Sermon Text, "What’s In the Gift Box?":

It’s always good to know who you are.  Regarding our identities, St. Paul brings the Word of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 4.   And I liked the repeat after me in our lesson a few moments ago, so let’s try that again.  So, repeat after me.   (Pause) Let’s think of ourselves in this way (repeat).  As servants of Christ.  (repeat).   And stewards of the mysteries of God.  (repeat).   Moreover, (repeat).     It is required of stewards (repeat).   That they be found trustworthy (repeat).

I don’t know how many of you still carry business cards with your name and a key role you play in life printed underneath.  But how cool to know that upon our baptisms, we were issued ID cards of sorts:  Paul, Judy, Buddy, Steve.  And right underneath: Servant of Christ.  Steward of the Mysteries of God. Pretty amazing.

It's sort of a mystery about what Paul means in calling us Stewards of the Mysteries of God.  Is it the mystery that we even breathe at all, that we can see, laugh, and love with each other?  Is it a mystery how we get to enjoy days like yesterday at Oktoberfest with music in the air, with bratwurst and pretzels to tantalize our tongues, to see kids laughing bouncing down colorful slides, to consider the beautiful works of the artisans?  Is one mystery how God weaves together the wonder of water, sky, and rolling hills at Palmetto Road, just a touch of this huge amazing planetary home where unfathomable myriad of insects, animals, plants, and elements interact with each other with such fragility, power, wonder and concern?  Is that a key mystery we are to steward?  Is it a mystery, with how broken or confused we feel at times, to hear the Lord’s promise that there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love through Jesus’ grace? A mystery of how God would die for us on a cross so he could live, forever, with each of you?  What would YOU say are the mysteries of God? And how would YOU explain why the Lord calls you a steward thereof?

To that end, friends, today we kick off a new series, Stewarding God’s Mysteries, flowing from our 1 Corinthians text.   Each week, we’ll have fun engaging a mini-mystery.  Our puzzle today:  What’s in the Gift Box?   Thanks to our Holy Folders team for providing so many gift boxes throughout the hallways and worship spaces to spark our imagination.

Let’s warm up with a little GIFT trivia.  I’m going to share some toys that were, once upon a time, the most popular gifts in our country.  And you shout out what year you guess that was.  Ready?

1945 Slinky

1983 Cabbage Patch Kids

1952 Mr. Potato Head

1960 A tie:  Etch A Sketch or Legos

1980 Rubik's Cube

1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figures

Every year, through every decade, there are amazing gifts to share with each other at Christmas or birthdays.  No doubt about it.  More importantly, every year in every single daughter and son of God, creative gifts are bestowed by the Lord.

Have any of you ever taken a spiritual gift inventory?   The premise emerges from Scripture like our first lesson today.  In different books, Scripture enumerates various gifts that the Holy Spirit grants to each one of us, in different arrangements.   (Open the box). Examples include ministry, wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, teaching, encouraging, giving, showing mercy.  When I take these surveys, they usually tell me my top 3 gifts are leadership, management, and hospitality.

How about you?   A cool opportunity is that ELCA.org has a spiritual gift assessment tool online.  In one of the email blasts this week, we’ll include the link so you can take the survey, and discover “what’s in YOUR God-given gift box” specifically designed for you.

Now, the gifts we are given are not meant to stay in the box, right? What kid would get Mr. Potato Head and leave him in the box?  But it happens with us sometimes.    It’s like the old saying or poster:  ships look beautiful in the harbor, but that’s not what they were built for.

No, Scripture reminds us today of our identity and purpose. The first phrase was “servants of Christ.”  Servants, equipped with substantial gifts, to make things happen for Christ’s agenda in the world!

What a great reminder that even though you might be servING at the bank, school, or warehouse, you are SERVANTS of Christ.  Even though you might be servING as an accountant, chemist, or lawyer, you are doing such as a faithful SERVANT of Christ.  Whether you are servING that needs of your family or neighbors, your energy flows as a SERVANT of Christ.  All kinds of manners and places of serving, but ultimately only one boss, under whose authority, direction and power we serve.  Christ Our Lord.

Once upon a time, a singer enjoyed rising reputation, selling out shows in one city after the other.  At the end of one performance, as usual, the concert concluded with a standing ovation.  But the manager off-stage noticed the singer wasn’t smiling.  After the encore, the place went nuts.  Still the face of the singer seemed tentative.  After honoring the raucous crowd with a second encore, once more, the singer left the stage with a humble smile but not glowing the way his manager expected.  “What’s wrong?  The crowd is bananas for you!”  I appreciate that, the singer replied, but I noticed seated in the 3^rd row, my master, my teacher, the one to whom I owe my whole career.  And he was not yet standing.  Regardless of what everyone else thinks, it’s HIS opinion of me that really counts.

Hmm.  I appreciate that reminder.  All of us feel “evaluated” by people at work or comments on social media posts.  But when Scripture talks about being “found trust-worthy” with the way we serve and steward throughout our lives, we know it’s only the Lord’s evaluation that counts. (As our gospel lesson indicates, following Jesus isn’t about jockeying for position like James and John about where we sit at the table.  It’s about serving and stewarding for Christ, in joy and gratitude).

