I Corinthians 12:1-7       Re-Discovering the Spiritual Gifts       Oct 5, 2008

     One of my favorite movies stars Steve Martin and John Candy entitled, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.”  Who has seen that movie?  In the film, the two stars are stranded in an airport over the Thanksgiving weekend, trying to get back home.  And in one of the opening scenes, Steve Martin is waiting in a long line trying to use a pay phone in the airport.  Of course, today, that scene would make no sense.  He would be using his cell phone.  The movie is not that old but parts of its no longer make any sense at all because of new technological revolutions.    

      Well, there has also been a spiritual revolution in our lifetimes.  An amazing re-discovery has occurred over the past four decades in churches all over the world.  Beginning in the early 1970s, the church of Jesus Christ around the world re-discovered the Holy Spirit.   Now the third person of the Trinity was never completely forgotten by Christians.   Every week, we said in the creed that we believe in the Holy Spirit.  Hymns and liturgies attested to His place.  Theology classes in seminaries included sections on the Spirit of God.  But overall, for almost 100 years, American churches put the Holy Spirit on the back burner while focusing much more on God as Father or on Jesus the Christ.  And a major result of that loss of focus was also a loss of understanding about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.   For many years in American churches, the work of ministry was viewed as the work of professional clergy.  Over the past forty years, that has all changed.  There has been a world wide renewal of interest in the Holy Spirit of God.  There has been a world wide explosion of people who want to discover the special gifts which are given to us by the Holy Spirit.  And there is a world wide desire to use the gifts of God to do the work of God.  You see, the gifts of God are not for specially trained professional clergy.  The gifts of God are for all people everywhere who want to see their own lives uplifted and who want to be a part of the new world.  Over the next weeks, we are going to examine these gifts and what they mean for us.  You are going to see that each one of you is gifted by God for the ministry of God.  But for today, to get us started on this World Communion Sunday, I want you to see how many churches around the globe are re-discovering the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

       Of course, this is no new thing.  The gifts of the Spirit have always been at work.  Throughout the centuries, spiritual people have written about their experience of the Spirit of God.  However, beginning in the late 1800s, there was a move in this country to downplay the gifts.  Many American religious scholars wrote that the gifts of the Spirit, especially the more miraculous gifts such as healing, were special gifts only for the times of the first Apostles.  God no longer worked in that way.  You can visit churches today that teach this view. 

       However, beginning in the 1970s and continuing today, a growing number of churches and a growing number of Christians have said, “No, that is not so.  God does not change.  God does not take back His gifts.  God is filled with grace and gifts for His people to use to do the work of the Kingdom of God.”  And this has become a world wide movement.  In fact, world wide, Christian churches emphasizing the work and power and gifts of the Holy Spirit are by far the fastest growing churches on the planet.  Across the third world, impoverished people are hungry to know of the power and gifts of God to change their lives and to uplift their nations. In places like China and North Korea, oppressed believers have received a spiritual inner strength that is unstoppable.  Across America, we have seen the growth of movements such as the Promise Keepers and Women of Faith, where thousands, tens of thousands, of people gather to praise God and to learn how God can grace them with power for living.   This is God at work in a new way in our day to renew His people and His church.  This is God at work to lead us beyond the limits of our own abilities to embrace the limitless Holy Spirit to create a new world.

       You know, our nation and our world have just gone through a very rough week.  The largest single day of Stock Market loss occurred on Monday with over a Trillion dollars loss of value.  Our nation’s leaders seem uncertain how to resolve the financial collapse.  In our own communities, we drive from gas station to gas station just trying to keep our cars running.  There are world wide rumblings about a coming depression.   Many of you feel worried.  But here is the good news.   Listen.  God can grace me with the gifts I need to overcome whatever this world dishes out.  Jesus said, “In this world, you will have troubles.  But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  Millions of Christians all over the world---those living in third world poverty, those oppressed by harsh governments, those who are sick and beaten down—they have discovered that God can grace them with the gifts to overcome all things.   They have discovered that no matter what happens outside around them, they possess an inner strength that is unshakeable.  We are going through uncertain times, but God gifts us to rise above the storm.

     In these next weeks, we are going to discover more about that unshakeable force that can gift us for living with hope in a uncertain world.  I want each of you to discover the unique gifts God has for you.  And I want you to know how God wants you to use your gifts for the betterment of the world.   This morning, as we gather at this table of World Communion, as we think of our brothers and sisters around the globe, let us remember this worldwide movement of God that is touching the lives of millions.  God is at work to gift His people for living in a new way.   Amen.