In my sermon today I talk about Strengthsfinder, a really interesting on-line inventory that — as the name suggests — helps people to identify what their strengths are.  I met Strengthsfinder through Jane Burg, a local “Strengths Coach” at a retreat with some clergy colleagues.  As you’ll see in the sermon, it got me to thinking about St. Paul’s words, “Now there are a variety of gifts …” [1 Corinthians 12:4]

Many Gifts, One Spirit

Earlier this year, I went on a retreat with my clergy colleagues with whom I do Bible study every week. We spent part of our time together working with an interesting inventory called the Strengthsfinder. We each took about a half hour to fill out the questionnaire on the Internet, and then printed out the list of the five strengths that were identified by our responses. Jane Burg, who is a local Strengths Coach, then met with us to help us make use of this information.

This exercise turned out to be valuable in all sorts of ways.

First of all, it reminded me of the words we heard this morning from First Corinthians: “Now there are a variety of gifts …” I have long held the conviction that our lives are enriched whenever we can make use of our gifts, and that our life together as a congregation is happier, deeper, and more meaningful when we each contribute our gifts for the common good.

I was also reminded that sometimes we are not the most accurate judge of what our own gifts are. Now our study group (Tim McDermott from Bethel Lutheran, Will Healy from Emmaus, Diane Goulson from Northfield Retirement Community, and Chris Beckman from Highview Christiania Lutheran) has been together for many years. And while we almost always talk about the Biblical texts, we also talk about a great many other things, so we have come to know each other quite well over time. The report we got from the Strengthsfinder questionnaire listed our top five strengths out of a list of 34 possible categories.

I won’t speak for my friends, but for myself I was surprised in two ways. First, I was a little surprised by what the inventory reported as my strengths. But second, I was surprised by how un-surprised my colleagues were by my list. Both the impersonal questionnaire and the very personal conversation with the group had information about me that I would not otherwise have been aware of. As one of my mentor-friends in seminary said to me, “Some gifts are written on our foreheads, and we have to have others hold up a mirror so that we can see them.”

Let me just mention two of the five on my list:

· Individualization – intrigued with the unique qualities of each person and gifted at figuring out how different people can work together;

· Maximizer – focus on strengths to stimulate personal and group excellence, seeking to transform something strong into something superb.

You can see, I think, why Paul’s words are so important to me. I deeply believe that every person has gifts, and I believe with equal depth that the quality of our life together depends upon our sharing those gifts with one another and with the world around us.

A third thing I gained from this experience, by the way, was an understanding of the power of identifying gifts. Another item on my list was “Strategic” – the ability to spot relevant patterns and issues and to create alternative ways to proceed. Now I was aware of the first half of this (spotting patterns and issues), but not very aware of the second half. Once it was named, though, I became very aware of how I go about solving problems and developing ideas. Soon it became more than just awareness; I found myself offering those alternatives with more energy and confidence.

Focusing on gifts brings all three of these advantages: we work with joy when we are using our gifts, we help one another when we recognize gifts in one another, and we are energized and empowered by the naming of our strengths. And although we think of gifts as being individual, the fact is that recognizing, celebrating, and using our gifts is a central part of what we do as a faith community. Paul’s words to the members of the church in Corinth, for example, are not about self-help or personal improvement. He is giving them advice about living together in community, and about doing that in a way that will deepen and strengthen their faith. To do that, he tells them (and us), we must acknowledge the presence of a variety of gifts, and we must acknowledge that the source of those gifts is the Holy Spirit.

Paul was not present, so far as we know, when the Holy Spirit arrived as an unexpected guest on Pentecost. The followers of Jesus were gathered in a house when they were accosted by “a sound like the rush of a violent wind,” and touched by “divided tongues, as of fire” that rested on each one of them. As if that were not strange enough, they found themselves able to speak in other languages, languages that could be understood by the Jews who had come to Jerusalem from many nations.

