Trinity 10

1  True religion begins with God

The city of Corinth was a big center of trade.

Its people knew about the world.

But despite the city’s importance, despite its contact with so many world faiths,

the people were generally ignorant of true religion.

St. Paul wrote to the Christians there: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.

So also in the present:

Some who know a lot about the variety of world religions,

who stress the importance of religious diversity,

can’t recognize true religion when they see it.

There are those who see the denominations and sects,

thinking each one finds its path over the mountain.

But most denominations and sects began

with a difference of opinion between human beings.

How can such disagreements produce true religion,

unless religion really is a matter of opinion?

The dumb idols of the Corinthians did not help them at all.

But when some became Christians, then

they learned the true nature of faith; they learned the true nature of diversity before God; they learned the true source of spiritual gifts.

These things don’t come from human opinion,

but they are revealed by God Himself.

True religion begins with God.

b/c one Lord orders all diversity b/c one Spirit gives every spiritual gift

2  1 Corinthians 12:1–11

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.

2.1  One Lord orders all diversity

Despite the huge variety of people in the Church,

and despite the variety of customs,

the Church is ordered, directed, and ruled by one Lord.

There are two kinds of variety or diversity in God’s Church.

One is the kind I just mentioned:

Different tribes, nations, languages, people, customs, talents, skills, and experiences.

All these differences may seem chaotic.

but they all belong in one Church, under one Lord.

The other kind of variety or diversity

is the diversity of doctrines,

the variety of teachings in the world.

Some would like to say that different doctrines all belong

in the Christian Church too.

But we have only one Teacher, and that is Christ.

Those who choose another doctrine

also choose another teacher.

Within the one doctrine of Christ is everything scripture teaches:

From Creation to the Last Day, from the Fall into Sin to the Forgiveness of sins, from the history of Israel

to its continuation in the New Testament Church.

The doctrine of Christ

is the basis for our salvation.

So what about all the denominations and their disagreements?

Some would say that all who teach contrary to our church

must not be genuine Christians.

That goes too far, because the apostle wrote,

No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

There are many different Christians,

but not every Christian has the pure doctrine of Christ.

So the diversity of teaching

shows that some are right and some are wrong.

St. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 11:19:

There must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.

Differences in other areas do not divide the Church.

The only diversity to avoid is a diversity of teaching.

We are all bound to the Holy Scriptures.

So as Christians, we can’t approve of

any behavior against God’s commandments:

disobedience, hatred, murder, fornication, stealing, lying, etc.

We can’t even approve them in ourselves:

Let God be true, and every man a liar.

Some are quick to say Christians are hypocrites. We want to uphold God’s Word,

but our lives keep running against it.

Though we may or may not be hypocrites,

we are always sinners.

That’s why we are here.

God has provided a lot of diversity within His Church,

but it all proceeds from Him: the Holy Trinity.

One Spirit gives every gift. One Lord rules through every ministry. One God works all blessings.

His chief activity is the forgiveness of our sins,

and for that reason He brings us here.

Spiritual gifts come from the Holy Spirit,

who works His Chief gift — faith — through His Word.

We each have other gifts meant as blessings to the Church,

because we are its members.

Our vocations as Christians come from Christ,

Who calls some to be pastors to His churches, Who provides some as parents for His little ones, Who provides us all as neighbors to help those in need.

Call them ministries if you like:

these are offices where we serve God in our neighbor.

There is no dead-end Christian vocation:

God works through them all, to bless us all.

But over all is the vocation of Christian.

We are called as Christians wherever we may be:

parents, workers, neighbors, citizens, etc.

Everything we do should be filled with God’s Word.

The highest service to our neighbor

is to speak the Gospel for him to hear.

Every blessing comes from God our Father,

who works through us to bless us and the whole world.

Because of the diversity in our Lord’s Church,

we have greater opportunity to serve and to help one another,

and so to serve and glorify God.

But sometimes we also rebel against the rule of our Lord.

We may despise those who are not like ourselves. We may want to go our own way,

even changing the Gospel, or reserving it for only a few.

