October 7, 2007 Sermon

Gifts for Ministry
I Corinthians 12:1-13

God creates each one of us to serve. What has God made you to do? Identify your gifts. Use them.

The Apostle Paul wrote I Corinthians to a church he had helped start some years earlier. He had kept in touch; he knew a few issues had arisen. Any new church faces issues, many of which nobody can anticipate. One great example of this from our church's—ah, brief—history had to do with whether elders and deacons could wear shorts while serving communion. I guarantee this question never arose in any of the other churches I have served. But we were learning what it meant to be an open, informal yet spiritual church. We had to deal with the issue.

Paul and the Corinthians faced larger issues. What authority should women have in the church? (Paul answered: More than people then thought appropriate; but less than many modern people would like.) Do I have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian? (No.) Had Jesus of Nazareth really been God in human flesh, or just a profound and tragic man? (God.) Do the gods our neighbors worship really exist? (No.)

This last point leads to central questions in our passage: What is this Holy Spirit? How do we know when it goes to work on us? We ask these questions to this day. Paul wants his readers then and now to understand about spiritual gifts. He reminds the Corinthians that before they became Christians they had worshipped "dumb idols". This wonderful phrase does not mean "stupid gods", but gods who cannot speak because they do not truly exist. But the Holy Spirit not only can speak, people can speak through its power. For example, I believe that whatever truth I manage to speak in a sermon comes through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Paul observes that nobody can curse God while receiving the Holy Spirit, and nobody can confess Jesus as Lord without the Holy Spirit's help. On the surface this seems false. Would Paul insist that every person who swears like a sailor has rejected the Holy Spirit? No, he has something far deeper in mind. In fact, his thought runs to the deepest level of our souls. We cannot have real faith in God without God's help. And if we have God's help we cannot reject God.

The Holy Spirit is God at work here and now. The Holy Spirit is God working. The first work God's Spirit performs on us is faith. To rephrase Paul: We cannot reject God once we have received the Holy Spirit. And we cannot believe that Jesus is our risen Savior unless we have received the Holy Spirit. But how do we receive the Holy Spirit? We do so by giving up the defenses we erect to protect ourselves from confronting the awesome God. We receive the Holy Spirit when we let go of our pride. Pride is the spiritual equivalent of acting like a two-year-old. ("I can do it my own self.") Pride lies to us. Pride disguises itself as maturity. ("I have taken responsibility for my own life.") Like a drug, pride gives us a false sense of security. ("I am safe behind my strength.")

American culture has given the world precious gifts. Our constitution lifted the ideal of individual freedom. I can make a biblical case for this ideal. But I cannot make a biblical case to support the pride that seeps into our individualism. Individualism—going it alone—breeds pride. Pride kills. Ken Burns' film, The War, documents the thoughts and feelings of the men who fought for the U.S. in World War II. These veterans tell how necessary it became to forget about self and become totally a part of their fighting units. You had to trust your buddies, and you lived in terror of letting your buddies down. There was no other way to survive.

Back home our nation united. One woman in the movie spoke for millions: "We knew we were all in this together." Every child collecting scrap tin foil to be recycled into airplane wings; every woman carrying a lunch pail to work in the ammunition factory; all the parents praying for their sons in battle; and every dog-faced, dog-tired, unshaven soldier cowering in a maggot-infested foxhole: they knew they were in it together. I have no desire to go to war. But I do desire that all might somehow come to understand that we are in this together. And the place we are in together is life balanced between salvation and hell. We are at war.

In order to receive the Holy Spirit we must first admit we cannot save ourselves. We must swallow our pride and ask for faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. God answers sincere pleas for faith. The Holy Spirit, which dwells everywhere, all the time, flares into life in the hearts of those who humble themselves and ask for faith. Then the Holy Spirit puts us to work. This church emphasizes six ministries. I have preached about each in turn. We have reached the fifth: (NLCC) helps believers discover gifts for ministry. When we humble ourselves and ask for the Holy Spirit, we receive it. When we receive the Holy Spirit we believe in Jesus as the risen Savior. And when we believe in Jesus we experience the urge to work in his name. Identify your spiritual gifts. Use them.

But somebody will say: "I am not gifted. So your idea that God has gifted me for ministry seems unfair, almost cruel." But look at what Paul added: People have varieties of gifts. And all gifts matter because when used, all gifts serve God. "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good," Paul insists. Some gifts impress the world. Some gifts never get noticed. It does not matter. Identify your gifts. Use them.

The world loves a winner. The world prefers certain gifts. But these preferred, gifted people must battle pride. Bud Mackey is eighteen years old. He has such a gift at playing basketball that Indiana University offered him a college scholarship during his sophomore year of high school. Last week, Bud Mackey got arrested for possession and trafficking in cocaine. He had bought the lie of pride. He had come to believe that his gift put him above the law. He told the officer who arrested him, "But you can't arrest me. I'm Bud Mackey!" To which the officer replied, "Too bad for you." Nobody is too big to need the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and nobody is too small to receive them.

The Holy Spirit of God gifts us with faith, then with skills, abilities and interests we can use to serve the world God has created. No gift is too small. The Apostle Paul illustrated this by telling the Corinthians that preachers and miracle workers were no more important in gift-using than less impressive (in the world's eyes) believers.

Let's put that into the context of the Northern Lakes Community Church. We thank God that the Holy Spirit has gifted our teachers. We praise God for our charismatic youth leaders. And we should thank God for these obviously gifted people. But what about the people who arrive early each Sunday to set up the church? They have the gift of faithful organization. The world considers this gift boring. But the church could not operate without them. And what about the people who write caring notes and empty bedpans and call to check up on the infirm? They have the gift of compassion. I would not want to live in a community that lacked them. What about people who have the gift of really listening to the pain of others? What about people who have the gift of designing and building things? What about people who have the gift of forgiving?

We need each other. God has organized the church as a place where people can use their varied gifts in the service of a united ministry. Identify your gifts and use them. Ask the Holy Spirit for faith, first, if you need to do so. Then ask the Holy Spirit to show you your gifts for ministry. God will speak to you in prayer and through the church. Let this church rededicate itself to this vital, biblical calling: together, let us identify our spiritual gifts, and let us use them to serve God.