The week after Christmas presents a problem that you don’t have at any other time of year. On the floor in my room is a pile of presents that I have not yet been able to categorize. So I have piled them there while I think about how what place to store them. I got new luggage tags with signs like ‘Dirty Clothes Suitcase’. This is the kind of gift you don’t want to just put away. You could easily put it in the wrong place. So it takes about a month to get rid of Christmas.
Spiritual gifts are the same way. Some of our gifts can be real problems. Most people assume that their weaknesses are the source of their troubles. Some of you are not good at numbers. You realized early on that you have a tendency to think that one plus one is three. You assume that this is your life challenge. Actually, people deal creatively with their weaknesses. Some of you will pay every bill early because you are afraid of making a numbers mistake. Some of you will marry someone who’s good at numbers.
Paul says in today’s Bible reading that our real problems can be caused by our strengths, not our weaknesses. So at this season when we are trying to figure out how to deal with our gifts, I thought that this is a good morning to reconsider our spiritual gifts too.
Paul starts many letters with the words ‘grace’ and ‘peace’. Last week, I can’t tell you how many times people said ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. Even strangers on the street said it several times. And there is a joy during those last days before Christmas and it is good to hear those words even though they are repeated so many times. Grace and Peace are words like that. They are common, but Paul uses them to remind us of good things. They remind us that God supplies every Christian with the basic tools to live successfully – power and gifts to do something meaningful in life and keep up with the challenge of living, and peace which comforts us and assures us that our relationship with God is strong.
Then Paul starts to work on the idea of gifts. The Corinthians were a church with troubles. Paul immediately affirms who they are and that the gifts that are causing them so much trouble are a part of their blessing. In verse 2, Paul says, you are all called and dedicated and I want you to live up to the new life you have received. People who are sanctified are people who are dedicated to a certain task. Fire fighters are sanctified to the task of fighting a fire. Imagine how the world would function if a fire truck pulled up outside your house and looked at the fire and said’ ‘That’s really larger than the fires we handle.’ At that moment, a room collapses and you wave outside the 3rd floor window and they drive away rapidly to protect the truck.
That is a problem with Christian life. We have been changed and dedicated to a new work. Of course the Christian experience brings peace and power to your life. Paul assures you of that. But it is also a change to a task that God dedicates you to doing. You join God in setting the world right. And just like unsanctified fire fighters, some Christians drive up to the fire and look at it, and say, I better get out of here. That is not one of the answers. Paul calls people to live up to the call of God.
We had a volunteer dinner here three weeks ago to highlight the importance of stepping forward and offering a ministry as part of your Christian experience. It was a beautiful time. But friends, I want to speak to each of you who is not offering an hour a week in ministry through the church. We need your hands and feet. Sunday morning attendance is good but it is not sufficient for the sanctified task to which you have been called.
I believe there are people here who are called to start ministries that we do not have now. Why can’t we have a support group for parents with kids in other countries, a a group to visit a nursing home once a month, a group to go to Rikers Island 4 times a year, a group to do an afterschool outreach once a week in the evening, a prayer meeting on Thursday nights?
Those are examples to call to your heart. Some of you do not have the gifts to start something, but you may see something already operating that can use one more pair of hands. We so much need more Sunday School teachers, Small Adult Group leaders, and choir members. We need a host of volunteers to reach out to school families and offer spiritual ministries. We need a growing choir to build our strength as a church with a special music ministry. Our music budget is about $40,000. That is the kind of support we offer to you if you have interest in music ministry. Use your spiritual gift.
Churches tend to have two conditions. One church has harmony and fellowship but also not enough people are using their spiritual gifts. That kind of church usually wants the pastor to do more and the people observe. Of course the church has fellowship because people are not invested enough. The second church condition is where people are volunteering all over the place and hoping for special mention and getting their name to stand out. Those churches are full of ministry but threatening always to divide.
Paul says we can have a church that is strong and gifted and people are investing in it and yet it doesn’t fly apart with jealousy and pettiness. That is the calling we have at Community Church.
As your pastor, I want to say that I feel tremendously supported. There was an outpouring of love for me at Christmas this year. Thank you to each of you. I was unusually touched by your feelings. And many of you are already involved in more than an hour a week of ministry through the church. But I want to call those of you who have not yet gotten that part to work to try again. We are going to have a Nominating Committee meeting in January. The work of the Nominations Committee is to set people free for ministry. I want you to each take the sheet of paper in your program and write down one ministry you wish that the church had. If you currently only involved on Sunday, then I want you to also write down one ministry that you would like to do or one ministry that you would like to be asked to do. And then if you feel ok to do it, I would also like your name and email address.
Getting your spiritual gifts right is just like the Christmas presents you got last week. Some gifts take some getting used to. You may have gotten something in the wrong size or even something that had to be returned.
But grace and peace have been given to you so that you can be dedicated to God’s great task of setting the world to justice and peace. Make your New Year’s resolution today to be sure you are doing the work for which you are dedicated.