When we do that, we lose the Gospel.

We lose our own Savior.

Did Christ die only for people of one race?

or only for those from one place? or only for those who observe a certain custom? or only for those who have not sinned in a certain way?

He died for all. Period.

We have to repent.

But God has forgiven this, too.

See how true religion begins with God,

because one Lord orders all diversity.

2.2  One Spirit gives every spiritual gift

True religion begins with God,

because one Spirit gives every spiritual gift.

There are many powers in Creation,

and not all of them are good.

The spiritual gifts of Christians come from only one power:

from the Holy Spirit.

Let’s consider the gifts that Paul mentions in our text.

First, the word of wisdom.

Wisdom is the ability to see what is best,

but the word of wisdom is the ability

to put that into words for the benefit of others.

These are nice gifts,

and if you have them,

God want to bless others through what He gave you.

Then, the word of knowledge,

Knowledge is knowing about spiritual things,

but the word of knowledge is the ability

to put it into words for the benefit of others.

It’s good to know your Bible and what it teaches,

and if you do,

God wants to bless others through the knowledge He gave you.

Then there’s the gift of faith.

This must be different than saving faith,

because saving faith is the basis of all other gifts.

If you are blessed with a faith that does not shrink,

though pressed by many a foe, that will not tremble on the brink of poverty or woe —

then you may have this special gift of the Spirit.

He means to bless others through it.

After that three gifts are mentioned that we seldom see.

Healings, miracles, and prophecy.

These are mentioned often in connection with the apostles. They’re sometimes mentioned in the writings of the early Church,

but as time has passed, they seem to have declined.

That doesn’t mean they don’t still happen. Maybe we just don’t notice them.

But whenever they are given,

we can be sure that the purpose is to bless others, especially by leading others to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Next Paul mentions the discerning of spirits.

This gift enables a person to see what’s behind a teaching,

to tell whether it comes from God’s Word, or from somebody’s imagination.

It would seem that Martin Luther had this gift,

because he often mentioned the contending spirits.

If you have this gift, then you should use it as Luther did:

as a blessing to others, who may not realize

the influences that these spirits have upon them.

Finally, Paul speaks of tongues

and the interpretation of tongues.

Some claim to have these gifts even today,

but I haven’t seen evidence that the claims are real.

In the Bible, tongues are languages,

like English, Spanish, French, or Latin.

At Pentecost, they spoke in the languages of the earth.

Paul stresses that tongues are not helpful

unless somebody understands them.

His point is the same,

that the Spirit gives these gifts for a blessing to others.

The point isn’t the speaking in tongues itself,

but the message that is spoken:

the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote, the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.

We all have special gifts from God: some spiritual, some earthly.

Every gift pales in comparison to the one gift we all share.

Jesus Christ was given to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins,

so than now in Him, we are justified in God’s sight.

No other gift can compare to this,

because through Christ, we have eternal life.

Yet God is so abundant in His blessings,

that He continues to bless His Church through other gifts.

How do we use His gifts?

Do we count them as our own, and take the credit for them? Or do we thank God for all of them,

and use them as His blessing to our neighbors?

Have you thought about how you might use your gifts

to bring the Gospel to other people?

We don’t do this well enough, do we?

In fact, it’s shameful how we waste our gifts.

If God considered this sinfulness,

He would take them all away.

But He doesn’t.

You see, every one of the gifts we have

is from the Holy Spirit.

He has one purpose above all: to save sinners.

So in His abundant mercy, God forgives us again and again.

He cleanses us with the power of baptism,

every time we confess our sins and receive His absolution.

He restores our lives through the Lord’s Supper. He takes poor, failing human beings,

and wraps us again in the righteousness of Jesus.

You are again righteous in His sight,

and you are free again to be His both now and always.

The Holy Spirit continues to bless poor Christians with His gifts

because He is saving not only us, but many more beside.

Let’s not take any credit for our spiritual gifts.

True religion begins with God.

because one Spirit gives every spiritual gift.

Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria!