In 1912, Whitman’s Chocolates and Confections company began production of the product that is now the only thing that is known by the Whitman’s brand: the Whitman’s Sampler. Now I’m no snob when it comes to chocolate, but the Whitman’s Sampler was probably the first box of assorted chocolates that I really remember. Maybe you’re already imagining the sort of yellow box with the fake needlework, or the great “chocolate treasure map” that came on the inside of the lid at times, or maybe you’re just imagining a specific variety of the chocolates inside. I’m a big orange crème fan.
Hopefully this devotion so far hasn’t made you fault on your Lenten fasting, but I have a reason for bringing it up. Just like a Whitman’s Sampler, we are connected together as the Church. St Paul writes to the Corinthians that “…there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.” (I Cor 12). We are each a little different, but we’re also the same. Some of us are creamy, some of us are nutty, some of us are chewy, and some of us are fudgy. We’re all given different gifts, but we’re all covered in the thing that unites us. Maybe some days we would wish that we were all united in being covered in chocolate like the Whitman’s candies, but we’re covered in something better – the Blood of Christ that redeems us and the Spirit of God who unites us.
That Spirit who covers us puts us in the same boxes together, our churches. We’re arranged in a way that shows off the varieties in our box. But interestingly, just like you know what I’m talking about when I say “Whitman’s Sampler,” the Spirit arranges all of our boxes to be identifiable: that a church, even one as messed up as the Corinthian church, is recognizable because of the Spirit’s unifying power in truly a great miracle.
We are equipped by the Spirit to invite people to take a chance and to “bite into” one of these Spirit dipped Christians in our day to day existence. They might have to bite into a few before they find one that they really like, but when they do, they’ll find someone that was produced for them by the one Spirit who draws us all together. Amen.