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 January 21, 2010 Sermon: "A Vision and a Purpose" Scripture: I Corinthians 12: 12-31 Reverend Larry M. Gerber The church isn't like a one-person band. Many grandparents love to explain to the rest of the world how their children are geniuses or mini-Mensa miracles and we pretend to love to listen to them explain this. "Little Johnny started walking at 10 months and could say the alphabet by his first birthday!" "My Lucy could read The Cat in the Hat by age 3 and wrote her first letter to Grandma in kindergarten!" "You should see Andrew. He made all-district in baseball and basketball this year in middle school!" Another grandmother tops these comments when she brags about her granddaughter Kaitlyn. The youngster taught herself the drums at age 5 and picked up the guitar by 11. After playing supporting instrumental roles with a number of local New Jersey rock acts, she broke off on her own at 16 to form the band Just Kait. Just Kait is a band featuring, well, just Kait. She literally plays and records every instrument -- drums, bass and guitar -- and lays down her own vocal tracks as well. As a 17-year-old high-school senior, Kait released her first EP-length record last August. Kait is almost as impressive as the perennially hip Stevie Wonder. After signing with Motown Records at 11, he released his first single at 13. He also recorded a couple of instruments on his albums -- piano, bass, guitar, harmonica, drums, congas and bongos. And, oh yeah, he's blind. But none of this diminishes Kaitlyn's achievements. Last summer, Just Kait had two pop-culture accolades slapped onto her punk-pop single "Sick." MTV made the song a Discover and Download feature -- a publicity wildfire given to only the hottest new up-and-comers. In Just Kait's music videos, Kaitlyn changes her wardrobe, including glasses, hats and wigs, as she is filmed playing all three instruments in the band. Doesn't the word band imply a group of people coming together for a common purpose? As staggering as it is that someone who can't vote can make pop-music headlines, the "one-person band" genre is nothing new. We've seen it in popular artists from Prince and Paul McCartney to the weird bearded guy at the state fair simultaneously playing folk tunes on the accordion, harmonica, foot drums and between-the-knees cymbals. The church is so not like this band The point here isn't to bad-mouth Kaitlyn. What's she's doing is pretty cool. It's just that being a one-person band isn't what our text is all about. The problem in many churches is that there are too many people trying to play a whole bunch of instruments. This chapter's theme is that all of us are in the band, and we all have an instrument to play. The quality of the music depends on each of us, as individuals, using our gifts for the benefit of the whole. Today's scripture is about a body, not a band. Paul makes the point explicit: If the body were all eye it would be one gross monster of a body. The message in terms of Paul's image of the church reveals two distinct themes: the reality of heterogeneity and the necessity of homogeneity. Heterogeneity. Polla. Many. It's the overlooked word in this passage but is central to the idea that the body is supposed to be diverse. A church is many members. It isn't just the tithers or the leaders or the confirmed. Paul isn't talking about membership numbers here; he means people. And every one of the many matters. We are the church TOGETHER. Starbucks puts its employees through rigorous training to ensure that every venti, nonfat, no-whip, sugar-free Caramel Macchiato is precisely the same as the next. It wants loyal customers to get the same exact drink at the airport Starbucks as they do at the Starbucks in Sun City West. That kind of product uniformity is admirable in producing coffee, but it's awful in producing healthy ministry in our churches. If everyone were a visionary leader, nobody would complete a single project. If analytics weren't balanced by big-picture people we'd have paralysis by analysis. If everyone were administrative-minded and ministry conversations lacked input from the creative-minded, you'd have well-organized community missions that were irrelevant and boring. Without servants, nobody would count the offering or prepare the communion. Nobody would wash the dishes after a meal or greet people at the door. There would be no choir and the landscaping would be in shambles as well as the church buildings. You get the picture. So here's a theology question as anthropology. In light of the "many" members, are the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:28-30 exhaustive? Or are there more gifts than just those that appear in these passages? Are there as "many" gifts as there are members? Scripture lists other gifts: celibacy, hospitality, martyrdom, voluntary poverty. It's likely that people have spiritual gifts arranged by God's choice (v. 18) that don't get mentioned in the Bible. Musicianship. Arts and crafts. Compassionate