Scripture: Exodus 3:1-6; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
In June my family and I boarded a Delta Airlines 767
bound for
Every morning at 4:30 a.m. we were awakened by the Muslim
call to prayer blaring out of speakers perched high atop the masques’ minarets
in our neighborhood. “Allah Akhbar”, “God is Great” filled the silence and
stillness of the early morning air. Not
only were the words “Allah Akhbar” a call to prayer to the faithful; they also
aroused the sleeping city of
The Muslim call to prayer also seemed to awaken the trucks
and buses in
There are many things I miss in
When I was a child, the story of Moses and the burning bush,
which I read moments ago, baffled me not because of the voice of God being
heard by Moses or the bush ablaze. What left me scratching my head, when I
still had hair, was that artists always seemed to leave out the smoke in their
paintings. Come on, we all know that where there is fire, there is smoke. But the smoke was always missing. So where was the smoke?
Now let’s fast forward 35
years later, when I discovered that the lectionary passage for this Sunday was
the story of Moses and the burning bush. My childhood question “where was the
smoke?” flooded my memory. The
difference today is that I think I have an answer to that childhood question, I
think I have found the smoke.
But before I give you my
answer, I’m going to need you to stretch your theological imaginations and
think this through with me. I think there
was smoke from the burning bush, not in the form of a billowing byproduct caused
from burning wood, but rather in the form of Moses and the Israelites who would
later set out to blanket the land with hope filled hearts as they made their
way to a land promised to them, a land flowing with milk and honey. Now understand that I’m taking some creative
license with this interpretation.
Do you recall another time
when God came to the faithful as fire without any noticeable smoke at first sight? We have a stained glass window in our own sanctuary
celebrating that event. We read in the
Book of Acts about Pentecost when, “…suddenly from heaven there came a sound
like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where (the
disciples) were sitting. Divided
tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.”[1] In reading this passage, the fire is there,
but where is the smoke? Our own stained
glass window has the flame but are void of any smoke. God’s presence in the burning bush kindled a
flame in the heart of Moses, giving him the strength to lead his people. God’s same presence burned brightly in the
hearts of the disciples of Jesus on that first Pentecost. And symbolically the disciples of Jesus Christ
throughout the generations became like smoke carrying the good news “to
Friends, through the witness of others and the presence of
the Holy Spirit in this place, a flame is kindled within our hearts and we,
like so many disciples before us and beside us, join together to become
something bigger than ourselves. We have
become like smoke that has blanketed the earth, sharing the good news of Jesus
Christ “to (all) the ends of the earth.”[3]
While visiting
When I was reading our New Testament passage from I Corinthians
chapter 12, my memory flashed back to Fred Rogers, of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Apparently
Mr. Rogers loved First Corinthians 12, because he used it as a text for one of
his well-known songs:
“Everything grows together,
because you’re all one piece.
The head grows as the neck
grows
as the shoulders grow
as the rest of you grows,
because you’re all one piece.”
You’re all one piece. This is
what Paul is also saying to the Corinthian church. You are all one body—all one piece—baptized
in the one Spirit. Jews and Greeks,
slaves and free, Democrats and Republicans, NASCAR fans (like me) and well
non-NASCAR fans like my wife – all of us are united in the one body of Christ.
It sounds simple. We’re all one body, all one piece. However when Paul sings his song to the
Corinthian church, he hears two dissonant voices in response.
First the foot says,
“because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.” The ear says, “because I am not an eye, I do
not belong to the body.” These
particular extremities felt unwanted, unnecessary, dispensable. They obviously felt they did not have any
gifts to offer.
We like to label certain
people as “gifted.” Many schools have
“gifted and talented programs” for children who meet certain criteria of “giftedness.”
The implication, of course, is that the other children, the rest of us, aren’t
“gifted” at all.
I wouldn’t be surprised if many of us here have never been
labeled “gifted” by some higher authority. We’re just normal folks who trudge
through life without fame or acclaim. Or are we?
