I appreciate the book of Corinthians for the same reason I love Church history; they both refuse to hide the struggles of being the community of Christ. Our denomination is in the midst of its own struggle which some people tend to paint as unique and catastrophic. Yet, one only has to read Corinthians to discover that conflicts in the church didn’t start this year, this decade, this century or even this millennia. No, they were there from the start.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, we discover that one of the very first churches ever struggled with divisions over leadership (1:10-17), lawsuits between one another (6:1-11), sexual standards (6:12-20), propriety in worship (11:2-16) and class issues of rich versus poor (11:17-34). No, there was no pristine past for the church, struggle and conflict have been there from the beginning and for this reason I appreciate the book of Corinthians. In it the author Paul does as the kids like to say today, “keeps it real.’
Given the nature of this book, one is left to wonder, “Is there any good news?” Does Paul only state the problems, or does he also offer a way through. In the answer to this, we are not disappointed. For it is in our passage this morning that we discover one of the ways God not only forms Christians, but also the community of Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:1-12
Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. 12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
The way in…
Paul begins this passage with a bit of a head scratching statement. He makes the claim that no one can utter two sentences unless led by God’s Spirit. Well, let me test this theory. “Jesus be cursed.” “Jesus is Lord.” There, I said both of them, so what gives? Was I not in the spirit in the first statement? Was I in the Spirit with the second? What is Paul getting at here? Perhaps it has something to do with the words of St. Francis of Assisi who said, “Preach the gospel always, use words only if necessary.”
Perhaps, Paul is making the claim that the only way our lives will say ‘Jesus is Lord’ is through the power of God’s Spirit. In our baptismal vows we answer the question, “Who is your Lord and Savior?” To say that Jesus is Lord is not just to utter three words, it is to say that Jesus is my master, my teacher, my guide, my leader, my parent, my coach or whatever term of leadership you might think of. It is to say that I offer my life, my habits, my thoughts, my profession, my entire self to him as his disciple. A large commitment is it not? How can we do such a thing? I think that Paul is saying that there is only one way, through the Spirit. And how does the Spirit come? Apparently, we find the answer in community.
Initial Attraction
Today is the 12th anniversary of the day when Erin and I got married. Yep, 12 years ago, Harlan Shoop, who has preached here a number of times along with my youth minister Tommy Campbell joined us in holy matrimony in front of friends and family and God at University Place Presbyterian Church. And yet, despite the gift of over a decade of marital bliss, I feel compelled to make a confession on this day. I have a mistress. Yep, there is another who continues to capture my time, attention and attraction. But no, it is not as you may think. This mistress is not another woman, it is a community. I’m attracted to the Mennonites.
It all started in 2006 when I read about the tragic shooting of five Mennonite girls in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. You may remember that event. A mentally unstable neighbor entered the Mennonite school house, taking the girls hostage that unfortunately ended with not only his death but that of 5 of the girls. What drew my infatuation with the Mennonites was not this tragic event, rather the Mennonite response to it.
At the gunman’s funeral, over ½ of those present were members of the Mennonite community. And despite what you may think, they were not there to spit upon his grave. No, they were there to offer compassion and support for his spouse and family as well as forgiveness to this man. What kind of community would respond in such a way when squeezed with tragedy? What kind of community could live the words of the Lord’s prayer to ‘forgive us our debts as we forgive one another’ so faithfully? Apparently the Mennonites were such a community and so, I became infatuated, but it was only at a distance. Until this summer.
Farmer’s Market (Common Work)
Towards the end of my families summer visit to Tennessee last year, I read somewhere that there was a Mennonite community that had settled in Delano, about 30 minutes from my hometown. I tucked this news away and made secret plans to find a way to visit it this year. When I asked my parents about it, they told me that the Mennonites had a farmer’s market that was open every day and was worth a visit and so, of course we visited.
