1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 * June 13-14, 2009 * Pentecost 2 * Sr. Vicar Gawel

From Many, One

1) Many different gifts

2) United in Christ as one body

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

I want you to think for a minute about kids and their toys. If two or three kids are in a room together and you give them some toys to play with, it’s usually inevitable that whatever toy you give to one child, that’s never the toy he wants to play with. He always wants the toy that the other kid has – no matter what it is. He may already have the coolest, most awesome toy there ever was – like the newest action figure – and the other kid may only have something plain and simple like a wooden block… But no matter what it is, one child always seems to want what the other child has.

As we look at our own lives, in the context of our reading from 1 Corinthians, we see that we can often be pretty similar to children when it comes to the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to us. Do you ever get jealous of a brother or sister in the church whom you think is more gifted than you? – whom you think is better than you in some manner of Christian service? Perhaps when you see a brother or sister who seems to be so richly blessed with spiritual gifts, you may begin to devalue your own gifts – you may begin to wonder if you even have any gift at all that is useful for the fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ.

Or, on the other hand, maybe you are tempted to take pride in the gifts that you have. Perhaps you don’t boast openly, but your pride may be revealed in other subtle ways – in certain words or actions that imply that you are a little bit more special than everyone else. You may forget that these gifts are gifts! They do not come from you, but from God, who gave them to you!

The Christians in Corinth to whom Paul was writing certainly had committed sins of this kind. Throughout his letter to them, Paul chides them again and again for the divisions that they had created amongst themselves by their jealousy and sinful infighting. They had divided into factions, aligning themselves behind the names of their favorite apostles and evangelists; some saying “I follow Paul,” others saying “I follow Apollos,” and others saying “I follow Cephas” (cf. 1 Cor 1:12). They showed little concern for their fellow church-mates as they separated into factions even at the Lord’s Supper: Some were eating and drinking first and getting full and drunk, while others had to wait and got nothing.

And regarding spiritual gifts, some of the Christians in Corinth flaunted their gift of speaking in tongues, as if it were a badge of honor, or a sign that they were more “spiritual” than others. Those in the church at Corinth who had the gift of speaking in tongues acted with such an attitude of superiority that those who did not have that gift were jealous of it and longed for it. But Paul says that, of all the spiritual gifts, the gift of speaking in tongues is the lowest in importance and usefulness, because nobody can understand it without interpretation. Paul writes in chapter 14, “In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Cor 14:19).

So what is it here in St. John Church? Perhaps the most noticeable gifts among you are those of teaching and of leading worship and music. Do some of you see these gifts in others and covet them? Do some of you see these gifts in others as being so important, that you overlook the spiritual gifts that God has given to you? Do you sometimes think: “Oh, I wish I had the gift that he has! If I had that gift, then I could really do good things for God and for the church!”?

But teaching and leadership in the congregation are only a couple of the many gifts that come from one and the same Spirit. In our reading Paul says: “To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues” (vv. 8-10).

As we hear this list, perhaps the gifts that jump out at us are the “supernatural” gifts, like healing, miraculous powers, and speaking in tongues. But from the history of the church, we see that the “supernatural” gifts in Paul’s list here were given only at the very earliest time of the church, within decades of when Jesus lived. Today it is a rarity, if it happens at all, that these gifts are granted to believers. But Paul makes clear in his teaching throughout 1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14 that gifts of love, encouragement, and teaching are higher gifts than the “supernatural” gifts of miraculous powers and speaking in tongues – because the gifts of love, encouragement, and teaching have more potential for building up and strengthening the fellowship of believers in faith in Jesus.

And the gifts listed here in our text are not the only spiritual gifts that God gives among believers. Later in chapter 12 Paul also mentions “those able to help others” and “those with gifts of administration” (1 Cor 12:28). And besides these, there are many other gifts that Paul does not list, which we can identify in ourselves and in others. But the most fundamental and most important of all spiritual gifts is the gift of faith in Jesus as our Savior – a gift that God has given to each one of us – the gift of being able to say from the heart, with Spirit-given conviction, that “Jesus is Lord.”

When we understand the importance of this spiritual gift, then we can truly begin to understand the main point that Paul was driving at in our reading. We certainly see many different gifts among the brothers and sisters in the church. But it is the one Triune God who has given them all – and he has given them all for one purpose: for the spiritual welfare of the fellowship of believers. Paul writes: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (vv. 4-7).

No matter what our various gifts, we are all united as the body of Christ. The most important thing is not which spiritual gifts we have. The most important thing is that we all have the same Savior, Jesus, and that we are all united by Spirit-given faith in the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for us by his death on the cross and resurrection. Paul writes: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (vv. 12-13).

Jesus, the sinless Son of God, gave up his life for the multitude of us sinners, who were by nature at war with God and with each other. According to our sinful nature, we were the farthest thing possible away from fellowship, harmony, and unity. But Christ died so that the many might become one – one body of believers, united around faith in God’s great salvation. One body of believers, united in praising the God who gave himself to save us from hell. One body of believers, with our many gifts united for the purpose of building and strengthening each other in faith in Jesus – and also for the purpose of sharing the message of God’s love and forgiveness with many others, praying that God would bring them into the fellowship of believers as well.

On the back of coins here in the United States there is a short phrase in Latin. The phrase is “E pluribus unum,” which means literally: “From many, one.” In the context of the United States, this refers to the hope of the founding fathers of the American republic that from people of many different countries, ethnicities, and cultures there would be unity around the common ideals of liberty and justice for all – the hope that the many people could put aside their differences to become united for the common good of the nation. In the history of the United States, this ideal seems to have been widely accepted. In the past 233 years, millions of immigrants have united together with the people already living here for the common good of the nation.

What about in the Christian church? As we see Paul teaching in our reading, the motto “E pluribus unum” would certainly be a fitting one for us as well. “From many, one”… From many sinners who once took sinful pride in ourselves and our gifts, God has made us into one body, by the redemption through Jesus’ blood. From the many who doubted the importance and worth of our own spiritual gifts, God has made us into one body, by the washing of baptism with water and the Word. From the many who each followed our own visions and goals, God has united us into one body, through the outpouring of the one Holy Spirit upon us all. Through the one Spirit, God has united us in faith and in vision, so that, no matter what our various gifts, God will use each of us as he has determined – for mutual strengthening and encouragement of the believers, and for reaching out to those outside the fellowship, who need to hear the message of God’s love and forgiveness just as we do.

So as we think about the many gifts that God has given to his church through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, let’s remember that phrase: “From many, one.” And let’s praise God for it! Praise God for the unity he has given us through the redemption of his Son – that, though we are many, yet in Christ we are one! Amen!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph 3:20)