1 Corinthians 12. And what I noticed is I was looking at it and I paused and I thought about the
fact that it's right before 1 Corinthians 13. And of course, when people know of 1 Corinthians 13,
what does that usually make you think of? Weddings, weddings. So before coming to Christ
Memorial Lutheran, I would do weddings from time to time, but I actually don't know that I ever
actually did a wedding in a church until I actually came over here to Christ Memorial Lutheran. I had
done a wedding on a mountain, I had done a wedding in a bar, I did a wedding on a ranch, I did a,
and in a church, I was like, how does that work? I don't even understand. It was interesting. So yeah,
but with all of this is the constant though is 99 times out of 100. You almost always have
the bride and the groom agreeing that one of the readings should be 1 Corinthians 13.
Like love is patient, love is kind, does not envy, it does not boast, it keeps no record of wrongs,
and already many of the couples are like, I think we need to revisit that a little bit there. Might be
a good idea. And the thing with this is that I always found it interesting because 1 Corinthians 13
has nothing to do with weddings at all. It has absolutely, it is completely different context
whatsoever. And whenever you look at 1 Corinthians 12, that you actually have a better understanding
of what 1 Corinthians 13 is meant to be. So, you know, for those who are getting married
sometime soon, just to let you know is 1 Corinthians 13 has nothing to do with weddings at all. So,
clearly now, now, of course, nobody wants to be the pastor who's, you know, terrible and tells
people you can't use that passage at all. So, but in looking at it, there are a lot of parts to that
passage that make a lot more sense when you understand the context with chapter 12. For example,
it says, if I speak with the tongues of angels and of men but have not love, I'm just a clanging
gong and a begging symbol. And it's like, what does that have to do with weddings? I don't know.
And except for that one crazy cousin who always comes in at the last minute. But when we're
thinking about it is to realize is that Paul is trying to put in context that if you think you're
speaking in the tongue of an angel or like a heavenly language, is to be asking, how is it
that you are loving the people around you by doing so? Or are you just making a bunch of noise that
doesn't really help out with anything? And there's more to the chapter two. It says, if I have the
gift of prophecy, it could fathom all mysteries. And it's because in chapter 12, it is speaking and
talking about having the gift of knowledge and the gift of wisdom. Or it also says, you know,
if I have faith that can move mountains, because 1 Corinthians 12 is talking about having the gift
of faith, the idea of being able to do miraculous things with the faith that God has given you.
Or even to look at the idea of love, not dishonoring others. Because oftentimes what had happened in
the church is that people's view of what they were meant to do, it was like they were trying to lift
up their own agendas, or even trying to make themselves seem special in church, and almost by
dishonoring other people in order to lift themselves up. And even the last part, when I was a child,
I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child, you know, but when I grew
up and I matured, and then I put away childish things. Because Paul is trying to let them know that
much of what they had been doing was almost childish. It was immature in much of what they were doing.
And so we want to make sure that we understand then the idea of what's happening in chapter 12
is to try to help people see, as you are together worshiping each other, what you are doing is meant
to build each other up, not try to make a spectacle of you or anybody else. Now there's a lot that's
actually in here that it goes into, and there are a couple different pieces I wanted to make sure
to explain a little bit here. For example, it says on there, nobody who follows Jesus, who has
the Spirit of God would say Jesus is cursed. Can Christians say Jesus be cursed? Now it's not that
often that we find ourselves in a situation where we might be considering saying that Jesus is cursed.
It does not happen all the time. You're not standing at Starbucks asking for Frappuccino,
and they're like, would you like whipped cream with that? Yes, absolutely. Do you want whole
milk or 2%? Do I look like I need 2% that's very insulting? Or would you like to say Jesus is cursed?
No, I'd like to decline the Jesus is cursed. Absolutely, that'll be seven bucks. And you don't
typically come across that very often. And even to a point though, where we might even wonder,
what were they even talking about? The thing is, is that there are times where we might actually
see this, and we don't even realize it. For example, we find out, and this was from Emperor Trajan.
So this was actually after when Paul was writing, but it's reflecting what they had already been
doing for some time, is that if the government wanted to find out if you're a Christian,
they would put, bring you in front and tell you, curse Jesus. It was literally a test. If you wanted
to prove that you were a good Roman citizen, and you weren't part of this Jesus movement the way,
then you would sit there and say, Jesus is cursed, you would curse Jesus, and then make a sacrifice
to some of the local gods. And then you were completely free to go. Why? Because they knew
that no Christian could ever curse Jesus. And if you could not pass that test, then you could be
killed. And this idea of continuing to testify to who Christ was, is one aspect of what we may
be looking at here, but there's another. Is it oftentimes, especially in places like Corinth,
you might find temples or different places that had different cults that were there. And they would
have these spiritual experiences where they might come up with all sorts of things that they might
say, and they might say, we are filled with the spirit of God. But if somebody's filled with the
spirit of God, and says something that completely contradicts who God is, especially in his son,
that's not the spirit of God. Because you might have places like, for example, the cult of Dionysus,
and the idea of vachkas, and the revelry, and drinking so much that they would be in these times
of ecstasy, and moments and all. And they might say all sorts of random things. And if somebody might
be thinking, well, I'm Christian, but I'm sure I could participate in that. And they might say
anything, including cursing Jesus' name. And the idea that you want to be in this experience,
but if it's not something from God and blessing Jesus' name, then it is not from God.
