For The Common Good

Pentecost / June 12, 2011

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 / Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place.  And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages... so that each one heard them speaking in the native language of each... about God’s deeds of power.

I love the day of Pentecost.  The rush of a violent wind reminds me of Elijah standing on Mount Sinai waiting for the Lord to pass by.  It reminds me of the wind from God that swept over the face of the waters when the earth was still a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.  There’s something both terrifying and exhilarating about that wind that rushes over and sweeps through, and has the power to break and transform. 

And after the wind, tongues of fire appeared, resting on each person present.  Like the burning bush where Moses encounters the living God, this is not a fire that destroys.  It is a refiner’s fire that purifies.  It is the very presence of the Holy Spirit, making the very ground where the people are sitting holy. 

On that Pentecost morning, the Holy Spirit gave those gathered together the ability to speak in other languages – languages they certainly wouldn’t have known – so that all who heard, heard them speaking in their native language.  Imagine those from Mexico hearing Spanish, and those from Holland hearing Dutch, and those from China hearing Mandarin, and those from Zimbabwe hearing Shona, and those from the US hearing English.  It must have been an amazing and chaotic scene.  No wonder some sneered and said, “They must be drunk!”  And yet, those who were listening heard much about God’s deeds of power, and three thousand people were baptized that day.

That first Pentecost after Jesus was raised from the dead is marked by people speaking in diverse languages.   That day we call the birthday of the church is noted for diverse people gathering together from all over the known world – from Mesopotamia to the East, to the Island of Crete in the Mediterranean, to Rome in the West.  I am struck by the startling diversity of the early church; I’m saddened by the relative uniformity of most congregations today.

Pentecost is a day to celebrate diversity – a diversity began with creation.  God created plants and trees of every kind.  God created swarms of living creatures from birds to sea monsters to creeping things of every kind.  Just think of the diversity of wild flowers or of fish – of every color and size and kind.  And when the great flood came, Noah brought two of every kind into the ark to keep them alive, maintaining the diversity of creation.  In God’s eyes, diversity is a very good thing.  What a boring place the world would be if everything was the same!  The same is true in the church.  What a boring place the church would be if everyone was the same!

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians today, Paul writes that there are varieties of gifts, and diverse ways to serve, and many different activities – and all of these are given by one and the same Spirit.  To one is given the utterance of wisdom and to another the gifts of healing.  To one is given faith and to another the gift of prophecy.  To one is given the gift of working with children, to another a passion for leading worship.  There are varieties of gifts, diverse ways to serve, and many different activities.

The Corinthian church was an incredibly diverse church – with rich and poor, educated and uneducated, Jew and Greek, slaves and free, rough sailors and refined ladies.  And this led to all kinds of problems.  They couldn’t even gather at the Lord’s Table without problems, as some became drunk and others were given nothing to eat.  Paul is writing to a church in crisis!  Some thought that their gifts and talents were more important to the church than other gifts and talents, leading to jealousy, hurt feelings, and division. 

Unfortunately, throughout history, humans have thought this way.  From sibling rivalries – think of Cain and Abel! – to Hitler and his notion of the supremacy of the Arian race, some people have been marked as “better” than others. And the church is not immune from this tendency.

Paul is speaking into this tendency – this artificial hierarchy – this outright sin.  There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are diverse ways to serve, but the same Lord.  There are many different activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them.  It is one and the same Spirit who does all of this for the common good.  Imagine a church where everyone played the piano, but no one knew how to sing.  Or a church where everyone wanted to attend Sunday school, but no one could teach.  Or a church where everyone baked cookies for potlucks but no one knew how to cook a healthy meal.  Or a church where everyone wanted to preach but no one knew how to clean the toilets.  The church would be unbalanced; the church would be dysfunctional.  

The Spirit has given to each person gifts and abilities for the common good.  It is for the common good that some are leaders and others are followers.  It is for the common good that some are called to serve in worship and others are called to serve in the kitchen or outdoors or at Loaves and Fishes.  It is for the common good that the Holy Spirit has given each person different gifts and abilities.  And all of these gifts and abilities are important.

Perhaps, as you look across this congregation, you may be thinking, we aren’t unbalanced.  We aren’t dysfunctional.  Actually we get along pretty well with one another.  The situation you are describing doesn’t apply to us.  And I would respond: Praise God for that!  But...   Have you ever noticed something that needed doing and known you could do it and then thought so-and-so can do that better than I can, so I’ll leave it?  Or have you ever been asked to do something but said no because you didn’t think you were good enough for the task?  Have you ever thought, I’m not strong enough or smart enough or beautiful enough or skilled enough?  Or have you ever wished you were more like someone else?  Or, on the other side, have you ever thought you were the only one capable of doing the job right?  All of these are ways that we deny the gifts and talents God has given us.  All of these are ways we fail to embrace the diversity of creation.  All of these are ways we limit the power of the Spirit.

Paul writes, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  We have each been given different and diverse gifts and talents by the Holy Spirit for the common good.  Any time we deny the value of the gifts we’ve been given or think someone else’s gifts are better we do harm to the body of Christ.  Any time we embrace our God given gifts and seek ways to serve and be involved in the activities of the church or in mission to the world we are building up the body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit truly has given us a variety of gifts and diverse ways to serve for the common good.

This past week I went up to Loaves & Fishes for my first day of training as an interviewer.  The woman who was training me is currently unemployed and living on a shoestring budget.  She chose to use this time of unemployment to volunteer at Loaves & Fishes.  She knew she could relate to many of the people coming to Loaves & Fishes for food because she has been hurt by the economic downturn.  She didn’t say, I’m not good enough, or there must be someone more qualified.  She didn’t say I’m better than them; I have more important ways to spend my time.  She said, I can do that; I can help. 

What gifts have you been given by the Holy Spirit?  How is our Lord calling you to serve?  What activity has God activated in you?  Any time you are not using your Spirit-given gifts, any time you are ignoring our Lord’s calling on your life, any time you are suppressing the activities God has activated in you, then the body of Christ is not capable of functioning properly.  But if you use those Spirit-given gifts and listen for our Lord’s calling in your life, and act upon the impulses God has given you then we truly can work together for the common good.  And God has something for everyone. 

We are all children of God who have been blessed by the Holy Spirit and empowered to serve our Lord.  It is one and the same Spirit who is at work in all of us, baptizing us into one body, and empowering us to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.  It is one and the same Spirit who is working through us to transform the world.  So let’s invite the Holy Spirit to be powerfully poured out on us on this Pentecost Sunday.  Let’s be overwhelmed by that violent wind that has the power to transform.  Let’s invite those tongues of flame to purify us and make us holy.  Let’s work together for the common good.