Growing Pains (May 28, 2023) 1 Cor 12.3-13

Sometimes things are a bit obvious and other times they are not. Today being Pentecost, one would think that the obvious text for a sermon would be Acts 2. That was my thinking when I looked at the date. But as I looked at the Scriptures for the day, I was being led to the scripture text that you heard for the sermon. What is it about this text that takes me away from the usual Acts text? One is the leading of the Spirit. I believe that the 1 Corinthians text was the one the Spirit led me to because there is a message here that we often don’t hear or, more often, a message that we don’t want to hear. I have often heard sermons on the birth of the Church on Pentecost, but rarely have I heard what happens with the Church as it has experienced growing pains and as it gets older. Today I want to look at this a little further.

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians is a window to see how the Church was doing during its first years outside of Jerusalem. And here we see a typical parent dealing with a teenage or young adult child. The exasperation, frustration and worry that are evident here are familiar to any parent who has raised a child. One sees what can only be called growing pains. And on this day of the birthday of the Church it is interesting to see what the adolescent church was going through.

It is interesting to read Paul’s letters because we see only one side of them. We know Paul’s side. What was going on in the church to which he was writing? To what was he responding that deserved such a response? We will never know. When we read the letters of Paul it is like reading someone else’s mail. Unfortunately, this is what we have. But we should feel fortunate that we have this as it gives us some insight into what is going on in the church.

In chapter 12, we find where the Church has come since the day of Pentecost. Paul opens with a note that he is getting ready to discuss spiritual gifts and what he wants the church at Corinth to understand about them. He lets the Corinthians know that no matter what they think of themselves, it is the Holy Spirit that allows them to claim that “Jesus is Lord”. This is crucial because Paul is beginning to speak of the gifts of the Spirit. (When there is a birthday, there are always gifts, and usually ones that can be used.) So, if one is a Christian, it is only by the Spirit and the Spirit’s leading that one can claim that Jesus is Lord. This is the first creed of the church and is important because these Christians are claiming that they now have no other Lord in their life but Jesus and the leading of the Spirit in this claim. And if one is led by the Spirit, then one is to know that there are gifts of the Spirit.

Paul’s list of gifts is not all gifts but also services and activities. These are listed in what is regarded as one of the first Trinitarian understandings. Paul might not have had the Trinity in mind when he made this list, but it is there when he states what each of the parts is from. In short, he is saying that there are several gifts, services, and activities that are from separate persons in the Trinity but that all are from the same God. The separate persons are, of course, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Paul then begins to let the church know that there are different manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit. Here is where the growing pains take place. Remember as a teenager or when your kids were teenagers that there was one-upmanship among them and their friends? What one had, well, someone else had something better. This would have been what was going on in Corinth and Paul is going to have none of it. Paul earlier in the letter covers the same ground by telling the Corinthians that there is to be no division between each other over whose authority one is under. This issue raises its head again here. Paul means to let them know that there are no gifts that are better than others. Each person is given a gift and that gift is from the Spirit. The gift may not be as flashy as others, but the gift is from the same Spirit. What is happening here is that some are saying that their gift of speaking in tongues is much more important than say the gift of administration. Paul is telling them that one who can be an administrator is just as gifted as one who can speak in tongues. We will learn more about this a little further.

Paul lists the gifts that he is referring. This list is by no means exhaustive but is meant to indicate what the gifts are and to show that they all have the same source, the Spirit. His purpose is to show that those who have been using the gifts to bring division by stating that theirs is greater than others are wrong. While the list does have a certain hierarchy to it, there is, as has been said, a method to the madness. So, let’s take a look at the gifts as Paul listed them. First is listed wisdom and knowledge which were highly regarded by the Corinthians and why Paul lists them first. Second listed is faith, which all believers should have, therefore no one can claim that they do not have a “gift of the Spirit” because if one has faith, one has a gift given by the Spirit. Third, the gift of healing which is thought to be a person who can heal by the Spirit which is something that we have lost in our modern day and time. Next on the list are the working of miracles, prophecy and the discernment of spirits. Finally, Paul lists the gifts of various tongues and the interpretation of these. I would like to take a closer look at these last two gifts for a few moments.