But even more than that, is what do you do to the least of these? Is to remember that when we say,
and Jesus says, whatever you've done to the least of these, you have done unto me. Because let's be
honest, we may not always be thinking, well, is Jesus cursed? But do we feel the same way about
the people in the world around us? It's to realize that we oftentimes have to make difficult
decisions in life. We have to deal with difficult issues that happen. But as we do so, are we doing
so with as much compassion, and love, and understanding as we can? Are we doing so asking,
are we doing so asking, how is it that I am blessing the people around me, instead of just
leaving them to be cursed? How many times do we make the decisions with family, friends, business,
home, or even the world around us? And we don't ask the question, can I do so,
still loving the people in the world around me? Even to a point where I still remember somebody
looking me in the eye and saying, does it really have to be about Jesus? And isn't it one of those
things where sometimes we think, well, someone's a good person, and they're really nice? I guess that
that, and at that moment, is that even when I knew I would lose so much, is to still pause and
say, yeah, it does. Because at the end of the day, he is the only one that has actually demonstrated
what love and hope are truly about, because of giving up his own life for us. But with that is
to realize that in that spirit, each of us has different giftings. Now, in looking at that,
having different gifts of God's spirit is that we see a list here. And it's looking at this,
and there are a couple different places that we might see in Scripture that show us a list of the
gifts of God's spirit. So, for example, in 1 Corinthians 12, it says to one, there is given
the spirit of a message of wisdom, another a message of knowledge by means of the spirit, another has
faith, another gifts of healing to another miraculous powers, another prophecy, another
distinguishing between the spirits, and to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,
and to still another the interpretation of tongues. Notice they put the tongues part at the end.
But there are different places in Scripture that talk about the gifts of the spirit. For example,
Romans 12. If prophecy, may they have grace in proportion to our faith, if serving, then in our
serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exhorts, or if you're calling people to
do something, you're exhorting them, then in their exhortation, in the one who contributes,
in the one who contributes, God's grace is in their generosity. And the one who leads God's
grace is in their zeal, the one who does acts of mercy, God's grace is in the cheerfulness.
Now, notice that list. There's a lot of similarity with 1 Corinthians 12. But let's add one more to
it. Ephesians 4. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and the
teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ.
So, trying to simplify those things. Those who are leading, those who are speaking truth when it
needs to be heard, those who are sharing the gospel, those who are caring for one another,
and those who are teaching. Because let's be honest, the gift of wisdom and the gift of knowledge,
not always the same. There are a lot of times where somebody may be very knowledgeable,
but they may make very poor decisions. Or even someone who typically makes good decisions,
but they just don't have all the information that they need. And so being able to see that
distinction and that understanding, then we might pause and say, if there are only subtle differences,
but there are similar purposes, why did the other ones not talk about the gift of tongues?
And we need to then ask that question of speaking in tongues, huh? I mean,
when we look at what that means, we may even pause and even try to understand what is it even about.
And let's just be honest. We are here in a typical Lutheran church. If someone were to be coming in
here and start speaking in some random noises and sounds that nobody understood right in the middle
here, we'd probably check to make sure the security guard is outside and make sure that we knew how
to dial 911. It is not something that we would typically see, but also in many ways it's something
that we'd probably be uncomfortable with. And something we might want to even ask is,
what is it even in the first place? So just to clarify a little bit here,
there are two big passages that reference this, one being Acts chapter two and the other one
being our passage, 1 Corinthians 12. Now, in Acts chapter two, we see that the apostles are there
and they're speaking to people around them in languages that they understand. Now, just remember
people, the common language back then was Aramaic, kind of like how a lot of people in today's world
speak English, but back then they typically spoke Aramaic. Now, for business, you might speak Greek
and for religion, you might speak Hebrew, but everybody generally spoke similar language.
However, you're there in Jerusalem where a lot of people may be coming through from different lands
and different places where they all had their local languages. And now instead of the people
standing there speaking only in Aramaic, they start speaking in other languages that people
can understand. Now, I'm not that great at being bilingual. I'm working on it a little bit at a
time. Now, I had been learning some Spanish when I was younger, but I went to China for a year and
thought, you know, I should learn some Chinese. And so I started getting some basics down and I
learned Wo Yao Sang Min Zhe, which means I want a sandwich. And then I realized Sang Min Zhe is
sandwich, all right? I swear. And I realized though when I came back, I don't know the Spanish word
for sandwich. I have no idea. Even now, I have no idea what the Spanish word is for
sandwich. But the problem is, is that I'm trying to speak Spanish and I keep coming out with
Yokeiro Wo Sang Min Zhe. And then the poor ladies at the Takaria have no idea what I'm asking for
and are very, very confused. And so I'm over there trying my best to say what I think I'm supposed
to say in Spanish. But all of a sudden it comes out in Mandarin. My brain and my mouth are doing
two very different things. Now, I do know that there are times where somebody may be bilingual,
trilingual, and they may start speaking a language that they know, but it comes out in a different
way. But imagine the same thing is that you're standing there trying to share the gospel.
