Sermon: “Many Gifts, One Body”

Text: 1 Corinthinans 12:12-31a

3^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

January 24, 2010

Scripture introduction.  Our second reading this morning is from the 12^th chapter of First Corinthians.  Although we call this letter “First Corinthians,” Paul wrote at least one letter before this one to the church at Corinth.[1]  This is simply the first one that has been preserved.  From the structure of the letter, we may infer that Paul was responding, sometimes on a point-by-point basis, to questions that had been raised by the Corinthians themselves.  We don’t have the Corinthians’ letter, but from Paul’s answers we can make an educated guess what were their concerns.  Among other things, there seems to have been some dispute within the church about the relative importance of the various gifts of the Spirit given to the members of the church. 

By “gifts[2] of the Spirit” we mean such things as prophecy, healing, administration, miracle working, and speaking in tongues.  In our reading for this morning Paul lists some of these gifts[3]; but since the letter has other, different, listings, we may assume that Paul’s lists are not intended to be exhaustive.[4]  Apparently, some of the Corinthian Christians considered their spiritual gifts to be more important than others; this led them to look down upon their fellow church members, who in turn probably developed a sense of inferiority and worthlessness.  Using a common figure of speech in the ancient world, Paul responded that the various spiritual gifts, and the members of the church, are like the different parts of one body.  All are necessary, equally important, and unified in the one body.  But for Paul this was more than a figure of speech.  For him the members of the church really were the body of Christ.[5]

Sermon.  Friends, I’m worried about our country.  Historians may correct me, but it seems that not since the days of “slave states” and “free states” have our institutions of government been so deadlocked.  I suppose this has come into sharp focus for me in recent days with all the discussion about the power of the filibuster in the United States Senate.  The legislative program of the Democrats, who had been perched very precariously atop 60 votes in the Senate—just barely enough to prevent a Republican filibuster—now have only 59 votes and will be subject to the threat of filibuster at every turn.  Not only legislation is being deadlocked in the Senate: confirmation of many presidential appointments is being delayed.  For example, President Obama’s nominee to head the Transportation Security Agency this week withdrew his candidacy because he has been blocked by one senator who fears the unionization of the agency’s employees.  At a time when the nation faces a constant threat of terrorist attacks, one of the main agencies designed to protect us goes without leadership.  The examples of obstruction are mostly on the Republican side these days but that is only because they are in the minority in Congress.  Democrats have done similar things when they were in the minority.  Representatives from both parties have been guilty of dragging their feet on confirming nominees for federal judgeships.  It is not unusual for a judicial nomination to remain stalled for a president’s entire term in office. 

There was a time when congressional leaders from the two parties could work together on major legislation.  It might not be pretty to see all the compromises being made, but at least the process resulted in legislation that attempted to address our problems.  Whether the Democrats or the Republicans are in power in Congress, we seem now to have become a nation divided down the middle between “red” and “blue” interests who see no common ground—no room for compromise—between their respective positions.  Whether legislation is good for the country seems no longer to be the point; politicians are concerned only with how they can deny their opponents credit for popular legislation or how to blame their opponents for unpopular laws, no matter how necessary for the common good.  Our political process seems to have become incapable of making hard decisions: the decisions just don’t get made.  Nothing happens. If the problems facing our country were not so challenging, this might not be such a cause for worry.  But we have some big problems.

People are losing jobs and homes and are seeking the protection of the bankruptcy courts in record numbers.  Our jails are filled to the bursting point, and the cost of housing all these prisoners is staggering.  Millions of persons do not have meaningful access to our healthcare system, and those of us who do are finding it harder and harder to pay for the healthcare we receive.  The cost of health insurance is a tremendous burden for our businesses to bear and may even hamper their ability to compete in the world market.  As a nation we have borrowed so much that our children and grandchildren will be paying the interest on our debt for most of their lives.  While our economic system is founded on the sound principle that people should be able to reap the benefit of their hard work and talent, increasingly it feels like the biggest economic players are able to continue collecting their millions, regardless of whether their business decisions are good or bad for the enterprise and the nation. 