Usually on Pentecost there is discussion about tongues and the use of them in building the Church. In many modern locations speaking in tongues is considered a “second baptism” and that someone does not truly have the Holy Spirit without this. Is this what is going on here in Corinth? Most likely. However, Paul came to Corinth speaking a language that could be understood by most that were there. What was happening is thought to be a language that was being spoken to God and God alone. Paul is telling the Corinthians that this gift from the Spirit is one of prayer and a more personal gift and that it is to have interpretation, by the speaker or someone who is gifted with interpretation. I have personally experienced a need for interpretation. When I was with in South Korea and China six years ago, we went to a church or a chapel service in the city we were visiting and there was usually a translator available for us to be able to listen to the sermon. However, at one service there was no translation available. Talk about being clueless. We sat for almost an hour listening to a sermon and wondering what was being said. Paul is telling the Corinthians in a subtle manner (and later explicitly) that tongues must have interpretation or there is really no use for them.

Why would this be listed as last on the list of gifts? There appears to have been some who thought that the gift of tongues and interpretation made them more “godly” or blessed than other Christians and therefore a hierarchy was set up by these. Paul deliberately places these two gifts as last to let those who believe this that there is no hierarchy of the gifts. In fact, in verse 11 he states that all the gifts are by the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who gives the gifts to those whom the Spirit chooses. In other words, don’t get too high and mighty because it was not you who chose those gifts, but rather the Spirit chose to give that gift.

When we think of Pentecost, most likely we are thinking of the Spirit coming down on the disciples in Jerusalem. We are not thinking of unity in the church or of a church going through growing pains. Paul is not writing at the beginning of a church. He is writing to one that is already established and is experiencing the issues that come from growth. Like teenagers the Corinthians are asking what is happening to them. They are going through that awkward phase of their life as a church and are trying to figure out what is going on. Most likely they are surly and a bit touchy as to what is happening in their lives. They want to believe that they have the best that is available to them and that they are the ones who have been given the best that God can give.

But for Paul there is more going on here. For him the Spirit is a unifying factor of the church. Indeed, he claims that we are all baptized in the Spirit and that we are one body no matter what background from which we come. The use of Jews or Greeks, slaves or free is critical because this society was status conscious. Here Paul is letting them know that status is nothing in the Christian life. What one was before has no bearing on what one is in the Church. He is quick to inform them that it is the Spirit that makes them, and us, one and that allows them to use the gifts that are given by the Spirit. Chapter 12 goes even further in telling them that the gifts are to be used to build the body of Christ. The gifts are not for being status markers, but for making sure that the body works together for the glory of God.

We live in a time when the Church has grown up. Or has it? We still see the same problems that those in Corinth were experiencing. We see one-upmanship and we see those thinking that they are better than others. We see and experience divisions over slights and over things that should not be dividing. We still experience the growing pains that the church in Corinth experienced.

And how do we view the Holy Spirit? Is the Spirit some ethereal being that we don’t really understand and therefore relegate to talking about only one time a year? Or is the Spirit a person in the Trinity that has a personal stake in our lives as Christians? Is the Spirit someone to whom we listen? I believe should all know the answer to that question. Paul certainly did. He said that all are gifted by the Spirit. The issue is that for most the gifts of the Spirit have been limited to speaking in tongues or to maybe healing. What about the gift of administration or the gift of hospitality? Those are certainly gifts that Paul listed and stated are necessary. As Presbyterians we are somewhat reluctant to speak of the Spirit because we are afraid that someone will look at us as wild-eyed nut cases. You know what I mean. We have all heard of services where the “Spirit” takes hold and people are slain in the Spirit or jumping wildly around the sanctuary. If that happened here, we would wonder if someone was off their meds. But the gifts of the Spirit are not just for Charismatics or Pentecostals. No, they are for the entire church. On this day, the birthday of the Church, we would do well to remember that the Spirit is who Jesus promised would be our advocate/comforter after he left this earth. We have someone in our corner who keeps us and who gives us the power and the strength to carry on as Christians. We are to work as one using the many different gifts to be the body of Christ. Paul knew this and was eager to tell those to whom he wrote about this. What has happened to us? Have we forgotten who the Spirit is, what the Spirit can do, and what the Spirit has done in giving us all gifts? Let us remember on this Pentecost and every day that it is the Spirit who gives the gifts and that our use of the diverse gifts together brings the glory and honor to God the three in one. Amen.