Acts 2:1-21
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
John 20:19-23
I know that some of you know of my fondness for the game of football--or “soccer”, as we Americans tend to call it, even though it has everything to do with feet. One of the things that I find so gorgeous about soccer is how much of a team sport it truly is. There can be no superstar on a team--while someone needs to put the ball in the net, a team has no chance without a goalie, defenders, midfielders, wingers, and strikers, all working together in concert. Soccer does not have the scoring that, say, basketball or American football does. But truly, when a team is playing in harmony--like, say, the Barcelona club that won the trophy for best European club team two weeks ago--and everyone is playing their role and complimenting one another, we can see why so many call it “the beautiful game”, and compare it to watching more art than sport.
But as fluid and impecable as soccer can be played, there are, of course, those who are beginners. Many of you may have had children who, at a young age or who even still play soccer. Some may have seen matches of children playing soccer as young as 5 or 6 years old. When one watches such games of extremely young players, it ends up looking more like an amoeba cell collecting more and more cells as a glob of even more and more kids huddle around together, all running after the ball. As soon as the ball goes to one corner, a mob of nearly everyone on the field runs as fast as they can over to crowd around the ball. There it gets bounced around between that group, until the ball pops out like a piece of popcorn down to the other end of the field, and the whole mob of players runs after it, and it all starts over again! The strange phenomenon at work in this kind of endless grou pursuit of the ball is that everyone thinks they have to pass, dribble, defend, attack, run, walk, yell, scream...and of course, don’t forget scoring! Everyone thinks they have to do everything.
In many ways I think this can describe our lives and even the church sometimes. This scene can illustrate how we order our lives by this approach, which is: hurling ourselves fully and completely towards this problem, and then reacting to then that one; surrendering our whole lives to doing everything possible to resolve this conflict, and then escaping into another one; or in the church, we can lurch from this volunteer ministry, to that activity...from doing this ministry for the poor, to being that volunteer for worship, Sunday School, altar guild, this committee and that one... As any doctor will tell us, our bodies can only handle so much activity until our defenses weaken, and before we know it our immunity system can no longer protect us. We can begin to wonder...is it all up to me? Can we do it all on our own?
For wearied soccer players, harried parents, overwhelmed high school graduates, and depleted church volunteers alike, the apostle Paul has good news for us. “There are varieties of gifts,” (1 Cor. 12:4) he tells the Corinthian church. No one has to do everything, be everything, or fix everything. Rather, everyone has a role to play, and gifts to share in the body of Christ. Paul was writing to a Christian community in Corinth that was beginning to believe that the only players on their “team”--in their church--who mattered, were those with the gift of speaking in tongues. But it is not just those with the most popularity or who can do the most who have gifts to share. “To each”, Paul says, “To each is given the manfestation of the Spirit for the common good.” The Holy Spirit will not let us say, “I am not gifted.” The Holy Spirit will not let us say, “I have to do everything.” The Holy Spirit puts on our lips the words “Jesus is Lord”. Jesus is Lord frees us from the role of trying to be Lords of our own lives—that job description has already been filled. Jesus being Lord frees us free us from being someone God did not create us to be, but to be who God created us to be. Jesus being Lord gives us freedom to join our gifts to the common purpose of God's mission, working in us to be an interdependent community, loving, blessing and reconciling the whole world.
But wait, “Jesus is Lord”--how can we say those words, “Jesus is Lord”, in a culture that does not make it comfortable or natural or easy for us to say we believe that? That must be crazy! How can it be possible for us to not deny but rather affirm that in Jesus’ name those who appear to be the poorest, least talented and spiritually un-gifted people among us surprise us with the gifts that only they can share? That must be crazy! How can the descending of the Holy Spirit to people of every nation and tribe nearly 2000 years ago possibly bear a promise for us that every single disciple participating in the life of this congregation has value? That must be crazy! How can it possibly be that God levels the playing field, energizing and activating all of our gifts together for the sake of giving glory to Jesus, who is Lord? That must be crazy!
Being filled with the Holy Spirit, as God promises us this Day of Pentecost, indeed does make us crazy. The Holy Spirit makes us look crazy to the world that is especially so resistant to those parts of the body of Christ which appear at first glance to be tiny, insignificant, and un-“successful.” But the Holy Spirit is a renewable resource, fellow crazy-people! In fact it is one of the things I love about this congregation—that despite how much responsibility people may have in their daily lives, people here are empowered by the Spirit to give in ways that the world may see as “crazy”--but that build us together to be the living, breathing body of Christ.
If you don't believe you have spiritual gifts, or if you need some help clarifying what your gifts are, I'd like to invite you, before you leave today, to take something with you that is given to everyone who becomes a member of this church, called a “Spiritual Gifts Inventory.” It’s a personal assessment, and helps you to see the gifts that God has given you can flow out as a natural expression of the Holy Spirit. Take one home, fill it out, and if you don’t want to score it, turn it in to me and I’ll score it fore you, and help you to discern the specific gifts that don’t just give life to the church, but that also give life to the world—and give life back to you. (Complete the “Spiritual Gifts Inventory” online by clicking here. The link will also be in the Midweek Moments weekly email this Wednesday.)
When the Spirit was poured out at the first Pentecost, people said, “They must be filled with new wine” (Acts 2:13) “They must be crazy!” But that’s what the Holy Spirit does to us. The Spirit makes us get crazy. Crazy with wisdom, crazy with healing, crazy with prophecy, crazy with giving, dilligence, compassion and cheerfulness. In what way is God calling you, today, to step out and be crazy with the Spirit? Being Spirit-crazy may not seem like the way to ward of sickness and illness for a healthy body of Christ. But in the end, getting crazy with the Spirit in the ways we have been particularly gifted may in fact be just about the sanest thing that we can do to become the Spirit-filled body of Christ that God has gifted us to be. So let's get crazy with the Spirit! And in so doing we will find ourselves formed into a team that looks less like a wandering ameoba, and more like God's beautiful work of art. Amen!
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