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. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 

This is the Word of God for the people of God.  Thanks be to God.  In this passage Paul emphasized to the Corinthians that though every member is unique, that uniqueness is to be employed for everyone’s benefit. Let us pray.

For the last few weeks we have looked at having “Too many irons in the fire.”  I shared the statement that I found on Dictionary.com that read, “This expression originally referred to the blacksmith heating too many irons at once and therefore spoiling some in the forging.”  I then suggested that we each consider having two irons in the fire, at least in regards to this church.  Those two irons can be labeled missions and service.  The distinction is made by who benefits from your ministry.  If people outside of the church benefit from your ministry, we call it mission.  If people inside the church benefit from your ministry, we call it service.  I am certain that there are more sophisticated definitions, but for this month, please keep these simple elements of distinction in mind.  Mission benefits people outside the church.  Service benefits people inside the church.  These are the two irons in the fire that to encourage each of you to have.  I’m not asking you to do everything, but if everyone has two irons in the fire, then this church will explode in meaningful ministry. 

I have never been a blacksmith, but I have been involved in forging.  I once had a job where we manufactured excavator teeth.  Those are those sharp scrapers attached to the end of buckets on big earth movers.  Whenever I walk on the levies of Galveston and see the grooves in the rock made by excavator teeth, I remember that job.  It was there that I discovered the meaning of the saying, “You have to strike while the iron’s hot.”  My job was to pick up the unforged teeth from a tub, one at a time with a long stick that held the teeth in the flame and then transferred them to the blade that would give them a sharp edge that could carve into solid rock.  I would hold the teeth in place and trigger the blade with my foot.  If the iron was hot, the blade would go through it like a hot knife goes through butter.  However, if someone came by and distracted me for only a moment, that blade would spit the tooth out and that stick would recoil up to my face and almost always knock my hard hat off.  I still remember the first time that happened and how I thought, “So that’s what is meant by striking while the iron’s hot!”

Today is the day for each of us to strike while the iron’s hot.  You have heard about the importance of every member in ministry.  You can see how if every member has two irons in the fire, then no member would feel the need to have too many irons in the fire.  Now is the time to act, but let me do just a little more forging as we take a closer look at this passage.  I think it will be good for us to consider that variety is the spice of life, God is the source is life, and community is the sense of life.

 

Variety is the spice of life.

William Cowper, an 18^th Century British poet and philosopher is credited with writing, “Variety's the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor.”  However, I think it is safe to say that this thought is not original to him.  The first days of creation reflect this maxim.  Trace the activity of God and you will see that it is in God’s nature to create variety.  Jesus never healed the same way twice – there was variety.  The disciples were not chosen from some mold, profile, or template – there was variety.  So when it came time to equip the church there was variety: varieties of gifts, varieties of service, and varieties of activities.  It may be that Paul was building one word on top of the other moving from the source of our gifts, to the practice of our service, and finally to the results of our activities.  However, most commentators believe that Paul was saying the same thing in three different ways.

You have in your hands our brand new Ministry Menu.  It contains 251 different descriptions of ministries that are in place at A&M United Methodist Church.  Each of these ministries has a job description on file that we refer to as a Ministry Focus Sheet.  It answers questions like to whom the member reports, with whom does the member relate closely, what are the primary responsibilities, and is there a budget.  Like a menu that you might encounter at lunch today, I caution you not to order everything on the menu.  You will get sick.  However, you might want to try something new.  For the last several years we have used the acronym S.T.R.I.D.E. to help members discover their place of ministry.  In October and November of 2007 I preached a six-week series on this acronym.  Those messages are on our website if we want to take a closer look.  However, today let me simply walk you through the summary on page 3 of your Ministry Menu.

·         Spiritual Gifts are those things that you are confident God has equipped you to do since you have become a Christian.  The norm in the New Testament is that followers of Jesus received gifts of the Holy Spirit once they accepted Christ as their Savior.  There are lots of tests and exercises that you can do to discover your spiritual gifts.  One of them is in the class we offer several times a year – “Serving from the Heart”.  Sometimes this can be determined simply through prayer and asking God what it is that you have been given and how you should use that gift.

·         Talents are those natural abilities that you have.  You had them before you were a Christian and you have them since you have been a Christian.  Paul was a zealous leader when he persecuted the church and a zealous leader when he promoted the church.  It was a natural or at least developed ability.  A lot of times people get confused about whether an aptitude they have is a spiritual gift or a talent.  When I look at this passage, I come to the conclusion that it is not all that important whether you call it a gift, a service, or an activity.  Just use it in ministry.

