JULY 2nd, 2023 PASTOR DON PIEPER
What's the Spirit Up To? Acts 10:34-8,44-8 / 1 COR 12:1-11
“HE EQUIPS US”
Our first reading concludes our reading in Acts 10 from last week. There we saw how Jesus' disciple, Simon Peter, had a vision by which God gave him a new heart and fresh perspective. As a result he came to realize that “God shows no favoritism but seeks believers in every nation!”
(Acts 10:34-35)
So it is, inspired by his vision and by the presence of two guests at his doorstep from the house-hold of a Gentile named Cornelius, that Peter comes up with the idea of visiting Cornelius and his family. Not ever one is so excited about the idea. Folks from Peter's church in Jerusalem certainly are not. Luke tells us in the following chapter that “When Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him for entering the home of Gentiles and eating with them.” (Acts 11:2-3)
Clearly, not all great ideas are mutually appreciated. I experienced the truth of that growing up. Once, being the young capitalist that I was, I set up a little booth - “Great Ideas for a dollar!”
(sitting and smiling behind a big box, with the words, “Great Ideas - $1.00”, on it...)
Girl: (walking up and reading...) This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my life!
Don: Yeah? Well, what do you know? Why don't you go soak your head! (Susie storms off)
(looking blankly for a moment....) Hey! That'll be one dollar!
Friend: (approaches, reads...) How do I know your ideas are great?
Don: It says so right here on my sign. See....? Do you want one?
Friend: I don't have a dollar.
Don: No problem! You can put 50 cents down and pay 100% interest in dime installments
over the next ten days! (friend looks at cong; walks off as Don explains...) People just don't know a great idea when they hear one. (scratches off $1; writes “now 25c”)
(Mom walks up) I'm having an inventory reduction sale! Great ideas are now just 25c!
Mom: Alright. Here. (handing Don a quarter) What's your great idea?
Don: You should buy some more!
Mom: (looks at cong) That's it....? Actually, I'm getting another great idea right now...!
Don: Me too! (standing up and dashing off....) See ya....!
(from The Days Are Just Packed, pp 92-93)
It seems to be a common problem, that people don't know a great idea when they hear one. If he were honest, Peter had had his doubts as well. But after seeing what happened when he shared the gospel with Cornelius and his family he was utterly convinced it was a great idea. And it wasn't just Peter. The other Jewish believers were convinced as well. Luke writes that the Jewish believers who came with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles too
(Acts 10:45)
And what was it that caught their eye particularly? How did they know that Cornelius and his household had also been filled with the Holy Spirit? Luke doesn't leave us wondering; he tells us: “For they heard them speaking in other tongues and praising God.” (Acts 10:46)
How'd the Jerusalem believers know that the Caesareans had also been filled with the Holy Spirit? There were outward signs. They spoke in tongues, specifically. It's exactly what happened to and with the Jersualem believers back on the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2. Their hearts were filled with praise and God equipped them with the gifts of the Spirit. God was doing something new!
-2-
Now roll ahead a few years. Peter is now the head of the church in Jerusalem and a former Pharisee by the name of Saul, now Paul, has been following Peter's lead and sharing the gospel with Jews and non-Jews alike, all across the ancient Roman world. Among the places he's pitched his tent, and pitched salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, is the church Paul planted in Corinth.
Corinth was at a crossroads, geographically, economically and culturally. It sat along the Isthumus way in central Greece and was the country's largest, wealthiest city. It was so prosperous that it had two separate ports, was host to the nationally acclaimed Corinthian games, contained at least a dozen temples as well as a synagogue and any number of house churches planted by Paul. The church of Corinth, was planted by Paul between 50-52 AD, and now he writes them 2-3 years later.
The letter he writes is to correct a number of problems that have arisen in this church. Among the issues they face is that of their approach to the spiritual gifts, especially that of speaking in tongues. Some claim that tongues is the tell-tale sign that you have the Holy Spirit others say otherwise. Paul begins chapter 12 addressing this issue by responding to a question they've apparently written him: “Now about the gifts of the Spirit, my brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed.”
(1 Corinthians 12:1)
It's the same wording Paul has used before: peri' de', now about. He opened chapter 7 with those same words: “Now about the matters of which you wrote...” (7:1), and again in the following chapter: “Now about the question of food sacrificed to idols...” (8:1) In each of these cases, as again in chapter 16, Paul begins a new section by referring to a question raised in their letter to him.
It's one of the things that make the Corinthian letters such a treasure. Rarely do we find in scripture this kind of direct dialogue going on between a book's author and his audience. It's like sitting in on a modern book signing and realizing that the questions that come up during the Q & A are the very questions we've been meaning to ask ourselves. What's more, this issue tongues and what not is so close to Paul's heart that he spends more time addressing this issue than any of the many other things his letter takes on, taking three whole chapters to unpack his response on spiritual gifts.
As he does so, he has primarily three things he seeks to communicate. First, is that though the gifts of the Spirit are many and their purposes are widely varied they are given under a united front. He articulates this truth with three short, connected phrases: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. They work out in all kinds of ways but through them all, and through us all, it is the same God at work.”
