CONTEXT - Chapters 12-13-14 are the longest sustained treatment of a problem in the letter of 1 Corinthians. Problem: the abuse / proper use of spiritual gifts. What are the best gifts? Paul’s instructions in 12 and 14 are held together by chapter 13-our wedding passage: love as the more excellent way. NIB: Paul bluntly says in verse 7 that the point of charismata is to help or to serve the community, thus to "let all things be done for edification" (14:3). [1]

UNITY IN DIVERSITY - Paul suggests that unity in diversity is central to life in the Christian community. He sees in the community different gifts but the same Spirit; different services and deeds but the same God working through them; an array of people called to be baptized-Jews and Greeks, slaves and free-who are part of the same body. How might the words of this passage influence the way you relate to people in the church? The way in which you pray? . . . think of someone who exhibits each of the spiritual gifts listed in verses 28 through 30. [2]

BASIL THE GREAT [fl. 357] - Since no one has the capacity to receive all spiritual gifts, but the grace of the Spirit is given proportionately to the faith of each, when one is living in community with others, the grace privately bestowed on each individual becomes the common possession of the others. [3]

Recall a moment when teamwork paid off for a group of people you worked with on a project. Juxtapose that memory with its opposite-a moment when you felt the strain and stress of not being fully resourced or equipped to accomplish a task.

Someone told me recently of a "treasure hunt" that she created; the genius of it was that no one by themselves could solve the clues until they used a group-think approach to solving problems. Invariably those few rugged individualist treasure hunters came back more often frustrated than successful.

What spiritual gifts do you believe that God has graced you with? For what purpose? What brought you that realization?

I would probably begin with "A Rabbit on the Swim Team" [4] about animals who organize a school; they discover that while all animals do well in certain disciplines, they are absolutely ghastly in others: ducks scored higher than their instructors in swimming class, yet bombed running class. Etc. (You get the idea.)

Move toward the text as a way of valuing all the variety and gifts that God provides. Explore the various gifts mentioned in the chapter and suggest the over-arching Pauline principle of diversity within unity.

Close the proclamation with an imaginative congregational version of "A Rabbit on the Swim Team," only this time envision a community that values gifts and their deployment for the common good of all.

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[1] New Interpreter’s Bible X (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2002), page 945.
[2] Spiritual Formation Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999), page 1514.
[3] Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture VII (InterVarsity, 1999), page 121.
[4] “A Rabbit on the Swim Team,” in Charles Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life (Multnomah Press, 1983), page 312-314.  This story can be found in many others places—just snoop around!