One is only able to enter the community by passing through a narrow one lane tunnel that goes underneath railroad tracks. A sign next to the tunnel appropriately reads, “the needle’s eye.’ Which, of course, is a reference to Jesus claim that ‘it is easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ Nonetheless, we entered through this needle’s eye and found a kind of heaven in the farmer’s market. Fresh, abundant, colorful and fragrant are all words I’d use to describe this produce. The market was full of things that wouldn’t keep long, but burst with flavor in the present. German heirloom tomatoes good enough to make you slap your granny, melons and cantaloupe; pepper jelly just the right heat that would cost you 15-20 dollars elsewhere was only $4 at the market. We bought the kids some grapes and sat on the tale of the van to enjoy their flavor. (Common Place) Surrounding this little market were hundreds of acres of fields bursting with corn, cantelope, watermelons, grapes, tomatoes and anything else that would grow. And as we ate I noticed wagons leaving the market to go into the fields while other wagons drove to the market full of produce. I began to realize what a communal effort this market was. It was something in which every member of the community played a role. Some were sellers, some stockers, some planters and some pickers, but all were a part of the market. Sound familiar.
While purchasing our produce, I began to wonder what their worship services were like. I wondered if they allowed outsiders. I strolled around the market even after we’d gotten everything we needed trying to work up the courage to ask. As I went up to pay, my hands got a little sweaty and I felt that little fear that you get before asking someone out on a date. As I handed the money I asked if their services were open to other folks. There was a momentary pause before he replied, “Oh yes, just come on out around 9:15 and follow this road around the bend and over the creek and you’ll see our meeting house.” And there it was, I had a date with the Mennonites.
Mennonite Meeting House (common worship)
My dad let me use his truck and my family was gracious enough to let me spend a Sunday with my mistress Mennonites. So I left in what I thought was plenty of time. However, when I arrived I discovered another difference between my world and the Mennonites; they don’t spend any money on church signs. I drove around their dirt lanes for 30 minutes taking in its beauty and simplicity until finally I came upon a sort of buggy parking lot below a meeting house. (common place)
I knew the service had already begun by the singing. An allcapella melody of male and female voices floated down from the meeting house informing me where to go. I walked upon the wooden porch and found myself standing at the head of the aisle. To my right was a sea of white bonnets and long dresses. To my left were blue and gray suspended shirts and bearded faces of the men. There was no separation by age, everyone from a few weeks to a 90 years was there, singing.
Had there been electricity, you might have thought the record skipped at my entrance as heads turned to see this stranger. A man rose and offered me his chair at the end of the aisle. I sat next to a boy of perhaps 3 and his father who looked to be in his late 20’s. They handed me a hymnal and we sang. After each song a person would say a hymn number and start singing after which the whole congregation joined in. They sang all the verses, with no instruments, but with great depth. I did not know the hymns we sang. They seemed ancient, yet familiar.
After singing a man rose, read scripture and spoke on prayer, after which we turned kneeled, placed our elbows on our chairs and prayed. After this another passage was read and another man rose and talked for about an hour. Now, keep in mind through all of this that it is Tennessee, it is July and there is no electricity, which means there is no AC. The room is full and everyone has on long clothes and there are children. To be sure, it was warm, and yet, there was something refreshing about the breeze that flowed through the open windows. At one point a kitten wandered through the open door and down the aisle as if on its way to baptism.
The service ended with a song at about 12:15 almost 3 hours after it started. A long time by any one’s estimation, yet everyone from the youngest to the oldest made it through. I wasn’t sure whether to feel awe for their endurance or sadness for their Sunday morning worship marathons. When I expressed my amazement afterwards one of the brothers replied, “Yep, all of us have trouble paying attention at some point. The services can get a little long.”
After the service I was invited downstairs for lunch. Over 200 folks crammed around several long tables upon which sat slices of bread, peanut butter, egg salad, pickles and lemonade. A meal like these Mennonites, simple and good. After several good conversations left the community at around 2:00 with my head a swirl. I could not then and still struggle to decide whether I feel envy or pity for this community. They have so little; electricity, transportation, news, clothes. Yet, they have so much; land, good work, faith and one another.
