Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit. As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit. The first letter of St Paul to the Church in Corinth 12:3b-7, 12-13
The Pentecost story in Acts is the coming to the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, who re-formed them from frightened, bereft disciples to fearless apostles. In John, the risen Jesus appears to the disciples and breathes on them the Holy Spirit, bringing about the same conversion.
But in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he is speaking from his own experience of the Spirit and what is means for the Church.
In modern terms, Paul is talking about the importance of diversity: of a diversity of gifts, of a diversity of call to different services, of a diversity of works, of a diversity of culture, of a diversity of social status. Regardless of our diversity, the Spirit brings us together to do God’s work in the world. This is Stewardship!