Can’t We All Just Get Along?

1 Corinthians 12:3-14

May 11, 2008 – ©Rev. Dr. Linnea E. Carnes

Introduction

We have begun a new experience for our churches. Even though we have had combined worship services in the past two years, it was an occasional service, not continual. Each service was a one-time event. It was fun worshiping together.

It’s a bit like family gatherings. If you live at some distance from your family, and you go to visit once or twice a year, it’s easy to put up with the questions that are too personal, or the comments that are insensitive, or the things you don’t agree about, or the differences. You may be family, but you certainly don’t agree about everything.

However, if you move in together, it can be a bit harder to overlook some of their irritating habits. You will have to decide who does what in this new family arrangement. You may have to give up doing things your way. You have to try to get along – and that isn’t always easy.

Well, for these two months of May and June, our two church families have moved in together and will worship and share a meal together every Sunday. We know we are “family” since we are all a part of the Evangelical Covenant Church and we are brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet, there may be moments when some may not be sure they like this arrangement.

As we spend time together, talk with one another, learn about each other, we will become more comfortable. We will find our place in the family, and learn to get along.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit

Today we have come together to celebrate Pentecost, which in Jesus’ time was just a Jewish holiday. However, for Christians, Pentecost is both a celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit to God’s people and the beginning of the church.

Jesus’ last instructions to his disciples were to go to all nations and tell the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. They didn’t know how to do this and they didn’t think they were ready to take their message to people other than Jews. So they stayed in Jerusalem.

On Pentecost, God brought the nations to them in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit empowered Peter to tell them about Jesus. Many believed and were baptized that day. Then, after learning more about Jesus, they went back to their home countries and told others. The church was born and the good news spread.

When people today hear the word Pentecost they often think Pentecostalism – as in a worship service where people raise their hands, shout and even speak and sing in “tongues”. That kind of worship can be uncomfortable for people who have never experienced it.

On that first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down with a great wind and with tongues of fire. The disciples began to proclaim the wonders of God to people in languages they didn’t know. The disciples didn’t know what was happening. They must have been uncomfortable, perhaps even scared. The power of God can be frightening.

God gave them the ability to praise God in the languages of other people, so people could know the power of God.

Through the proclamation of the gospel in other languages, everyone knew that God was doing something wonderful that was for all people – people of all cultures, languages, nationalities, races, genders and classes.

The disciples thought that Jesus had come for the Jews. God made it clear that Jesus came for all people. Peter told them in Acts 2:21, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

God loves all people, and wants them to know him and love him too. So God gave the Holy Spirit to each person who trusts in Jesus. Therefore all who believe in Jesus Christ become a part of the family of God.

And that seems to be when the trouble begins.

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The Apostle Paul wrote 1^st Corinthians because quarrels and divisions had developed. In 1 Cor. 1:10 Paul wrote “I appeal to you brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.”

Paul was saying, “Can’t you all just get along?” Family disputes had arisen among the believers. Many issues had developed and threatened to split this new church. One of those issues concerned spiritual gifts–talents or abilities given to each believer by the Holy Spirit.

Paul couldn’t believe that these Christian brothers and sisters were fighting over who was the most spiritual. They were arguing about which of the spiritual gifts were most important in the church.

These were gifts, abilities, given to them by the Holy Spirit when they believed in Jesus Christ. These were gifts to be used to strengthen and build up the church. They were freely given to each person by God, and each person was to freely give them in service for others.

God decides which gifts to give each person. The Holy Spirit gives us the power we need to use these gifts for God. Rather than using their gifts for God and the good of the church, the Corinthian believers were arguing about whose gifts were the best and who was most important.

Suppose we have a big birthday party for all the children in the church. Each child is given two or three birthday gifts – gifts they really want. What would you think if the children started arguing about who received the best gift? Wouldn’t we tell them that these were gifts especially chosen for them because of who they are? Instead of arguing, they should just enjoy their gifts and even share them with others.

In 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Paul reminds them that “there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.”

Whatever gift we have been given, whatever we have been called to do for the Lord, in whatever way we serve God,

it’s all from God and for God.

