“Gifts of the Spirit” – I Corinthians 12:4-13 – May 18, 2008

If you are a Cincinnati Reds fan you probably heard that one of their players batted out of position in a game recently. How could a professional baseball organization make such a serous mistake? That might happen to the Bad News Bears, but to the Reds? The other morning I read that Cincinnati had lost another game. In that game, their star player, Ken Griffey Jr., dropped a fly ball. Griffey only makes $13 million a year, but even he makes mistakes. The Reds are in last place in their division; go figure. Could it be that they lack team spirit?

There is something explosive that happens when a team, or group, or an organization is driven by spirit. It’s when the atmosphere is positive, where a “can do” attitude exists in the heart of every participant. It’s when everyone is focused on a unified goal, not just winning as in sports, but a mission that benefits the common good. It is also where everyone is included, from the most silent, behind the scenes individual, to the most charismatic leader.

When that kind of spirit exists people are on fire. They get excited and their enthusiasm is contagious. I never cease to be amazed at the electricity in the Ohio State Horseshoe on game day. How can the Church generate that same kind of spirit? We have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit but those of us in mainline Christianity have dropped the ball. Perhaps we are afraid of it. Perhaps we have become too dignified and controlled to let the Spirit of God flow through our lives. Or maybe we believe that the Holy Spirit only applies to out-of-the-box, holy groups.

The power of the Holy Spirit is the most mystifying, most misunderstood and most abused phenomenon in the Church. Here, in the letter to the Church at Corinth, Paul, was attempting to set the record straight. The church folks at Corinth believed that everyone should be like them. They had developed a "club" mentality that had certain requirements. If you didn’t play by their rules, dress like them, act like them, or talk like them, you didn’t belong. Paul was encouraging the Church at Corinth to be more diverse. He argued that their strength would be in their diversity, embracing a multitude of talents. Paul warned against any one individual thinking that he/she was better than anyone else. One of the primary downfalls of the Church at Corinth was the fact that everyone was doing their own thing. They weren’t connect and they weren’t in sync.

What makes the church unique is that we are not all the same, but different. Some of us are more driven than others. Some are just simply "laid back," taking life as it comes. What makes us interesting is the fact that we come from different backgrounds, different families, different communities and each of us has individual talents that are unique. But in spite of all our differences we are still all part of the Church and everyone has the Holy Spirit within them.

In the very first church that I served there was an elderly woman named Alice. Alice was poor. She lived in the same house all her life. She never married. When I visited her for the first time I noticed that in her kitchen she still pumped water from a hand pump. I also learned from someone in the church that Alice did not have a bathroom in her house until the late 1970’s. Alice didn’t drive a car. But, Alice was in church every Sunday. She sat in the front row. She took notes of my sermons and then she sent church bulletins with notes in them to parishioners who were home bound. She also sent birthday cards and cards for special occasions. This was Alice’s ministry. She didn’t have a lot of resources but she gave what she had.

If you hear anything today, hear this; the Holy Spirit of God is within you. No group, no team, no Church has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit. I frequently hear of folks in churches lamenting over the good ole days, when they had lots of young people and Sunday school classrooms were overflowing. Times have changed, but that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit has abandoned us. Have you ever observed the enthusiasm of the children here at St. Paul’s, who literally run down the aisles when its time for the children’s sermon?

The Holy Spirit is not age specific. God’s spirit is in all of us. The problem is that fear, pride, or failure be holding it back. Hank Aaron never led the major league of baseball in batting average or home runs in a single season. He was, however one who struck out more than most other players. But Aaron was persistent and kept hitting. He broke Babe Ruth’s home record of 713 and eventually hit 755.

The Holy Spirit is within us but we have to keep hammering away. Just because we stumble, fall or strike out, does not mean the Holy Spirit will lie forever dormant. Like every little child who wants to play baseball they need to be given a chance. When I tried out for little league baseball I failed miserably. My self-esteem suffered but it just meant I hadn’t found my niche. Sometimes our talents are hidden until they have the opportunity to grow.

Paul addressed a congregation that was dominated by a few folks who were super talented. Consequently many of them were discouraged, their talents unrecognized. Paul admonished the folks at Corinth who boasted of their abilities. What they failed to realize is that their individual greatness was divisive not unifying.

The emperor penguins of Antarctica know the importance of teamwork. They huddle together by the thousands, providing enough warmth to survive the brutal, freezing weather. They take turns monitoring the outside of their giant huddle, on the lookout for danger or food. After one of the penguins finishes “perimeter duty” it moves to the inside of the group where it can rest and keep warm. The penguins could not survive if they didn’t rotate and take turns keeping each other warm. Every penguin contributes to the whole group. No one is less important than any other.

We can learn from the penguins. Teamwork enables us to survive. The more difficult the conditions the more important it is for us to band together. Maybe we don’t need to share warmth, but we might need to share our vision, our ideas and our encouragement.

Thomas Edison is viewed by many as a genius, because of all his famous inventions. While it is true he labored for long hours in his laboratory he was not alone. Edison kept a large team of forty to fifty men, working on as many as forty-five inventions at a time. His associates took turn sleeping, but everyone contributed to the goal of inventing things. Edison may have been a genius but his real genius was in sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm and delegating his efforts to others.

Paul wanted the Church at Corinth to understand that their individual talents meant nothing unless they benefitted the whole community. When a church, or any group of people for that matter, works together for the common good, great things can happen. Every believer has some gift to offer the faith community. We are not in competition and no one’s gift is greater than another.

Every church is different. One of our primary missions here is our weekly radio broadcast. It reaches thousands of people and we often hear feedback from people in the community. A couple of weeks ago I attended a retirement ceremony for a colleague in Troy. Troy is about 20 miles from Sidney. A few of us went out for dinner afterwards. One of the men in our group was a police officer in Piqua, which is about 12 miles from Sidney. During the meal he said, “You and I have never met but I know a lot about you.” I was a bit confused and asked him what he meant by that. He said, “I have been listening to your radio program for over 10 years. I have been listening while I am on patrol on Sunday mornings.”

I realize it is my voice on the broadcast but our weekly radio program is supported by the entire congregation. There is a high school student who works behind the scene every Sunday, recording and editing the program. Many folks in the congregation support the program with their financial gifts. It is also the primary way our home bound population keeps in touch with the happenings of the church.

We all have spiritual gifts. Some may be more visible than others. But, when linked together, we are a congregation that is teaching, healing, leading, encouraging, comforting, inspiring and loving the community in which we live. What holds us together is not because there are famous people or heroes in our midst but our baptism. In other words, the glue that holds us together and makes us a spirit-filled people is our faith in Jesus Christ.

As Paul said, “For in 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.” Ethnic distinctions or social class do not divide us. There is no we/they when our common link is our baptism. The power of the Holy Spirit is something we all share.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio