2023.05.28 | Your Manifestation of the Spirit
“Your Manifestation of the Spirit”
Rev. Pepper Swanson
Eden United Church of Christ
Hayward, CA
1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
Pentecost, the day we remember and celebrate the arrival of the Holy Spirit, is lovely for three reasons, in my humble opinion.
First, Pentecost is lovely because it gives us an opportunity to use RED paraments on the Communion table, which in this particular case are the banners from my ordination in March of 2016, ordination being the second occasion in the life of Church where RED is the chosen color. The first photo is outside Pioneer Chapel.
All but two of those small banners have been turned into stoles for other pastors. The second photo is of the banners inside with a few poppies my husband Scott both applied and took down for us. The pastor speaking there is Davena Jones, who is currently our Bridge Conference Minister.
And the third photo is of me after ordination with all the clergy who participated. I’m wearing the rainbow stole that the congregation gave me as a gift.
And, speaking of ordinations, today is the 10th anniversary of Pastor Marvin’s ordination, which was on Pentecost in 2013. Here’s a photo of his laying on of hands, which is the moment that ordination occurs.
And, here’s how he looked after the laying on of hands and receiving his robe and stole.
Looking at that photo, I think I see a glimmer in his eye of his future call at Eden Church, completing his PhD, or perhaps, that glimmer is….
….soon to be father-ness.
Because she ended up being here this weekend instead of in Iowa, I thought I should show a photo of Pastor Arlene’s ordination, but it was so long ago that digital cameras hadn’t been invented yet! Fortunately her Church was able to hire a courtroom sketch artist who caught this image:
But seriously, here she is in a scanned version of the original. I promised both Pastor Marvin and Pastor Arlene that there would be no comments on how time and the call of the Holy Spirit has aged them!
The second reason Pentecost is lovely is because it gives us an opportunity to reflect on the Holy Spirit as the third person of the Christian God. There is a diversity of traditions about the Spirit and some among us have spent more time learning about the Spirit while others have spent more time learning about Jesus. Our annual remembrance of the Spirit’s arrival gives us an opportunity to re-learn what the role of the Spirit can be in our faith life and in the creation of the church.
The third reason Pentecost is lovely is because it is, in fact, about love. Love of self, love of one’s own individuality, but also love of each other’s individuality and love for the entire community.
In today’s Bible Reading, the Apostle Paul writes a letter to a church in Corinth that he helped to start around 50 CE. It’s a very diverse church, with many people from different religious and cultural backgrounds, including both very rich and very poor people, all trying to worship together. Paul is writing them this letter because they have written him a letter asking for help resolving some conflicts among the church members.
One of the conflicts is about whether those who speak in tongues are spiritually superior to those who don’t speak in tongues.
For those who aren’t familiar with speaking in tongues, but particularly for our kids who may be wondering if we don’t all speak with our tongues, I’ll explain that speaking “in tongues” means speaking in an unknown language about God or Jesus. The person speaking in tongues is moved to say words that no one understands but which they believe have meaning and may be a type of prayer or communication with God. Even today, some people will speak in tongues in their church.
The problem in Corinth long ago, however, was not that some people spoke in tongues but that those who did speak in tongues thought they were superior to those who did not. We can only guess from what Paul has written that their idea of being spiritually superior was creating conflict, disagreements and hurt feelings.
In response to their letter of complaint about this conflict, Paul gives them a lovely tutorial on the Spirit and what it should mean to their church. He says:
First, the Spirit moves people to proclaim Jesus as Lord, a proclamation that Paul understood as embracing and embodying Jesus’ teachings with obedience and the help of the Spirit. No mouthing of the words is sufficient — to proclaim Jesus Lord is to obediently embody his ways across the board, with the help of the Spirit.
Second, the Spirit is the source of all gifts in the church, of which there are many varieties. Paul lists just a few, all of which are given by the same Spirit: wisdom and the speaking of knowledge, healing, working of powerful deeds, prophecy, discernment of spirits, and finally, speaking in tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Paul asks the Corinthians to understand that although all spiritual gifts come from a single source — the Spirit — diversity is the norm when it comes to talents, activities, and interests. In his commentary on Corinthians, Fred Craddock says that “the Spirit cannot be straight-jacketed but rather distributes gifts to each individual at will.” (1)
Third, the gifts, like the people to whom they are given are equal, equally important, and given for equal purposes. They are also given for what Paul calls the common good or the edification of all.
So, no, Paul says to the people of Corinth, those who speak in tongues are not spiritually superior and should not be “lording” it over others who do not speak in tongues. Instead the talents of each person should be equally valued and put to use to build up the church as a whole.
Paul’s perspective on valuing the talents of all people is as important today as it was 2,000 years ago. Despite paid staff and new technologies, churches remain heavily reliant on the gifts of their members, who volunteer countless hours to create beautiful worship and provide Christian education, to be a welcoming presence to one another and to the community, to engage in community service, and to ensure that the church has not only a well-maintained building and campus but also proper governance and financial management.
I recently attended a webinar entitled “Rethinking What God Calls Volunteers to Do.” The opening speaker, one of the UCC’s experts on church closings, said that churches fail, not because they run out of money, but because they run out of volunteers. A church of 10 people can thrive if each member is willing to volunteer for the necessary tasks; conversely a church of 30 with ample funds can fail if no one is willing to step up to be moderator, treasurer, deacon, etc. If this is true, it’s vital that every church keeps a close eye on what discourages volunteerism and what makes volunteerism possible for the greatest variety of members.
