May 31st Service
On Line Service due to COVID-19 Pandemic


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Saint John's Pulpit (Pentecost) –
"We Do Many in One Spirit" 1 Corinthians 12:3-13

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. 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.  To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3-13 NRSV

The Best Textbook for Ministry

Once again, I am so glad to be with you all on Pentecost Sunday this year. We know that we should be very happy for this special day, but we feel that our heart is heavy and heartbroken. This week, we had to hear lots of sad news. Total number of deaths from Covid-19 was over 100,000 in America. Not only this virus, we also experienced that we are surrounded by more serious viruses in our world-hatred, violence, blame, and discrimination. It is not a matter of whether we are in Georgia, Minneapolis or Central park, we should know that it is a critically threatening virus for all in this world.

Today, here is our single prayer: Oh God, help us be full of the Holy Spirit and touch and transform this world with your love and mercy. Personally, I love to read the first and second Corinthians. As I know, these two books are the best gift for all pastors. Why? When you read these books written by Paul, you get to know that there are lots of issues in ministry. For example, in 1 Corinthians, Paul is covering most of pages to answer to questions from Christians in Corinth such as marriage and sexuality (7:1), on the betrothed (7:25), food offered to idols (8:1), spiritual gifts (12:1), the collection for the saints (16:1), and concerning our brother Apollos (16:12). Among these topics, the text today deals with an issue of spiritual gifts. Isn't it interesting? Why should spiritual gifts be an issue for the Corinthians seriously?

Not by my spirit, but by the Spirit of God

Among Christians in Corinth, there was a group of people insisting that 'speaking in tongues' is the only gift of the Holy Spirit. So, speaking in tongues became a standard to discern between people of the Holy Spirit and people of non-Spirit. Soon, this differentiation began to be abused to discriminate. To this challenge, Apostle Paul asked the Corinthians to know that spiritual gifts are shown in various areas, but should be from the one resource, the Spirit of God:

Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says "Let Jesus be cursed!" and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except by the Holy Spirit. 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. 1 Corinthians 12:3-6 NRSV

One big mistake we might make in our faith life is to do God's work by my spirit. Some people want their church to meet their preference and taste. Others want their pastor to preach what they want to listen. All these things are done in the name of God but might be in troubles because we do these things by our spirit, not by the Spirit of God. Apostle Paul was aware of this issue from Christians in Corinth seriously. Paul affirms that we are called from each of our careers but are called to do God's work together. Moreover, Paul suggests a very important standard to define spiritual gifts. If we are people of spiritual gifts, our gifts should be used to do good for one another! Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1Corinthians 12:7 NIV

A Meaning of Speaking in Tongues

Let me tell about Pentecost with another Bible text. You may agree that Acts 2 is the most popular one to show how the Holy Spirit worked for the first Christians. In that chapter, there is a story of receiving the Holy Spirit. Do you know what happened when people received the Holy Spirit? They began to speak in tongues. No surprise! But people did not speak in common language! They spoke in each of their languages, but no issue to understand one another!

And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Acts 2:6-8 NRSV

For me, I've imagined that there would be a special language for the people of the Holy Spirit or citizens in the Kingdom of God. When I go to Heaven, what language do I need to speak, English or Korean? However, people of the Holy Spirit were speaking in their own language! More importantly, they were speaking about one common topic. What was it?

And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done! Acts 2:11b NLT

Unity in diversity! Yes, we all are different. Because we are different, we should not blame on one other. Rather we should bless one another because we are called to do God's work. Spiritual gifts are more than speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongue does not mean a mono-language, it is speaking about what God did for us. Eventually, it is a language of love.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1 NRSV

On this Pentecost 2020, we hope to use a language of love from our community. Although we see that the whole world is full of hatred, conflict, blame, violence and discrimination, our effort to fill us with a language of love will make our world peaceful and spiritual. Come, Lord! Come, Holy Spirit! Amen.