There are certain moments in life when it's wise to pause and take notice: what just happened? Some have put their observations in writing to benefit others from Mark Twain, to Will Rogers, to comedian Jerry Seinfeld, to Linda Worth, author of Hilarious Tales and Witty Observations.
Among other observations she makes, she notes that it must've been a mom who put the warning on modern aspirin containers. As she puts it: “When I get a headache, I take two aspirin and keep away from children, just like the bottle says.” Happy Belated Mother's Day!
(from Linda Worth's Hilarious Tales and Witty Observations)
Award winning author Oscar Wilde made this observation: “The man who says his wife can't take a joke, forgets that she took him.” For those of you taking the Marriage Course, write that down!
(Oscar Wilde)
Here's another observation: “Have you ever noticed that the people who tell you to calm down are the ones that pushed your button in the first place?” Some times it's wise to slow down and take notice. As a one sign reads: “NOTICE! Thank you for noticing this new notice. Your noticing it has been noted. (And then in fine print...): And will be reported to the authorities.”
Some times..., we draw the wrong conclusions. We have examples of just that in both readings this morning. When the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and begin speaking in dif-ferent languages, some visitors inaccurately conclude: “They're just drunk, that's all!” (Acts 2:13)
Many years later, some in Corinth are getting things mixed up as well. Correcting their wrong conclusions, Paul writes: “Regarding these special abilities, I don't want you to misunderstand this!”
(1 Corinthians 12:1)
Some times it helps to gain multiple vantage points in order to make sense of what we've observed. It's why it's so important to hear from multiple witnesses in a court case. It's why we have four different gospel accounts in the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke & John each tell the same basic story, but with different emphases, providing different details, to offer a greater vantage point.
Peter does the same thing on Pentecost. To help those in the crowd draw an accurate conclusion about the day's extraordinary events, he quotes multiple sources from King David to the prophet Joel to Jesus himself. He adds to that, his and his friends' observations: “God raised Jesus from the dead and we are all witnesses of this..., so repent and be baptized in his name and you will also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, your children and all who call on his name!”
(Acts 2:32, 38-39)
Now, years later, Paul does basicly the same thing. He writes to bring clarity to those who are observing the extraordinary releasing of Spiritual gifts in their midst but are misunderstanding them, and as a result, misapplying them. What we get as a result is Paul's perspective on the Pentecost impact. So in the spirit of Peter and Paul, I'd like to offer a few observations of my own, if that's alright.
First, is this – Did you notice that our readings provide three distinct vantage points of the Day of Pentecost? One anticipates and promises, the next experiences and delights and the third reflects and revisits. When Peter stood before the crowd to help them make sense of what they were observing he quoted the prophet Joel, who prophesied over eight centuries before it happened, God's amazing promise: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people, upon men and women, and the young and old...”
(Joel 2:28-29/Acts 2:17-18)
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Peter's pointing out, this didn't just happen, God's been planning this since ancient times. What we have in Acts 2 is Peter putting what is happening in the moment in the perspective of what was promised, but what's additionally amazing about that is that Peter isn't the author of this text, Peter and Paul's traveling buddy, Luke is. Luke is the author of the book of Acts so he's putting this event in writing so that the church of his day will understand how the Holy Spirit's moving and filling them and giving them the gifts of the Holy Spirit relates to Jesus' person and ministry, and that of his disciples.
Paul then builds on that multi-layer perspective by adding his own observations as well! Among them is his helping them to see that God in his identity as a holy community is all about building a holy community among them by bringing unity in the midst of their cultural and ethnic diversity. “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
Paul's talking about the identity & unity, but also the diversity, of the Trinity here. He mentions all three here – the Spirit, our Lord Jesus, and God the Father, each sharing of themselves and gifting us in a variety of ways thru a great variety of giftings. Our readings show how God promised all this long ago, then delivered on Pentecost thru those initially set on fire, and now keeps on delivering through an outpouring of His Spirit in and among his people to bless and equip us!
The fact that Paul is addressing the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the church in Corinth means that yet another Pentecost type of event, or events, had also taken place there! Paul identifies quite a list of spiritual gifts there – of service, wisdom, words of knowledge, extraordinary faith, healing, the ability to perform miracles, to prophecy, to have spiritual discernment, speak in tongues & their interpretation.
(1 Corinthians 12:8-10)
It's quite the list! And here's the thing. All of them are represented in this one church! As Paul noted earlier in his letter: “Now you have every spiritual gift you need!” (1 Corinthians 1:7) Paul’s not listing them here in chapter 12 because they might have, but because they already do! What’s more, this isn't the only place Paul talks about such gifts nor is this an exhaustive list. These are what I'd call the supernatural gifts, but he also mentions natural gifts like serving, teaching, giving and helping that God uses to do the extraordinary, such as in his letters to the churches in Rome, Ephesus and Galatia.
