I CORINTHIANS 12:12-31

[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 one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

[14] For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

[15] If the foot should 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 should 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 be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

[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 parts, 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 parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

[23] and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,

[24] which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,

[25] that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

[26] If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

[27] Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

[28] And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.

[29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?

[30] Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

[31] But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

            And I will show you a still more excellent way.

It’s one of the first decisions that parents make after a child is born and it is a decision that stays with the child for the rest of its life.  It’s a decision that is confirmed later on when the child is baptized and we ask the question: By what name is this child called and why have you chosen this name?   Benjamin.  Now that’s a good name for a little boy.  After all, it’s a name that has its roots in the Bible.  Benjamin was one of Jacob’s twelve sons.  Benjamin is also a name that is tried and true.  It’s not like some of the really crazy convoluted names that some parents seem to be coming up with these days.   Open the newspaper and you’ll see names like Twigg - Shaniqua – Eyanna and Amanihotep. That last one, by the way, is the name of an dead Egyptian pharaoh.  Whatever happened to names like Thomas or William or Mary?

A few years ago I did a baptism that got me into a little bit of trouble.   It all started with the baby’s name.  The name was so unusual that I thought I was baptizing a little boy when it was really a little girl.  Since then we’ve talked about adding a check box on our baptism form.  That way parents will have to let us know if it’s a boy or a girl.

So, what’s behind all these really crazy convoluted names?   Here’s a theory.  It might have something to do with the need to be special. It’s an attitude that says, “I want my baby to be special.  I want my baby to be so special that I’m going to come up with a name that is so different that no other baby in the entire world will have my baby’s name.”

Of course, those crazy convoluted names might not seem to fit when that little bundle of joy grows up and starts pushing your buttons.  You might not think he or she is so special then. You may end up feeling the same way a father did when he wrote this little ditty.

Child-raising theories did abound/ Before my children were around.

Then one day I had my own/ Now, all those theories I disown.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the graduation speech that David McCullough gave last spring.  David McCullough is an English teacher at Wellesley High School and in his graduation speech he managed to push a lot buttons.  A lot of people were downright indignant.  In his graduation speech he told the seniors remember to remember one thing. “You’re not special.”  He pointed to their graduation gowns as a shapeless one-size-fits-all uniform and said, “Whether male or female, tall or short, scholar or slacker, spray-tanned prom queen or intergalactic X-Box assassin, each of you is dressed, you’ll notice, exactly the same. And your diploma... but for your name, exactly the same.

All of this is as it should be, because none of you is special.

You are not special. You are not exceptional.

Contrary to what your u9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you... you’re nothing special.”

The reaction was predictable.  How dare you tell my wonderful son that he isn’t special?  Don’t you talk about my granddaughter like that.  Everyone will tell you that she’s special. 

Believe it or not the Apostle Paul had to deal with this same attitude back in the 1^st century.  It was right there in the Corinthian Church.  The headache that Paul had to deal with was centered around the problem of glossolalia.  That’s the ability to speak in tongues and it’s one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It’s a gibberish and garbled speech that occurs when a person enters into a trance and has a direct encounter with God.  Some of the Christians in the Corinthian Church believed that because they had this gift it made them special.  It meant that they were better than all the other everyday ordinary Christians.  

The Apostle Paul’s message to them was simple.  Stop it!  You’re not special! In fact, in his letter Paul lists the gifts of the Holy Spirit in their order of importance and if you go back and look you’ll see that he put the ability to speak in tongues at the bottom of the list.

Paul did that because speaking in tongues does very little to build up the Body of Christ and as far as Paul was concerned the Body of Christ is more important than any one particular person.  The community as a whole is more important than an one particular person. That’s a message that needs to be heard in our society where it’s all about the individual and being special.

All of this is what Paul was getting at when he said,  “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body…and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  If the foot should 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.  And if the ear should 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.  If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?”

The Apostle Paul knew that no one is special. So let’s get rid of the attitude that says “I’m special.  So the rules don’t apply to me.”    Do any of you remember Joe Theismann?  He was a quarterback for the Washington Redskins.  When his second wife found out that he was having an affair she asked him how he could do such a thing.  He said he did it because “God wants Joe Theismann to be happy.”

Unbelievable.  Because you’re special and God wants you to be happy it means you can forget about God’s commandment that says adultery is a sin?  That’s the problem with being special but it’s not the only problem. Being special also means that the pressure is always on you to achieve.   So you can’t be happy with a B+.  All your grades have to be A’s.  You can’t be happy with being the second best salesman in your territory. Why? Because you’re special and you can forget about being an ordinary everyday mom. You have to be Martha “Supermom” Stewart which means you can stencil the dining room ceiling with one hand while feeding a fussy baby with the other.

Being special isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.  On the other hand when you’re just another name in the crowd it allows you to experience a really wonderful blessing.   The Apostle Paul summed that blessing up with these words, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it…If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

When you’re just another name in the crowd you realize that we’re all connected.  You realize that we all have gifts and it is through the sharing of those gifts that we experience the hope and joy, the courage and love that makes life worth living.

Martin Niemöller was a German pastor who condemned Hitler and the Nazis during World War II.  There are two powerful stories about him.  The first story has to do with something Niemöller wrote as the evil in Germany grew stronger. Niemöller wrote:

First they came for the Jews and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jews.

Then they came for the socialists  and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

That’s what happens when you live in a world where some people think they’re special. The second story shares a grace filled moment that took place after Niemöller was thrown into prison.  He wrote these words:  “In 1940 my father, a man of over eighty, got permission to see me for half an hour in the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen.  On leaving he said, ‘My dear boy, there is one thing yet I want to tell you, because it will give you joy.  The Eskimos in Northern Canada and the Rataks in Java send their greetings and are praying for you.’”

Now I ask you in which of those two worlds would you rather live?  Or here’s another way of looking at it.  Do you prefer the world as you see it out there?  Or do you prefer the world as you experience it in here?   I’ll take the love and the caring and the sharing that we have in here but it means I have to accept the simple truth that I’m not special.  Now I can live with that.  How about you?  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

January 27, 2013