In terms of what discourages volunteers, Paul has given us a good start with his example of those who speak in tongues lording it over others. It would be discouraging to any volunteer to feel that they were less than others because their skills and interests are different. Speaking from my own experience as a volunteer both at Church and other community organization, here are some of the other things that can be discouraging or make it challenging to volunteer one’s gifts or talents:
Being asked to volunteer for something one is not good at or something one is afraid of tops the list of why people don’t volunteer for certain roles. Many people are afraid of public speaking, fundraising or asking for donations, cold calls, greeting strangers, telling other people what to do, working on spreadsheets, or writing reports or letters, just to name a few. Asking someone to do something they don’t like or are afraid of can create stress and discomfort.
The volunteer role is too big or involves too many responsibilities: Every organization has, either out of necessity or tradition, volunteer roles that require a large time commitment, daily or weekly activities, or significant responsibilities. Sometimes these are more like jobs than volunteer positions and need to be broken into smaller jobs or shorter time commitments so those who take them on are not burned out.
The volunteer work happens at the wrong time: it can be discouraging for volunteers, especially if they are still in the workforce, to be asked to take on tasks that involve activities on weekday evenings when they have just gotten home and want to make dinner and help the kids with their homework or weekend mornings when they want to if not sleep in than just not have to get up, get dressed, and drive somewhere.
The volunteer work is not organized or makes the volunteer feel neither truly needed or wanted: it can be discouraging to arrive at a work day or event and find little instruction or assistance in what one should be doing. It’s equally frustrating to arrive and find that there are too many volunteers and that one’s service is not truly needed.
The volunteer work seems to belong to someone else: every once in a while, a long-time and extremely dedicated volunteer does “their” job so well and for so long that others who would like to volunteer for those tasks are discouraged from doing so, thinking that person is invested in the role. Ironically, this is often a chicken and the egg problem because the person doing the role would love additional assistance or to move on to other roles.
Last and definitely not least: No one appreciates or thanks the volunteer: Our time volunteering is a gift we make to an organization or to our community. It has a value, both monetary and spiritual. On the monetary side, recent nonprofit studies say that every hour of volunteer work should be valued at almost $32 per hour. (2) On the spiritual side, every person assigns a value to their volunteer work and it’s usually tied to what they might otherwise be doing for themselves, their family, or for other volunteer organizations. To not be acknowledged or thanked for our valuable gift of time and talent can discourage us from continuing to volunteer.
Here at Eden, despite our best intentions, all of the above happen from time to time. All of our committees, especially our Church Council, our Service Enlistment Committee, and our Stewardship Committee, as well as our elected leaders and pastors, try to keep an eye on all of these issues and to find new and creative ways to recruit, engage, and thank volunteers, as well as constantly reevaluate what volunteer activities are needed and where its best that paid personnel be engaged for the good of the order.
Like most organizations, we are far from perfect in this area and can use all the volunteer help we can encourage. If the Spirit moves you to help us improve in this area, here’s a few thoughts on how you might both identify your spiritual gifts for the Church as well as ensure that we have the most encouraging setting for all volunteers:
Don’t be afraid to say “no” if asked to volunteer for something you aren’t comfortable doing. Don’t be afraid to say ‘maybe” or “yes” with conditions such as a trial basis either. If you know what you’d like to do, tell us. And don’t be afraid to try something on a conditional basis. Remember that sometimes your authentic “yes” will only be found after a lot of authentic “no’s.” Never doubt that you have been given spiritual gifts and that you will, in your unique way, manifest the Spirit for others.
If you do get discouraged with your volunteer job, put the job on pause for a while but don’t feel like you need to quit the Church. As much as we love your willingness to volunteer and appreciate your spiritual gifts, we love you as a member of our Church family first and foremost. Unfilled volunteer roles do not necessarily indicate that there is a problem as much as they indicate that something needs to be done differently or more creatively or perhaps, not at all.
Take time to thank the volunteers you see around you each Sunday and in between Sundays. To paraphrase the public safety warning that became popular after 9/11, if you see something, say thank you. Thank the liturgist, the choir, the usher, the person who brought the flowers, set up the Communion table, counted the offering, attended the community outreach event, made the coffee, taught the Church school kids…the list goes on and on because this Church, this body of Christ, is composed of many volunteers with many spiritual gifts and we are truly blessed by each and every one of you.
Before I close, let me add that if you read on in I Corinthians, you come quite quickly to the part of Paul’s letter that is frequently read at weddings and memorial services, Chapter 13. In this special passage, Paul speaks not of romantic love per se but about the foundational role that love plays in creating a loving community out of our individual gifts and how we treat one another as volunteers working together.
I’d like to read you a portion of Chapter 13 as food for thought about spiritual gifts and volunteerism. Because we all know the King James and the NRSV version of this passage so well and can’t help but remember every servoce we’ve heard it read at, I’m going to turn instead to The Message, which is a contemporary language version of the Bible. This is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
My friends, Pentecost is about love, the kind of love that proves itself more in action than in feeling. Love yourself and your own spiritual gifts. Never let others discourage you from manifesting what the Spirit has given you personally. Love one another, remembering that love is the foundation that will hold us together as a church, as a community, and as the body of Christ. Finally, love God, volunteer for Jesus, and give thanks to the Holy Spirit who unifies us in our diversity and makes us a church. Amen.
Fred B. Craddock, John H. Hayes, Carl R. Holladay, & Gene M. Tucker, Preaching Through the Christian Year, Year A, Harrisburg, PA, Trinity Press International, 1992, p. 298
“Value of Volunteer Time,” Independent Sector, Apr 19, 2023, https://independentsector.org/resource/value-of-volunteer-time, accessed May 27, 2023.