And when it comes to the Lord’s evaluation of us, we know how proud God is, holding pride, faith, and promise in each of us.  As the wonderful saying goes, “If God has a refrigerator, a picture of YOU is on it!” That’s the tone and joy in which we serve.

One twist I LOVE about the Gift Boxes God gives is that they are all different.  It’s an essential life perspective for all of us, especially our youth who feel so much pressure to fit in.  God designs us to be DIFFERENT in a complementary way. So, in order to be most fully the person God designed YOU to be, you should not try to copy anyone else’s life.  If you are true to yourself and lean into the personality, style, and gifts God has given you, not only will you be the best servant and steward for the Lord.  But, ultimately, you’ll enjoy yourself the most as well.

You ever hear about the duck who was jealous of the squirrel’s ability to climb?  So jealous that the duck spent weeks trying to climb up trees.  And not only did the duck never make it, but she damaged her webbed feet so much she couldn’t swim well and hurt her wings so badly she could no longer fly.   Use, explore, and maximize the gifts God gave YOU.  And don’t waste time coveting someone else’s God-given approach.

The Bible calls us the Body of Christ.  So, like a kitchen full of different ingredients and different utensils, it’s when our differences come together in cooperation when the magic happens!  Or as a famous football coach pleaded to his players, “Do your job!”  When everyone focuses on activating THEIR gifts and doing their job, the whole team—the whole congregation--flourishes.

In the new year, one course I’d like COS to offer is called SHAPE.  SHAPE stands the different ways God SHAPES us to be servants for Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  We each possess unique Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personalities, and Experiences.  In these next moments, let’s focus on the A of SHAPE.  On the way in, everyone should have received a COS Ministry Interest Form.   Linda Volckmann, Barbara Anderson and others have championed the goal of us doing a better job of celebrating and asking COS disciples about their ABILITIES and interests.  So, I’m going to give you the next 3 minutes to fill out this sheet.   3 minutes is about all it should take.  It’s just the front, but on the back, there’s space for children.   If you need another form, please raise your hand and an usher will bring one to you. Right before the offering, all of us will have a chance walk up and place these by the altar as part of our worship.  Our goal is to receive at LEAST 150 of these faith forms today. And Linda can’t wait to input these in her software, so our ministry team leaders can even better tap and maximize the rich talent of this servant and steward-minded congregation.

         So, Larry, if you can give us a little music . . . 

A few final ideas.   First, in our Mystery series, each week we want to share one Ministry Initiative shaped by COS leaders.  Today, as you can see in the handout, we feature “Welcoming New Leaders.”  As part of our strong stewardship in the last couple of years, we’re grateful to have welcomed Larry Peterson, with all his amazing worship leadership which send out all kinds of positive ripple effects.

You’ve heard us say that after Pastor Miriam retired, the synod pressed us about our intentions.  Many congregations, they shared, can no longer afford a second pastor.  Our council felt pleased to say we thought out congregation would step up to the plate and make that a financial reality.   Yes, we want to welcome another key new leader, in another pastor, Amen?

Please pray for the call process, because in the next couple of weeks, we’ll be interviewing via Zoom some pastoral candidates, and perhaps arranging for some to come visit us in person.   What the Call Committee has reviewed so far are the RMPs, or Rostered Ministry Profiles of each pastor.  In a way, it’s their fancy version of what you just filled out.  It’s their extended Ministry Interest Form, describing their understanding of how they’re designed to help lead a faith community.   Pastors, staff, all of you—ALL of us should understand what’s in our God-given Gift Box, right?   As we seek to serve and steward for Jesus as best we can.

Last weekend, my bride invited me on a little vacation weekend in Savannah.  I was glad I was invited and not anybody else, so I accepted.  On Sunday morning, we worshiped at Lutheran Church of the Ascension, on the historic Wright Square.   And who was giving a temple talk that morning about Ascension’s Food Ministry?  A daughter of COS, Hannah Swensen!   In her talk, Hannah, a past COS Sunday School student and confirmand now turned young adult, shared with her new congregation how formative was her participation in COS’s Summer Sack Lunch program.  And now in Savannah with her FBI job, she’s sought out a Lutheran church and is one of the key leaders helping feed almost 100 of Savannah’s homeless twice a week.   Gang, what we fight hard to make sure happens here at COS for our youth, for the community, is valuable in ways we don’t fully understand!   It helps us not only welcome new leaders, but SEND new leaders out into the Lord’s vineyards, and it’s wonderful.

Finally, you ever hear of the experiment with a pessimistic boy and an optimistic boy?   Psychiatrists led the pessimist into a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. Instead of digging in, the boy stood tentatively. 'What's the matter?' the psychiatrist asked, baffled. “I’ worried I might break something” the boy responded.  Then the psychiatrist ushered the optimist to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the little boy yahooed, clambered to the top of the pile, and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands. 'What do you think you're doing?' the psychiatrist asked.  'With all this manure,' the little boy shouted, beaming, 'there must be a pony in here somewhere!'”

What’s inside the gift box?   No need to be tentative friends about sharing and activating your God-given gifts.   Instead, like that little boy, let’s show some enthusiasm—in any context—about fulfilling our identities as servants of Christ and trustworthy stewards of the mysteries of God!

In Jesus’ name, Amen.