Sunday, October 13, 2013

"No Need to Be Ashamed" - October 13, 2013

II Timothy 2:8-15                                                                                                                               

The stand-up comedian Emo Philips tells a story somewhere about how one day he was crossing a bridge when he saw someone beginning to climb over the railing, dragging himself up by sort of grabbing around a telephone pole.  The man was pulling himself up  and he ran over to him.  “Hey!  Stop!”  The man turned and looked at him. 

“Don’t jump!” Emo said.

“Why not?” the man asked.

“Well,” said Emo, “Do you believe in God?”

“Yes,” said the man.

“Me, too,” said Emo.  “Are you Christian or Jewish?”

“Christian,” said the man.

“Really?  Me, too,” said Emo.  “Are you Catholic or Protestant?”

“Protestant,” said the man.

“Really?  Me, too,” said Emo.  “Are you mainline Protestant or Pentecostal?”

“Pentecostal,” said the man.

“Really?  Me, too,” said Emo.  “Are you fundamentalist Pentecostal or charismatic Pentecostal?”

“Charismatic Pentecostal,” said the man.

“Really?  Me, too,” said Emo.  “Are you charismatic water-baptizing Pentecostal or charismatic Spirit-baptizing Pentecostal?”

“Charismatic Spirit-baptizing Pentecostal?”

“Really?  Me, too,” said Emo.  “Charismatic Spirit-baptizing Pentecostal House of Prayer or Charismatic Spirit-Baptizing House of Prayer and Holiness? ”

“Charismatic Spirit-Baptizing House of Prayer and Holiness.”

“Really?  Me, too,” said Emo.  Charismatic Spirit-Baptizing House of Prayer and Holiness, Cincinatti Diocese or Charismatic Spirit-Baptizing House of Prayer and Holiness, Pasadena Diocese?”

“Charismatic Spirit-Baptizing House of Prayer and Holiness, Pasadena Diocese.”

“Really?” said Emo. “Die, heretic!” and he pushed him off the bridge.
 
            Believe me, I am one of the last people to say that theology and doctrine don’t matter.  They do.  If that is so exclusively my focus, though, that I no longer care about people, then it’s an empty exercise.

“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” [I Corinthians 13:1-2]

We’ve all heard that, right?  It goes along with the directions in II Timothy [2:14]:

“Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.”

Don’t misuse your gifts, that says.  The letter is addressed to someone who had great potential as a speaker, as someone who would be able to convey the Word of God to the people around him.  That’s why he was urged to develop his skills:

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.”  [II Timothy 2:15]

Don’t misuse your gifts, but don’t fail to use them, either.

Our gifts are given to us, not to hoard or to use for ourselves, but to benefit others.  When they are hidden away or neglected, there is great loss to the world.  Let me give you an example.  Listen to this poem.

“A thought went up my mind to-day
That I have had before,
But did not finish,--some way back,
I could not fix the year,

Nor where it went, nor why it came
The second time to me,
Nor definitely what it was,
Have I the art to say.

But somewhere in my soul, I know
I've met the thing before;
It just reminded me--'t was all--
And came my way no more.

That was by Emily Dickinson.  It’s one of the nearly eighteen hundred poems that she wrote in her lifetime, then sewed up in little packets that she tucked away in corners of her room, even under floorboards.  Her sister found them after her death and only then were they published.  What a shame it would have been if they had never been uncovered, or if a house fire or some catastrophe had destroyed them, unread.  You can credit their composition to the poet, but you also need to assign their preservation to her sister's gift for keeping house.

            None of us may be a poet like Emily Dickinson or a teacher like Timothy, but we all have some gift that is in there someplace, even if it's a gift for dusting the corners.  In fact, one of the ways that God binds people together is by spreading the gifts around so that we all need one another.  Again, using Paul’s words,

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” [I Corinthians 12:7] 

He goes on to say,

“God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?” [I Corinthians 12:28-30]

The answer is, “Of course not.”  But whatever gift is needed, someone has it.

We’re inviting everyone to take a “Spiritual Gifts Inventory” this month.  We will not all come out the same, and we should not come out the same, but the point is that whatever gift is needed is present somewhere among us and if there is any task that the Lord has given us to accomplish, there is among us the wherewithal to do it. 

Among us there is someone who with an awareness of being sent into the world, which is what it is to be an apostle.  Among us there is someone who has the gift of looking at the world and seeing clearly what God is doing, which is what it is to be a prophet.  Among us there are clearly teachers.  Some people have influence, in order to get things done.  Some people have that kind of presence that marks them as leaders.  Some people understand other cultures or speak languages other than English.  Some people have a calming presence or are able to help people come to terms with troubling situations: they are healers.  Some people offer assistance to others even when they themselves don’t feel called to take the lead, and that gift of assistance is needed, too.

            Whatever your gift is, don’t look down on it, or keep it to yourself.  It is needed, for the common good.

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed.” [II Timothy 2:15]


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