(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
Paul makes it clear that the Gifts of the Spirit are really the gifts of the Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the masterminds behind them and it is to their glory that they're utilized. Yet God is not divided, but one. Likewise, the use of the gifts should celebrate and strengthen our unity. There is a rich diversity in the gifts themselves but they are given with one purpose – to glorify the giver!
The rich diversity of the gifts of the Spirit is evident in that the list of supernatural gifts Paul provides here in 1 Corinthians 12 is not exhaustive. More gifts are not only listed in others places such as in the Books of Romans, Ephesians and 1 Peter but also later in this very chapter, (12:28-30). “God has also placeed in the church apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, healers, helpers, guidance providers as well as those who speak in tongues.” (1 Corinthians 12:28-30)
So, according to Paul, one definition of a Spirit filled Church is one in which the church is strong and robust in the display of a great diversity of gifts that are celebrated in a spirit of unity.
-3-
A second point Paul makes about these gifts is that they are distributed by the Holy Spirit. As Paul writes in conclusion of his opening thought on the subject: “All these (gifts) are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.” (1 Cor 12:11)
Seems like a no brainer..., but in light of the human tendency to seek glory for ourselves, it's an important distinction to make. That seems particularly true today in our celebrity driven culture. How hard it can be, once you're in the limelight, to resist acclaim and give credit where credit is due.
Calvin
Paul makes a point to remind us from whence the spiritual gifts come and who it is that deter-mines who gets what, when, so that we'll remain humble in their use. If anyone gets the credit, its HS!
Paul's third point has to do with the purpose of the gifts. Lest we lose focus on what they're for, as the Corinthian community was at risk of doing, Paul reminds us why the gifts are given in the first place: “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)
Seems pretty staight forward. We're blessed to bless one another. That's as old as the Old Testament, right? Still, how quickly it can be polluted. Paul writes about such things here because the church in Corinth had quite a few folks who were getting puffed up with pride regarding their gift. How prone are we as well to consider our gifts the most vital gifts? How often do we pastors become convinced of the same, as do those with the gifts of healing, or teaching, or yes, tongues?
But Paul is clear. The gifts of the Spirit are not about our own self-esteem, or about identifying who the spiritual giants in the community are, or even about how exciting the manifestations are in of themselves. “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” they're all about our helping one another, our receiving gifts in order to give away blessings, Spirit in, Spirit out!
It brings to mind a powerful moment in the award winning film, Apollo 13. Deep in Apollo's flight, things begin to unravel. Technical problems have put the lives of the astronauts in danger. Down in Houston, a team of enginners & other nerds are assembled to come up with solutions. Among other things, they're told to figure out how to fit a square peg into a round hole. In the end, their wide range of gifts and know-how pay off. Multiple, creative answers are derived and Apollo 13 is saved.
That's what the Spiritual gifts are all about. They're given to each one of us so that we can get creative in addressing human hurt, witnessing to a hostile world, and loving on one another in a culture that is transfixed with getting ahead and taking care of number one. The gifts give us purpose! They are given so that we, the church, can be effective fulfilling our calling and so that people are saved.
In the book, Boys in the Boat, author Daniel Brown, tells of the nine Americans who were unlikely winners of gold in the 1936 Olympics. One of the boys, Joe, was from Washington, had been abandoned by his father and grew up taking care of himself, caring for himself. After making the team training for the Olympics, the trainer took Joe aside one day. “He told Joe that there were times when he seemed to think he was the only fellow in the boat, as if it was up to him to row the boat across the finish line all by himself. When a man rowed like that, he said, he was bound to attack the water rather than work with it, and worse, he was bound not to let his crew help him row.
-4-
He suggested that Joe think of a well-rowed race as a symphony, and himself as just one player in the orchestra. If one fellow was playing out of tune, or at a different tempo, the whole piece would naturally be ruined. That's how it is with rowing. What mattered more than how hard a man rowed was how well everything he did harmonized with the other guys, and a man couldn't harmonize with his crewmates unless he opened his heart to them. He had to care about his crew.
Coach paused and looked up at Joe. 'If you don't like some fellow in the boat, Joe, you have to learn to like him. It has to matter to you whether he wins the race, not just whether you do. This is your chance. You've already learned to row past pain, exhaustion and the voice that said it couldn't be done. You have the chance to do what few will ever get to do. You see, Joe, when you really start trusting those other boys, you will feel a power at work within you that is far beyond anything you've ever imagined. Sometimes, you'll feel as if you've rowed right off the planet and are rowing in the stars.'”
(from Daniel Brown's The Boys in the Boat)
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given in great diversity, for the sake of our unity in Christ, each given according to the wisdom of the Spirit and for the purpose of equipping us to help one another!
We need this! We need these gifts - all of them, and we need to employ them for the sake of building one another up that we too may reach far beyond anything we've ever imagined before! Maybe it's time that we, too, reach for the stars by asking God to further equip us, to His glory!
“A spiritual gift is given to each of us