Make Way for the Future … By Pledging

1 Corinthians 12:1-14

Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan

Today we finish stewardship season with the dedication of pledges for the next fiscal year which begins April first – commitments of talents, time, and finances. The Stewardship Team hopes each member of the church family has spent time and prayer considering their investment in St. Andrew Church for the year to come. As the final sermon in the Make Way for the Future series, you’ll hear part of Paul’s first letter to the Church in Corinth. Several parts of his letter begin with the words “Now concerning,” which scholars believe indicates Paul is responding to specific questions the Christians in Corinth had asked. Here in the 12th chapter apparently, he is responding to questions about spiritual matters.

You might remember, the statement, “Jesus is Lord,” was the first confession of the early church. Around that claim, the church formed, by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Corinthian congregation was composed of Jews and Gentile converts, enslaved persons and free, wealthy and poor. In addition, men and women had leadership roles. With all this diversity, naturally some power issues came up. Certain members, perhaps the ones with higher status out in society, were acting as if they were spiritually superior. The specific question to Paul seems to have been about the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues and interpreting those messages. People were acting as if those gifts meant they were spiritually more mature than others, and that they earned that superiority by their own faith actions. Paul was eager to correct their misconception. From the 12th chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, listen for the word of God.  

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.

Did you hear? Spiritual gifts are for the church. Believers are given gifts to make the church whole. Verse 7 is blunt. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for [what?] the common good.” Paul chose the word “gift” carefully. These are not merit badges you earn by holy behavior. They are gifts – granted without cost or anything given in return. Gifts are placed within a person by God; they are personal gifts but not private. That is, they are given to individuals but not for their private use. God implants gifts in response to the needs of the community. Your gifts of singing, teaching, encouraging, visiting, are not for your pleasure alone but because the church needs those very gifts. Paul is quite clear, the talents God has tucked into your being are for the shared wellbeing of the whole church. If you are going to have the worship service you are used to, you need someone to print the bulletin, someone to make sure the heat or air conditioning is working, someone to play an instrument, read scripture, talk about it, greet new people, pray. Could you have worship without these things? Yes, but the experience would be lessened; the church would be lessened. What this means is, God has placed needed abilities as gifts within you. If you decide not to share them, the wellbeing of the congregation is diminished.

In the Corinthian congregation, some people thought they were spiritual giants because they had the impressive gifts of speaking in tongues or interpreting. Today, the tendency is more likely that people are keeping their gifts to themselves. Curiously, Paul’s message fits both groups. Every ability or talent you have is a gift from God, which you are called to use for building up the church. No one’s gifts are unimportant, and no one’s gifts are more. Your gifts do not belong to you; they are for the church, which needs the full diversity of abilities and talents given to you. God placed spiritual gifts within you on purpose to strengthen your church.

So, God gifts everyone. No one is skipped when God hands out spiritual gifts. Let’s look at verse 7 again. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” Every one of us has talents needed for the wellbeing of St. Andrew Church. Now some of us may question whether we have useful gifts from God. If we can’t sing in the choir or run a meeting or pray with someone going into the hospital, we figure we don’t actually have spiritual gifts. But that is poppycock. Every one of us has talents and skills placed within us by God.

Remember Rev. Jane, who comfortably chatted with parishioners after meetings while her husband happily set the room back in order? Jane used to laugh that her husband’s epitaph would read: “Here lies James. He put away the chairs.” Is that a spiritual gift? Absolutely. The room needed to be fixed back; meanwhile people got to have relaxed conversation with their pastor, thanks to Jim.

Here at St. Andrew, people are sharing their gifts all the time for the common good. One patiently cuts up Communion bread every month; another shows up at 5 in the morning to replace the shrieking faucet in the kitchen; another weeds the gardens with the one who brings bromeliads to plant; others volunteer to put groceries in cars at All Faiths; while others make phone calls or drop by when they notice someone missed worship; and one prays daily for every person on the prayer list and her pastor; while another offers a word of encouragement; or sits with a newcomer; or makes the weekly deposit; or volunteers in the office when Kate is on vacation; and another notices those doing these things and takes time to thank them. Spiritual gifts. And that’s not even counting those we can see using their gifts to make music in worship, take the offering, serve brunch, count money after worship, take out chairs for Lunch in the Garden, lead contemplative prayer, or run meetings. Together our gifts are making St. Andrew the faithful, witnessing, meaningful, generous congregation we trust to be here. If you are holding back, we are missing something. Everyone needs to be using their spiritual gifts because God placed gifts in each one of us.

So, everyone needs to pledge. We are a community of diverse people, interconnected by our gifts, our commitment to God, and our commitment to each other. Our pledge matters. In thinking into the future, the leadership needs to know what our giving will be. The practical side is, we need to know if the air conditioning acts up, will we have $10,000 for replacement or only $800 for a stopgap repair? Can we budget a fulltime new minister? If we don’t give an estimate of giving, how is the Stewardship Team to know how to plan?

But more important than the practical side is the faith side. We need to pledge because we need to consider our commitment to Jesus Christ, to God, and to this community of faith. God showers us with blessings every day – not just material things but trusted friends and the joy of life. We are loved by our Creator more than we can imagine. Our mistakes and failings, even our worst sins are forgiven. We heard it just a few weeks ago – “You shall be called My Delight is in Her.” (Isaiah 62:4) Hear it? God delights in us. So of course, we commit talents and finances to God’s church in gratitude.

Think of what the church is. Not the building, but the community of faith that is St. Andrew United Church of Christ. A community of faith gives us a group and a place to ground our religious life. Here we can worship, offer our prayers and praise, while we learn from others’ expressions. St. Andrew Church helps us learn the faith; it strengthens and stretches us. We find nourishment, fellowship, and challenges here. We are also helped to witness to our commitment to Jesus Christ. Through the church we can spread the word of God’s unconditional love for each person by our welcome, by our service out into the community, by our willingness to talk with others about our faith. And through St. Andrew we are able to help those Jesus called the least. Our outreach shows God’s love for all and allows us to serve. All of these reflect various facets of what church is. Christ’s church exists to love and serve the world, responding to the love God pours out on us. How fortunate we are to have St. Andrew, so of course, we need to pledge.