The Rev. Ann R. Lougee January 21, 2007 Better Together 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a The way scripture is divided up in the lectionary, we are sometimes left wondering what a portion of it means. Today's reading leaves us wondering What does Paul mean when he says "strive for the greater gifts?" because it stops before he goes on to tell us of what he calls "a still more excellent way." If we keep reading, we see that he tells of this more excellent way in Chapter 13, the famous love poem that begins "If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." It goes on to say, "love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful." It ends with "and now faith, hope and love abide, these three, and the greatest of these is love." This chapter is often used in weddings, but it's not really meant to be about two people. It's meant to show the Christian community how to live together as the church. One of the important marks of the Christian community is supposed to be its unity. Our United Church of Christ, in fact, has as its motto the prayer of Jesus found in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, verse 21, "that they may all be one." For fifty years, our denomination has hoped and prayed and worked for the unity of the whole church, the Body of Christ. The dream is of a day when the followers of Jesus will see past our differences and find common ground in our identity as disciples of the one who prayed for our unity long ago. Sometimes this unity may be seen as "official," as in the union of our predecessor denominations, the Congregational Christian and the Evangelical and Reformed, fifty years ago, to form the United Church of Christ. Another "official" example is the ecumenical agreements into which our denomination enters with others, as in the One Great Hour of Sharing offering, Church World Service and other joint ministries. Other times, this unity may be experienced spiritually even when there is nothing official to "bless" it. For example, we'll soon be sharing an Ash Wednesday service with First United Methodist Church and First Christian Church, which is a Disciples of Christ congregation. In the national setting, the United Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ are partner denominations. Also, the United Church of Christ has received many positive responses from members of other churches who appreciate our God is Still Speaking message of extravagant hospitality. But this unity is also experienced personally and communally within a local church, like this one, when people come together, out of their own very different private lives, and find meaning, purpose and support in the life of a congregation. Paradoxically, we believe that another important mark of the Christian community is its diversity. Many different gifts, many different stories, many different journeys come together in the life of a church and we are, indeed, "better together" than any of us would be alone. We are not "many" like "many pebbles in a box," rattling around separately, but we are "organically related. Perhaps the metaphor that is most fitting for this church is to say that each of us is like one of the stones that make up our beautiful walls. Without each of us, the church would be neither so sturdy nor so beautiful. The apostle Paul's reflection on the unity and diversity of the church rings true for us today in the United Church of Christ, and it is exquisite in its simplicity and clarity: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it" (v. 27). The pain or the joy that one part experiences is experienced by the other parts. When one of our members or the loved one of members dies or is very ill, it affects the whole congregation. When a baby is born or a new marriage takes place, the whole congregation is uplifted. Together we form a sort of ecology of suffering and rejoicing. Health professionals and pastors recognize the interrelatedness not only of our organs and physical structures, but also of our emotional, mental, spiritual and physical health. All of these are part of one "body" or person, yet they are distinct, each with its own gift and its own role. So, then, how do we approach this beautiful metaphor for the church? One could be tempted to think that each of us has our own role, and that we should accept and play our role appropriately, even if that implies limitations. Thus, for many centuries, men in the church have discussed "the role of women," as if it were different from "the role of men." We as humans seem to want to find the right label, the right category, for one another. But the same Paul who wrote the powerful description of the church in today's reading from First Corinthians also spoke of the eradication of social differences in his letter to the Galatians. When we are baptized into the body of Christ, we're no longer slave or free, Jew or Greek, male and female, he says. The distinctions that are drawn between people out in the world are not supposed to separate us in the church. One might dream that the roles and "stereotypes," along with the restrictions they bring, might melt away, too. Alas, this has not been the history of the church these past two thousand years. The oneness of the church has not always given full expression to the many and varied gifts within its body. This exclusion has wounded the Body of Christ. If we indeed come together, to be "better together" than we would be alone, and yet retain our individual dignity and gifted-ness, we enrich our lives as a community. For this community can then recognize and celebrate the many different ways that we are human beings, made in God's unlimited image, full of beauty. If we share the tasks of ministry and of building up the church, recognizing the God-given gifts of each of us for different ministries without having our vision restricted by categories and presuppositions, we discover a treasure trove of gifts. And rather than bicker over who is more important or which "job" is more important, we can strive for that unity that helps us experience one another's pain and one another's joy, diminishing the one and increasing the other, just as Paul describes. Is that what our church looks like today? In many ways, the answer is undoubtedly "yes." Where it is not, we are led, at the end of today's reading, toward that "greater gift" that would enable us to share our lives this way. For Paul says, "strive for the greater gifts, and I will show you a still more excellent way." We already know what is coming next, in the familiar passage that follows: the soaring, poetic meditation on love. That is, in the end, what we in the church need even more than unity and diversity: we need love to be the mark by which we know each other and by which we are known to others. In the end, this love is of God, and it is the love that we come to know in many different ways. Al Carmines has written a wonderful hymn about this unity in the midst of diversity, God of Change and Glory: "Many gifts, one spirit, one love known in many ways. In our difference is blessing, from diversity we praise one Giver, one Word, one Spirit, one God, known in many ways…" We sang it for our Founders' Day worship a few weeks ago. Let's sing it again now: #177 in the black hymnal.