How many of you can remember building things when you were little? At my house we had Lincoln logs and tinker toys and cedar blocks, and I could spend all day building houses. I always envied the kids who had Meccano sets, you know, the metal strips with holes in them that you could put together with nuts and bolts. And another big treat was spending the day with my dad in his workshop, building doll furniture or putting together model cars. I didn’t care two hoots about cars, you understand, I just liked putting all the pieces together.
Some of the stuff they have nowadays puts all those things to shame. Lego’s are a positive addiction. I know adults who still play with them. I didn’t think you could beat Lego’s until my godson Ted got a set of K’nex for Christmas. I don’t know what you’d call them, they’re not blocks - all kinds of parts that fit together - have you ever seen those? We had a project to build a tower taller than I am, about five and a half feet, and it had moving parts, pulleys and balances and so on, so that if you dropped a ball in at one end it would run through various chutes and set other things in motion; one of the things it did was make a little man on a ladder climb up the tower. Well, Ted’s grown out of it now, more’s the pity, because I haven’t.
I still like making things, but without the god-kids to inspire me I stick more to needlework., the smaller and pickier the better. Not everyone gets as much fun as I do out of putting things together. Maybe some of you would rather tinker with an engine or build a collection or plan a dinner party. Maybe your creativity is invested in building a family or a business, designing a database, coaching a team or arranging a song. But it seems to me that there is in every one of us a deep-seated desire to create, to build or make something new, something that has our very own stamp on it. That’s what’s behind the incredible popularity of craft stores. It just astonishes me, every time I go up to Michael’s to buy yarn or beads how many different kinds of crafts people are into nowadays.
Some of you may not have had the chance really to explore your creativity, but I do believe that it’s an important part of every one of us.
Anyway, whatever it is that gets your creative juices flowing, there’s a process involved. There’s a plan, there are parts, there’s a beginning and an end. And I don’t just mean an end as in "It’s finished, I can stop now." No, I mean an end as in purpose, that is, what is it for? To what end am I investing all this time and effort? What is it supposed to be or do? And once you have that answer in mind, there are a whole lot of other questions that come scrambling along in its wake. What size should it be? What parts do I need? How much room will it take, how much time, is there a blueprint? It can get to be a pretty complicated process, trying to put all these parts together. But of course that’s what makes it interesting.
Well, in case you’ve ever wondered where that creative impulse comes from, wonder no more. That fundamental urge is one of the ways in which we are most like God. Dorothy Sayers, the famous theologian who was also the author of the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novels, wrote a book called The Mind of the Maker, about the creativity of God, in which she points out that the only thing that is said in context about the original of which we are the image is "God created." She therefore concludes that "the characteristic common to God and mankind is apparently... the desire and ability to make things."
As soon as we stop to think about it, it becomes obvious, doesn’t it. God is the Master Builder, the Architect of the Universe, the maker of heaven and earth as Christians in every age have said from the very beginning, in our earliest creeds. He is eternally creating and recreating us, and all things, new every day. And when we take up our tools and start putting things together, we are close to being our most God-like. (Not the closest - the closest, I believe, has to involve relationship - but close.) God chose to make us in his image, and to be creative is to be like God. And Jesus echoed that theme of building in Matthew 16:18 when he said to Peter, "...on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." [Mt 16:18] That’s pretty exciting, when you stop to think about it. We are the raw materials, the ingredients, out of which Jesus is building his master project. We were designed by God to be used as "living stones [to] be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, [in order] to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." [1 Pet 2:5] How does that happen?
How does that happen? How does Jesus build his church? How does the Holy Spirit transform this motley crowd of hangers-on and wannabees into a holy place fit for God to live in?
