(Please read the above Scriptural passage before the homily.)
If God were a gardener, God would have many beautiful flowers, in many different colors and in many different varieties. God would not plant only one flower in only one color or only one kind or only one shape. The variety of each makes for the beauty of the whole.
God made all things. If we see the beauty of the sunrise or the beauty of the sunset, if we enjoy the colors of the rainbow, or if we savor our favorite food, it is because God has made all these things alike but different. God made the variety so that each thing could complement each other thing.
There is only God and only one Spirit. God has given God’s Spirit to each of us in different manners and circumstances. Therefore, we can see ourselves as complementing each other, not as rivals for each other. In our differences, we complete one another. If we were totally different, we could not have human relationships. If we were all alike, we would be boring. Since we are alike, but with differences, we can contribute and be of value and beautiful for everyone else.
The different talents we have are not for us to own, but they are for the totality of the community. Alone we are ugly, but together we are beautiful and interesting.
There is only one God and one Spirit of God. We are many so that we can mirror better God’s goodness and beauty, putting our differences into a common fund. The imperfections of all of us result in the perfection of each of us.
This is what the Corinthians had to learn. This is what we have to learn. There is constant tension among each of us, between our selfishness which prompts us to say that our talents are for ourselves alone and not for others as well. The Corinthians and we want to possess things and not have to share them with anyone else.
There is one Spirit who divides the gifts according to the Spirit’s way, for the good of the whole, not only for the individual’s use. Flowers, gathered together, make a beautiful bouquet. The rainbow, the sunrise, the sunset and the whole of creation manifest the glory of God. We, like the rest of creation, have to do the same.