Sermon for January 26, 2025
Epiphany 3 C
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21
Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
Back in the 1940s, General Motors was one of the best-run companies in the world, and they built some of the best cars in the world. In 1943 they invited Peter Drucker (who would become an influential person in the study of management for many decades) to spend 2 years with GM and report on what made them so successful. Drucker found the key to their success came from the way people in the company shared responsibility. For example, the executive team directed the overall strategy, but delegated to the division managers lots of authority for making important decisions on their own. People throughout the organization all felt responsible for making great cars. When Drucker issued his report, he praised the company and offered suggestions for how to become even better. They basically told him, “Get lost! We’re already the best, so why should we ever change?”
By the 1980s, however, GM was no longer the best. Some of you may remember how GM cars in the 1980s were known for their mechanical problems. But which car company was taking the world by storm? Toyota. Toyota and other Japanese companies had embraced Drucker’s theories. Toyota still had executives and managers with specific responsibilities (like GM), but they also found new ways to innovate so that all of their workers felt responsible for the success of the company. Even the assembly line workers were empowered to make suggestions that might help them build better cars. Can you guess what percentage of their suggestions tried? Was it 10%? 15%? 50%? No. It was 100%. If a new idea worked they kept it. If it didn’t work, someone else would suggest a different one. Toyota of the 1980s found the “sweet spot” that allowed their workers to think creatively and try new things, yet still produce a consistently good car. Everyone in the company felt that they mattered, and they were “all in it together” to build great cars. [The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, chapter 8, “In Search of the Sweet Spot”]
The way all the parts of the company worked together was, in a way, similar to St. Paul’s analogy of the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12. “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’. On the contrary, the member of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable… If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” Each person has something valuable to offer, for the health of the whole body.
In GM of the 1940s, or Toyota of the 1980s, those who worked in the higher ranks and those who worked in the lower ranks recognized that each person had something unique and valuable to contribute; each had a suggestion to share that someone else wouldn’t have the perspective to come up with, and these things made the whole company better. Of course as the Body of Christ, we as Christians are not producing cars or selling a product—we are freely sharing the good news of Jesus among ourselves, and with the community and the world around us. But in a way similar to the workers of GM or Toyota at the height of their effectiveness, each of us has been given unique gifts by the Holy Spirit—gifts that other members of the Body of Christ don’t possess. And each gift we offer is essential for the health of the whole body. Each one of us matters; we’re “all in it together”—not to build great cars, but a caring community that shares in the life of the crucified and risen Christ himself.
In today’s gospel from Luke 4, Jesus preaches his first sermon. He chose to base it on selections from the prophet Isaiah, and Jesus interpreted this part of God’s Word to direct his mission as the Messiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
You may wonder, did Jesus mean this literally? Spiritually? Metaphorically? I think the answer is “Yes. All of the above.” And even though it would be another 20-some years before the risen Jesus would appear to Paul on the Damascus Road and change his life forever, the scripture from Isaiah that inspired Jesus echoes in St. Paul’s analogy of the body of Christ: Even those who seem weaker are indispensable; if one member suffers all suffer; if one member is honored, all rejoice. The Spirit of the Lord is sent to all; the Lord’s favor is available to all.
In choosing these words from Isaiah, Jesus is speaking about how God’s grace is for everyone—not just the people at the synagogue listening to him, or the people they like or approve of. Jesus is reaching out with mercy and compassion for everyone—to heal the brokenness of the world, and to intercede especially for people who are suffering or struggling or oppressed. Those who “seem to be weaker are indispensable” in God’s mission to bless the world; those who “we think of as less honorable we clothe with greater honor.” And Jesus calls us to follow him in sharing his mercy and compassion, so that those who are suffering or struggling or oppressed can find new life through God, as their bodies or spirits have need.
For us to offer mercy and compassion to people through Christ, it begins with prayer. In prayer, we all have equal access to God in heart, mind, and voice. Through prayer everyone’s contribution matters; everyone is empowered to be responsible for building up the well-being of the whole body; everyone has a part in building a caring community that shares in the life of Christ himself.
So, to dwell a bit in God’s gift of prayer, I’ll ask you in a few moments to form smaller groups of 3 or 4 people. During the month of January, our “HOP Outside the Box” team has invited the congregation to participate in the following experiment: Pick someone to pray for, and tell them that you are praying for them.
As we gathering in smaller groups, take a minute each to share while the others listen:
What was your experience like with this experiment? What did you notice? What questions did it raise in you? What might God be nudging you to do as a result?
If you were not able to try this experiment this month, then share about another time you prayed for someone, or when someone prayed for you. What was that like?
Amen.