In that cacophony of languages, we can hear another testimony to diversity. No matter what language you may speak, God will speak to you in that language. That’s true very literally for spoken languages, but I believe it is also true for all of the sub-languages that we speak: the language of poetry or painting, the language of mathematics or logic, the language of mechanics or woodworking, the language of computers or French horns. We in the United Church of Christ are fond of saying “God is Still Speaking,” but perhaps we should add that God is speaking a language you can understand if you are listening.

What both the story of Pentecost and the letter to the Corinthians leave out, however, is how difficult it is to live in a community. The variety of gifts that can be so rich can also bring conflict, contradictions, and complications. It takes intentional, persistent, hard work to bring gifts together respectfully, honestly, and fruitfully. It takes careful and truthful communication; it takes forbearance and patience; it takes compromise and sacrifice. One of my observations about the United Church of Christ over the years is that we do not usually allocate enough time and resources for the task of being the church we aspire to be. Holding together a community with such a variety of backgrounds, traditions, theological convictions, and prophetic impulses requires exactly this kind of communication, patience, compromise, and sacrifice. It cannot be hurried – and it also cannot be postponed.

Perhaps something of the same is true for us as a congregation here in Northfield – that we do not allow ourselves enough time and energy to become the community we want to be. One hour a week is not enough to worship God, deepen our own faith, and be companions to one another on our spiritual journeys – let along to continue our work for peace and justice. We need, most of us, more time – time in meetings to share our joys and concerns, time in groups to grow to trust one another with the reality of our lives, time in study and prayer to feed our spirits.

It takes time and effort to realize the fruits of diversity and variety. Our United Church of Christ is committed to being a “multi-racial, multi-ethic, open-and-affirming, accessible to all” church. In the coming weeks, we will give some special attention to what UCC President John Thomas calls “A Sacred Conversation on Race.” We believe that the “variety of gifts” that Paul speaks about are especially visible when we our faith community includes voices that have been historically silenced or absent. We believe that that those voices – the voices of people of color, the voices of women, the voices of refugees and immigrants, the voices of sexual minorities – all these voices bring gifts.

Whether we are talking about our own lives, or the life of our congregation, or the life of the whole United Church of Christ, the lesson is the same: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit…” It is the Spirit that holds us together, even when the voices seem shrill, even when the conversation is painful, even when the gifts seem diminished. And it is the coming of that Spirit that we celebrate today. Thanks be to God for the wind and the fire and the promise of the Spirit’s presence in all that we do.

Amen.

Prayer for May 11, 2008

Almighty and everlasting God, creator of all things seen and unseen, hear now our silent prayers, as we open our hearts to you in the sacred quietness.

God of faith and hope, we bring before you our prayers for those we have named this morning – we especially remember … Bring to each of them the gifts of mercy and grace that are most needed, according to your wisdom and love.

Holy One, we pray this morning for all the people who have mothered us, both women and men – those who birthed us, those who raised us, those who loved, challenged, and corrected us.

We are grateful to you, our divine parent, for all of the people who have stepped into our lives to bring your love to us in human form. We thank you for the faith and fortitude they have shown, for the sacrifices and compromises they have made on our behalf, and for lessons they have taught us. Bless each of these, and fill them with the knowledge of the ways that they have contributed to our lives.

We acknowledge with special compassion those people whose care for us was limited by their own shortcomings and by the events and complications of their own lives. Bless them for their loving intentions, and give us loving hearts to receive their gifts gratefully, even as we also acknowledge our disappointment or loss.

We thank you, too, Gracious God, for the opportunity to offer nurture, encouragement, and mentoring to others. Help us all – men and women, old and young – to demonstrate the best of what mothering is: love, discipline, hope, and health. Forgive us when we fall short of these ideals, and give us persistence and patience to continue these relationships.

In a world where women’s work is often disrespected, underpaid, unrecognized, and devalued, we ask your particular blessing on the women who serve you and others faithfully, and on the men who respect, reward, recognize, and value them.

All these things we pray in the name of the one who honored his own mother and invited women into the ministry of the church, even Jesus the Christ, and we pray together now in the words that he taught us …