what “the greatest” was supposed to look like, act like, speak like, and be like.

Our reading is from Mark 10, just a few verses before the beginning of chapter 11, where Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday for the final week of His life. This is the very end of Rabbi Jesus’s three-year ministry. His disciples had been with Him, and learned from Him for three whole years. And, still, after all this time, the disciples are still bickering over who is going to be “the greatest” among them. How clueless, how thick can they possibly be?

James and John, two of the disciples closest to Jesus, have the presumption to march right up to their Rabbi and ask Him something outrageous, straight out. In the Gospel of Matthew, same question, except Matthew softens it a little by having the mother of James and John ask.

The question? “We want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” Talk about a self-centered and self-serving request! But, don’t we say almost the same thing to God, sometimes? Some of us might be looking in the mirror when we look closely at this reading.

“In our modern world in this twenty-first century, we still repeat the identical demand to God: ‘Lord God, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’ And then we ask God for our own way, what we want, e.g. healing for ourselves, our loved ones, a good job, a good spouse, a good house, a miracle of some sort, a special blessing, a way ‘out of a jam.’” [1] (In other words, some say prayers to a vending-machine-in-the-sky-God, or foxhole prayers said when things look really black, and there is no hope left.)

James and John wanted to be great! Whatever “great” meant to them. Oh, we know what “great” means to many people. Lots of power and control! Lots of people running, fetching, carrying for you! Being “great” meant lording it over everyone else, over all the little people. After all, James and John had a pretty good idea that their Rabbi was soon going to be proclaimed the Messiah. After all, hadn’t He told them so? Hadn’t Jesus been displaying the signs and miracles of His Messiahship for the past three years? Wasn’t that why Jesus was going to Jerusalem? As Messiah, they thought Jesus would become an earthly King. So, He would need right-hand guys to be His lieutenants. They figured they were those guys.

What is the matter? This picture does not jive with Jesus, that’s what.

Everyone else was pinning their hopes on Jesus, hoping that He would overthrow the Roman armies of occupation and restore the earthly kingdom of Israel. Then, everything would be hunky-dory, as far as the Jewish people were concerned. However, Jesus had no desire to become an earthly king, with an earthly kingdom, like King David.

People just did not understand. Not even when Jesus explained to the disciples that they needed to become completely of no account, like children, they still did not have any idea of what Jesus was talking about.

What is the overarching disconnect and problem here? “Power has been the perennial problem in human history. The reality of power is complex; its use and misuse in all human, social and political relations and interactions has been a question of utmost importance for all peoples.” [2]

Here, in this 10th chapter of Mark, Jesus clearly outlined His path and direction several times. Then, how did James and John get so mixed up, so close to the end of Jesus’s ministry? When people get focused on the wrong direction, they can end up in a very different place from where they started.

Listen again to Jesus’s words: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”  I’d like everyone to notice: Jesus calls His friends to serve others. That is how they are to lead.

Jesus does not slam ambition and striving. Jesus does not call us to be Godly doormats, or worms under other people’s feet. He did not mean for us to be so heavenly-minded that we are of no earthly good or of no earthly use to others. In this passage, Jesus redirects our efforts of leadership. Our servant Savior teaches that true success requires a servant heart, and a servant practice.

Can you think of humble, thoughtful people who were chosen to lead, rather than those who proudly grasped for power?  Lording it over the people they lead? I can think of several who are particularly proud, high and mighty, looking down their noses at the “little people.”

Remember, Jesus said of His friends, “Can they drink the same “cup” of suffering and death he must drink, a cup that he himself will later ask be removed if possible? (14:36) Can they be baptized with the same baptism Jesus is to endure?” [3] Challenging words of Jesus, indeed.

Again, would we accuse Jesus of seeking for authority, status, honor, glory, or power? I think not. As followers of Christ, He modeled for us the style of leadership He wants us to use. We need to serve each other in love, not rule with a rod of iron or blunt force.

In Jesus’s day, all roads were dirt roads. People wore sandals. Whenever they went anywhere, people arrived with dirty feet. A household servant would show hospitality by washing guests’ feet. When Jesus and His friends were having dinner, there was no servant available to wash anyone’s feet. I leave us all with the vivid image of the Rabbi Jesus with a towel and basin. He’s a loving servant in the Upper Room at that Passover Seder, washing feet.

What kind of leader would Jesus want? Someone who is brash, proud, high and mighty, lording it over others? Or, someone who is humble, helpful, ready to pitch in, even available to wash other people’s feet? What kind of leader is Jesus? What kind of Christian are you?

Challenging words, indeed.

[1] http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_b_having_the_hearts_and_hands_of_a_servant_GA.htm

“Having the Heart and Hands of a Servant,” Gospel Analysis, Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.

[2] “Minjung and Power: A Biblical and Theological Perspective on Doularchy (Servanthood),” Kim Yong-Bock, at Religion OnLine.

[3] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2641

Commentary, Mark 10:35-45, Mark G. Vitalis Hoffman, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2015.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2018: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog,  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!