Christianity is a Team Sport

Christianity... It's a Team Sport 1 Corinthians 12:4-14 Video Now I feel like some baseball, Don't you? Baseball is an American Past-Time. It is my favorite sport. Oh, don't get me wrong I enjoy watching football and I enjoy watching various forms of Martial Arts, I even enjoy playing or watching tennis and soccer with the family, but if I had to choose a sport to participate in it would be baseball. Growing up I played every position except catcher. I was on winning teams and I was on my share of losing teams, even one called "Bears" in yellow and green. Yet, with all those years of playing, I never successfully played by myself. Even though I knew how to play all the positions, I couldn't do it all by myself. It took the team playing together. The Texas Rangers have been a great team over these past couple of years, not because of one great player that stands out but rather many good players that together make the team great. We all remember the years with A-Rod, Texiera, Pudge, and many others. Some we loved and some... well not so much. They were all great players. They stood out. And in many respects it seems they tried to be the team. Today we have Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Michael Young, and now Yu Darvish. They are great players but they do everything for the team. They see themselves as a part of a team and no better than the rest of the team. They work as a team: Not all are pitchers Not all are centerfielders Not all are Short-Stops It takes all 9 players seeing themselves as a team and each doing their part to make the team a success. Christianity is much the same way. Christianity is a team sport. We each have our positions to play; we have our places to fill. We are all a part of a team that is no better than the rest of the team. As we read this passage and others like it in Romans and Ephesians, we find examples of what this team looks like and what the positions are for us. Here in Corinthians, Paul compares the use of the Spiritual Gifts to the body and starts by saying that there is one Spirit but many gifts, one Lord but different ministries and one God but many activities. What are these positions you may ask? There are a couple of different lists in scripture that we find. In Ephesians 4 we find a list that includes Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. Some may want to call these the leadership gifts but you don't have to be a paid clergyperson or staff member of a church to have these gifts. What you do for a living and your gift don't always match. Often we may find that we have a disposition that drives us in certain ways. A Prophet may actually work as a professor and proclaim the truth. A Teacher my actually be a business leader in charge of personnel training. One with the gift of pastoring - leading a flock, may actually work as a director of a department. Where these gifts begin taking hold and making a difference in your life and others is when you let the gift, your passion, and your talents merge into what it is that you do. More on that in a minute. We add to the list from Ephesians 4 as we turn over to Romans 12 and see that some are given the gifts of service, encouragement, giving, leading, and mercy. Finally in 1 Corinthians 12:28 we find a few more gifts listed: miracles, healing, and tongues. Over the next few weeks I will be covering many of these gifts - keep in mind that there is no way I can cover all these gifts completely so I will cover a couple of them a week and make some handouts available to you for some more details. There are a couple of other things that we need to cover about our Spiritual Gifts before we begin discerning and discovering them over the next few weeks. 1) what is the difference between gifts and talents, and 2) what is the purpose of the gifts? 1) We all have talents. Some can sing and play an instrument. Some can decorate. Some are good writers. Some are great photographers. These are not "gifts" even though we may say, "Cheryl, God has gifted you with such a great voice." (Scott on Organ or the Chris with leading the choir) Or "Darrell, your drum playing is a gift from God." These are talents, abilities that we have and enjoy. While they aren't just "hobbies" often our talents can be things we learn or enjoy doing as a hobby. A spiritual gift on the other hand is something that we have a knack for. You, just by your nature, are a good administrator or you seem to have a strange sense of fulfillment after sitting with a grieving friend if you have the gift of mercy. You may seem to have an uncanny ability to say things that encourage others to find their place in serving God or an ability to bring healing into ones presence when you visit them in the hospital. These are gifts from the Spirit. You may be able to do things to enhance them or do them better but you already have a knack for doing them. It is a part of who God made you to be. We don't have to discount our passion and talent to serve within the area of our Gifts. We are most successful and happy when our passions, talents, and gifts all match up in some special way to serve God's purpose for our lives. 2) That brings us to the final point, what is the purpose of our Gifts? In the passage read today we see two things and in the final teaching of Jesus we see a third. First, we see that God gives the gifts to us as God sees fit. If would be a very strange church that had all preachers and teachers in it. Oh, everyone would be well educated but no one would do anything. It would be great to be surrounding by encouragers and those with the gift of Mercy but soon the entire organization would fall apart. I could go on but I think you get the point. God distributes the gifts to each of us as the Spirit sees fit so that we may fulfill God's purpose as individuals and as a church. The second thing we see about these gifts is that they are given for the common good of all. When we fail to use our gifts, talents, and passions for God the rest of the body hurts. It is missing an important part that balances the body to fulfill God's purpose. Finally. What is God's purpose for us? We find it there in the final words of Jesus as recorded by Matthew: Go and make disciples... We even have that as our mission statement as United Methodists, that we are to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the World. That is why we are who we are. Each of us a different piece to a puzzle. Each of us a different part of the ensemble. Each of us a different player on the team. We have no bench warmers. There is no second chair. There is no JV. None of us are extra pieces to the puzzle. We all have a purpose and it's about time we began discovering that purpose and serving God according to it. So, what are we going to do about it? I want you to look at the person to you left and right. I know you may have to cross the isle, that's OK. I want you to tell them your name and learn their name. Then I want you to tell them that you will be praying for them by name as they seek to learn what their spiritual gift is. Do it… Now… This week’s challenge is to be in prayer about your gifts and the gifts of those to your left and right. I want you to begin the discernment process this week as we, the followers of Christ begin to see and understand who we are and why we are. I pray that, as Christians - those who seek to be like Christ, we will seek to be who we are called to be. Now, there are some of you that this is all new to you. You have never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. I firmly believe that God has hidden deep down inside you an innate ability to serve God and serve others. My prayer for you is that you will come to the saving knowledge of God and that you will begin to understand what God has done for you through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I will be praying this week that you will be open to God's grace and that you will come to Christ and join us in this conversation.