Epiphany 2
January 19, 2025
William G. Carter
This winter, we will spend some time in Corinth. The ancient city was a seaport. It sat on the Ionian Sea, which went west toward Italy. Across a small land bridge, it opened on the Aegean Sea, which curved north to Athens or went east toward Ephesus and Asia. Corinth was a strategic place for the apostle Paul. He preached there for eighteen months, and moved on, as was his custom.
Eighteen months was not long enough to inform that little congregation about all the Christian faith, especially since that faith was being worked out on the ground. So, they wrote to Paul with a series of questions. What about this? What about that? “If we follow Christ, can we buy meat from a butcher who believes in Zeus?” It was a big question for some. Others wanted to know, “If Jesus is coming back at any time, is it OK to get married?” As a transportation hub, Corinth had a significant stake in the pleasure business, leading some to ask, “Can we still buy and sell human passion?” He probably didn’t preach any sermons about that.
The questions went on: “Are we worshiping correctly?” “When we have communion, is it fair that some believers gobble down loaves of bread while others at the Table are hungry?” “As Greek people, we’re not as uptight as the ancient Jews, so is it appropriate to let women preach?” “And while you’re at it, Paul, explain the resurrection. You say Jesus is raised; what difference does that make for us?”
Paul is a good pastor. He takes on one question after another. He leans back into the preaching tradition about Jesus, and he puts together the best replies he can muster. This is what you do when you work on the edge of the frontier. And one of the questions, the one he addresses in today’s text, can be simply put: “What does it mean to be spiritual?” Listen:
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.
The conversation took place in a supermarket checkout line. The two people were acquaintances. The first said, “I’m looking for a church.” Her friend replied by telling her where she attended and inviting her to come along some Sunday.
The first said, “I hear it is a busy place; but is it spiritual?”
It is a fair question. Many venture an answer. Sit in a room filled with incense and burning candles – isn’t that spiritual? Listen to quiet harp music, or the chants of a monastery, or the recorded sounds of waterfalls – that’s spiritual, isn’t it? Or for that matter, go outside and take in the beauty of nature. I wouldn’t recommend it during a snowstorm, but we understand. For some, spiritual is another word for quiet, peaceful, reflective, meditative.
Others would say, “That’s boring.” Bring in an inspirational speaker with a big voice. Let her raise your spirits. Or turn up the wattage significantly. Create a holy pep rally with a big crowd, lots of visual stimulation, and a house-rocking gospel choir. Wouldn’t that be something? These folks equate spirituality with excitement, enthusiasm, and power. It still happens. There are a few churches around that cancel worship when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. They won’t worship if they can’t guarantee a big crowd. For them, “spiritual” means exciting.
Does that sound superficial? Perhaps, but whatever else is said about that little first century congregation in Corinth, it was an exciting place. Never knew what might happen! In the middle of a sermon, somebody could jump up on a pew and shout, “But I have a word from the Lord.” Over here, two or three were joining in prayer, while somebody else interrupted by pelting out a loud spontaneous song. It was an experience that had everybody sitting on the edge of their seats. People were excited, interrupted, and exhausted. To which some exclaimed, “At least, our church is spiritual.”
The report got back to Paul, apostle, and founder of that flock. The question was raised, “How do we know when something is spiritual?” That is the issue in this chapter. It’s all about the word “spiritual.” In the New Testament, the word “spiritual” shows up only twenty-six times in the twenty-seven books. About half those times occur in this letter. Most of those occurrences are in this section of this letter. The Corinthians asked, “Paul, what is spiritual?”
It’s a good question. One of the exciting activities in that church was speaking in tongues. It’s an ecstatic burst of speech. It’s a phenomenon that has occurred in all kinds of religions around the world, not restricted to Christianity. In Corinth, some could do it, others could not. It became a dividing line in the congregation, as some assumed they were spiritual, and others were not. Paul worked himself into a froth about that one. Later in the letter, he exclaims, “I would rather speak five words with my mind to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue”[1] Then he adds, “Grow up!”
