Sermon preached by the Rev. Richard Lampert
The 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Eph. 4 & I Cor. 12 / Stewardship Dinner Sunday
EQUIPPING HIS PEOPLE FOR MINISTRY AND THE BUILDING UP THE BODY OF CHRIST
“And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the
saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ …”
Eph. 4.11-12 &“And concerning spiritual gifts, …There are varieties
of gifts, but the same Spirit; there are varieties of service, but the same
Lord; there are varieties of working, but it is the same God …..To each
is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”I Cor.12.1, 4-7
Forty five years of living and working in bilingual, multi-class/cultural churches and communities in the Northeast, Midwest, Florida and Mexico convinces me that the Bible and St. Paul got this right: (1) God gifts His people in many different ways, but always for the equipping of the saints, works of ministry and the shared building up of the Body of Christ! (2) There are many gifts, yet One Spirit; varieties of service, but One Lord; different forms of working, but always One God. These gifts are never given just for ourselves, but always for the manifestation of “the common good!” God wants us to celebrate our fundamental agreements and then honor and accept our differences!
Sometimes our beliefs and gifts and ministries are honored and shared; often they are not. Perhaps for me, my best personal example comes from years ago (two different periods) in Boston’s old South End, a community of very rich and very poor which at one time had forty different ethnic groups all in one neighborhood. In years past there were four very active church groups: Holy Cross Roman Catholic Cathedral; Saint Stephen’s Anglo-Catholic Episcopal Diocesan Mission Church; The Emmanuel Gospel Center closely tied with Gordon-Con-well Evangelical Theological Seminary and a host of storefront Pentecostal churches. Back then (& it’s been my experience all along) all of these different church groups came from very distinct traditions and ministered and worshipped in many different ways. Still, we shared certain common be-liefs around God’s variety of spiritual gifts and His continued desire to equip His people for ministry and the building up the Body of Christ! On some occasions (Holy Week, liturgical feasts, community and individual crises) these different church groups (& others) worked well together and united around our common biblical basics and faith and gifts. Other times, we remained much divided, competed over secondary differences and issues and were unable and/or un-willing to work together. Then, “equipping and working, the building up of the ministry and body of Christ”continued fast and furiously, but it shot off in many different, disconnected directions.
Similarly, this week, I’ve thought a lot about the many and very diverse gifts and per-spectives within Redeemer itself and of course in our own diocese, time and denomination. I then returned to God’s equipping His people by the power of His Holy Spirit and today’s Gospel of Jesus and Bartimaéus. Because I believe that God always wants to heal and equip us all, I take today’s story very seriously. Bartimaéus pushes his way out to the road crying: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy upon me! Jesus stops, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind beg-gar pleads, “Let me receive my sight!” We’re all so blinded in so many ways! Then too, every church (even such a strong Spirit filled one like Redeemer) is like a beggar of sorts plead-ing with Our Lord for clearer internal and external sight, renewed spiritual equipping of the people of God and a greater common building up of the Body of Christ. Deep down, I too want to claw my way on through the crowd out to the road and cry out to Jesus: “Lord, that I might see Thee and myself more clearly and hold onto Thy Spirit and rely upon Thee more dearly.” Redeemer also boldly cries out to The Lord in its Strategic Plan & Call to Action: [my paraphrase] “Strengthen us, O Lord, for the continual building up of the Body of Christ through Thy Word and Sacrament and then enable us and equip us in new and powerful Spirit led ways to build up Your work of Ministry all for the common good.” All cry out to Jesus!
Let us imagine for a moment a place like ours: Such a strong Community of Faith known for its liturgical/musical excellence; strong educational activities/teachings for all ages; solid preaching and community outreach; incredible Spirit plus the innumerable faithful ordinary tasks and visitations performed by so many with such extraordinary dedication and love! Now picture again if you will: The Church of the Redeemer known to God, and far and wide, not only as a place of great faith and programs and individual strengths, but also one where God’s Holy Spirit is once again moving and equipping, directing and renewing all His people in even newer, stronger and more exciting ways. Can you and I all envision Redeemer as such a place? I know that God does! Can you hear God calling us? Listen to your heart! Listen also to one another! I hope and pray that we can dream and imagine and equip one another together in His name and in His Spirit.
So what can we do? How shall we know? How shall we respond to God’s call to us? Where do we turn? I think that we do really do know the answers! If we want to change all of our many natural talents into His spiritual gifts we’ll have to look hard at our motives, consider our objectives and then use His gifts not for ourselves, but for others! We must acknowledge that our human natures often tend to divide and separate us while God’s spiritual nature seeks more our shared and widespread commonality and unity! We will need to continue regularly in a life of participation in God’s Word and Sacraments while at the same time opening our hearts and minds once more to new spiritual equippings, perhaps different varieties of service and all of these working toward the building up of the Body of Christ for the common good. For many, this will mean continuing to do what you now do with a renewed commitment. For others, it may call for some adjustments or fine tuning to our spiritual lives. For some, this call to spiritual direction, faith and service may signal a whole new beginning in your life of faith. Wherever you find yourself on this spiritual spectrum of response, I ask you this morning to Imagine, Envision and Consider with me your lives and mine and the life of The Church of the Redeemer as such a place. Begin to dream about how it might be and feel! I believe that I hear God’s Holy Spirit calling us once more! How shall we respond?
AMEN