About The Church, part 2:
The Heart Of The Matter

Dr. James Mayfield
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

March 7, 2004

Text: I Corinthians 12:12-13:13 (in service read 12:27-13:3)

Today I am going to continue talking about what it means to be the church, the community of faith, the Body of Christ.

It is not unusual to hear children on school grounds trying to claim importance by saying: "I can hit a ball farther than you." "I make better grades than you." "I have better video games than you." All too often we adults get stuck in this sort of childishness competition, wearing ourselves out in the illusion that it is possible to win the rat race. All too many of us use up what little time we have between birth and death playing games of one-upsmanship, chasing prestige, so the world will call us "a winner."

Because of our compulsion to live all of life as some sort of competition, we even assume there is some sort of ranking to the gifts God gives us. This was a problem of the church in Corinth that Paul was addressing in the letter from which we read this morning. Some church members who had certain special gifts had developed a kind of "holier than thou" attitude, while others who did not have those so called "special gifts" were feeling inferior, devaluing their gifts and also feeling resentment and hostility toward those with the "prestigious gifts."

A major part of Paul's message to the Corinthian Christians was that there are a variety of gifts, and each of these God-given gifts is of sacred worth. Our gifts are not a justification for viewing ourselves as superior to others, nor are they a justification for seeing ourselves as inferior. All persons and their gifts are of sacred worth. God has so designed life that each of us and our gifts are needed.

You may not be able to sing in the choir; but you may be able to repair homes of the poor. You may not be able to teach Sunday School classes; but you may have the ability to influence legislation to benefit those in need. You may not have the temperament to do well in visiting those in prison; but you may have what is needed to deal with church finances. You may not be gifted in leading groups; but you may be one of those who is gifted in taking care of the details. And the list can go on and on.

I cannot remember hearing anyone argue against this sort of common sense perception of the way things are. I think all of us recognize some of us have one set of gifts and others of us have a different set. Our problem is our compulsion to try to rank order the gifts. The end result of that is those whose gifts enable them to do well those tasks society applauds, are tempted to feel superior and those whose gifts enable them to do well the tasks that receive little or no applause are tempted to feel inferior.

In the letter from which we read, Paul was writing a word of correction to both those who felt superior because of their gifts and those who felt inferior because of theirs. He reminded both them that there are a variety of gifts and services, but they are all for the purpose of serving God, and this makes all gifts and each gift, a gift of sacred worth.

I have noticed among most of us church folks, that while there are a few who egotistically think they are superior to others because of their gifts, there a many, many more who feel inferior because they depreciate and undervalue their gifts. Paul uses a very earthy and almost crude illustration to set us straight. Using the metaphor of our physical bodies he wrote: "those parts of our body we think less honorable we clothe with greater care and our less respectable parts we treat with great respect." "Now all of you, together, are the body of Christ," Paul wrote, and each of you, individually are part of it."

Having made the point that whatever our gifts, each of us is an important member of the Body of Christ, Paul went on to state what is at the heart of the matter. Regardless of the gifts we have been given, putting them to use, doing what we are capable to doing is empty and meaningless if we use our gifts without love. Without love our gifts of eloquence are just so much noise. Without love the gift of profound insights is meaningless. Without love our acts of piety do not enable us to grow closer to God. Without love our acts of generosity and service do not make us better persons.

The kind of love that empowers us in using our gifts, so that what we are doing pleases God and serves the purposes of God is the kind of love we see in Jesus Christ. This love has less to do with emotions or feelings and everything to do with attitude and behavior. It is the compassion that results in our giving of ourselves for the good of others whether we feel like it or not. This kind of love is what we see in Jesus' ministry, and most especially in his willingness to endure the cross so that we might come to know the extent and depth of God's love and be transformed by it. It is this transforming love revealed in Christ that we encounter in this sacrament.

But how can we live, embracing this kind of self-giving love, and allowing this kind of self-giving love to shape our attitudes and actions?

One of the primary resources we have been given is the resource of prayer -- not just the kind of prayer that is begging God to give us what we want, but the kind of prayer that enables us to receive what God is offering. To be sure, a significant part of praying is talking honestly to God, without playing word games with God or ourselves. But an equally important dimension of prayer is being still and listening, striving to discern what God is offering us. This listening must be listening without a censor. Sometimes I find myself only listening for what I want to hear. All too often this means I hear very little. Our deepest, truest prayer is being open to God so that we do not edit out what we would rather not hear from God.

How does God speak to us? In my experience it is from deep within, and while sometimes I have confused my own inner longings for God's voice, more often than not, when I am truly honest with myself, I can tell the difference. And I suspect you can also. The more our praying is marked by our listening, the more we are likely to receive what God is offering.

Today I have again been talking about what it means to be the church. The church, the community of faith, is composed of very different people with a wide variety of gifts from God. Each of these gifts is of sacred worth but only as they are used in love, the kind of love revealed in Jesus Christ. To aide us in living this life of love, God has given us the gift of prayer not merely the prayer of talking but also the deeper prayer of listening for the Word of God that is addressed personally to each of us.

Let us pray. God, thank you for the gifts you have given each of us. Teach us to pray so that we are better able to use these gifts in ways that reflect the love we see in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:

God, teach us to pray. Free us from all that tempts us to play religious games with ourselves and with you. Rescue us from merely throwing requests and instructions your direction. Help us focus on you. Protect us from pretending. Help us be clearly honest with ourselves and with you. Keep us from phony piety. And God, enable us to be still and to listen so we will be able to discern what you are saying to us. Motivate us make time to pray so that we are able to do more than hurriedly mumble requests. God, we know that just as we must invest time to have a significant relationship with our spouse or child or parent or friend, we must also invest a regular quantity of quality time to have a significant relationship with you. Help us make the adjustments we need to make in our daily schedules so we will set aside time to share what we need to share with you and time to be still and listen, time to discern what you are saying to us. Lord, teach us and enable us to pray. Amen.