Eastertide
Pentecost
June 8, 2014 

Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

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. — 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Today we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus so that we might have an advocate as we go about the business of being the Body of Christ in this world today before he comes again.

We are not only called to participate fully in the common good for all people as a call from God, but for those who are citizens of the United States of America, “the common good” is also a tenet of our constitutional government. The Constitution’s language was not based on Biblical language directly, since the writers were most likely reading the King James Version in which verse seven reads: But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. The sentiment is similar.

Regarding the Body of Christ, the common good has to do with the oneness in Christ to which we are all called. It also has to do with being our brothers and sisters keepers, it has to do with caring about the least of these as well as the rich young rulers, and it fundamentally has to do with all people being children of God or as our constitution states all [people] are created equal.

We need a new wind rushing among us in both instances, I believe. As far as the Body of Christ is concerned we need to stop breaking ourselves into small, divisive parts and start letting the Spirit heal us back to wholeness and the resulting oneness, which in many ways will set an example for the country. Let it be so.

Prayer: Heal our individual and collective souls, O Lord, make us whole and make us one. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.