Gifts for the life of the world

It is not uncommon for societies to be stratified, to have a hierarchy consisting of a small group at the top and everyone else at the bottom. The Roman Empire that Jesus and Paul lived in was like that. The Emperor and his family and friends were at the top. Roman society consisted of small numbers of people at the top, small “middle classes” of various sorts, descending to a large class of poor people at the bottom. In addition, Roman society was patriarchal, with an idea man at the top followed by lesser versions of manhood and beneath all the men, women, children and slaves. In this stratified society everyone knew their place and knew who was above them and who was below. These two standards, gender and wealth could make things a little complicated, for example a rich woman might out rank a very poor man.

This was the larger society that the church in Corinth existed. Corinth was evidently a diverse place- ethnically, religiously and culturally. The apostle Paul was writing to this church only about 20 years or so after Jesus death and resurrection. It’s difficult to date Biblical texts exactly, but it is important to remind ourselves how new the church Paul was writing to actually was. People in Corinth were struggling to figure out how to be the church and how to follow Jesus. Unlike us, they don’t have the benefit of centuries of good and bad examples.

The First Letter to the Corinthians is written in response to a letter the Corinthians sent to Paul. We don’t have that letter and so we need to be careful when we read Paul’s response. We don’t want to assume we know exactly what was going on and what the concerns were. It appears that the church has slid back into culturally accepted norms- assuming the fully left Roman norms in the first place.

Last week and this week, the lectionary takes us to 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Take a moment and read 1 Corinthians 12, here. But just before this chapter, Paul offered instruction and advice about the Lord’s Supper. It seems that the hierarchical values of Roman society had affected the celebration of the celebration and meal. Then in chapter 12 Paul continued the task of breaking down the cultural, and social hierarchical norms and reminded the Corinthians of Jesus’ alternative way of living. He reminded them they were once pagans and led astray, but now that they proclaim Jesus is Lord, they are part of a new way of being. They have a new allegiance. To say Jesus is Lord is to also say that Caesar is not Lord. It was a deeply political statement. It was, and continues to be, a statement that disallows the division of the world into sacred and secular arenas. “…no one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit”.

First, Paul talked about gifts. This is not the only list in the New Testament. If you look carefully, the lists don’t exactly match up¹ I suspect Paul isn’t telling us that there is a finite list of gifts, rather he says there are a variety of gifts and then gives us examples. But one thing is clear, all gifts are given by the Spirit.

Spiritual gifts are not given to us for our own use. They are to be used for the well being of others. We not only recognize our gifts and function in the body of Christ but also we recognize and affirm the gifts and calling of others.

Often we forget to link the discussion of spiritual gifts with the discussion of the Church as one body in Christ. But these two ideas belong together. In his letter, Paul moves directly from discussing spiritual gifts to how each of us fits into the church as the body of Christ. Paul undoes the expected hierarchy of roles. He describes a church where all have equally valuable roles. There are different gifts, and different roles, different capabilities, and different tasks but everyone has something to offer. Everyone matters. Everyone contributes. In fact the “weaker”, “less honorable”, “Less respectable” members are indispensable and deserve “greater honor” and ‘greater respect”. This was directly counter to the way Roman society functioned. And if you think about it, this is also counter to how American culture functions. One could say, along with Paul, that diversity, equity, and inclusion are Christian values.

The Holy Spirit is the one who gives varieties of gifts and varieties of service. God decides, not human culture. Everyone who says Jesus is Lord, has a role in the church, and secular assumptions, about who belongs and who can do what, are gone. Paul writes, “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 Greek, slaves or free- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” (1Cor 12:12-13). Galatians 3:28 gives a slightly different statement of unity in Christ. Again, the point is not to create a bounded list of who is in or out. The point is the wideness, the depth and breadth- the equity, diversity and inclusion- of unity in Christ. The kin dom of God is not a meritocracy.

Paul’s message is of diversity and interdependence and inclusion. It is a message about the value of every human being. This isn’t lip service. “On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable…” (v22)

This vision of community is the church’s gift to the world. I am increasingly convinced that one of the things the church is supposed to do is model Jesus’ alternative way of life for the world. We are to do and be a visible witness of this way of life. We are to be the examples of life in the kin dom of God. The Church does not exist apart from the world. The Church exists for the life of the world.

We are called to use our gifts for the world. We are called to work for a world that increasingly looks like the kin Dom of God -even though the full realization must wait for Jesus to return. Proclaiming and living into the good news of God’s kin dom, can upset the status quo and it can upset people at the top of the hierarchy. But we will be in good company. Paul and Jesus had their detractors and enemies.

Nevertheless, Jesus comes for the life of the world. The Church, as Christ’s body exists for the life of the world. The question for us is, will we exist for the life of the world?

1. In addition to 1 Cor 12:7-11 and 1 Cor 12:28-31, see also Rom 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Peter 4:10-11 ↩︎