·         Resources are your financial resources, your material possessions, and your contacts (or networking capabilities).  Money is never an end in itself.  It is a means for accomplishing our life’s purpose, which is that we are blessed to be a blessing.  We are conduits through which God’s grace flows.  Be careful that greed and fear do not clog the conduit.  Use your resources for ministry.  This applies not only to money but also to possessions.  Bishop Richard Wilke once told a congregation, “Now that you have dedicated your hearts to God, dedicate your living room to God. Host a Bible Study or do something in your home that promotes community.”  Contacts are often resources.  I have seen it happen so many times here.  I could be visiting with a student who is an English major, but is really interested in Civil Engineering. I call or email one of our civil engineering professors and ask if he or she has time to meet with the student.  You have resources for ministry.

·         Individuality is your personality and your preferred environment.  You may find yourself charged being around lots of people or completely drained.  You may have no problems with public speaking or it may send you into physical distress.  You may enjoy going with the flow or you may need to know the plan and stick with the plan.  These are not strengths and weaknesses, they are what make you who you are.  Variety is the spice of life.

·         Dreams are those things that make you come alive or pound the table with conviction.  Covering the entire nation of Cote d’Ivoire with nets that prevent malaria is a dream that I have bought into.  I want to see it happen and am convinced that it can.  After that I want to work to cover the Congo as village by village, and country by country sees fewer and fewer children dying of malaria.  What’s your dream?

·         Experiences are those things that you bring with you.  Some of you have gone through tragic grief and those experiences equip you to care for others going through similar trials.  I have friends in Austin, whose son took his life in April 2007.  He was a wonderful young man who suffered from depression that turned fatal one morning.  My friends have put together a workshop for November 8^th at First UMC, Austin entitled, “Fierce Compassion: Helping those Grieving a Loss from Suicide”.  It doesn’t have to be tragedy that equips you.  Some of our youth and college students have had the experience of U.M. AR.M.Y and J.U.M.M.P. that have equipped them for Habitat for Humanity or home repairs in their neighborhood.

I doubt that any two of us have the same constellation of these six elements.  We each have a unique S.T.R.I.D.E. for ministry.  Remember, variety is the spice of life.
 

God is the Source of Life.

These components of who we are may be unique, but God is the common source of life.  Look at how Paul kept coming back to this principle – the same Spirit, the same Lord, the same God.  Some believe that this was one of Paul’s references to the Trinity and it may be, but his main point seems to be who we are and what we have has been entrusted to us by God.  We are to use it and as I discovered while making excavator teeth, we better strike while the iron’s hot.

It is easy to forget that God is the source of life, especially when life is going well.  Peter Marshall, the chaplain of the United States Senate for years, was visiting with a man one day who came to Rev. Marshall with a problem.  The man said, “I used to tithe regularly some years ago, but now I’m making $500,000 a year, and there is no way I can afford to give $50,000”

Marshall told the man he understood what a problem that must be and asked the man if he could pray about it.  The man agreed.  Marshall prayed, “Heavenly Father, I pray that you would reduce this man’s salary back to the place where he can afford to tithe.”

Never forget that God is the source of life.  We are trustees of what we have and tenants of where we live.  God is the source of life.
 

Community is the Sense of Life.

That is life makes sense in community.  That is how it is designed.  Did you listen carefully to verse seven? “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  Each one of us has inside of us something that manifests the Spirit.  It is to be employed for the common good, which eliminates gloating over or hoarding of gifts, talents, and abilities.

Ruth Mullens was one of our members who was shut-in, when I was serving St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond.  Ruth was on oxygen and wasn’t able to get out of her modest apartment very often.  As I recall her housing was subsidized and she was on a fixed income.  It would have been easy for Ruth to claim that she had nothing to give, but that was not her way.  She sent a check in every month and I am sure it was proportional to what she received, but the thing that impressed me most was Ruth’s ministry.  Whenever I would visit her she would reach into her Bible and pull out the newsletter and begin to ask, “Tell me what’s wrong with this person?”  She would go down the prayer list one by one and make notes so that when she prayed for them, she could pray specific to the need.  She told me, “I can’t get out much and may never meet some of these people, but as long as I have breath, I will pray for them every day.  That is my ministry.”  She employed her ministry for the common good and I experienced in her a brilliant manifestation of the Spirit.

I have seen it in you when you drive a van full of Family Promise guests to their day facility and back to our church.  I see it in you as you sit in a room with high school students and apply your ministry to their daily lives.  I see the Spirit in ushers who walk down the aisle escorting guests and members to a place in this sanctuary.  I witness the Spirit in acolytes who melt my heart every single Sunday.

William Barclay wrote this about the church in Corinth: “The picture we get is of a church vividly alive.  Things happened. In fact, astonishing things happened.  Life was heightened and intensified.  There was nothing dull and ordinary about the early church.  Paul knew that all this vivid, powerful activity was the work of the Spirit who gave to each person a gift to use for all.”

I believe that this church has all the makings for such a church.  We have people who are gifted, we have ministries identified, and we have the same God who equips us for ministry for the common good.  Now all we need to do is strike while the iron’s hot. I’m not asking you to do everything, but if everyone has two irons in the fire, then this church will explode in meaningful ministry.  Amen.