Varieties of gifts, but the same 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. 

I Cor. 12: 4-7

Varieties of gifts, but the same 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. 

I Cor. 12: 4-7

The body is one and has many members

Sometimes I get tired of the ways that we overly intellectualize and "rhetoricalize" the words of our faith, but when Paul wrote, "just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so is it with Christ"...In other words...we are supposed to work together, get over ourselves and do for one another.  Now, let's see if we can get busy doing it!

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (NRSV)

12 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. 13 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.
14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Wait for each other, 1 Corinthians 11:23-34

1 Corinthians 11:23-34 (NRSV)

23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." 25 In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.

33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation.

Paul was writing to the Christians in Corinth who had developed a rather nasty habit of worshiping separately from one another and some were shut out of the Eucharistic Feast and had to worship later. This may sound trivial to us today, we who worship at churches that might have various services of various styles and liturgical forms. However, Paul was deadly serious about the fact that the people of Corinth should "wait for each other" and not make worship a factional, separatist kind of experience. Paul knew that the way that we worship and pray affects the way that we believe. Leonel Mitchell coined the phrase (in English) "Praying Shapes Believing" when he wrote his book on the liturgy with the same name. In Latin, the phrase is "Lex Orandi, lex credendi" - which can be translated, the law of prayer affects the law of belief.

The way that we gather the way that we worship the way that we offer reverence the way that we organize ourselves does have an effect upon the way that we believe. Our actions do help to create our lived theology. Worship is not really meant to be something that is a la carte, it is not really meant to be something that we choose what feels "best" or most "comfortable"...worship done well may challenge us beyond our comfort zones, and may move us to see that God is bigger than our imagination (and our liturgical tastes). "Wait for one another" is a challenging and helpful prayer to keep on my lips as we consider how we will be in relationship with people from other denominations and from other liturgical sensibilities.

If our praying does shape our believing, it matters that we do wait for one another and work to build up the Body of Christ rather than separate and fragment it. These are challenging and helpful word for us.

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Seeking approval....Galatians 1:10

Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval?

Or am I trying to please people?

If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

- Galatians 1:10

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Pray without ceasing...or Preach without ceasing

We have probably heard that Paul asked believers in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to "pray without ceasing." Setting one's heart and mind on God in all things and in all moments is the call of Christians. I have long wondered how this lofty goal can be reached, though the practicing of prayer daily has had a deep effect upon me, especially as I prepared to go to seminary, during seminary, and since ordination to the transitional diaconate.

Once I began working as a school chaplain, I find myself struggling to stick with my previous practice of reading the Daily Office each day. Finding time for individual time with God has, perhaps ironically, been somewhat difficult in the busy days of ministry.

By contrast, I find myself on a cycle of preaching very often. I have several chapels to lead each week (5+), and this week, I am preaching at 4 different services. Twice to the upper school, once to the middle, and once to the lower school. I find myself exegeting, praying with the scriptures, and trying to find something to say that is new nearly each day. I'm a bit exhausted by it, but also somewhat invigorated. I am looking at preaching tomorrow on a bit of the Sunday lectionary from last week (Luke 15:1-10), while also reflecting on Matthew for the Feast day for St. Matthew on Friday. I'm not sure that Paul had in mind that we would preach without ceasing, but that is what it feels like right now ... !