Here's my observation – Paul's repeated teaching here and elsewhere on the gifts of the Holy Spirit reveals that every church is to exhibit both natural and supernatural gifts of the Spirit. They give witness that the Father, Son and Spirit are at work among and within them. Thru them Jesus is visible!
Therein lies a third observation. It's gained by cheating a bit, by peeking ahead. In doing so we see that 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 is only the introduction to what turns out to be the longest discourse in this entire letter, even longer than Paul's fifty-eight verse teaching on the resurrection.
It takes Paul three chapters to cover the gifts of the Spirit – some 64 verses in length. And as noted, it won't be the last time he writes about this subject to the early church. Why is that? Well, we'll explore this more in the weeks ahead, but suffice it to say, understanding these gifts and why they're given is crucial if we're to be truly alive in Christ and have the impact He intends for us to have.
Earlier in this letter, Paul made it clear that no matter how articulate we may be, we alone are unable to change a single mind or open a single heart. “It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:7)
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To put that another way, we need these gifts, and we need these gifts to be employed regularly and enthusiastically. How we use them absolutely matters. As with so many other matters Paul addresses in this letter, Paul writes to correct the mismanagment of these powerful gifts. It would seem some are getting a bit puffed up with their giftedness, particularly those who speak in tongues. More on that later, but suffice it to say, Paul wants to clarify why any of these gifts are given. They're not given to make us look good or be proud but to make us powerfully effective in demonstrating Christ's love.
Paul's point is this: “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)Some in Corinth probably were thinking, that's it? Yup. It's not very complicated, but we have a way of making it complicated. Two mistakes we're inclined to make: one, letting our ego get in the way, seeking praise and prestige; And second, sitting on our gift and not using it to bless...
Driving past the Little League fields this week I noticed multiple games going on. It reminded me of coaching Christopher's team, but then my memories sailed further back to when my father coached my team. One year we had kind of a Bad News Bears team. Some of the boys had nicknames like Beaver or Little Louie. Little Louie had kidney problems, it seemed, because he was always racing off the field to use the bathroom. There was also Sockless Sammy, who never wore socks and liked to take his shoes off when he played in the outfield so he could feel the cool grass between his toes. You baseball fans have heard of Shoeless Joe Jackson? We had sockless Sammy – way better.
And then there was Dandelion Danny. A nature lover, he was always picking dandelions and fiddling with them or eating them. He was easily distracted. Bugs, flowers, clouds – his mind was always adrift. Once the season started Dandelion Danny got distracted by the other games going on around us. He'd stand with his back to the batter watching another game. At one point my Dad, in utter exasperation, yelled out: “Danny, this isn't a spectator sport! If you wanna watch, buy a ticket!”
Sometimes we Christians behave like Dandelion Danny. We behave more like a spectator than a player. But as the Body of Christ, we're a team. We need every player and all the gifts embodied in the game, be they natural gifts like that of serving or giving, or more supernatural ones, like healing or receiving words of knowledge. If we're to reach our potential we need all the gifts in play!
Getting our natural gifts into play is not too complicated. It simply involves offering to do the kinds of things that come naturally to you, that you enjoy doing to help and support others here, be that making a bringing food for our fellowship time, or helping to tidy and clean God's house, or signing on to be one of our readers, or signing up to help care for the lawn. Contribute. Get involved!
The supernatural gifts may seem more daunting to some. Those come to us by being filled with the Holy Spirit. Having others pray over you is key here. Inviting the Holy Spirit is one of the most ancient prayers of the church, and the gifts he provides, he chooses. You can ask for this or that but ultimately, it's the Spirit who decides. Sometimes a gift is given for a life time of ministry and sometimes it's given in order to minister to others in the moment. This is exciting for all involved.
I remember one of the first times I received a gift of knowledge. It was at an Alpha retreat. All I recall is walking up to one of our guests, asking if I could pray, and then as I did, I sensed a long held hurt in him and prayed about it. Afterwards, this macho kind of guy, who rarely spoke without profanity, looked at me with tears in his eyes, and asked in amazement, “How did you know all that? I've never told anyone about those things you prayed about! And now I feel totally at ease. It's like a tremendous weight has come off my shoulders. How in the world did you know?”
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You know what I said? I didn't know. In fact, within moments I couldn't even remember what I had prayed exactly. Which makes sense. It wasn't for my benefit. It was for his. God wanted to set him free and He blessed me by allowing me to bless him, but He knew it wasn't me. He knew...!
That's what makes all these supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit Paul lists in chapter 12 so fun and exciting! Anyone present knows it's God. It makes Jesus visible! We see God is on the move and he's moving us towards one another as he chooses which gifts for which people for any occasion.
It's how I've come to experience how fun the Holy Spirit really is! He's not scary! He's not some ghost there to spook us. He makes the presence of Jesus in the room tangible, tactile, naturally supernatural..! So be they natural or supernatural, use them to build one another up. For “It is the Holy Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have; for a spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.” So how can you help...?
(1 Corinthians 12:11, 7)