You know what you're trying to say, but out of your mouth comes a language you don't know.
Now, is that the same thing as what was happening in 1 Corinthians 12? Now, there's a lot of debate
to that. And cessationists, in other words, those who believe that the gifts of the Spirit from those
days stopped completely and they do not and should not happen again today. They would say
that much of what we see today, when we think about tongues, for example,
Pentecostal movement and the like, really did not start until the 18th or 19th century.
So what they would say is that commentaries in the past never really brought it up until the 19th
century because they were just trying to keep up with the way that people were changing this idea
of tongues. Because then it was this idea of there is an angel language, a heavenly language.
Now, in this idea is that supposedly nobody gave this mumbling or whatever this extra language
might be where only supposedly angels would understand it until about the 19th century.
Now, the difficulty with that, there are several with it. They try to say that the word is the
same between the two passages. So therefore, 1 Corinthians 12 is just talking about speaking
languages that people understand. But if you go back to the passage, it says the tongues of angels.
But more than that also is that there were various church fathers that wrote about this idea
of an angelic language, something that people don't typically understand. The idea of Irenaeus,
Tritulean, even Augustine. But it even was such a major part that there was even a major heresy
called Montanism that had to deal with it. Because what would happen is somebody would say that they
were speaking in the spirit and come up with all sorts of things in an angel language.
And they might be teaching things that the church had never agreed to. But even more than that,
this idea of ecstatic speech, of having an experience, something transcendent from God,
doesn't that sound like a wonderful thing to see and feel that God's presence can be right there
inside of you, moving you? And I do have to point out something. They actually did do a study on
the brain when somebody was speaking in tongues. They actually did go in and look at what parts
of the brain are activating when a person is speaking in one of these angel languages and
speaking tongues. And it turns out the part of the brain that you use when you're normally talking
to people is not the part of the brain that people are using when they're speaking in tongues.
Which means that if somebody is over there speaking in what feels like an angelic language
or speaking in tongues, they genuinely do feel it is not their own words that are coming from their
mouth. They are not actually trying to pull one over on you. So then here's the thing. Does that
mean that we should truly be using tongues in our worship service as Lutherans? And here's the point
that we need to get back to though, is to ask what is the purpose of the gifts that we've been given?
Because the purpose of every gift is to proclaim Christ. And that's the thing about why Paul listed
it last. He needed people to understand if you're doing something, is it genuinely proclaiming the
gospel of God? Because there are lots of stories of people who want to speak in tongues and they may
be told, start mumbling and the spirit of God will take over from there. Just start making sounds
and it'll take off from there. They may not be trying to do something that is deceitful,
but that doesn't necessarily mean that God is using them to say something special or different.
But even more than that is Paul himself said in chapter 14, tongues for unbelievers and prophecy
is for believers. In other words, the reason why the tongues were there was two main times to show
that Christ Jesus was reaching the Gentiles was to get the gospel to people who hadn't
heard it before in their language. But when you are with people who already believe,
they don't need tongues. They need you to speak truth. They need prophecy. And that's the thing
that we have to ask is whether or not the gifts that we are using are genuinely building us up in
Christ Jesus because I do not doubt the authenticity or the spirit of those who do so.
But I also say if it is not helping us to know Christ Jesus and to proclaim his word,
then let's go back to what does. With this is to realize we all have different gifts. And each
of us is unique with all of that. But all of those gifts are supposed to come from the same fruits
of the Spirit. So while we may be looking at the idea that we may come with different ways of doing
things, if whatever we're doing does not show love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, generalist, self control, if we are not living out the fruits of the Spirit and what we
do, then is that really something that we want to have as part of what we have? Because we as the
people of God, we're of one Spirit, one Lord. So everything that we are saying and doing,
if it does not bring us back to who Christ truly is and to have that same spirit of understanding
and knowledge and to live out what God has called us to do, then we don't need that.
But rather is each of you is gifted in ways that does build up the body. So as we learn and as we
grow, we may come across parts of Scripture where it may take us down various rabbit holes. And we
may wonder, how does this make any sense? And that's part of why we're meant to learn together
and to grow as one body, but also to remember that whatever you come across in Scripture,
you never have to worry that it should ever take away from the true message that the Father
sent his son for you and that he now lives in you and proclaims his truth now and always.
May God continue to live in and through us as we proclaim the gospel,
to the world that needs to hear it. Thanks be to God.