So, if you read it, read it kindly. Since I know I'm going to preach and (except for here) NOT publish, I didn't even take the time to proof-read it!
Unity in Diversity
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Let me tell you my journey that’s taken me from snowflakes to the gifts of the Spirit. In preparing for today’s worship, knowing I would be talking about the uniqueness of snowflakes and how that uniqueness is not necessarily divisive but instead unites snowflakes into snow balls and hills and piles, etc, my mind went to the song we’re going to sing in a few minutes, There Are Many Gifts but the Same Spirit.
That song was a gift of God to me this past week.
The lyrics of this song took me to the scripture that birthed them: 1 Corinthians 12. The gift of this passage of scripture led me to this sermon idea. In preparing for this sermon, I stumbled upon a discussion* of a book by Marcus Buckingham. Given where I hope to go in this message, I’ll rephrase that: In my preparation for today, I was given the gift of information from a book by Buckingham, Now Discover Your Strengths. It has a number of rather simple, straightforward claims that have rather profound implications. It's a management book, but Now, Discover Your Strengths is more. It's about how to work with people in a way that plays to their strengths rather than to their weaknesses.
Too often, says Buckingham, mangers (and among the many demands upon pastors is the demand to manage fellow Christians in the church) attempt to manage people on the basis of their weaknesses. Businesses spend much unproductive, costly time and effort attempting to strengthen employees' weaknesses rather than developing their strengths. "You can pull out people's gifts more easily than you can put in gifts that people don't have," says Buckingham. You get more "bang for your buck" by putting people in those positions where they already have the talents they need to succeed in that position. Business wastes lots of money and time trying to coax and train people to do well in positions for which they have few talents.
The most productive employees are those who spend most of their day doing those tasks that they like to do most. It's no surprise that we most like to do those tasks for which we are best qualified. Innate talent is the most important quality to look for in an employee.
And yet, here is one more insight from Buckingham: few of us really know our strengths. We are much better at identifying our weaknesses than our talents. We spend most of our educational and growth time in attempting to work on our weaknesses than we do in developing our strengths. And most of this time is wasted, says Buckingham.
It is crucial for an organization to find ways to discover employee strengths, to put employees in situations where they can utilize their strengths, and to continue to strengthen their strengths.
In fact, Buckingham has continued to develop these insights by creating instruments and means whereby people can discover their strengths, label them, and follow the implications of having a particular set of strengths.
Buckingham’s information was God’s gift to me because today’s scripture. This passage of scripture is from one of Paul's letters to a conflicted church. Here was a church that was torn apart (so I assume) by bickering about who has the most important gifts. Paul counters the bickering by saying that:
- All of our strengths, including the strengths that you do not have, come as gifts of God.
- God has wisely given us a diversity of gifts in the church blessing us with far more gifts than we have been able to utilize.
- We ought to celebrate, enjoy, and utilize the diversity of strengths that we have in the church.
- These strengths (what Paul calls “gifts”) are gifts of God for the up building of the people of God and the healing of the world.
What gifts have you been given? God has gifted you—each and every one of you.
What strengths do you have? You do have them—whoever you are.
And our gifts, our strengths are as unique as the snowflakes that fell this past week. And Buckingham is right, our biggest problem is not knowing our gifts and failing to embrace and use our gifts.
I’d like to spend some time looking at giftedness. I’ll ask you again and again—and even when I don’t ask you, I want you to ask yourself—one question: What gifts/strengths do I have?
Sam* was a businessman as well as a church member. He was brusque to the point of bluntness and no one had ever thought of him for any job in the church. Sam was a hardboiled business guy who was too rough and direct for nice church people. Let’s just say he was well liked, you know, he was respected, but most people preferred to respect him from a distance.
Well, Sam retired and found retirement. So one day, when he was sharing with his pastor that he was struggling with depression because of his retirement from his powerful and prestigious business position, the pastor suggested to him that he come work in the church clothes closet and food pantry. The pastor had no idea what had come over her to think that this could possibly be a good idea. Was it insanity? Or the Holy Spirit?
So, Sam goes to work there three mornings a week. And there he meets people who are down on their luck, people having a tough time, like the mother who had her electricity turned off because she was late paying her electric bill. Well, Sam heard about it and next thing you know he was on the telephone talking with the president of the electric company (a golf buddy of his) telling him that he ought to be ashamed of his company turning off the power to this woman’s house. She got her electricity back that very day.
What gifts do you have? The gift of brusqueness? The gift of advocacy for others? The gift of caring for people who are struggling through tough times in their lives?
Sally* was known throughout her congregation for her abrasive personality. She was notorious for the scathing things she said on occasion to various members of the congregation.
Her pastor, Mark, was the denomination’s representative to a committee in town that worked with the needs of the marginalized and poor. They had lobbied city hall, they had sent a delegation to talk with the law enforcement authorities, but they were very frustrated by the poor responses they were getting. What were they to do? “We need someone who can push things through, get beyond the resistance and the barriers and get something done,” said the chairperson to the group.
