25 July 2005

At the beginning of the week we enter chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:1-3)

There are so many ways we like to turn things into a game...into a way to keep score...in a way to have something over others...or a way to try to distinguish ourselves from others in order to somehow say something about our worth. Well, ditch it all. We don't play games in the community of the followers of Jesus. There are so many ways that people in the church try to make one side or one person a bit better/more holy than others. We do it in a variety of ways. Reality is, if someone says, "Jesus is Lord," or claims that the love of God in Jesus is the love that we count on for our very worth, no one...absolutely no one...can deny that. Oh they may try. People may say you don't show it the way we want you to show it...but we can say to that "baloney!" How wonderful it is that Paul has to deal with a bunch of junk in Corinth. It is the same junk that infects us today. Therefore, once we make the time and cultural jumps to today, Paul's words that focus on the ground of our life in the community of Christ are timeless and helpful. We do not let fear motivate our community life and we do not let rigid lines of definition control how the Spirit comes, to whom the Spirit comes, and what the Spirit may work through others.

Connection: We are handed such a day rich with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. it is quite beyond our comprehension. Therefore, it would do us all well to listen and enjoy and be pulled into new aspects of God's Reign as it takes place through others. We don't have a hold on how the Spirit will work among us.

Come, Holy Spirit. Come and move us beyond ourselves. Come and deliver us from our short-sighted vision. Come and open us up to life that is not yet within our grasp and yet life that you promise to bring to us. As you keep coming among us, help us to celebrate your presence. Amen.