The first thing he does is to put us in our assigned places. But he also makes sure his people have the abilities needed to function in the places where he’s assigned them to be. Another way of saying that is that Jesus - through the Holy Spirit - gives his people gifts. These are spiritual gifts, spiritual qualities, that are bestowed upon us in addition to the initial gift of the Holy Spirit that enables us to respond to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Unlike the gift of the Holy Spirit himself, however, these specific resources may be given only when we step out in faith to accept a call which God has given to us, and we discover to our surprise that God has equipped us beyond our natural abilities to carry out that call. On the other hand, some gifts are simply built into our personalities ready to be used as we follow God’s basic instructions on how to live the Christian life. Some gifts are showy, some gifts are subtle. Some gifts operate by sanctifying our natural talents, and some are unique to the body of Christ.
But the single outstanding identifier of each and every spiritual gift is that they are given, by God, for the benefit of the church: as Paul wrote to the Ephesians and we heard here this morning, "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." [v. 12]
The definition we use in the Spiritual Gifts class which I expect to be teaching again this fall is this: "Spiritual gifts are special abilities given by the Holy Spirit to every believer in the body of Christ, for spiritual purposes, according to God’s design and grace, within the context of the body."
These purposes are, among other things, to keep the body ready and able to receive and nurture the lost whom the Holy Spirit brings to us. The gifts are also to be used to train, to nurture and support those who are called by God to labor in the world. They are "to equip the saints for the work of ministry." But it doesn’t stop here within the confines of these walls, or only in relationship with other believers. We are to use those gifts wherever we are in the world, on behalf of the body, and in the name of Christ.
Elsewhere Paul tells us that, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." [1 Cor 12:7] That’s an extremely important point. The gifts are for the common good, for the good of everyone, not just to enjoy by yourself. The gifts I have are for your benefit, and the gifts you have are for mine. Each one of us needs the gifts of the others in the body for our own wholeness, as well as for the health and optimal functioning of the whole church. And each Christian has at least one spiritual gift, distributed according to God’s design; and until you begin to use it, neither you nor the body as a whole will be complete.
Well, what are these gifts? A partial list of the spiritual gifts given in 1 Corinthians and Romans includes wisdom and knowledge, faith and healing, prophecy, discernment, service, giving, administration and more. Unlike the gifts listed in today’s passage, these are skills rather than roles. But whether it’s a job to do, a role to play, or the skills needed, they’re all gifts. The important thing to keep in mind about all of them is in a question Paul asks: "Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? [1 Cor 12:29-30]
No individual has all the gifts. No individual is complete in him or herself. And the church needs every one. Paul gives us an important warning: "For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function" [Rom 12:4]
The most important thing to remember is that each one of the passages that talks about spiritual gifts emphasizes that all of these gifts are to be used in love. 1 Cor 12 is followed by Paul’s great essay on love, which begins "love is patient, love is kind, etc." In Romans 12:10 Paul says, "love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor." And Peter writes, "Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. whoever speaks, as one who utters oracles of God; whoever renders service, as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." [1 Pe 4:10 ]
A list of the gifts is useful, the warning about how they are to be used important. But now I want to look at their purpose. Because the purposes of God lie at the root of our ability to use these gifts. If we don’t understand and embrace God’s purposes, it doesn’t matter a hill of beans how much information we acquire.
We started with the metaphor of a building, a temple. But I think that what God is making us into is even more exciting than any building - no matter how beautiful - could possibly be, although it’s a useful metaphor. Because a building is something separate from our selves, something static, something that gets put together and then is expected to just stand there, with a certain amount of routine maintenance. But what God is doing with us is alive.
Remember that our job is displaying God’s wisdom, goodness, power and love to the universe. Not just to our neighbors, mind you, but to "the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." [Eph 3:10] God’s enemies and God’s allies alike are watching us. We are on tour with God’s great drama. To date the reviews are mixed, but fortunately, it’s a very long-running play, and we’re still learning our lines and otherwise trying to get the kinks out of the production.
