“A Stewardship Sermon For Pentecost” Pentecost, 2008 May 11, 2008

(First read the text for this sermon: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13)

Here’s the way it happens. There are three parts to the movement. We listen to God the Holy Spirit revealing to us what our gifts are, what we’re good at. We listen to discern how the Spirit is calling us to use our gifts. And then, of course, we act! We are empowered by the Spirit. We use our gifts according to the God’s kingdom politics! In those “varieties of activities,” we are the risen body of Christ in the world!

On this festival of Pentecost, we celebrate the gifts given to the church by God the Holy Spirit.

This morning’s second reading comes from chapter 12 in First Corinthians, where Paul is writing about the gifts and talents and abilities that the members of that ancient congregation have received from the Spirit, and the language sounds awfully lofty. We read: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

All of this sounds great, huh? At the same time, I have to tell you that Paul is writing to a congregation so dysfunctional that it makes any other congregation seem like heaven on earth (especially this congregation of St. Stephen, in Williamsburg)! Here’s how bad it is among the Corinthian Jesus people. Some are saying, “I have this gift” (and then they name their gift: of speaking in tongues, say, or of prophecy, or the working of miracles) – “and you don’t. So that means I’m more special than you! God has blessed me more than you!”

That’s why Paul is having to write about spiritual gifts at all: because some in the Corinthian congregation are using their gifts in a divisive way, one-upping each other, enhancing their own individual status! Paul is having to tell them that none of us is more highly favored over another, regardless of what our gifts may be. That’s because all gifts come from the same Spirit; from the same Lord. Indeed, there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

So, we all have many gifts from God the Holy Spirit. We are involved in many activities of mission and ministry. But – it is all by God’s initiative! You are I are only responding to that gift-giving! It is the Holy Spirit who animates the risen body of Christ on earth! So – none of us can take credit; or puff ourselves up; and certainly none of us can denigrate others, by being competitive about our spiritual gifts.

According to Paul, God the Holy Spirit gives us our talents and abilities for the common good. That means: I have received gifts from the Spirit; I’m good at certain things, not for me – but for you! For your benefit! Not for my own self-aggrandizement. (Can there be anything more counter to our self-promotional culture?) Why are you and I given talents and abilities by God the Holy Spirit? It is so we can be servants to each other! No, it’s wider than that. It’s so we can be servants to whomever is in need, whether in this community of worshiping Jesus people or outside, in the mission field.

What I’m talking about, of course, is stewardship. This is a stewardship sermon for Pentecost! We listen to God the Holy Spirit revealing to us what our gifts are. We listen to discern how the Spirit is calling us to use our gifts. And then, of course, we act, empowered by the Spirit! We give ourselves away, to serve others with our talents and abilities! It’s stewardship: how we use what God gives us!

What a great theme to highlight on this day when the College of William and Mary is graduating its class of 2008; and on this day when six of our youth are becoming adults in the church by affirming their baptisms! What are their spiritual gifts, their talents, the things they’re good at? How is God calling them to serve, with their gifts?

Paul lists a number of gifts, in this morning’s verses from First Corinthians. He mentions the ability to speak wisdom; and the gift of translating knowledge about God into something useful; and the ability to buoy others by faith; and the gift of being a healing presence when there is pain and disease; and the working of miracles and prophecy; and the discernment of spirits (because some spirits are opposed to the Holy Spirit); and an ability to speak in charismatic tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, Paul writes, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. Why? Back to verse 7: To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. So each spiritual gift is only useful if it helps to build up the particular community of people on the journey together, in Christ, in the life of faith.

Is Paul’s list exhaustive? Of course not! What are other gifts that you have received from God the Holy Spirit, that aren’t on Paul’s list? What are gifts you have received from the Spirit, that enable you to be a servant to those in need, not only here in our community named for St. Stephen, but beyond?

Some of you have received from the Spirit administrative abilities that allow you to be servants on the board of a health clinic or another agency serving the poor. Some of you have received from the Spirit the ability to drive a nail straight into a board, which allows you to help build Housing Partnership houses for those who are poor. Some of you have received from the Spirit the gift of speaking well with public officials, or of writing well to them, which allows you to advocate effectively for the justice of God’s kingdom politics. The gift of computer skills is beyond value! The examples can go on and on.

We rejoice with those graduating from the College of William and Mary today, who are moving forward with a sense of the work or the further schooling that God the Holy Spirit is calling them to do, according to the gifts they have received from the Spirit.

We rejoice with the six youth who are affirming their baptisms this morning! Here is what I will ask them, concerning their continuing journey in faith:

You have made public profession of your faith. Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in holy baptism:
to live among God’s faithful people,
to hear the word of God and share in the Lord’s supper,
to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed,
to serve all people, following the example of Jesus,
and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
If these emerging adults in the church are willing to engage in these “varieties of activities” of life in Christ, they will each respond: I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.

As these words express, the life of faith is rooted in worship among others who have received spiritual gifts, and who are giving themselves away in servanthood. This is stewardship of our gifts and talents that have come from God the Holy Spirit; the things we’re good at!

How will these emerging adults serve those in need? Here’s the way it happens. There are three parts to the movement. We listen to God the Holy Spirit revealing to us what our gifts are. We listen to discern how the Spirit is calling us to use our gifts. And then, of course, we act, empowered by the Spirit, using our gifts according to the God’s kingdom politics!

You who are “veterans” know this, through your own continuing discernment of the gifts you have received from God the Holy Spirit, and from your engagement in the “varieties of activities” that the Spirit calls us into. We are the risen body of Christ in the world!

In the name of God, who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pastor Andy Ballentine
St. Stephen Lutheran Church
Williamsburg, Virginia