Stewardship Season: Who are We as St . Andrew?

Sermon by: Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan

Scripture: Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Scholars tell us Corinth was a diverse city, and the Christians who gathered for worship and service were also quite diverse. They rejected typical social barriers, forming a church of both Jewish and Gentile believers. Apparently, women had leadership as well as men. Wealthy and poor, even enslaved persons were part of the church. People from very different social strata, who would have had no interaction out in public, came together at the equivalent of St Andrew United Church of Christ, Corinth. 

However, divisive squabbles erupted over, of all things, who was the most spiritual. So Paul decided he needed to intervene. Certain people were speaking in tongues as part of the worship time. Scholars disagree exactly what Paul meant by “speaking in tongues.” Sometimes he seems to mean angelic languages, other times an overflowing of the spirit resulting in bursts of babble, and other times miraculously speaking in a human language the person had never learned. In any case, tongue-speakers were considered spiritually superior to everyone else, as if the Holy Spirit rewarded spiritual maturity with the best gift. So tongue-speaking indicated a special blessing, and thus they gained authority in the congregation. No wonder when Paul heard of the situation, he was eager to correct such balderdash. Tongue-speaking was not more valuable than the gift of healing arts or hospitality or generosity. Please read 1 Corinthians 12:1-14.

Every person has gifts. God tucks unique abilities into each individual. Our faith tells us that every human in the world matters, because our Heavenly Parent has attended to the creation of each person, on purpose. God breathes the divine breath of life into the smelly person in the grocery line, the bishop of the Diocese of Venice, and the woman calling SPARCC today for help. Everyone has received God’s breath within them. Which means every person exists as part of God’s purpose; No one is expendable. Each is blessed by God with their own unique traits as part of the divine plan for humanity. And what a great plan, because with all those distinct people, God creates a wildly diverse world. Anyone who gets bored should just go meet a new person and discover the specific gifts God has placed within them.

Meet Mrs. Sanders, for instance, a widow living in Nashville, Tennessee. On Sundays, in her big purse, there is always candy, so all the children predictably gather round just before church begins. But Mrs. Sanders’ best gift is seen when she takes each face in her hands. “Look how tall you are getting,” she’ll say to the boy who gets in trouble at school. “I bet you are a great help to your Momma over vacation.” To the little girl in the hand-me-down dress she says, “How beautiful you are today. I think that is the prettiest dress I have ever seen.” She bubbles with excitement around each child, and they are blessed by her love. God has given Mrs. Sanders a tremendous gift of being able to build up the self-image of each child in the congregation. 

Such characteristics are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Within each person, God places a spiritual presence – gifts of the Spirit. Sometimes they are effervescently obvious; and sometimes more subtle, needing to be drawn out, but everyone has them. God makes sure of it. Each person on the face of the earth, touched by the Spirit. Every person has divine gifts.

Which is great news because a healthy church requires everyone’s gifts. The well-being of any congregation depends on every person’s gifts being used. The diversity we find within every church, has a purpose. Our communal health is determined by whether we mutually share our spiritual gifts. Whatever traits God places within us are needed for our shared faith life. Our diversity enriches us. Let’s think of the church as a living organism. If we immediately recognize the importance of the brain and the heart, we might instantly think of how important it is for some people to give administrative leadership to the congregation; important that some people are able to share large financial gifts; important that some are able to guide our spiritual life. But the truth is, every quality is needed, even if we feel our gift is insignificant. 

If we continue to think in organic terms, consider the pituitary gland. Most of us have never seen one, but it’s there, buried in the brain, a gland the size of a pea. Who would think its role could be important? But the medical people among us can report that the pituitary gland is essential for a body’s health. This crucial part of the endocrine system regulates hormone production in the other glands. These other glands know how to produce hormones, but the pituitary gland tells them when to start producing them and when to quit. Without the pituitary gland, the rest of the endocrine system wouldn’t know what to do when.  (1)

A pea-sized gland regulates the well-being of our whole body, without our even noticing it, unless it malfunctions. Ah, there is the key. Unless it malfunctions. When a part isn’t doing what it was created to do, the whole body suffers. A fitting analogy for the church. Our individual abilities are for the welfare of the whole church body. If we hide our gifts because we don’t think they matter, the church lacks the gifts we were created to offer. Martin Luther King Jr. said it well: “…all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny.”(2) In other words, we are made to be interdependent. Our gathered gifts serve the common good. Everyone’s gifts are needed for the welfare of the whole church.

So stewardship season provides discernment time. These weeks encourage us to focus on St Andrew and our place here. We are long time members, and some who have no interest in formal membership, and others who are quite new to St Andrew. Twelve of us have joined during Covid-induced livestreaming. Our reality is always changing. No matter what else, we know we can’t go back to what worked 20 years ago, or even 5 years ago. We can’t even go back to pre-covid church, expecting that to be our identity now. Of course, we don’t throw out our history, but we live here now. 

So, admitting change is always happening, who are we as St Andrew for now? Clearly, we are committed followers of Jesus Christ, who love each other. We are also a congregation deeply concerned about social justice. And we are absolutely committed to mission beyond our walls. 

Stewardship season allows us to think about our individual connection to St Andrew; the stewardship of our time, talents, finances, and service. Most of us are used to stewardship season being about our finances, which is accurate. We do need to reflect on what our monthly spending statements indicate are the most important things in our lives. Stewardship season is also our use of time, talents, and service at St Andrew. We each might think about what we think St Andrew is up to now and reflect on how St Andrew needs the gifts we have individually. 

In one country Methodist church, the congregation wanted to build an education building, with a kitchen and fellowship hall, but they decided to try to do it debt free. People agreed they would pledge the money and when they got the full amount pledged, they would begin. One member, who was always a nay-sayer, argued they could never raise all that money, but when people kept encouraging him to pledge, he finally said, “All right, you raise all the other money, and I’ll give the last $100.” Of course, that stimulated the congregation all the more to make pledges and have bake sales and a Christmas Bazaar. And they raised all but $100 of the cost. And the nay-sayer put in the last $100. Everyone’s gifts are needed. Stewardship season allows us time to consider who St Andrew is now and to discern our commitment to St. Andrew.

During stewardship season, we consider the Church and our gifts. We can’t all be Mrs. Sanders or even Mr. Nay-sayer, but we have needed gifts. So think about how God is calling us to grow and mature in the faith as a congregation. How is God calling us into new paths of service for the world? The gifts are among us, enabling us to accomplish whatever purposes God lays before us. We are part of the Body of Christ on earth, filled with manifestations of the Holy Spirit, for God to use for the common good.

1 Information from Dawn Mulligan, R.N., shared 8 July 2009, from James Crouch, Functional Human Anatomy, 4th edition.

2 Martin Luther King, Jr., “A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., ed. James Washington (Harper Collins, 1986), 254.