Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word of the Lord which engages us this morning comes from our Epistle lesson (1 Corinthians 12: 1-11).

When you heard the Epistle lesson, Paul's letter to the Corinthian congregation, what jumped out at you the most? What caught your eye and made you ask questions in your mind? It's easy for us to over-focus on verses 9-10, the gifts of healing and miracles and prophecy. We still today feel attracted to the "special" gifts. "The carnal Corinthians, it seems, were 'miracle hungry.' They focused more on the 'visibly miraculous' than on the whole range of gifts given by the One Spirit to build up the body of Christ." (from 1994 Report by the Commission on Theology and Church Relations report on Spiritual Gifts, p. 45). � Ask yourself, when you heard this lesson and the parts about healing and miraculous powers and prophecy and speaking in tongues, did you wonder "Does God still give out those gifts today?" Did you wonder: "will I ever see or experience a miracle?"

In reality, you and I will experience miracles in our lifetime, but our own shortsightedness will often keep us from seeing them. It's a miracle that brings us all together here this morning, the miracle that God came to earth as the man Christ Jesus. It's a miracle that you and I have been brought to faith in Him, a miracle of grace that the Holy Spirit has worked that faith in our hearts through Word and Sacrament, despite our own sinful desires to push Him away. I and you will say things like "Jesus is Lord" several times during this service. We may walk out of here this morning not thinking that saying "Jesus is Lord" is all that special or miraculous. It will seem pretty ordinary, even though Paul says we can say it only by the power of the Holy Spirit. But, if I (or someone else) were to perform an extraordinary healing miracle here today, you would all surely be amazed and talking about it with your friends by lunchtime. If the Holy Spirit gave me the power this morning to heal just one person miraculously, I would probably would have scores of people knocking on my door this afternoon and the rest of this week wanting to be healed as well.

We clamor for miracles. We want to be amazed. But yet we must remember that God's gifts come to us in a whole variety of ways, some that look very natural. If you're sick and in the hospital and a nurse comes and correctly hangs your medication from its pole, and monitors it so that you receive just the right amount and are healed, that may not be a "miracle," but she and the medication are nonetheless gifts from God. Nothing less than gifts from the Holy Spirit. ����������������

Jesus went to the wedding in Cana that day, not to perform a miracle, but simply to be with friends and family. His miracle was not planned to promote himself. His mother seems to be the one a bit "miracle hungry" here. We're not really privy to her motives. But Jesus does choose to reveal his glory in this miracle, and his disciples put their trust in him. Jesus uses this first miracle to begin building up the body of believers around him. ����������������

Paul isn't promoting the gifts of miracles and healing and tongues here. In fact, the problem with the Corinthians is that they seem to be forming themselves into factions based on all kinds of reasons, and spiritual gifts were one of them. But Paul doesn't want to emphasize their differences, but their unity. (Verse 12) "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-- and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." Paul has spent most of the previous 11 chapters chiding them for their errors and divisions based on who they listen to, what sexual immorality is among them, what they are suing each other for, what they eat, how they practice the Lord's Supper. You name it, the Corinthians have found a host of issues to be divided on. But now he is exhorting them (v. 25): "there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other." (Verses 4-5) "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord." The gifts of the Holy Spirit should never divide church members, but unite them. No one gift or person should be thought of more highly than another. Gifts of tongues and prophecies and knowledge will all eventually pass away (13: 8), but the love and unity of the body of Christ will last forever. The Holy Spirit will give these gifts for a while, but our Christian goal and purpose is to faithfully use what He gives us.

Paul and the other apostles don't give us a complete list of the gifts of the Spirit, either here or anywhere else (see Romans 12: 1-18, 1 Corinthians 12: 27-31, Ephesians 4: 11-13; 1 Peter 4: 9-11). He doesn't seem interested in defining each gift precisely or telling us how long to expect them and how to manipulate the Spirit into doing what we want Him to. What Paul is emphasizing is the Holy Spirit's purpose for the gifts. They are not given to make any one of us famous or elevated above others. The Holy Spirit's gifts are given, as He determines, to build up the body of Christ in unity and love. That is the true miracle, when a group of sinful human individuals can come together because of Jesus Christ. The true miracle is that He, through the Holy Spirit that He has sent, can take all of us whose sinful human natures are prone to rivalry and contentiousness and jealousy and division, and form us into a community of people who love each other and show that love through works of service. We confess to each other "Jesus is Lord" by the power of the Holy Spirit alone. We again realize that the Son of God loved us so much He gave his life for us on the cross. Through his death and resurrection this sinful creation is rescued. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, we are led away from false gods and to the one true Lord Jesus Christ. In Him alone we are rescued from sin, death and the power of the devil. ����������������

But the Holy Spirit doesn't just reveal our Rescuer to us and then leave us alone until we die and go to heaven. The Holy Spirit surrounds us with His gifts, gifts of people and abilities and roles, all given for the "common good" (v. 7). That seems pretty mundane up against our hope to see miracles, but that is what the Holy Spirit does. He places us in congregations. We at Immanuel are sinners prone to cliques and not supporting each other as well as we could, although I think we seem much better at showing our love than the Corinthians who received this letter. Yet our Lord place us in congregations, not so we can simply build buildings or have programs or look churchly. The Lord places us here to support and show love for each other, because of Christ. In 2 weeks our Epistle lesson will be the next chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter of Paul. There Paul describes love, not as warm and gushy inner emotions, but as our outer expressions of patience and kindness, to bear others burdens and endure their shortcomings. ����������������

If you're a visitor looking for a congregational home or a new member, I'll bet you're wondering if this congregation is loving like that. I hope you'll find we are. I hope you'll stay around after the service in our atrium and have a donut or fruit bar. I hope you'll introduce yourself to a few people. I hope you'll get to know a few others in a group Bible Study. If you've been a member here for a long time, I hope you'll make a special effort to introduce yourself to someone you don't know or haven't spoken to for a while. There's no rush to get anywhere. There's no Chiefs game to go watch. Our choir sings in a few minutes, a lovely song that reminds us that Jesus is present with us in the Lord's Supper. In our choir, each person has a part to sing, but if one or two choir members are missing, the remaining members at each part can simply sing out a little louder to help replace the voice that is missing. Our Bell choir however is a different situation. Each bell choir member has just one or two or three specific bells assigned to them. If that choir member is sick or missing, the others can't simply play louder to fill the gap. The gap will be there, unless someone else hurriedly takes on other bells in their stead. That is really how it is with our gifts. If we don't use the gifts, the abilities that God has given us, there are places in our song to God that may go blank. If we don't use our gifts, the Body of Christ won't be built up into the unity that God desires.

We are currently doing a spiritual gifts questionnaire in our congregation. More than 60 of you have turned them in and they've been tabulated and listed. Others of you have indicated that you will get yours into the Stewardship committee. Church leaders can now use your responses to help them know who to approach if we perceive we have a need for a specific gift. If we need another Sunday School teacher or we need someone to visit those in the hospital, we at least now might better know who to call. We might only have to make 1-2 phone calls to fill a role, rather than spend an evening calling numerous people who don't think that that role would fit their gifts. But please, don't necessarily wait to be asked. If you think you have a gift that could be filling a role here, say something. ��

Volunteer. Build up the Body of Christ with your gifts, even if your gifts seem mundane to you. Nothing given by the Holy Spirit is mundane. All gifts from Him are miraculous, even if they seem natural. Using the gifts He gives is God pleasing.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 7)