listening. Reaching out to one in need regardless of the makeup of the person who is struggling. Giving good advice. The diversity is as big as the attendance. So Paul's vision of church is not a few one-person bands playing all the music. It's every member as minister. Co-creating the church and not consuming it. Investing and not just attending. Being the church ALL together! The word all shows up 13 times in this passage! So what's your point, Paul? Oh wait...this applies to all of us and not just the leaders? "John Lennon or Paul McCartney usually came up with songs and then taught them to George Harrison and Ringo Starr. But U2 collaborates to a degree that is rare -- a process that depends on the singular chemistry of the four musicians. Bono and guitarist the Edge bring ideas into the studio -- a title, the trace of a melody or a catchy riff -- then bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen join in the actual construction of the songs. The grueling give and take sometimes stretches for weeks as the musicians toss ideas back and forth, equal partners in the search for an emotion that seems fresh and deeply rooted." So are we a Beatles church or a U-2 church? Both were models for successful rock 'n' roll, but only one sounds like the more difficult but more inclusive route of the heterogeneity in this text. Homogeneity. This word has evoked considerable discussion in classes, books and evangelism seminars. Here's the problem. In "church-growth" literature, the Homogeneity Factor (i.e., similar socioeconomic background and values) is considered essential for growth. This is analogous to gathering all the toes together to form a "toe church" that doesn't have anything to do with a "foot church." This principle has allowed the church to become an integral part of the culture wars that have polarized America so badly throughout the last few decades. The apostle Paul discusses the idea of homogeneity within the ChristBody in terms of unity, shared vision and purpose. Being on the same page. Our churches often do ministry through teams, committees and boards. These aren't exactly synonyms for cohesiveness. Different gifts often lead to different agendas. The result can lead to disunity -- and one more horrible meeting to attend. It's easy to read this passage and nod at the abstract idea of unity. But ideas such as these concretely build unity. They help us live this text, not just read it. This kind of unity leads to other interconnectedness as well. Verse 26 reminds us, "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it." That is part of our ministry when we share joys and concerns. We may not know the person who is suffering or the one who is rejoicing, but we care and we share. Two things should be true of our Christian experiences: Our inner life needs to radiate outward, and what we radiate needs to be contagious. Christianity should be catching. In other words, God intended Christian faith to be an "inter-experience" and not just an inner experience. How many persons have you heard say: "I can be just as good a Christian at home as in church. Sorry - you need the "inter-experience" as well. Paul reminds us to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice (Romans 12:15 In describing a healthy church, Paul says it takes both diversity and unity. Heterogeneity and homogeneity. But here's one more thought to pull this all together. Spiritual gifts aren't the same as ministry needs in the church. At our Council on Ministries meeting this past Wednesday, Chairperson Joni Livengood posed a question and a challenge. Do your homework - go home and ask yourself: "What do you think the church needs to be doing. What do you see as the drive the church forward for Christ?" She asked the committee to bring their answers to the February meeting. So, I ask you this morning: "What are the needs of the church? What are your needs? How can we best be the church in our community?" Who has the "gift" of parking ministry, handing out programs, greeting people, seeking out visitors, singing in the choir? Certainly not all of us, but these things all need to happen, and they are all places where we should be serving. Serving in the church and living out of our giftedness. Do we, SHUMC, have a vision and a purpose? Are we the church TOGETHER? Yes or no you must also ask what we could be doing better. What is our strategy to be the church that God has called us to be - the church in action - many gifts one spirit. We are the church together, for Christ. Sources: Hilburn, Robert. "The songwriters -- U2: Where craft ends and Spirit begins."LosAngeles Times. August 8, 2004. Reprinted with permission at atu2.com/news/the-songwriters-u2-where-craft-ends-and-spirit-begins.html. On Just Kait: prlog.org/10277651-teenage-punk-rockprodigy-just-kait-selected-as-mtvs-discover-download-artist.html.myspace.com/justkait. On Stevie Wonder: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder. Ortberg, Nancy. "Ministry team diagnostics." Leadership, Spring 2008. |
