Epiphany 2C
January 19, 2025
1 Corinthians 12
John 2:1-11
INTRODUCTION
We have now moved out of a season of festivals and into the season called Epiphany. In these weeks between Jesus’ birth, his manifestation to the magi, and his baptism… and on the other side, the beginning of Lent… we will hear lots of stories about how God has been revealed and made manifest to people of faith throughout time, and reflect upon how God is revealed and manifest to us still today.
And we’ll kick all that off with the story of Jesus turning water into wine. It is one of his most well-known miracles (or signs, as John calls them), known even to people who have never stepped foot in a church. We know the outcome, but let me set the context for you a bit. This is Jesus’ first public appearance in John’s Gospel. The Gospel started with the beautiful prologue, some of which we heard on Christmas Eve when we lit candles. The prologue says that “through [Christ’s] fullness we all have received, grace upon grace.” The rest of John’s Gospel will show us what “grace upon grace” looks, smells, tastes, sounds, and feels like, and here is the first glimpse: grace upon grace tastes and smells like the best wine, looks like abundantly full jugs, and feels like a celebration!
Looking at the other readings, in Isaiah we’ll see echoes of the wedding theme from the Gospel. And in Corinthians, we will hear about what gifts emerge when God’s Spirit is manifest in us, and learn how our different gifts share a source (the Spirit) and a purpose (to serve the common good). As you listen, watch for ways that God’s “grace upon grace” is manifest, in each of these readings, and in your life. Let’s listen.
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
There’s a cute, animated movie made by Pixar called The Incredibles. Anyone seen it? It is about the members of a superhero family (Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and their three kids), who, due to a government mandate, are forced to hide their superpowers, and live quiet, ordinary lives. One day, the middle child, Dash, who has super speed, is lamenting that he has to hide his powers. “I thought our powers made us special,” he complains. “Everyone is special,” his mom replies (total mom response, right?). Dash rolls his eyes and says, “That’s just another way of saying no one is.”
I get where he is coming from! In an age of “everyone gets a trophy,” we begin to wonder, “But who is most special?” Turns out this is an age-old longing, to be special; we see it in the Corinthian community, this early Christian church planted and cared for by the Apostle Paul. The community was riddled with divisions about all manner of thing, including authority, communion practices, and as we see today, spiritual gifts. The question seems to be: what are spiritual gifts, and are some better than others, as some folks have been claiming? All the controversy is making it difficult for the community to live into their newly forming Christian identity, and making it difficult to love each other. In fact, in the very next chapter, Paul will take the time to explain, in a beautiful poem, what love looks like: love is patient, kind, not boasting or rude, etc.
Today, the controversy around spiritual gifts is not our most heated one. But we do know a thing or two about division, controversy, and the difficulty we sometimes find in loving people on the other side of the issue from us. So, let’s take a look at Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts, in this divided community, and perhaps this can begin to help us sort out our own approach to whatever we consider to be our current challenges.
First of all, Paul points out, there is a lot of diversity here. A variety of gifts, a variety of services, a variety of activities – in short, lots of ways of being in and interacting with the world and each other. And yes, that can be very difficult! I’m sure we have all worked with people who approach things differently, and then you butt heads and you go home to your spouse or your friend and say, “Uuggghh this person is driving me bonkers!!” The struggle is real. But, Paul says, in all our difference, there is still something that unifies us: one Lord. The same Spirit. And that Spirit, that Lord, that God, is the source and giver of all of our gifts. Yes, even the gifts in other people that drive us bonkers. Even the ones we admire. They all share a source: the same God who activates them in everyone. I find I have an easier time dealing with the reality that others’ gifts might clash with my own, or even that I might be jealous of someone else’s gifts, when I remember this: that God has gifted each of us – gifted us abundantly and graciously, though we do not deserve it – and so in the midst of all our differences, we still share that.
Still, this comes with a caveat: God has gifted us, yes, and now we become stewards of these gifts, just as we are stewards of our financial gifts. And to be a good steward of God’s gifts, is to use those gifts toward the benefit of others. “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit,” Paul writes, “for the common good.” Too often we hoard our gifts for ourselves – both financial and spiritual! We have an attitude of scarcity, or we are driven by greed, or a bit of both. But that is not how spiritual gifts are intended to be used. Our unique abilities to teach, serve, love, pray, sing, hope, trust, write, nurture, or heal, are not given to us for our own self-promotion. They are given for the purpose of common growth and blessing of the church, that we might, through our gift, proclaim that Jesus is Lord, by bringing the love of God to a hurting and broken world.
I was thinking about this during our council meeting this past week. Can I just say that I really love our council? This group is a joy, that so beautifully encapsulates this idea that we were each given unique and wonderful gifts, and when we use them for the common good, we become something greater and more glorious than we ever could alone. A couple people on council bring financial know-how, helping us steward our resources. Another brings a depth of spiritual thoughtfulness, often bringing the group to deeper reflection on how our actions reflect our faith. Another is always ready with a joke, and keeps us from taking ourselves too seriously. Another always holds us accountable to good legal process, so we don’t find ourselves in a position to get sued. Another is always willing to do a craft-related job, which comes up more than you’d think! Another brings and shares delicious food, transforming meetings from business only, into a gathering of friends doing the business of the church together. Each of us were given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good – and it shows! This diversity of gifts is God’s intention, and it makes us all on the council, and the wider congregation, better – and that, in turn, makes our wider community better.
A final note on spiritual gifts, and I’m going to jump over to the Gospel reading for this one: we may be called upon to use our gifts in ways different from how we expected or how we have before. I just love this interaction between Jesus and his mother. Jesus is at the wedding, doing his thing, and Mary sees a need, an opening, into which Jesus can make his entrance. She tells him so, but that is not where his attention was. “Not the time, mom,” he replies. This is not how or when he envisioned revealing himself. But almost immediately, he reconsiders, and as a result, completes one his most famous miracles, “revealing God’s glory,” and bringing his previously skeptical disciples around to believing in him.
We never know when and how our God-given gifts will be called upon to serve the common good, when they will be needed to reveal God’s glory. Tomorrow our country will transition to a new administration. And in the coming years, we may find our God-given gifts will be called upon in different ways. Some of our neighbors will need us to use our gifts to love and serve them in new ways, to reveal God’s love. Making the government more 'efficient' will mean some will lose access to services they depend upon. Neighbors with a different land of origin will have increased fear of being sent away from the place they have made their home. Those suffering from mental illness may find symptoms worsen (already, counselors have seen a huge influx of need). For some, just existing in this divided and vitriolic political climate is extremely stressful, simply because their views are different from the majority and they feel judged and disparaged for it. And more – the needs of our neighbors are and will be varied. But thankfully, so are our gifts. How will our gifts be called upon in this time? How will we respond? How can we all use our Spirit-given gifts, whatever they are, to proclaim “Jesus is Lord” through our acts of love? Or, as Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”
Whatever your particular spiritual gifts are – prayer, song, art, care-taking, nurturer, health and wellness, mediation, financial or legal know-how, community organizing – they are desperately needed: today, tomorrow, in ten years, all the time. God has given us these gifts for a reason, to serve the common good. And if God has asked this of us, we can be sure that God will accompany us, abide with us, and give us what we need to accomplish it. God will help us to participate in God’s continuing purpose of redeeming this hurting world, in whatever way we have been gifted to do.
Let us pray… Gracious Spirit, you have given us grace upon grace, and more gifts that we could possibly deserve. Give us the wisdom to know how you are calling us to use this diversity of gifts for the common good, so that together, we might proclaim Jesus as Lord, and share your love with the world. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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