January 25, 2004; The Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C
The Rev. Harold "Skip" Comer, Rector
As I read the portion of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians that was our second reading this morning, I couldn’t help but think of Mr. Potato Head. Maybe it’s because our grandson, Jacob, spent a week and a half with us at Christmas time watching Toy Story and Toy Story Two, in which Mr. Potato Head is one of the characters. Added to this is the fact that when Jacob would get Mr. Potato Head out to play with, I would tease him by putting the arms on backwards or stick his tongue in where his nose is supposed to go. Well, I just couldn’t resist the temptation, so I brought Mr. Potato Head with me this morning as a prop.
As you read through the first twelve chapters of the First Letter to the Corinthians,
it becomes obvious that there must have been a little bit of turmoil occurring in the
church at
As he begins chapter twelve, which we heard last week, he turns to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which evidently have been manifested by several members of the congregation. There should be joy that these gifts are being revealed by the people. But instead, those who have received the gifts are evidently flaunting them, and essentially claiming that they are more important than those who have not been able to demonstrate that they have received a gift.
This is where our reading for this morning picks up. His message is that Joe Schmo who can move mountains is no better than John Doe, who has no apparent gifts at all. I remember many years ago there was a lady in the parish I was attending who wanted the gift of speaking in tongues. She didn’t care about the other gifts that the Holy Spirit bestowed on God’s people, she only wanted the gift of tongues. She expressed it so emphatically that you got the feeling that if she did not receive this particular gift then there was no Almighty God, let alone the Holy Spirit. At the same time there was another lady who couldn’t stop crying because everyone else was receiving gifts of the Holy Spirit but her. I spent hours with her, trying to console her and show her that she did indeed have a gift that was more precious than all of the others. She could not bear children, so she and her husband had decided to adopt children. They had adopted two girls over the course of several years and this woman loved them like they were her own. She was giving them the love that they had never experience from their biological parents. That was her gift from the Holy Spirit. While it might not seem as BIG or impressive as being able to speak in tongues or perform miracles, the gift of love is the foundation of what it means to be a Christian.
Paul uses the imagery of the body to try and impress upon the members of the congregation at Corinth, that each one of them is as important as the other. First he approaches it from the point of envy, by the foot saying that because it is not a hand (pull the feet off of Mr. Potato Head), implying that the hand is more important, that the body does not really need me. We all know what happens when we loose our feet, we can’t stand up. Paul’s message to those who feel unimportant to the congregation is that is not true. Just because we cannot contribute to the congregation in ways that others do by their talents and treasure, don’t think for a moment that we are not important. Even though we may feel insignificant, we are just as important as any body else.
Paul then turns it around to address the arrogance of some members who think that they are so important that the congregation can not get along without them. It is an arrogance that conveys the message to others, “I really don’t need you.” His message then and now is that even though we may give the most money to support the church or have gifts that are highly valued by the congregation, we dare not presume that we are so much better than anyone else that we don’t need them.
The church at Corinth was made up of Jews and Gentile. The Jews were children of the covenant that God made with Abraham, the chosen people of God, the people who had anticipated and waited for the coming of the messiah. They were “better” than the Gentiles. Who let those foreigners in in the first place? They had grown up knowing God and following his commandments, and now these outsiders who had no appreciation for their religion, who didn’t want to follow the rules that were so much a part of their religion – well they really don’t belong in our church.
Perhaps the greatest struggle that any congregation has is to open their doors to people who are not like them and welcome them into their membership. Not just welcoming strangers or visitors who comes on Sunday morning to worship with the congregation, but welcoming them into the circle of friendships that exist, inviting them to participate in activities, and make to really feel a part of the church family.
It is only natural to want people like us to join St. Philip’s. We have more in common with them and they usually don’t challenge the status quo. But who defines or determines who can belong? In some sense each parish or congregation makes that determination. We always teeter on the edge of screening those who come through our doors. Are they like us? Will they fit in? Or, are they going to challenge us, maybe even change the way we do things? Ah, if they are like us, then they won’t rock the boat and everything will be ok.
When Jesus stood up in the synagogue at Nazareth and read from the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, … proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free …” he was really claiming more that the fulfillment of the prophecy, he was also saying who should be included in his church. Those people who nobody wants – the socially unacceptable, those that we would rather pay others to look after, those we help because it is what we are suppose to do as Christians – they aren’t just people we are to minister to, they are to be welcomed into our community of faith. They may take more than they can give, but in the eyes of God they are just as important, just as valuable as any one of us.
The scripture was fulfilled in that synagogue not just as Jesus spoke, but as he lived his life, reaching out and including those that nobody wanted, those that were not included by the religious establishment of his day.
I wonder – is the scripture being fulfilled yet today? Or have we conveyed to some people that we have no need of them, or you really don’t fit here, why don’t you try another church.