God, of course, is the author, the Holy Spirit is the director, and Jesus is the story. You and I are cast members and stage crew. Somehow the Spirit puts us all together in this huge unwieldy, unlikely assembly called church that is supposed to look and act like Jesus. "We must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love." [v. 15-16]
The whole point of these gifts is to build up the body of Christ. That’s an exercise term, not a drama term, but as every actor knows, rehearsals are simply group exercise. Now, as these gifts are exercised, the body grows stronger. And not only do the individual parts, the bones and muscles, as it were, grow stronger, all the ligaments holding them together also grow stronger. Oxygen flows from the lungs through the blood to all the parts of the body, and new muscle forms as we stretch, as we reach out, as we move beyond what we once thought were our limits. So every individual who is a member of the body of Christ who doesn’t know what her gifts are, who isn’t actively engaged in growing in discovery of his purpose in Christ, in that place the body is flabby, unhealthy, circulation is constricted, and it can begin to die.
When everyone in the body is using their gifts to help one another, to edify one another, to build one another up, then the church is strong, then the church is healthy, then the church is growing more like Christ and becoming more able to do the work of Christ. But to the extent that there are people in the body who are not using their gifts, the body is incomplete, weak, and unable to carry out its whole task as the people of God.
But how do we begin? Paul gives us a pattern to follow in this letter. Remember that the gifts are given "to equip us for works of service." [v. 12] He assumes that the first time we step out on stage we’ll clutch our scripts, forget our lines and bump into each other. Remember that this is a process.
The first step is - just to be willing to take the first step. Just to be ready. Just show up. It doesn’t even take any special knowledge, it’s only an attitude of the heart that says, "Here I am, Lord." That attitude is a prerequisite for experiencing in our own lives the evidence of God’s gifts. The next thing Paul says is that the gifts were given "for building up the body of Christ."
So the second step is to look around you and see what you can do to help someone else in the body - either to help them carry out their ministry, or to help them in any other way. Part of how God shows you what your gifts are consists of opening your eyes to needs around you.
And thirdly, the gifts are intended to help us "reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God." And that tells us that every act of service or generosity must be informed by and consistent with the teaching ministry of the church. Service by itself is not enough; knowledge by itself is not enough. But exercising the two together - in love - can display to the world a recognizable likeness of Jesus Christ.
We become mature as we learn about Jesus Christ, and about ourselves, and as we serve one another with the gifts God has given us. We become mature as we depend upon the Holy Spirit to open our minds to God’s truth, and to equip us with the tools - wisdom, or resources, or whatever - we need to serve. The more dependent we are upon the Holy Spirit, and the more obedient we are upon the Holy Spirit, the more like Christ we will become. That’s what Paul means by coming to "the measure of the full stature of Christ." That is the purpose of our being, of our coming together as the church of Jesus Christ. God intends for us to become like Christ: as individuals, yes, but more importantly in this context, as the corporate body. No single individual can display to the world the love of Jesus, the great drama that is God sacrificing himself to bring us home. We have to do it together. We have to practice.
We try out different roles, different jobs. The Holy Spirit tests us and moves us, shifting us from one place to another as the story develops and the cast changes. And even though we begin as infants, as amateurs, we aren’t supposed to stay that way. Spiritual infants are "tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine." We won’t do a very convincing job of portraying Jesus to the world if we don’t really know what we’re doing - and why. When we begin we don’t know our lines or our moves, or how we fit in to the larger story. But as we work out our doctrine in service to one another, in the exercise of our gifts in the context of the body, what we know - the information about Jesus Christ that we acquire through sermons and stories and study - becomes integrated, becomes part of us. It is as we serve one another in love that the separate parts of the body grow into one, holding together strongly enough to accomplish the work that Jesus Christ began when he was on earth, and that he has called us to complete. We are expected to work together as one, moving confidently through the story.
Got stage-fright? If you’ve got a speaking role, God will give you the words. Rather paint sets or make costumes? God can use you, too. God has given us the world as our stage, and there’s no greater drama than the story of Jesus. Let’s show up for rehearsals.
