Epiphany 3, Year C
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21
"How many people here have taken a personality test? I’ll admit I’ve taken quite a few in my life, perhaps due to an innate need to classify and categorize the world around me. I’ve discovered that according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I am an ISTJ. This stands for Introverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging, and this type is often referred to as the Logistician. They tend to be realistic, responsible, traditional planners, but can sometimes be rigid or insensitive. According to the Enneagram, I am a Type 1—referred to as the Idealist, the Perfectionist, or the Reformer, depending on who you ask. According to the Western zodiac, I am a Taurus sun and Virgo moon, which means I can be calm and pragmatic or stubborn and fussy depending on what planets are where, and whether or not I’ve had my coffee that day. And finally, according to a Buzzfeed quiz I took a couple days ago, the Disney character I am most associated with is Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I won’t be elaborating on that result.
There are many ways that we can and do categorize ourselves, in an effort to understand who we are as individuals. We see many of our qualities as based in the experiences that shaped our lives and how we have handled those experiences. Collectively, that life experience informs our understanding of our personalities. My own early life, for example, was fraught with conflict and instability around me. Therefore now, in my adult life, I place great value on peace and stability. That all seems very straightforward. But that same child who sought peace and stability was also painfully shy and fearful of the world around him. That same child, if navigating adulthood only with those life experiences, would not be speaking in front of you today, and would certainly not be someone to whom an audience would care to listen.
We know that the twelve disciples Jesus chose were not particularly remarkable people when they were called. At least four—and possibly as many as seven—were fisherman. One was a tax collector. As for the rest, we do not know, but there is no indication that these men were powerful, influential, or even particularly skilled. Because of the revolutionary nature of Jesus’ message, few of the people he attracted to him were people we would think of as extraordinary. Jesus’ public ministry on earth also probably only lasted about one to three years before his crucifixion. So how did this highly localized, brief ministry, soon to be led by unremarkable men, grow to become the official religion of an empire, and eventually the largest religion on Earth?
In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit descends on about 120 followers of Christ gathered for the feast of Pentecost. It is described as a rushing wind with tongues of fire which rested on them, the fulfillment of the prophecy of John the Baptist: “I baptize you with water…He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” The baptisms of John by themselves were simply symbolic acts of self-purification. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a true spiritual transformation. Isaiah 11 speaks to the gifts that the Spirit of the Lord will bestow up on the Messiah, these being wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he speaks of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But the spiritual gifts that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 12 are distinct because of their focus; unlike what is described in Isaiah and Galatians, these gifts are not intended for us to direct inward. These gifts of apostleship, prophecy, teaching, miracle-working, healing, helping, guiding, and tongues are all specifically designed to grow the church. These are gifts which are distributed individually according to God’s will, but which must be exercised corporately to have real impact.
I would encourage everyone to read the first chapter of 1 Corinthians in conjunction with chapter 12, because it highlights the importance of Paul’s message of unity. He writes that “in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you—so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The church at Corinth had everything it needed to succeed, but throughout Paul’s ministry it was a constant source of concern because it was failing to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit wisely. Factionalism ran rampant, with some members allying themselves to Paul, or to Apollos, or to Cephas, as we today continue to ally ourselves with spiritual or temporal leaders, or with certain ideologies or movements. We can be a powerful force, but only together, and only through the Holy Spirit.
This is actually a relief if you think about it. What a tall order that sort of transformational, revolutionary change would be on our own. What a huge responsibility to see through the work that Jesus Christ began. But God neither asks nor desires that we try to do it all alone. God asks that we uplift our brothers and sisters in Christ, encourage the gifts they are given, and put aside our own ego. None of the work of building up the church can be done without the presence of the Spirit. None of the duty of spreading the Gospel can succeed if performed as an act of self-aggrandizement. We are to each do what the Spirit asks of us, we are to each credit the Spirit for the work it does through us, and we are each to offer support and encouragement to one another as we do it.
This is how the early church spread like wildfire. Discerning eyes sense the motive behind actions. When that motive is “to proclaim good news to the poor…to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” it is no wonder when so many come to Christ.
I encourage you all, if you have not already, to prayerful contemplate the gifts that the Spirit has bestowed upon you. I would also like you to remember that no gift of the Spirit is greater or lesser than any other gift. We must be cautious to avoid letting our individual gifts go to our heads, and just as cautious that we do not belittle our own ministries or those of others. As Paul says at the end of 1 Corinthians 1, “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
I have spent a long time figuring out who I am, and to this day I am still prayerfully listening to discern what the Holy Spirit asks of me. But I know God has called me to speak to you, to share how his word has guided and shaped my life. Perhaps God has called you to do the same, or perhaps he has called you to be a special witness to the needy, or to bring new believers into our fellowship, or to serve in the leadership of this congregation. The call may seem daunting at first. I was terrified the first time I stepped up to this lectern to deliver a sermon. But we must be willing to trust the Spirit to guide us. We must be willing to trust the people around us to support us. And we must proceed in our ministries with right intent—the glorification of God and the loving stewardship of his creation. God has chosen us not because we are already great, but because he knows the greatness he can work through us. Amen."