Word for Word 6/28/23

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Holy Spirit. 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.” – the apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

The more things change, the more they stay the same – or so goes the clichéd formula.

But you’d think followers of Jesus, empowered as we are by the promise of God’s Holy Spirit in Christ, would enjoy immunity from such apathy and inaction.

Yet, if you compare what the apostle Paul writes to early Church to what he might write to us some 2,000-odd years later, the similarity of message is stunning. In candid assessment of the sorry state of our affairs these days, a colleague pointedly observes: “If Paul could see the Church in America today, we’d be getting a letter.”

Indeed, first to the early Church and now to us, Paul suggests a kind of stagnancy within the Body of Christ – as if we, like the rest of our broken and fearful world, remain trapped in the doldrums of the same ol’, same ol’ – with no end in sight.

Assessing the many social problems confronting our country, Newsweek columnist Robert J. Samuelson writes: “We face a choice between a society where people accept modest sacrifices for a common good or a more contentious society where groups selfishly protect their own benefits.” Sound familiar?

The “common good” has long been an important ethical and biblical concept, and prioritizing the common good always challenges societies and cultures that encourage “looking out for No. 1.” Everywhere, it seems, observers are maintaining that our most fundamental community problems sprout and erupt from widespread pursuit of individual interests.

Which is exactly the same critique that Paul levels, indicting both the first followers of Jesus as well as you and me. Paul stares down all of us with declaration of our dereliction in serving the common good. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, heaven encourages things far more fruitful as you and I put to holy use the gifts and talents that we’ve been given by purely undeserved grace.

Seeing a well-honed gift in action is a marvel to behold and a sight for sore eyes.

Think, for instance, about the gifts of coordination and administration. For me several people come to mind – including Irene, an executive administrative assistant with whom I once worked.

For more than a quarter century, Irene juggled multiple balls in the air, maintained irons in many fires, and just generally kept in good order long strings of details for executives and directors overseeing five daily newspapers, a handful of weeklies, and eight radio stations.

Irene kept everything straight and everyone on task. Irene knew precisely which file drawer contained the needed paperwork, and she knew exactly whom to call when publishing or broadcasting operations flew off the rails. Irene knew where all the bodies were buried – figuratively, of course, because she’s the one who ordered the shovels!

On top of that, Irene kept a sharp lookout for emerging needs requiring immediate attention.

If you scheduled a catered business lunch, and one person in a group of 25 was a vegetarian, rest assured there’d be a meatless entrée available.

If Irene learned that an employee was having wrist problems from working too long on the computer, before too long arrived the delivery of wrist-rests designed to reduce the risk of carpal-tunnel syndrome – for everyone!

Once, when I was on a business trip to Norfolk, Virginia, the remnants of Hurricane Andrew skirted up the eastern seaboard and forced cancelation of my scheduled flight home. It was the mid-’90s, long before the empowerment of smart phones, so I called Irene and explained my travel predicament.

In no more than 10 minutes, she had me rebooked onto a next-day flight home, and she’d also made a new hotel reservation, so I had a place to lay my head for the extra night.

Like I said, seeing a well-honed gift in action is a marvel to behold.

Some people are “big-picture” folks; others, like Irene, are “detail-oriented.” Some inspire with majestic visions of the future; others transform vision into reality by sweating the small stuff and micromanaging the nitty-gritty. Thankfully, God is both types in one, and the Holy Spirit embodies every gift and distributes each one accordingly – as she sees fit and as God’s desires demand. Few passages lay out that spiritual truth as swiftly and concisely as Paul’s call to serving the common good.

The notion of “common good” has floated about for at least a couple millennia.

Its definition describes certain overall conditions that advantage and benefit everyone equally. Or simply, “common good” is the rising tide that floats all boats.

The common good doesn’t just happen on its own. Establishing and maintaining the common good require the cooperative efforts of often many people. Just as keeping a park free of litter depends on each user picking up after himself, so also maintaining the social conditions from which we all benefit requires the cooperative efforts of each and every man, woman, and child. Since everyone benefits from the common good, it surely seems like we’d all be more than willing to respond enthusiastically – or at least with only a modicum of grumbling – to urgings that we all cooperate to establish and maintain the common good.

But any number of obstacles hinder communities from successfully doing so – not the least of which is that the very idea of a common good clashes with a diverse society like ours. Different people, from different backgrounds and experiences, cherish different ideas and visions, about what is worthwhile or what constitutes the good of all. And those differences are growing more pronounced.

Such disagreements are bound to undercut our ability to evoke a sustained and widespread commitment to the common good, and that reality leads some to argue that working for the common good is an unachievable goal wrapped in a pipe dream!

Without question, our historical traditions place a high value on individual freedom, on personal liberty and rights, and on allowing each person to “do her own thing.” Our culture organizes itself around separate, independent individuals who are free to pursue their own individual goals and interests without interference from others.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but in such individualistic cultures, it makes for a tough argument: Convincing folks that they should sacrifice some of their freedom, some of their personal goals, some of their self-interest, for the sake of the common good. American tradition reinforces the individual who thinks that he shouldn’t have to contribute to the community’s common good but should be left free to pursue his own personal ends.

Yet the drumbeat of Scripture reverberates deep with the promise of the Spirit in service of the common good. And we keep trying – hopefully, improving – even if only by baby steps! Thus the question: In what ways might God in Christ want your Spirit-given gifts be used in service of the common good?

That’s a heavy-duty questions to be sure. But as it should be! Because listening for new ways of sharing your time, talent, and treasure to serve the common good is not a task for the faint of heart. It is reserved only for those in whom God’s promise of the Holy Spirit has been baptized.

Ancient words, ever true! Amen, and amen!

Rev. Dr. Grant M. VanderVelden
Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Waukon