This is the sermon I preached at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb., on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 16–17, 2010, for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany.

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Readings

Isaiah 62:1–5
Psalm 36:5–10 (antiphon v. 8)
1 Corinthians 12:1–11
John 2:1–11

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Prayer

Gracious God, open our eyes to the life-giving light that shines through your Son Jesus Christ, so that your Holy Spirit may empower us to share your Good News with others. Amen.

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Message

When we read the list,
we can be tempted to despair.
We might come to believe
that Lutherans have missed out
on many of the gifts
the Holy Spirit pours down
upon the people of God.

It’s a sweeping and humbling litany of charismata,
or gifts of the Spirit:

• uttering wisdom
• speaking knowledge
• living by faith
• healing the sick
• working miracles
• prophesying God’s will
• discerning the spirits
• speaking in tongues
• interpreting those tongues.

When we read through this list,
it’s almost as if we are merely eavesdropping
on a conversation between Paul and the Church at Corinth.
And while we can hear the words
and understand what they mean,
they can seem somehow disconnected from our lives.
They seem as if they do not apply to us,
as if they don’t really describe our community of faith.

Is it because we are Lutheran?
Because we come traditionally
from some ethnicities
known for their emotional conservatism?
Maybe that’s why some of these gifts
seem to remind us of other, more expressive traditions.

It could be.
But it could also be
that Lutherans have not asked God
for some of the gifts on Paul’s list.
Maybe we haven’t prayed for God
to bless us with miracle-working
or prophesying or speaking in tongues.
It could be.

Or maybe we just want to be practical,
and so we don’t place much stock
in some of those gifts.
We just don’t see the value in the excitement
that flows from some of the more volatile gifts.
That could be the reason.

But even if none of these reasons explains
why we see some gifts—but not others—in our life together,
or why we wonder if we will ever manifest any gifts of the Spirit,
there’s another force at work
that prevents us, that’s blocks us
from experiencing the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit.

And this blockage is not something peculiar to Lutherans.
It isn’t something that Germans and Scandinavians
have gathered into their arms, keeping it from others.

Instead, it’s a part of our basic humanity.
Unfortunately, it’s just built in to who we are.
We can call it pride, or arrogance,
or willfulness, or stubbornness.
But whatever we call it,
there’s a streak in us
that knows that we know best,
that we are wise enough
to know what’s good for us,
what will work for our community,
where we should go in our journey together.

It’s not a Lutheran thing;
it’s a human thing.
And it goes back to our so-many-great grandparents
choosing to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
trusting in the serpent’s lies rather than in God’s grace.

Why?
Because they knew they knew better than God
what was best for them.
They knew they knew what they needed.
And they were proud of it.

The opposite of this sin,
the sin of pride,
is the virtue of humility,
the practice of obedience.

And in a way,
humility itself is a gift of the Spirit.
It’s not that we can choose to be humble,
but that God blesses us with his Spirit
so that we become humble,
so that we live in obedience to his will.

And when we do,
then the Spirit takes an even deeper hold upon us.
Then we will find ourselves confessing—
with the Corinthians and the whole Church—
the oldest creed of all:
“Jesus is Lord!”

And as St. Paul reminds us,

…no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’
except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3b, NRSV)

And when we live humbly, obediently,
seeking God’s will for our lives,
confessing that Jesus is our Lord,
then we will come to recognize
that he is blessing us each day
with the gifts of the Spirit.

Not that we choose to pick certain gifts,
like we are shopping at the grocery store
and selecting a flavor of juice or a type of cereal.
We don’t get to pick the gifts of the Spirit.

When we live humbly,
free from pride and self-importance,
then the Father pours out the Spirit upon us for Jesus’ sake,
as St. Paul writes,

All of these [gifts] are activated by one and the same Spirit,
who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. (1 Corinthians 12:11, NRSV)

The Spirit chooses which gifts to allot to each one of us.
The Spirit decides what gifts to activate in us.
The Spirit blows where it wills and accomplishes in us
whatever God, Father, Son, and Spirit, decide is best for us.

So what can we do?
We can wait patiently;
we can listen attentively;
we can pray diligently.

We can each ask ourselves,
“What is my allotment?
What gifts has God given me?
How is he calling me to use them?
What do I see as a need for each gift I have received?”

These are not questions we ask once,
then answer and set aside.
Instead, they become a part of our lives,
a topic in our daily conversation of prayer with God.

We can ask him for guidance in seeing what he calls us to do,
for discernment in recognizing the gifts of the Spirit we have been given,
for gratitude in thanking him for blessing us,
for wisdom in seeking how to use these gifts to his glory,
for cooperation in sharing our gifts with one another for the good of all.

And when we pray this way,
when we live by the virtue of humility,
when we follow God in obedience,
then we will surprise one another
with what he is doing in our midst.

And we’ll discover that what St. Paul wrote
about the Church in Corinth
is true of this congregation as well:

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. Amen. (1 Corinthians 12:4–6, NRSV)