We are dealing with a major problem of division in our modern culture. Even if you have your head stuck in a hole, it’s not hard to take notice of the rifts that are popping up in every facet of society. There’s division between rich and poor, between conservative and liberal. We are divided along racial lines and religious convictions. Ken and I were talking the other day about how the gap between the rich and the poor is starting to feel more like the Grand Canyon. Except, it’s not the rich on one side and the poor on the other; instead, it’s the rich on either side of the Canyon and the poor drowning in the river at the bottom. And that’s just one example. We are facing these chasms in every part of our lives and in our relationships with one another. There has been a lot of chatter in the last two weeks about a schism in the United Methodist Church. Again, a reflection of what is happening in our wider culture. And it’s not just that we are divided in so many ways, we are also very malicious to those who stand “on the other side.” We act as if we are better because of our beliefs, or our lot in life, or the ball team we cheer for, or whatever. It’s really, really awful; scary even, especially when we see these divisions infiltrating even our churches.
When Paul was writing his first letter to the Corinthians, he was dealing with a problem of division there, too. It turns out the Corinthians had fallen into this worldly trap of creating a hierarchy where there was no need for one, and some people were setting themselves over and above the others. The young Christians placed a high premium on the gift of speaking in tongues; they had come to view this as the supreme gift of the Spirit. As a result, those who could not or did not speak in tongues were considered to be inferior. The Corinthian church was dividing, but the thing is the Church was never MEANT to be divided. The Church was intended to be like Christ himself continuing to work in the world; one body serving and bringing glory to God’s kingdom. By the power of the Spirit, the Church was created to be Christ’s hands and feet. And the thing is, for that to work, it takes all members cooperating in harmony; the feet to do the walking, the hands to do the healing, the mouths to do the teaching. Without any of these parts, the church’s work is incomplete, and that is why EVERY GIFT used for the common good is “a gift of the Spirit;” no more, and no less important than any other gift!
For the Corinthians, it was division about what was “truly” spiritual. In our day, churches divide over all kinds of things. We could play “fill in the blank” for hours; who can take communion, whether to baptize infants or adults, who can be ordained, what color the carpet should be, and on and on and on! The problem with this is the fact that the Church shouldn’t be like the culture, especially when culture is divided. The church is intended to be a united front, reflecting God’s kingdom of wholeness in the world.
Today, we celebrate Pentecost, an extremely important day in the life and history of Christianity and the Christian church. Just as Christmas celebrates the day of Christ’s birth, and Easter his resurrection from the dead, Pentecost is the day which marks the coming of the Holy Spirit among believers. Before his ascension, Jesus had promised his followers that he would not leave them “as orphans,” but that he would send a Companion to be with them forever. Well, on that first Pentecost, that’s exactly what happened, and the Holy Spirit has been the Companion of believers ever since!
But the thing about Pentecost is that when God gave the Holy Spirit to that first gathering of believers, it was God’s Spirit not just for the INDIVIDUAL believers, but for the WHOLE Church. The story of Pentecost as recorded in Acts tells us that, “When the day of Pentecost arrived, [the believers] were all together in one place.” Did you hear that? They were all together. And what we hear this morning from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is that the power of the Holy Spirit is revealed most clearly in how it unites a diverse body of believers under the headship, the Lordship, of Christ!
Paul’s metaphor of the many “parts” (or members) of the body is one of the most powerful in scripture. It’s so easy for us to see in our mind’s eye the picture of a body working in perfect harmony. The ears listening to the sounds as the eyes take in the surroundings. The brain processes the information, while the hand writes—taking notes, and the mouth speaks, sharing the experience. Without any one part of our body, our whole life experience suffers.
It’s like the symphony orchestra. There are so many “pieces” to an orchestra. There are the stringed instruments like the violin and cello. Then there are wind instruments like the oboe, the trombone, and the tuba. Then there are percussion instruments, which can include everything from the marimba to the snare drum to the great timpani. When great composers like Beethoven compose their symphonies, they do so with all of these instruments in mind. The music wouldn’t sound right if all you had was a tuba and a triangle. And you might hear the melody with the violin and trumpet, but you miss out on all the wonderful harmonies and counterpoint that are contributed by the violas, bassoons, and other instruments. Only when all of the instruments are working together do we hear the wonderful, beautiful music like Beethoven’s “Hymn to Joy.”
And that, says Paul, is how the body of Christ works, too. Except, where it is the conductor that directs each of the instrumentalists in their various parts, when it comes to the body of Christ, it is the Spirit that holds us together and directs our work; guiding us to use our gifts for the “common good.” We often refer to Pentecost as the “birthday of the church.” Because that is the day that all the believers were united by the power of the Holy Spirit; they were gathered together as “the Church.” This was the birth of a new body, the body of Christ!
You don’t have to read much further on in Acts, though, the see that the Christian unity established on Pentecost pretty quickly began to disintegrate. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is testimony to that. And certainly, Paul was speaking to a specific church in a specific time and place, but this is a lesson we need to hear over and over again. I have been greatly disheartened in recent weeks and months by the disagreements that are so obviously tearing us apart, even in the United Methodist Church. It’s completely ridiculous. And such schisms happen because we get the mistaken idea that somehow we are better off if we don’t have to deal with those folks who aren’t exactly like us. If Paul were to magically step into the 21st Century, he would say the same thing to the United Methodist Church that he said to the Corinthian church. But even more than that, he would speak these words to every single congregation. We may not know or understand what led to so many divisions in the Christian church down through the years; we may not comprehend why such division continues even now. But we need look no further than our own churches to see how a body that is supposed to be united can so easily divide.
Paul went straight to the core issue when he wrote to the Corinthians, reminding them that among those who confess “Jesus is Lord,” no one person is better than any other for any reason. Each person is gifted by the power of the Spirit. All persons receive these spiritual gifts, not just an elite few. Still, like the Corinthians, we often point to “our” gifts with superiority, or we determine “ranks” of giftedness, which creates this “hierarchy of holiness.” But what we must remember is that all gifts are God-given. No one has done anything to deserve them. Gifts are not merit badges for holiness or signs of approval from God. Our spiritual gifts are offered by God in response to the needs of the whole community. And what that means is that each person has value and worth; each person is an essential part of the body of Christ, this place we call the Church. And because these gifts have a single source, the Holy Spirit, they are meant to be things that unite us as they are used for the “common good.”
On this Pentecost Sunday, as we celebrate the Holy Spirit which came among believers, offering among them “many gifts,” we would do well to celebrate this occasion with as much joy and fanfare as we do Christmas or Easter. Human nature compels us to follow the way of the Corinthians and continue to hold grudges against our fellows brothers and sisters in Christ because their gifts are not as good as ours, because their devotion is not as pure as ours, because they don’t believe as exactly as we believe, which is of course the only right way to believe. But the inevitable result of such thinking is division; nasty, terribly division. Rather, on this Pentecost Sunday, we should celebrate the variety of ways the Spirit works among each of us. We should look with joy at our wonderful brothers and sisters surrounding us today. We should celebrate the different ways each of us connects with God. We should celebrate the myriad of gifts by which we serve God. And above all, we should celebrate the Spirit, which—even with all of our differences—always holds us together as One. One in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.