On the far side of the world, we are ramping up one war even as we are trying to wind down another.  At home our infrastructure is crumbling: many sewer systems, bridges, and roads are dangerously in need of repair.  We continue to pollute our air and water.  Our dependency on oil holds us hostage to countries that are not our allies.  Old manufacturing jobs have been lost to lower-wage countries, but we are not replacing them with new manufacturing jobs—only more low-end service-sector jobs without health insurance and paying less than a living wage for a family.  We have no comprehensive policy on immigration and seem unable to enforce the rules that we do have.  Increasingly, the schoolchildren of America are falling behind their counterparts in other nations.  According to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, “The average young American now spends practically every waking minute—except for the time in school—using a smart phone, computer, television or other electronic device.”[6]  American companies have scaled back their research and development budgets because Wall Street demands a profit every quarter and does not reward long-term investment.  And how are our governmental leaders responding to these challenges?  With deadlock.  Gradually our country is losing ground to nations like China which seem to have a sense of unity and national purpose.

If only our national government were more like the church!  Not that the church is perfect.  Sometimes we forget to value all members of the body of Christ.  Sometimes we overlook that we are equally children of God.  Sometimes we forget that “when one member suffers, all suffer together, and that when one member is honored, all rejoice together.”[7]  Sometimes the politics within the national church resembles too closely the deadlock exhibited by our national government.  But at least Paul has given us a model of unity that convicts us when we stray too far from the ideal.  We know that the body of Christ is not healthy if the hand gets its way without considering the insight and contributions made by the foot.  The best decisions are those that seek to accommodate the interests and values of everyone in the body, especially those who seem least able or willing to advance their own positions.  In the church we should always be asking, “Is there someone who, for whatever reason, has not expressed an opinion about this matter?”  If so, we need to slow down and hear from them because God has given them a viewpoint and wisdom that we need in order to arrive at the best decision.  A good example might be the children and young persons.  I was struck when we were doing our planning for the renovations that when some insightful adults asked the children for their suggestions about the building, they raised up the environmental concerns, which we then did our best to address.  I’m not sure we would have focused on this issue unless they had been consulted.

Can you imagine what would happen at the national level if one political party, even though they might have a strong majority, paused to ask what viewpoint and wisdom the other party might have that would make the proposed legislation better for the people?  And what if the minority party were willing to cooperate, even though they knew the final bill would not be fully to their liking?  What if we, the voting public, considered compromise a virtue, rather than a weakness, and were willing to give both parties credit when important legislation is passed?

Our national government and our national denomination could learn some important lessons here at Central Presbyterian Church.  As a group you have learned how to get along with one another.  I don’t want to invite discord by saying this (especially since we’re having our annual meeting of the congregation as soon as this service is over!), but frankly I have been surprised by how few angry disagreements there have been within our membership.  I don’t think there has been even one.  You have learned important lessons about the value of our diversity and of our essential unity in Christ.  We appreciate the differing perspectives that each of us brings, and we exhibit our appreciation by careful listening to each other.  At the same time we have shown that we know how important it is collectively to make decisions and move forward, as best we can, in the direction that we think Jesus would have us go.  Even those in the minority have been able to stay a part of the body and to continue working where they feel most engaged.  Maybe we have not been called upon yet to grapple with some of the more difficult issues that face the church.  I admit that I have consciously avoided putting some of these issues before you.  I’m influenced by my legal training, which suggests that there is no need to decide questions until circumstances actually require them to be answered.  Even so, based on what I have seen so far, I believe we could handle the toughest issues in a spirit of love and respect.  That is what you have shown me.

There is no better day than the day when we elect our church officers to remind ourselves that although the body has many members, yet all the members, though many, are one body.  God has given each one of us important spiritual gifts.  If you don’t have a sense of what your spiritual gifts are, we have some materials in the church office that are designed to help you identify them.  Please ask us about this or ask a fellow church member to talk to you about your gifts; often our friends know us better than we know ourselves. 

Every spiritual gift must be used if the church, the body of Christ, is to thrive. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Quoted during the “charge” at the end of the service:  from the great 15^th century Christian mystic, Teresa of Avila:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good;
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.