Epworth United Methodist Church

Epworth United Methodist Church
The Rev. David Weekley
January 23, 2010
1 Corinthians 12:12-31

A More Excellent Way

Yesterday was our youngest daugther’s birthday. I cannot believe she is twenty-two years old? Where did the time go?

I remember when our children were very little; every new thing they explored, every skill they mastered assured me of how special they are, and how smart they are.

Of course these things are all true!

It’s just that, way back then I thought they were the smartest, the youngest geniuses in the world.

Today I simply smile, perhaps with a bit of nostalgia, as I listen to new parents making similar observations and predictions about their toddlers.

Some of the comments go something like these:

“My Lucy could read The Cat in the Hat by age three and wrote her first letter to grandmother in kindergarten!”

“You should see Andrew. He made all-district in baseball and got all A’s this year in middle school!”

Last week I came across what may be the current number one example of egomania emanating from one person today in the form of a teenage girl named Kaitlyn DiBenedetto.

Kaitlyn taught herself the drums at age 5 and picked up the guitar at age 11.

After playing supporting instrumental roles with a number of local New Jersey rock bands, she broke off on her own at the ripe old age of 16 to form the band, “Just Kait.”

Just Kait is a band featuring, well, just Kait!

She literally plays and records every instrument- drums, bass and guitar- and lays down her own vocal tracks as well.

As a 17-year-old high school senior, Kait released her first cd last August.

In Just Kait’s music videos, Kaitlyn changes her wardrobe, including glasses, hats and wigs, as she is filmed playing all the instruments and singing all the parts.

But wait a minute: doesn’t the very word band imply more than one person? Doesn’t it mean a group of people coming together around a common purpose- to create music?

What happened here? Did Kaitlyn grow up unable to play nice with others?

Was the first word she learned “mine”?

But the point here is not to diminish the talents of people such as Kaitlyn BiBenedetto.

She clearly has musical talent and ability to be able to accomplish everything she has in the world of pop-music.

I am simply referencing her as an example of what our Scripture text is not about.

As Paul points out in this first letter to the church in Corinth, in some Christian communities there’s a serious problem; it is the problem of some people trying to play all of the instruments.

Paul is attempting to teach this young church, as well as us Christians today, that all of us are in the band and we all have an instrument to play.

The quality of the music we produce as a church depends upon each one of us, as individuals, using our gifts for the benefit of the whole.

Rather than the example of a band, which did not exist in the time of Paul, he uses the example of the human body to make the point.

If the body were all an eye, it would be a monster and could not function at all.

As one commentator writing in Homiletics

Expresses it: “The message in terms of Paul’s image of the church reveals two distinct themes: the reality of heterogeneity and the necessity of homogeneity.”

When we cannot appreciate this truth, the church often becomes unable to function.

One humorous ditty that addresses when this happens comes from a Vietnamese Christian by the name of Phong Ngo who writes:

Oh, give me pity, I’m on a committee,

Which means that from morning to night,

We attend and amend and contend and defend

Without a conclusion in sight.

We confer and concur, we defer and demur

And reiterate all of our thoughts.

We revise the agenda with frequent addenda

And consider a load of reports.

We compose and propose, we suppose and oppose

And the points of procedure are fun!

But though various notions are brought up as motions

There’s terribly little gets done.

We resolve and absolve, but never dissolve

Since it’s out of the question for us.

What a shattering pity to end our committee.

Where else could we make such a fuss?

In the Greek language heterogeneity literally means many.

It may be one of the most overlooked words in this passage, and with it the idea that the body of Christ is supposed to be diverse!

A church is composed of many members.

Even in a largely Japanese-American congregation such as Epworth, each person is unique.

And as Paul points out, every one of the members matters to the same degree.

Last week when I walked up to the Safeway Starbucks to get a cup of my favorite coffee, the “coffee of the day, with an add shot” I asked the person working there why no matter which Starbucks I go to, I can always depend on my order tasting the same.

She told me that Starbucks puts its employees through rigorous training to ensure that every venti, no-whip, sugar-free Caramel Macchiato is precisely the same as the next.

Starbucks wants loyal customers who know that they will get the same exact order and taste at the Safeway or the airport or the local corner Starbucks café.

This type of product uniformity is great for coffee drinkers like me, but it’s terrible in producing healthy ministry in our church.

If every person were a visionary leader, nobody would complete a single project.

IF everyone were administrative- minded and conversations about program and budget lacked input from creative-minded people, you would end up with well-organized committees that are detached from the needs of the community.

Without those who are servant-minded, nobody would count the offering, plant and care for the trees and flowers, or take care of the Communion vessels and elements.

Paul reminds us that there are as many gifts as there are members, and each of us has a unique gift to offer God and the community of Christ called the local church.

The Greek word Homogeneity means something like ‘sameness’ or ‘oneness’ and is more difficult to discuss in church classes and congregations.

The apostle Paul discusses the idea of homogeneity in the Christbody in terms of the unity of a shared vision and purpose.

In modern language we might say it is, “being on the same page.”

But the truth is that local churches often do ministry through committees, boards and teams, and these are not exactly synonyms for unity and cohesiveness.

Why? Because different gifts, life experiences and perspectives often lead to different agendas,

The result is disunity- and one more hostile, horrible meeting to attend!

So we need passages like this one from 1 Corinthians to help us move beyond dissension to the more excellent way- the way of true Christian love, a love that is willing to engage in honest, vulnerable conversation to arrive at, to achieve true unity in Christ.

The kind of unity Paul calls us to moves beyond and deeper than personal experience and agenda; it asks us to put Christ first in our lives and our common life in the church.

Paul reminds us to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice [Romans 12:15].

The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “provoke one another” to love and good deeds.[Hebrews 10:24]

Why? Because we are not a one-person band, we are not called together so our particular gift can take over: we are called to take our place for the health and well-being of the body of Christ that is the church.

In describing a healthy church Paul says it takes both diversity and unity: heterogeneity and homogeneity.

Serving in the church and living out our gifts- may we all do both, because it is all good, if we do it for Christ- vacuuming the floors, serving meals, creating art, singing in the choir, counting the offering, meeting as committees- it is all good, if we do it for Christ.

That’s the ultimate point Paul makes; it is the more excellent way.

Remember, God made “All” of us to be the “Many” for the “One.”

So, use your gifts always so the church can have beautiful diversity in its unity.

Amen.