When is an activity spiritual? For Paul, the adjective “spiritual” is always tied to the Spirit – to the Holy Spirit. The spiritual life is the life of God’s Spirit working through us. That is to say, “being spiritual” is never about us. It is about God working through us. That is how Eugene Peterson translates the first verse of this chapter. As he puts the words of Paul: “What I want to talk about now is the various ways God's Spirit gets worked into our lives.”[2]
That is his answer to their question: the Spirit of God works through us. This is the New Testament view on spirituality. Here is how we know something is spiritual: it comes from the Holy Spirit.
If some of this scripture passage sounds familiar, it’s because we hear it whenever Presbyterians ordain elders, deacons, even pastors, although the text is not restricted to them alone. Let me remind you of the passage:
there are varieties of gifts, but
the same Spirit;
there are varieties of services, but
the same Lord;
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.
Let’s get spiritual for a minute, shall we? Paul is saying three things that are vital for the Christian life.
We have heard the first, namely whatever is spiritual comes from God. The spiritual life begins with God who created the world. It comes from God whose very nature is to give. Our spiritual life can infuse our creaturely life. There is power that originates beyond us. We receive gifts, abilities, and energy from God the Giver.
The second thing Paul says is something that he sneaks in on us. Remember about the source of the gifts, the services, and the activities of the spiritual life? He says, “Spirit, Lord, God.” Or to be specific, “Spirit, Jesus, Creator.” Hear it? Paul is sneaking in the Trinity. Now, he mentions the Holy Spirit first, because that’s what the Corinthians are asking about. Yet he can’t mention the Spirit without mentioning the Lord Jesus and God the Creator. That’s the second thing he tells us about the spiritual life: whatever is spiritual is grounded in the life of the Trinity.
Now don’t think for a minute that this is theoretical jargon. It’s quite practical. If the spiritual life comes from God, it’s going to be shaped by the identity of God. Christians confess God is “three in one and one in three.” God’s very identity is both plurality and a unity. Or to reduce it to street language, God is one and there’s a lot going on. So, we should not expect God to do only one thing among us. God is doing many things. Just look around here: isn’t it wonderful that all of us are different? Isn’t it dazzling that a lot of people do a lot of things?
Other human organizations put a high emphasis on conformity: be the same, talk the same, and act the same. But in a truly spiritual community, God does not roll out the cookie dough and stamp out one cookie cutter Christian after another! As the old spiritual reminds us, “If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus and say he died for all.” Thank God, all of us are not gifted the same! That truth is based in God’s very identity as Trinity. If God is something of a Unified Plurality, then so is the church!
No wonder, then, that Paul gives us a sample list: some have the gift of knowledge and know a lot of facts. Others have the gift of wisdom and perceive how the facts fit together. Some have the gift of faith and find it easy to trust. Others have the gift of healing, with the capacity to mend what is broken. Some speak, others understand what is spoken. Some perform miracles. Others can sort out what is a miracle and what is not.
Which leads us to the third truth of the spiritual life: we need one another. First, Paul declares whatever is spiritual comes from God’s Spirit. Second, whatever is spiritual is rooted in the multiple works of the Trinity. And third, whatever is spiritual is intended for the common good. The truly spiritual life builds up everybody in the church, even beyond the church, and not merely hoarded by the privileged few. The spiritual life is not private but interconnected. It is not for me alone, but for all of us.
What we know about Corinth is that a lot of the church members were trying to out-spiritualize the others. “Look at me – I’m praying so well.” “Look at me – I know how to teach, and you don’t.” “Look at me, look at me -- I have the gift of humility,” and so on and so forth.
Paul scrapes all the competition off the table. He puts the emphasis right where it needs to be, on God, who is saving the world and working through the church. The spiritual life, the life of the spirit, is always about God. God provides what God wants to use for furthering God’s own work in the world. The spiritual life is a gift from God. It is our privilege to be included and invited.
There is much more to say about this, so the chapter goes on to next week, and the weeks after that. For today, it’s sufficient to say the spiritual life comes from the Holy Spirit. The spiritual life is as plentiful as the Triune God. And the spiritual life is always about what’s best for the largest possible number of people in the community.
Meanwhile, if someone
stop you in the checkout line to say, “I know your church is active, but is it
spiritual?” I hope you will have something to say. You can say, “Come and see
what God is doing among us.”
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