Of course not. As
members of the body of Christ, we have been gifted by the Holy Spirit. Paul says to the Corinthians that the Spirit
of God is building up the body of Christ through a variety of gifts, to include
the utterance of wisdom, knowledge, and faith, the gifts of healing and the
working of miracles. Paul stresses again
and again that the whole church is necessary for this work, and every
member has a gift.
Along these lines, I remember hearing for years a quote that
was attributed to the South African leader Nelson Mandela, but recently I
discovered that these words were actually written by Marianne Williamson a New
York Times bestselling author. The words
themselves are ones that could have been spoken by Mandela, or even by Paul
himself in response to the downtrodden feet and ears of the Corinthian church:
I quote “We ask ourselves,
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not
to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel
insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to
make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us;
it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give
other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.”[4]
“If the whole body were an
eye, where would the hearing be? If the
whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? If all were a single member, where would the
body be?” Each member: hands, feet,
ears, and eyes, each member has a gift and none is dispensable.
But Paul hears another inharmonious voice in response. The eye suddenly says to the hand, “I have no
need of you.” The head says to the feet,
“I have no need of you.” Rather than
thinking too little of their gifts, these self-important appendages are quite
sure that they can go it alone. Why
would the head need those stinky feet?
Surely the body can get along fine without them. The head and the eyes are, after all, the
most important members of the body.
Their gifts trump all the others.
The problem is: if we had no feet, we could not get
anywhere. All the members, with all of
their varied gifts, are necessary for the good of the whole.
Have any of you ever taken a
spiritual gift inventory questionnaire to determine your particular gifts? I have to confess that I am leery of these
discernment tools.
The basic problem is that we cannot discern our gifts
alone. We need one another to be able to
tell what our particular gifts are. Only
in the context of community do our gifts emerge and become clear.
And more than that, only in
the context of community are our gifts developed. Take the gift of generosity. How could we
possibly cultivate such a gift in isolation?
How could Craig, Kacy, Kevin or I cultivate or nurture a gift for
preaching while alone—in a closet, or on a desert island, without a
congregation?
All of us here in this
community of faith we call First Presbyterian Church help to discern and
develop one another’s particular spiritual gifts. None of us could ever do this alone. It is with our help that Brendan Lamb and
Camden Nalley will be guided and nurtured by our love, prayers and
encouragement, we made that promise to them during their baptisms. It is our responsibility to help them discern
and develop their God given spiritual gifts.
God knows what the power of love, prayers and encouragement can do in
the lives of others. Our own Allison
Per-Lee the Director of Youth Ministries will begin taking Master of Divinity
classes this week at Columbia Theological Seminary. Allison could not have awakened one morning
and said, “Hey! I am enormously humble!
I am so sensitive and compassionate! I need to go and be a leader in the
body of Christ!” This rarely happens,
and when it does, it’s usually a sign of delusion. We have all been the ones to show Allison who
she is able to be, we have prayed for her, we have encouraged and supported
her. We have helped to cultivate her
gifts among us and hopefully with a little help from Columbia Seminary she will
be equipped after her studies to serve Jesus Christ as an ordained Presbyterian
minister. It is only in the context of a
community of faith—like this one—that such discernment of gifts can take place.
But Paul has more to say to those members of the body who claim not to
need the others. He says to those who
look down on the “feet”: “the members of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we
clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with
greater respect.” It is not enough to
say simply that all members of the body are equal, but that, in the topsy-turvy
logic of the gospel, those members of the body that the world deems less
respectable are actually treated with more respect. The last shall be first, and the first shall
be last.
Some in the body will say “I do
not belong.” I am not gifted. Others
will say, “I have no need of you.” I
have all the gifts. Paul says to both,
“No. Each of you has a gift, but none of you has all of the gifts.” The body of Christ needs all of us, all of its
member’s together, young and old and those in between. We are called to transform and be
transformed, to help one another recognize the gifts that God has given us and
empower one another to use those gifts to strengthen and build up the body of
Christ. Friends, I have witnessed the
love, wisdom and healing in this place, we are all gifted members of the body
of Christ and empowered by the Holy
Spirit we are called to spread like smoke, carrying the Good News of Jesus Christ,
to places like