EVERY MEMBER IN MINISTRY: IT TAKES ALL KINDS REV. KIP GILTS I Corinthians 12:4-7

Last Tuesday night I had all sorts of visitors come to my door.  There were princesses, cheerleaders, monsters, superheroes and even a Whoopee Cushion that rang our doorbell expecting candy.  Now I know there are all sorts of opinions about this tradition of Trick or Treat.  Some focus on its pagan origins dating back to the days of the druids.  Some think of it as an evening of fantasy and goodwill where children and children-at-heart get to play dress up and entertain the neighbors.  Some remember October 31st as All Hallows’ Eve, when those persons of sacred worth, the saints, are remembered.  A few even reflect on the bold step taken by Martin Luther on October 31, 1517 when he knocked on the Wittenberg Door with a hammer as he nailed ninety-five grievances against the church sparking the Protestant Reformation.  I have to admit, I am always a little disappointed when no one shows up on October 31^st dressed as Martin Luther.  It happened again this year, though I do understand that at the youth Barn Dance last Sunday, Laurinda, Gene and I were represented by counselors who dressed to look like us.  Tuesday night as the bag of candy by my front door became less plentiful with every visit I began to appreciate the diversity of costumes.  It would have been a little weird if everyone had dressed up like the muscular Spiderman who looked a lot like Luke McCollum.  Diversity added to the richness of the evening.  It takes all kinds.

This same principle is at work in the church.  Just as the parade of children required diversity in costumes, the work of the church requires diversity of talents and gifts.  If everyone did the same thing, dressed the same way and possessed the same gifts very little would get accomplished.  It takes all kinds.  Paul put it this way in I Corinthians 12:4-7 found on page 134 of the New Testament in your pew Bibles.  Hear now the Word of the Lord:

⁴Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

          The Word of God for the People of God.  Thanks be to God.  In this passage Paul encouraged each Corinthian to reflect God’s Spirit as God had enabled him or her. Let us pray.

          The Corinthians, as most of you know by now, had some issues.  One of their problems was with the pneumatikos, the spiritual ones, who thought they had the most elite gifts of God.  Not only did their sense of superiority undermine their usefulness, the resultant sense of inferiority that had taken root in so many, left them inactive.  The body of Christ in Corinth was suffering a great deal.  That’s why I love how Eugene Peterson paraphrased I Corinthians 12:7 in The Message, “Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.”   

          Today we continue our four-week emphasis on Every Member in Ministry: an emphasis with a goal for each of us to implement our gifts and talents for the kingdom of God.  This goal will be unmet unless we heed the last phrase of that verse - everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.  There is a plan for the church outlined in this passage that involves one Provider, many parts and one purpose.  It is a plan where everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.

 One Provider distributes all the gifts.  There are several ways that Paul reinforced this thought to the Corinthians.  He wrote of the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God who provided the gifts, ministries and energy for all the participants in the body of Christ.  This wasn’t some scatterbrained, random concept of getting everyone to do something.  This was God doing what God does best - orchestrating it all.

          The other night on one of the evening talk shows, Joanne Carson was a guest.  She told a story about the accountant for Albert Einstein who tried to explain Dr. Einstein’s financial situation.  The great scientist would stop the accountant pat the pile of paperwork and say, “All I need to know is one thing.  Is everything alright there?”  The accountant assured him it was and the Einstein would sigh with relief.  One day Einstein was in a mood to explain to his accountant the theory of relativity, as they were gazing into the night’s sky.  Somewhere around, “the principle of the constant velocity of light in vacuo” the accountant stopped him saying, “All I need to know is one thing.  Is everything alright there?”  The Creator God has made sure that the answer to that question is, “Yes.”  The same God who could cast billions of stars into the universe and billions of cells into a human body, can orchestrate hundreds of members in this church, if only we will trust him and let him. 

        It’s the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God – one Provider who distributes to each of us a significant role in the body of Christ - everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.  While there is one Provider who distributes all the gifts…

 Many Parts are required for the work of the church.  While it is the same Spirit, the same Lord and the same God providing for and orchestrating the work of the church, everyone is required to recognize and employ their role.  Paul used beautiful words to describe our participation.  He claimed that there were many, diverse, varieties of gifts, services and activities.  The Greek words tell us something about these designations.  The word for gifts is charismata, which finds its origin in the charis or the grace of God.  The word for services is daikonia, which is where we get our words deacons and ministries.  The word for activities is energemata, which is where we get the English word, energy.  God has provided an expression of grace, ministry and energy in each one of us.  Curtis Vaughan, a New Testament scholar wrote, “On each believer some gift is bestowed.”  It varies in expression, but it is all grace, ministry and energy. Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.

          We see this principle worked out in families all the time - where different family members have different talents, gifts and abilities that benefit the entire family.  The other day, I was visiting with a couple that had recently moved to a heavily wooded area.  In fact, on one side of their back yard is a private forest and on another side is the National Forest.  The man of the house, who shall remain nameless, though I will tell you that he served as the head coach of the Aggies baseball team for over 20 years, took his grandkids out for a stroll in the woods.  They had been gone for quite some time, when the phone rang at their home.  The man’s wife, whom we will call Linda, because that’s her name, answered the phone and was surprised to hear her husband’s voice on the other end of the phone.  “Will you do me a favor?” he asked, “Go honk the horn of the car.  We have gotten turned around and kind of forgot how to get back.”  She did as requested but it was some time before they were able to hear the faint call toward home.  They laughed as the recounted the story to me.  The coach said he was glad that his wife was home.

        Sometimes it feels like all we are doing is honking the horn into an empty forest.  There are times when cleaning up after a social event, stuffing envelopes for a mass mail-out, writing notes to visitors, greeting worshipers and other roles in the church can seem almost insignificant, but it takes all kinds of gifts, services and activities to carry out the call of God to be the church.  Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.  And while there is one Provider and many parts, it is crucial that we remember that there is…

 One Purpose that unites all the parts.  Verse seven reads, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  Wow!  That means that every one of us is a reflector of God.  We, each of us, manifest the Spirit of God for mutual benefit.  The Contemporary English Version translates verse seven with these words, “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.”

         Politicians are spending millions of dollars to encourage each of us to get out on Tuesday to exercise our right to vote.  However, well over half of qualified voters will sit at home on Tuesday because they are convinced that their one vote does not make a difference.  I wonder how much money has been spent during my lifetime trying to convince people that each one does make a difference.

          Long before democracy, God had planted this in the heart of believers.  You make a difference and if you do not participate in the body of Christ, the body suffers and God’s one purpose is met with a quiet yet stubborn rebellion.  Find your place in ministry at A&M United Methodist Church.  There are over 270 opportunities, some for which you are uniquely gifted, equipped and energized.  The important thing is that everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. 

          Today we remember people whose gifts, services and activities have touched us.  You hold in your hand a list of those whom we will remember in just a few moments.  Each of these names means the world to others.  Every year at this time I begin to reflect on the names of those who have touched my life: Grandma Gilts and Grandma Vee, Lo Kempler and Lula Ivy, Jim Huff and Bobby Roberts, Norma Jean Kitzman and Ruth Baker, Hezron and Lisa, Matthew and Ricky, so many others.  These names may mean nothing to you, but they mean the world to me.  My life has been changed because of their role in it.  These names pass by me like “Trick or Treaters” did last Tuesday night.  They are all so different, so much diversity, but they have all reflected God to me.  Someday my name will be among those remembered and so will yours.  I want each of our names remembered in the same way as these that I have read and those that will be read shortly are remembered.  I want each of us to be remembered for being reflectors of God. “The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving others.” Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits.  Amen.