One of my favorite stories is about a little boy who tried out for the play at his elementary school. He wanted very much to be one of the main characters in their play. His mother, however, was afraid he wouldn’t be chosen. So on the day the parts were given to the children, his mother baked some cookies and went to school to pick him up, in case he was really disappointed. The little boy came running out of school with great excitement. “Guess what, Mom, I’ve been chosen to clap and cheer.” [PreachingToday.com, “Chosen to Clap and Cheer”].

If your response to that story is to feel sorry for the little boy, then you missed the point. The point of that story is not that some roles are more important than others, but that everyone gets to do something they are good at. God wants us to do what we’ve been called to do for others with our whole heart.

· If God has given you the gift of encouragement, then clap and cheer for others.

· If God has given you the gift of prayer, then pray for others.

· If God has given you the gift of generosity, then give generously to others.

· If God has given you the gift of singing, then sing for others.

· If God has given you the gift of learning different languages, then use them to communicate with others.

· If God has given you the gift of serving, then serve others.

The Holy Spirit does not give anyone all the gifts and some people don’t end up without any gifts. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to all who believe in Jesus Christ.

All Christians have been given spiritual gifts, and all Christians are expected to use those gifts so that the body of Christ, the church, can show the world what the kingdom of God looks like.

Whatever gift God has given you, use it for the good of the church, the people of God, and for the glory of God.

Paul wrote, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” [1Cor.12:12-13].  

The body of Christ is made up of Korean Christians, Indian Christians, Pakistani Christians, Filipino Christians, German Christians, Hispanic Christians, Japanese Christians, African Christians, and Christians from places around the world that aren’t represented here.

The body of Christ is made up of rich Christians and poor Christians, of uneducated Christians and highly educated Christians, of men, women and children, of people of all sizes, colors, ages and classes.

· So, if God has called all these different kinds of people into the body of Christ, then we must need all these people.

· If God has given people different gifts to use in the body of Christ, then we must need all these gifts.

To think that anyone within the church is not needed, is to miss the point of what God is doing. To God, every gift and every person is important and has value in God’s kingdom. We need each other!

When we look at the way the world operates we see a model that looks up to some people and looks down on others. Some jobs are important and others are not. Some people are “better” and more needed than others.

Because of this, people try to prove they are better than others and do things that make others feel like they are less. Resentment and anger build up between people because of the way they treat each other. Arguments arise. Relationships are broken.

But in God’s kingdom, that’s not the way things work. The body of Christ, just like the human body, works best when we value and appreciate every part of the body.

We depend on our toes to work properly so we can walk. We need our fingers to do their job so we can type or button shirt or play piano or wash our face. Noses and ears are as important as elbows.

So every person and the gifts each has been given by the Holy Spirit is essential for the proper functioning of the body of Christ. We need each other.

We not only need each other, but we need to get along with each other.

Celebrate our God and our place in God’s family.

Since God gave us the church, and Jesus Christ is the head of the church, we need to keep our focus on him.

Follow Christ’s example of being a servant:

washing feet, feeding the hungry, encouraging the discouraged, welcoming the stranger, comforting the hurting, putting the needs of others above your own.

“God’s invitation to us is ‘Walk with me and help me serve others.’” [Leonard Sweet, Out of the Question… Into the Mystery (Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2004) 123]. Walk with me and help me love others.

The story is told of a man who went to a famous psychiatrist to discuss the best things he could do for his children. He made a list with categories for the best material things, the best education, good religious training, travel, culture, and social etiquette. The psychiatrist said, “All these are extremely important, but you have not named the most important thing you can do for your children.” The man wondered what he had not named. The psychiatrist replied, “The best thing you can do for your children is love their mother.”

The best way to teach children how to be loving persons is to model love, to live love in front of them, to teach love by our words and actions. [James W. Moore, At the End of the Day (Nashville, TN: Dimensions for Living, 2002) 73-74].

The best way to teach others about the love of Christ is to live it by our words and actions. The only way we can do that is by relying on the Holy Spirit to help us love others.

· So, celebrate the gifts God has given you as well as the gifts God has given others.

· Use the gifts God has given you for the good of others.

· And as Christ has loved you, love one another.

Then the world will say, “See how they get along with one another.”

Then the world will say, “See how those Christians love one another.” Amen.