Catholic Church, Lawrence, Otago.
I have been trying to avoid the Pentecostalist issue. In part because I have spent time in those churches, and in part because it is so controversial. So before we get into the scriptures for the day, I will way what I think.
Firstly, I’m not a dispensationalist. What the church did in the early days it can do again, and works and acts of healing and power are legitimate.
Secondly, works of power are not signs of salvation or deeper spiritual development in you. We are saved only by the grace of God, and there is no second step. They are, instead, the outflowing of the spirit of God to heal, and to witness.
Thirdly, I am a Presbyterian, and “Decently and in Good Order” is written into my bones. I want a service with clear statements, in a language the congregation understands (Cantonese at the local Chinese Presbyterian Church: English at mine). I do not want to use liturgical languages including the ones, like Latin, that I love, or the politically correct languages, like Maori, because most people do not understand them.
And for the same reason, I don;t want people singing glossolalia in church because no one understands what is going on. In our age we work by a logic of feelings. A little bit of the Frozen Presbyterian Logic is required to deal with this.
Now to the text.
12:27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.
3:1If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
9:35Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
10:1Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him
Jesus had compassion and so sent out the disciples to preach and heal. The church is built out of many members and in those members there are people who can serve in certain ways and manners.
And love is greater than the gifts, and better. Without love for our fellow man, our giving and our power are for naught.
However, love is difficult. Firstly, many of the men and women you meet are simply not likeable, or place your family at risk. Secondly, love dances with the truth. It does not cover truth. You have to live with the consequences of your actions, for good or for ill.
And we are all responsible for the tasks we have been given. To quote Maeve, who was soundly taught:
I have to say that in 49 years of attending Mass (and I’m kind of compulsive about it), I’ve never heard anything like that. In fact, I would go so far as to state that the most common messages have been “you are responsible for your own soul”; “you are responsible for your own behavior”; “it’s your obligation to perform a daily examination of conscience”; “it’s your responsibility to regularly go to Confession”. It has not been my experience that women received any special exemption from these obligations, thank goodness. A long time ago, someone told me to think of myself as the custodian of my soul – that it was my primary responsibility to see to it’s upkeep and health. I am human, so I fail all the time, but at least the mentality does not allow me to pass off the responsibility onto someone else, or allow me to make excuses for my actions.
It is only through the spirit of God and his working in us that we will do Good. There is a general grace given to many that allows people to be good in parts. But we are all only good in parts. We all err, we all sin. Maeve is correct: we need to daily seek forgiveness and daily own our own messes.
For it is not love to blame others for our own evil. Nor is any gift or ministry to encourage the lies of empowerment that lead men and women into error.