A sermon preached by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Dries Pentecost 11 (Evensong) Christ Church St Laurence – 31 July, 2016
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight: O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. From the 14th Chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians: Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. Having been neglected for centuries, some of the spectacular spiritual gifts are again receiving great attention, particularly within more contemporary churches. The Charismatic movement has influenced almost every Christian denomination in recent decades. In some churches, it is possible to witness people being slain in the Spirit, and even the phenomenon of speaking in tongues has had something of a resurgence, particularly in Pentecostal Churches. Even in fairly mainstream churches, it is not uncommon to see members of the congregation raise a hand or two during the singing of a hymn. In churches like our own, we are provided with pewsheets, orders of service and hymn books. We make sure that there is always something in our hands to eliminate the possibility of such un-Anglican behaviour. And the church wardens are always on standby just in case things get out of control. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul is very aware of the charismatic gifts; the gifts of the Spirit and how they are manifesting themselves in the early church. It is believed that the spectacular spiritual gifts discussed by Paul continued to flourish in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, before disappearing until fairly recent times. In this evening’s passage from 1st Corinthians Chapter 14, Paul concerns himself with the spiritual gifts or charisms of prophecy and glossolalia – that is, speaking or praying in tongues. Paul wasn’t concerned about worshippers singing choruses with hands raised in the air – this liturgical crime wasn’t committed until many centuries later. There are 25 Gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Testament following the day of Pentecost. Many of them are quite routine or even unremarkable for Christians – they include service, encouragement, giving... In contrast, there is the spectacular gift of speaking in tongues, and its overuse was evidently a concern for Paul. In preparing for this sermon, realising that I had never experienced someone speaking in tongues, I Googled the phenomenon and discovered countless videos on the internet showing people of faith making indistinguishable sounds and seemingly involuntary gestures. I found the footage on the internet rather disturbing, as did one of my colleagues who came into my office to check that I was alright. If you have witnessed this phenomenon, you would know that it is extremely dramatic and perhaps even bizarre. However, it’s not surprising that the Corinthians were drawn to it. They were rather spectacular or dramatic people. First Century Corinth was vibrant and cosmopolitan. It could be argued that it was the first century equivalent of a great city like Sydney; another place where people are drawn to spectacular and extreme experiences. Paul does not forbid speaking in tongues, but he does suggest that this practice is self-indulgent; it is about an individual expressing or verbalising a private conversation or relationship with God. Prophecy, on the other hand, involves a conversation between two or more people. Every so often, as I walk the streets of Page | 1
Sydney I encounter prophets; angry men and women who stand on street corners identifying grave sin and often predicting destruction. When Paul speaks of prophecy, I believe that he has something else in mind. Paul speaks of prophecy as edification. He says that, as members of the body of Christ, we are called to edify one another. We are called to build up and encourage; we are called to complement and enrich the lives of other Christians. Make love your aim writes Paul and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. The Corinthian church was divided and conflicted over so many technicalities… circumcision; food and hygiene laws; the nature and language of worship… Paul begins the Fourteenth Chapter of the First Letter to the Corinthians with the simple command ‘make love your aim’, or in other translations it is simply, ‘pursue love’. Even though we may struggle with some aspects of Paul’s epistles, the importance of this simple command to the early church, and to the church of our own time, can never be overestimated – above all else, ‘pursue love’. What a contrast this is from the threatening voices dominating our world at the present time – voices that encourage fear and division, rather than the pursuit of love. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul also emphasises the need for differing gifts within the body of Christ. Although he stresses the importance of prophecy, he doesn’t discount the other spiritual gifts; they all have a purpose. The inspiring and sometimes divisive figure, Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it very simply when he said: We are made for complement-arity. I have gifts that you do not. Voilà! So we need each other to become fully human. Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. How do we use and encourage the Spiritual Gifts in this place? To the untrained eye, we may not seem very charismatic at all. What would Paul have to say about our priorities as a community of faith? We don’t speak in tongues, and yet we do use language and symbols that may be unintelligible to some. But, more importantly, do we take seriously this command to prophesy? Do we deliberately say things that are edifying and encouraging to others within and outside of our parish community? What sort of assessment would Paul make of our ministry? In a sense, our elaborate worship and liturgy is not unlike speaking in tongues. It is our expression of a personal relationship with God. And it will only make sense if it accompanied by prophesy; if it is accompanied by an outpouring of love for others. This is why our ministry of hospitality is so important. Offering a place of peace in a frenetic city is a form of prophecy; offering food to the homeless and asylum seekers is a form of prophecy. It says something to others about the love that we have for God and the love that God has for them. Simple gestures of love and compassion are the only way we can make sense of our faith to ourselves and to each other. This is prophecy; it has little to do with shouting on street corners. Even Paul, the sometimes brutal evangelist, tells us that prophecy is not about finding fault; rather it is about offering support. Prophecy is not about creating conflict and division; it is about bringing unity and peace. Prophecy is not about condemnation, rather it is about encouragement. Prophecy is about the pursuit of love – the love that unites us in Christ and with one another. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Page | 2