“Many Gifts, One Spirit”

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

January 24, 2010

Text: First Corinthians 12: 12-30

We use the word “church” to mean a building. “Let’s get ready and go to church,” we say.

But we can also use the word “church” to mean people----people who believe in God, who love Jesus, and who feel the Spirit.

Church people come in all sizes: babies, toddlers, teenagers, and adults. And we look different: some have grey hair, some brown, some are blondes----and some have more hair than others. Some have blue eyes, some have brown, and a few have green. Some have pink skin, some various shades of brown.

And some people are shy, others talk a lot; some like to dance, some don’t. Some love Italian food, others prefer Mexican food; some like chocolate ice cream, some pistachio.

Some members of the church are good singers; others like to teach or preach; some are really good at helping others do big jobs; others like to plan things; some are enthusiastic and others are quieter; some like to make things and others, to fix things that are broken.

Some members have been coming to the church all their lives; others are new.

So the church is made up of human beings, none of which are the same: every person is unique, one of a kind.

So how do all these different people get along? What keeps us together? Well, by ourselves, we can’t do it! We would divide into our own little cliques and compete with each other. We are prone to be tacky to each other. Who can help us be different?!

Love keeps us together! Forgiveness keeps us together. The presence of Jesus keeps us together. Our baptisms keep us together. God helps us stay together even though we are different.

The apostle Paul tells us that the church is like a human body. The body has many parts, but each part cooperates with the other parts.

Paul asks us to pretend a little.

It would be silly if our eyes, if they could speak, would say to the hands, “I don’t need you!”

And how would you like to have a person who is all ears?!

And every part of the body is important! The knee cannot say to the nose, “Because I am not a nose, I am not a part of the body.”

Every person in the church is important! Every person, no matter what their skin color, or age, or abilities-----each person counts!

And so we are happy when other member are happy. And when another member is hurting, is having a hard time, we hurt, too.

If my finger has a splinter in it, we do not say “My finger has a pain.” We say, “I have a pain in my finger.” The church is the people who love God and follow Jesus powered and guided by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Each person can help others in the church to get the jobs done: worshipping, playing, learning, helping others, planning, fixing things that are broken.

Paul says these things we can do are “gifts.”
Now we usually think of gifts as something we are given which we then possess and can use or wear for ourselves. But Paul says that our abilities----the things we can do well and learn to do even better----are given to us not just for our own enjoyment, but to help others. And to help the church be strong in loving people who are hurting and need God’s help---to serve the common good.

With our God-given abilities, there is responsibility to use our gifts for the common good----of the church, our neighborhoods, our schools, our community and reaching out to people all over the nation and world!

What “gifts” has God given you?

Can you be a helper? A singer? A teacher? A planner? An encourager? Some of you have discovered through the years your gifts---the things you can do to bless others and to make the church strong.

Some of you are still learning what your gifts are and maybe wishing we could do well what others are able to do. God tells us not to envy others’ abilities----as if only some abilities count-----but to be happy with the person we are, as God made us. Each of us is God’s special “work of art.” (From Ephesians 1, Jerusalem Bible translation.)

We are the body of Christ and individually members of it! We get along and cooperate and help the church grow stronger because God’s spirit lives in each of us and makes us one team for Jesus.
 “I am the church. You are the church. We are the church together. All who follow Jesus, all around the world: yes we’re the church together.”