As you may have guessed, not only is today Mother’s Day, but today is also Pentecost Sunday. We celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit onto the church that was gathered in Jerusalem. That story is found in the second chapter of Acts.
1 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
5 At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. 6 When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers.
7 They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, 8 and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! 9 Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, 10 Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” 12 They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What can this mean?” they asked each other.
The church that was gathered in Jerusalem was empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak in languages they had never studied. Imagine what that would be like. Imagine speaking French and yet you never studied it. Imagine speaking Spanish and not studying it. That’s what these common place disciples did. Even though they had not studied those languages, the Holy Spirit gave them that ability. The Holy Spirit desires to do that for you today. God desires to give you spiritual gifts through the Holy Spirit. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 12.
1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.
Paul first tells us that we are not to worship the gift. I know people who have done that. It is very easy to worship the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us. If we do, we will be led astray.
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.
Another thing about spiritual gifts Paul tells us is that there are all kinds of spiritual gifts. I don’t think Paul lists all of the spiritual gifts. I believe that there are more that aren’t even mentioned. The important thing to remember is that the Holy Spirit is the source of all the spiritual gifts. Each of us serve the same God, the same Christ, the same Holy Spirit. God uses each one of us in different ways. Sometimes I think we look around the body of Christ and want everyone to be just like us. Think about how boring that would be. I know I wouldn’t want everybody to be just like me! I wouldn’t want everybody to be just like you. God’s plan for the body of Christ is for it to be a diverse group of people so that we can reach people with the gospel.
Let me give you an example. One of my FLAME friends has a Mohawk, drives a Harley and has several tattoos. Some of you may say, “How could the Wesleyan Church ordain a person like him?” I met a new friend while I was at Frankfort. He had tattoos on both arms and I believe he even had an earring. Some of you are thinking, “I don’t think God can use a man like that.” God has made each one of us different and he calls each one of us to minister in different places. Both of these men I told you about minister in and around Detroit. They minister to the down and out. Wes and Darryl will be able to minister to a segment of the population that you and I will never be able to minister. There are even people in Martinsville and Henry County that we won’t be able to reach, but others who are different just might. One of the young ladies I graduated with is now a co-pastor with her husband in downtown Grand Rapids. God has used Joann Lyon to reach people from all around the world. Each of these people is either ordained or studying for the minister. The body of Christ is a diverse yet unified body. Instead of saying, I don’t know how God can use them, lift them up in prayer so that they can reach people for Christ and build God’s Kingdom.
7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.
9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.
What have we learned so far? We are not to worship the gift. Spiritual gifts are diverse and so is the body of Christ. Now, Paul tells us that the spiritual gifts are for the benefit of the church, the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us all ability and we are not to use them for our own glory or our own benefit, but for God’s glory and God’s benefit. Spiritual gifts are given to us so that we can reach people for the gospel and to build God’s Kingdom. Do you see a pattern here? What else?
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
Again, Paul reminds us that the body of Christ is diverse and that the body of Christ needs all believers. Every believer needs to be using their spiritual gifts. He reminds us that each person in the body is important – there are no small roles in the church – each one is needed. My good friend Mark mentioned that so many times we like to assimilate people into the church. While that sounds like a great idea, do you know what assimilate means? It means to make similar. We don’t need a body full of eyes or full of mouths or full of ears or full of noses or full of any other body part. All the parts of the body are needed, to think any other way is just crazy talk. There are even those who think there part is unimportant. Here’s what Paul has to say about that.
22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
There is a saying in drama, “There are no small parts, only small actors.” Meaning that those who think they only have a small role are severely mistaken. Likewise, Christians who think they have a small role in the body are sorely mistaken as well. The Kingdom we serve in is an upside down Kingdom. Jesus told us that those who considered themselves the least in the Kingdom are really the greatest and those who consider themselves great are the least. That really doesn’t make much sense to us, especially considering our western, capitalistic culture. We say, “I’m looking out for number one,” all the while the number one we should be looking out for is each other. Those who think they have small jobs or think they are unimportant are really the most important in the body of Christ. One of the things I know is that because I’m one of the upfront persons, I’ve already received part of my reward. But there are many behind-the-scenes people – prayer warriors, nursery workers, kitchen workers, those who take care of the maintenance of this building and cut the grass and do the myriad of what they think are unnoticed things – they are important, and Pam and I watch to see who’s doing those seemingly unimportant things. That’s another reason we send encouraging cards. We love to catch someone in the act of anonymous ministry and send them a card. In my opinion, that does not diminish the importance of the act. You didn’t do it to get the recognition – In fact you probably weren’t even looking for the recognition. It warms this pastor’s heart when we discover someone doing ministry simply for the act of doing it. And Pam and I love to recognize that by sending you a card and not bringing you up to the front. That way you keep you anonymity. We are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of the body of Christ and when one suffers, Paul tells us, we all suffer. Think about your body. When one part of it is feeling bad, you might as well be hurting all over, because the rest of you feels bad too. That’s how the body of Christ should be. When one hurts, we all hurt. We are the body of Christ. How does Paul finish out this 12th chapter?
27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
Paul states that this is just part of the list. There are, I believe, more than he has stated here. What gift has the Holy Spirit given you? Do you know what it is? Like I said before, the Holy Spirit has given each one of us a gift or multiple gifts to serve the body of Christ. They are diverse gifts – sometimes even the same gift manifests itself in a different way. The gifts that are given to us are for the benefit of the church. They are given to us (the church) so that we can preach and teach to gospel to those who so desperately need to hear it and to build God’s Kingdom. Not to build our own little kingdom – but to build God’s Kingdom. Is that your prayer this morning? My desire is that everyone here would know his or her gift and that the Holy Spirit would fill us up so that we can use that gift to benefit the church. That’s my prayer – to fill us up.