Suddenly the Holy Spirit reminded Mark of this abrasive person in his church. Mark blurted out, “Have I got a person for you!”
Isn’t God wonderful? God is able to take an abrasive personality—you know the type, someone who so often becomes a burr under the saddle of others—God is able to take that person and use that gift to help others.
Is that your gift—the gift of an abrasive personality? Thank God, but we don’t all share the same gifts! What are your gifts?
Edna* was a person who wanted to sing in the choir. She tried that. She was eventually asked to leave the choir (no, not with words. It was more with the body language and rolled eyes of the other choir members!). But that was okay, singing was not her strength. Then she tried to manage the Sunday school program. That was a disaster. Organization was not her strength. Then at a meeting one night, when someone was lamenting the sorry state of the church lawn, she spoke up and said, “I can do that!” She had a gift for yard work. That began a tradition in that congregation of “Saturdays with Edna.” On Saturday, everyone, of all ages, would be enlisted by Edna to beautify the church grounds. How thankful everyone was for nudging Edna to use her gifts in that way!
What are your strengths, your interests, your gifts? Do you have the gift of gardening? What about singing? What about organization? Small group leadership?
Do you like to teach—the process of learning and sharing that knowledge with others?
Do you like crafts? Are you artsy?
Aristotle said that to have a good friend is like having “a second self.” A good friend is almost like having another set of eyes and ears, another brain to think things through. One of the gifts of friendship is to have someone who knows you, who loves you, and who wants the best for you but who is not limited by the same self-centeredness and self-concern, the same defensiveness as you.
One woman* said, “Having Sherrill as a friend has taught me one thing. Don’t ask her opinion if you don’t have the courage to hear her honest opinion. Without her, there is no limit to my self-deceit.”
Shouldn’t the church be that place where we come to acquire friends like Sherrill—friends in Christ—friends who become, through their loving truthfulness, our means to a level of truth-telling and honesty that we could not have on our own?
Do you have the gift of friendship? Are you a good listener? A good shoulder to cry on? An arm to lean on?
Ellen* writes, “Even as a child I found myself wanting to know everything. I would make a game of my questions. ‘What is my question today?’ I would think up those outrageous questions, and then I would go looking for the books that would answer them. I often got way over my head, deep into books that I didn’t have a clue about, but I read them because they had my answer someplace. My questions became my tool for leading me from one piece of information to another.”
What are your gifts? Is a questioning nature your gift, strength or interest?
“Children are great gifts of God,” said a grandmother. Widespread agreement within the group.
“And sometimes the gift that God has sent them to give to you is patience!” said another.
Isn’t that true of many of God’s gifts to us? Sometimes one gift leads to another.
What are your gifts?
“My divorce, as tough as it was, was one of the best things that God ever gave me,” he said.
I was shocked to hear him say that. After all, he was pastor. His divorce had terribly dislocated his life. His wife had left him and their two teenage children. His church had asked him to move. What on earth did he mean that God “gave me” the divorce?
“I didn’t plan to get a divorce. I didn’t want to get a divorce. But it was given to me. I’ve learned to accept even things I don’t want, even events that I think of as ugly and unwanted, as potential, possible gifts of God,” he explained. “All I know for sure is that I’m a much better pastor after my divorce than I was before. I’ve learned new empathy with people whose lives don’t turn out like they expected. I’ve learned to reach out and receive help from others. I’ve also been surprised by the gifts that God has given me to handle problems, gifts I didn’t know I had.”
“Scripture says that God is the ‘giver of every good and perfect gift,’ he goes on to say. “I believe that to be true. But sometimes God is also the giver of every ‘difficult and demanding gift.’ And Christians can learn to refer to both sorts of gifts as ‘grace.’”
What experiences—dark and/or negative at the time—are now your gifts or strengths? Things you never asked for. Things you never wanted. Things you never want to experience again, but through which you grew and learned?
What are your gifts? Household maintenance? Cooking? Critical or analytical thinking? Writing. Visiting? Letter or email writing? Social networking (Facebook)? Paul didn’t name them all; neither can I.
Take a few moments to find a piece of paper and a writing instrument. Now, write down one or more of your gifts.
How do you identify these? Well, I hope I’ve given you hints through the stories I’ve told. Your gifts are your strengths. They are often parallel with your interests: things you enjoy doing, things that give you a sense of accomplishment. They are also less tangible things—your abrasive personality, your honesty, your loving nature, your caring nature, your physical strength, your . . . .
On one side of the paper write down at least one (more if you think of them) gifts you have.
One of Paul’s points to the Corinthian church is that these gifts are to be used for the building up of the people of God and the healing of our world.
On the other side of the paper, write down some specific way you can use your gift(s) this coming week for one or both of these purposes: building up of othersßàhealing of our world. At least one way you can use your gift(s) for good this coming week.
Now, keep this before you, reflect upon it, add to it if you need to, but most of all DO IT!!!!
(*The discussion of Marcus’ book, as well as the stories of giftedness, are borrowed and adapted from William WIllomon’s treatment of this text. Source URL: http://www.logosproductions.com/node/201881.)
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