Community of the Spirit
And now you might be asking, what does this have to do with Corinthians? What does this have to do with the Spirit? These are fair questions. To be sure, the Holy Spirit is not the first thought folks have when one mentions the Mennonites. There was no speaking in tongues, no being slayed in the spirit, no drama or even excitement in the worship service which are all things often associated with ‘spirit filled communities.’ Yet, I witnessed the truth of Paul’s claim to the Corinthians, “No one can say, Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.” “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
One of the elders told of when he was a young man trying to discern how he would fit into the community. After some searching he decided to learn how to make and repair harnesses. In his apprenticeship, he visited the community that made the steel bits. Apparently when first fashioned the bits are sharp and pointed, too so to be of any use. So, these bits are placed in a tumbler and turned over and over one another. The more they tumble they rub against one another and round the sharp edges and dull the points until all of them are smooth. Community is like this, he said, we are placed in this tumbler where we bump into one another over and over again until our sharp edges are softened and our pointed places are dulled. It is in the community that we become more of who Christ wants us to be.
Brothers and sisters, I’m still not sure what to do with my Mennonite infatuation. Despite my attraction, I don’t plan on leaving cars and electricity just yet. Yet, I see in them a picture of the beauty of community. “No one,” Paul writes, ‘can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” I think what I see in the Mennonites is the Holy Spirit working through the boundaries of community to be a people who can live with Jesus as Lord. Community happens where people have things in common. The Mennonite have common work; the market and the land. They have a common place; the land, the meeting house, the creek and lanes. And each Sunday, they have common worship. Common work, common place and common worship all work like that tumbler forcing each person to rub against one another til the Spirit shapes them into the bit Christ wants them to be. Common work, common place and common worship all pull together to create common unity. “Now to each one,’ Paul writes, “the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” What about us?
Are we common?
What has this to do with us? After expressing my admiration for their community, Leon, my lunch host, said that perhaps I should start a Presbyterian Mennonite community up here in Tacoma. I laughed and told him that there wasn’t enough land. But perhaps there is something there. How could we learn from the Mennonites? What might God’s spirit be teaching us through them?
Is there a call to greater simplicity? Is there a call to turn off some of our electricity, our culture of comfort? Is there a call to think differently about transportation? Is there a call to think differently about time and how quickly it seems to move here versus the slow pace there? All these I think are valid challenges, perhaps the question more appropriately phrased is to wonder where we started, “How can I allow Jesus to be Lord?” (As a community?) (As an individual?)
From what I can tell, all of the Mennonite behaviors flow from their beliefs. They want Jesus to be Lord of all their life, not just on Sunday morning. So they have common work, a common place and common worship. But the converse is also true. Their beliefs are influenced by their behaviors. Their common work, common place and common worship influence the way they see and experience God. Their founder, Menno Simons wrote in 1569, “For true evangelical faith...cannot lie dormant; but manifests itself in all righteousness and works of love; it...clothes the naked; feeds the hungry; consoles the afflicted; shelters the miserable; aids and consoles all the oppressed; returns good for evil; serves those that injure it; prays for those that persecute it." Behavior influences belief. The Spirit works through behavior. The Spirit works as we tumble over one another in community.
The way out…
I will close with this though from a hymn in the worship service. The last line of one of the hymns grabbed me as we sang, “World of ours and world unseen, and thin the boundary between.” I couldn’t help but think of the words of our Scottish brethren at the Ione community write that “Heaven is here and earth is here and the space between is thin.” The call to be the community of Christ is not just for the sake of obedience. Rather, the call to be the community of Christ as those who are tossed and turned and rub the sharp edges off one another is because God wants us to glimpse the kingdom of heaven while in the midst of the kingdom of the earth. Like a ripe Mennonite cantaloupe or heirloom tomato, the more we taste what is really good, the less we will be satisfied with anything less.
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