Grace and peace to you from Him who is and who was and who is
to come,
A while ago
I read a long book about the last 500 years in western countries. The author
claims that we live now in a time of decadence. Our society lacks direction and
this floundering around affects the daily lives of millions of people, for many
folks struggle with boredom, routine, frustration, and repetition. It’s not
God’s intention, however, for people he made in his image, redeemed in Christ,
and whom he loves with an intensity that we can’t imagine to lead mediocre
lives. His will is that people live
fruitfully, abundantly, and joyfully in faith. The church provides God’s remedy
for the problems that the scholar I read believes afflict many people now. The
church doesn’t offer a temporary cure or one that changes with the fashions.
Jesus’ death clears a pathway between us and God. He comes to us with
friendship and forgiveness and life. He gives direction. He blesses his people
with active, meaningful days. He uses us to build up his kingdom, as Paul wrote
in this morning’s epistle reading, to which we’ll return in a moment.
By our
knowledge of God and the times, we Christians say that the troubles that
afflict our neighbors and sometimes even ourselves, such as frustration,
boredom, and lack of direction have a spiritual cause that is resolved through
faith in Christ. You probably remember that just before he performed the
miracle of the loaves and the fish, Jesus looked on a large crowd and had
compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. The same
applies today. Folks without a shepherd stumble into all kinds of frustrations.
We find relief through faith in Christ and our appreciation of the fact that he
works through his church and by the Holy Spirit.
Paul tells
us how the Spirit proceeds. He blesses God’s people with a variety of gifts
that serve the common good. We’ll mention some of them now – the ability to
speak wisdom and knowledge, faith, healing, and prophesy. These spiritual gifts
aren’t the same thing as talents, though the use of them may involve talents,
and each person has one or more gift.
Our Saviour surely has a good share of gifted people.
We’ll use a
made-up example. Suppose someone who has persistently declined invitations to
attend Sunday worship finally admits to us that he’s bored with his work and
that his relationships don’t bring him any joy. He feels as if he’s on a
treadmill repeating the same actions day after day so that they no longer have
any meaning for him. He asks for help. We reached into the store of wisdom God
has blessed us with and tell him that while he may find work that suits him
better he probably won’t be able to change radically the external circumstances
of his life, since most people contend with the same limitations, but with the
help of God he can find new ways of thinking. We tell him about Jesus’ love for
him and the new dimension he brought to life on earth with his life, death, and
resurrection. We assure him that as time goes by, the Lord will turn
liabilities into blessings, and burdens will become joys as he learns that he
is walking in the footsteps of the Savior. Wisdom like that is a great
blessing, so somebody said that the ability to spread the gospel is the highest
gift from God.
The knowledge that Paul mentions is
related to wisdom, but it has a different emphasis. It has to do with the good
news of Jesus, of course, but it involves explanations and teachings and the
application of gospel truths to daily life. Let’s take another imaginary
example, a member of Our Saviour who has decided that that the balance of the
Lutheran way doesn’t help him cope with the frustrations and tedium that now
characterize his life. He’s made up his mind to join a cult that promises its
members a direct, personal encounter with God. He says that this will give him
a lift. We remind him that the Cross is the center point of the Christian
faith, by means of which Christ redeemed the world and calls all people to
repentance and faith. Anything that detracts from salvation by way of the cross
distorts the faith. What’s more, God does not promise to come to us directly.
He uses the Bible and the sacraments to communicate his good news to us. If he
reads his Bible faithfully and comes to worship regularly, our friend will
discover that the Christian faith as Lutherans practice it is the best way to
contend with the conditions of life. The church uses this kind of knowledge –
and we have a lot of it – to build up the body of Christ.
Paul also
mentions faith as a spiritual gift. He doesn’t mean in this case the saving
faith that brings us life with God now and the expectation of happiness in
heaven. He means the faith to endure in hope, to overcome boredom, say, and the
God-given ability to rise above ourselves when times get tough. I bet the folks
of Our Saviour have this kind of faith in abundance – steadiness when
youngsters are ill, coolness in crisis, the ability to endure discomfort, and
cheerfulness in stormy weather. This kind of faith includes the belief that
troubles will end and that difficulties will turn out well. This practical
faith, a gift from God, benefits ourselves and makes a powerful witness to
others. Who knows what questions our neighbors ask in the privacy of their
hearts? Where does their ability to keep
on going come from? How can I get it for myself? We have the answers should
anyone ask us. Everything good comes because of our tie with Christ.
I suspect
you noticed that Paul included healing as a gift of the Spirit for the building
up of the church. Many miraculous healings took place in the days of Paul and
the other Apostles. Some are recorded in the New Testament. These cases of
healing are very selective and they took place at the bidding of the Holy
Spirit. Cures that seem to be miracles take place in the world today and maybe
you know of a case or two, and we thank God for them. we praise him for the
skills he gives to physicians and other health care workers. We also thank him
for the freedom to approach him with our prayers for the sick, which benefit
the ailing and comfort those who offer them. Even though out situations are
very different from the apostles, we take part in the work of healing. Our
prayers and our visits to the sick help to build up his kingdom, as God
intends.
We mention
prophesy last of all. For Christians, prophesy doesn’t mean simply telling the
future. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of prophesy in the Bible. One
is to receive and pass on to others direct messages from God. The apostles were
prophets in this sense of the word – Jesus spoke to them directly. Another kind
of prophesy is the ability to talk about the saving will of God to others. We
are prophets in this sense of the word. We may tell erring neighbors that a
certain way of behaving will get them into trouble, but they have time to
repent and turn to God’s Word for guidance and find better ways. We also
prophesy that no matter how frustrating and tedious life can be, God is
stronger than all life’s negatives put together and he’ll continue to work
through his Word and the church to pull us out of the swamp of boredom and
repetition onto the joyous, lively path that leads to him.
So God
addresses the spiritual illnesses of our time and any time by building up his
church with spiritual gifts – wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, prophesy and
others that Paul mentions. God blesses us with a strong spiritual framework
that enables us overcome in our own lives the decadence of the world around us.
Our Saviour’s people have what our neighbors need and God wants them to have.
He provides opportunities for her people to bring them into Our Saviour’s
gifted community.
We thank our
Lord, then, for giving us a picture of the world today and how the church fits
into it. He teaches us about his cure for spiritual ailments and equips us to
take part in the solution. It’s important work, so we never need to ask if
Jesus has anything for us to do. He wants us to use our spiritual gifts in
faith and confidence. In our Savior’s name we give thanks. AMEN.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your
heart s and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN.
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