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Trinity Episcopal Church Hattiesburg, Mississippi Epiphany 2 January 14, 2006 Go To Trinity's Home Page

Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11
Collect of the Day
From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 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. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.(1 Corinthians 12:1-11)

Trusting in the Spirit
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop

     Something strange happened to George Malley. At a birthday party, he saw a strange light, and went unconscious. When he awoke, he been changed somehow.

     We encounter George at his garage, sitting next to a car he is repairing. His friend Roger walks in. His car too is in the shop. “George, can I have my Bronco back? I don’t have any cash right now, but I need my car.”

     “Well,” George replied, “I need some solar panels installed on my roof.”

     “I don’t know anything about solar,” Roger replied uncertainly.

     “Well,” George responded, “Charlie Shiffer does, and he needs a well dug on his property. You help him dig the well, and he’ll help with my solar panels, and I’ll fix your car. Deal?”

     “Yeah, Deal!”

     Although this scene came from the 1996 movie Phemonenon starring John Travolta, it could just as well describe the kind of interrelated relationships found in the first century Corithian Church Paul addressed in the letter we read today. “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.”

     Roger, Charlie, and George all had gifts and they also had needs. It took George’s gift to see how they would all fit together.

     Paul was quite aware that the people of the church in Corinth had different gifts, and that was as it should be. The larger context of Paul’s fist letter to the Corinthians indicates that some members of the church whose gifts were more dramatic or more public viewed their talents as status symbols. Their gifts were so different from one another that they could not see the connections between them. That is often the case, though. Often times there are connections that can be made between people or groups that do not seem at all obvious.

     As a pastor, I find it interesting that ministry relationships are sometimes hard to see or to put together. Perhaps that is because ministry relationships are more three dimensional involving not just the “what” but also the “who.” That is, ministry not only involves matching those with needs and those with resources, it is also knowing people well enough to facilitate the connections between those with specific personal life experiences and those who might benefit from hearing and learning about them. And the problem with this is that so much of who we really are – is not obvious.

     One the one hand, it would be nice if we had a NORA system to help match needs with gifts. NORA is the acronym for “Non-Obvious Relationship Awareness.”[1] NORA is a very sophisticated data-mining software program developed by Jeff Jonas, a high-school drop out and self-taught computer programmer; and yes, being a drop out and a hacker are non-obvious attributes. Jonas initially created the program for Las Vegas casinos to catch mobsters and cheaters. For example, the NORA program might alert security if it detects that the big winner at the blackjack table once had the same phone number as the dealer at that table, even if there is now no other link between them. NORA and its little sister program called ANNA do this by searching through oodles of data; ANNA even encrypts its findings so that personal information remains personal. NORA might have remained relatively unknown if it hadn’t been for the events of 911. The CIA purchased NORA and continues to use it to fight terrorism.

     Over the next several weeks, I plan to develop data bases for the various ministries of Trinity Parish in order to help us make better use of our considerable ministry gifts.

     While this data base will be very helpful to all of us in accomplishing many good things for each other and for the larger community, it will really only provide a data base of the more obvious resources in our midst. The gifts Paul was referring to were more of the non-obvious type. The kinds of gifts that are unifying. “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. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

     Every person and every gift has meaning and value. No gift is inferior to another, and no gift is superior to another. While it may seem that some gifts are more valuable, that is probably more a matter of perception than anything else. For example, the ability to perform surgery and cure illnesses might seem quite miraculous. But the fact is that the surgeon is just doing the kind of specialized work she was trained to do; to the surgeon what was accomplished was more or less routine.

     The message of Paul’s letter is that there is a relationship between each of the gifts that we each possess that forms us into a community of faith and not just a service club. While we can do wonderful things in service to each other and to the larger community, what distinguishes us is the depth and breadth and intimacy of our relationships. It is in the intimacy of what we know about one another and do for one another that we begin to feel the same Spirit from the same Lord; binding us to one another and to the same God.

     The NORA system sifts through mountains of personal information to find the non-obvious connections between people. It has the potential for abuse – enormous amounts of personal data about many people is accessed and tracked as it process information. The level of intimacy that Paul recommends also has the potential for great abuse. The more we know about each other, the more potential there is to hurt one another. We all know this from our own personal relationships – particularly those we have with close family members. But at the same time, it is the very intimacy of those relationships that distinguishes them from other acquaintances or friendships. And it is in the intimacy of those relationships that we begin to develop the one thing that can prevent abuse. And that thing is “trust.” Trust is the binder that makes all relationships work. Trust is the thing that grows the non-obvious relationships between us. The non-obvious relationships, held together by trust, form a web, a matrix, that empowers the church to become the Body of Christ – something that is far greater than any of us individually, and a greatly more powerful instrument of personal transformation and social change than any kind of service club could ever be.

     Trust is the one thing that can hold us together during times of crisis, or when there is dissension over one issue or another. And that is because we trust that we are people of faith, sharing a common spirit, who happen to have strong differences of opinion. But, if we can remember to trust each other and if we can continue to trust the Spirit of God to empower us all, we can be confident that if we simply stay in relationship with one another, a way will be found to grow and to become a totally new and faithful creation.

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Isaiah 62:1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Psalm 36:5-10

5 Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.

6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.

7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.

10 O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 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. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

John 2:1-11

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Collect of the Day

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[1] Information about NORA was adapted from Steven Levy. “Geek War of Terror.” March 22 2006 MSNBS report accessed 11 January 2006 at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4486823/ and from Timothy F. Merrill. “Why the Church Needs NORA.” Homiletics.19(1):21-25, 2007.

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Copyright © 2007, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
11 January 2007

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