1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Last
Sunday we heard about the great value and worth that God places upon every
human life. God says that, from the very
beginning of life to the very end of life, he is the one who creates life and
bears life in his mighty arms of love and blesses life along the way. We also heard the Good News that his great
saving work in Jesus Christ is for all people.
The words we heard last week from the prophet Isaiah apply to every
person in the world—whether they are Christians or not.
But in God’s Word this week we move from God’s loving purpose for the
people of the world in general-- to God’s loving purpose for the people of the church
in particular.
God says that we are all members of the Body of Christ and that we
are all needed in the Body of Christ and we are all gifted with the Spirit in
the Body of Christ. The Bible says that:
Just as the body is one and has many
members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is
with Christ.
Each and every one of us assembled
here today is a part of the Church—each of us a member of the Body of
Christ. It does not matter if we are
young or old—it does not matter if we are male or female—it doesn’t matter if
we are single or married.
Every person here today who
confesses their faith in the one true, triune God and has Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior is a member of the Body of Christ.
There
is one body with many members and we are united to one another in that body
where the most important thing is not the bodily differences that distinguish us from one another--
but what unites us together and how we came to be a part of that body of Christ
in the first place. The Bible says that:
In one Spirit we were all baptized into one
body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
We each took our place in the
Church, the Body of Christ, when we were baptized with water in the name of the
Triune God.
The Bible says that in Holy Baptism we died with Christ and were
raised with Christ so that we could walk in newness of life and live with him
forever. And so then…
United with Christ in one body, our identity in Christ infinitely
more important and meaningful that any earthly distinction that might come
between us.
In the culture of Paul’s day the differences between Jews and
Gentile, men and women, rich and poor, slave and free were profound to the
point of being insurmountable. You were,
and would remain, as you were born. But
in Christ all of those differences fell by the wayside.
Every person in the church stands with open hands beneath the cross
as a beggar. Every person in the church
needs Christ’s redemption. And every
person in the church enters the body through the Spirit’s work in our lives
through Holy Baptism.
Now, of course there are differences
among us. We are men and women, young
and old, rich and poor. All of us are
different from one another.
But those differences between us that are rooted in creation and
culture are NOWHERE nearly so important as the fact that we are part of the
Body of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit who brought us to faith and
empowers our life of faith as we take our particular place- and do our
particular part- in the church. The
Bible says that: The body does not consist of one member but of many.
Paul used an illustration of our
unity in Christ that even a child could understand: the human body. Each of us have a body that is made up of
many parts. In other words, there is one
body with many members.
So
it was with Christ. There was just one
Jesus but he had arms that embraced the broken-- and feet that went to those in
need-- and eyes that looked with compassionate upon the poor and lonely--and
hands that came to their aid. One body
with many members.
So
it is in the Church, the Body of Christ.
Each of us are members of the Body of Christ and the important thing is
not our own particular role or function there but that we are members at all in
the first place!
Nevertheless,
having said that, each of us do have a particular place and role and function
in the Body of Christ and each of us are needed. Paul uses a humorous little example to make
his point that we belong to the body of Christ and that we are important to the
Body of Christ. The Bible says:
If the foot should say, “Because I am not a
hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of
the body. And
if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,”
that would not make it any less a part of the body.
This
is what happens when we tell ourselves that we are not a part of the body
because we have a different place in the body than someone else—as absurd as a
foot thinking it was not a part of the body because it was not a hand or an ear
thinking it was not a part of the body because it was not an eye.
Each
of us have our own place in the body and what matters is that we are connected
to Christ in the first place! Far from
doubting our place in the body, we need to understand the absolute importance
that each of us have in the Body of Christ.
The Bible says that:
If the whole body were an eye, where would
be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the
sense of smell?
If we were asked which of our senses
or which of our members we would prefer to lose, I think that all of us would
answer: none! We want to see and hear and smell and taste
and move. They are all important to the
other senses and they are all diminished when one is missing.
So
it is in the Church. Each of us have our
particular place and our own particular role and each of us are important to
one another and important to the whole body of Christ and it is God himself who
has determined our place in the body.
The Bible says that:
God arranged the members in the body, each
one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 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.”
This alone ought to be sufficient to
silence any concerns we might have about our own place in the Body of
Christ: it is God himself who has
arranged each part.
Just think of that! God
himself, knowing you better than you know yourself, has wisely placed you in
the Body of Christ in a role where you can flourish and grow-- and others around
you in the body can be served by you in love.
And these same words—that God has
arranged the members in the body—ought to be more than enough to silence any
sinful ideas about the importance of others in the Body. The Bible says that:
The parts of the body that seem to be
weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we
bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater
modesty, which our more presentable parts do not
require.
When it comes to the church, there
is one body with many members and each and every one of us have our own place
in that body that is distinct from others but important to the well-being of
the body—even if our part seems rather
humble.
In my years as a pastor I have
walked with people who have had colon cancer and bladder cancer and prostate
cancer and I am here to tell you that, while none of us would ever want to lose
our eyesight or be paralyzed, when those parts of the body affected by colon,
bladder, and prostate cancer fail-- it is pure misery.
For the health and well-being of the body, all of our parts need to
be in good working order—even the most humble.
So it is in the church. There
is no member of the church that is so humble that we can afford to not have it
working away for the good of all. Every
one- in every place- is needed and valuable and worthwhile to the whole body. The Bible says that:
God has so composed the body, giving
greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that
the members may have the same care for one another. If
one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice
together. Now you are the body of Christ
and individually members of it.
One of the great blessings of being a
member of the Body of Christ is that we care for one another—or at least it
should be! But what is happening more
and more is that the busyness of modern life is blinding us to the needs of
others and fragmenting our common life together.
I recently heard from a fellow
pastor who was going through an incredibly difficult time in his congregation
and he felt like he was all alone. I
don’t think that was because other churches and pastors were uncaring, but they
were just so busy with their own issues that they ended up not caring for him
in real ways.
The
same can happens to us in our life together in the body. But the Bible is very, very clear that we
belong to one another in such a personal way that the joys and sorrows of one
of us-- become the joys and sorrows of all of us-- and in this way we demonstrate
to the world the blessings of being one with Christ. The Bible says that:
God has appointed in the church first
apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of
healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all
prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do
all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
While every member is
important and valuable and needed in the Body of Christ, there are gifts that
come first—gifts that form the very heart of the Body of Christ because they
are the very heart of God—and that is the ministry of the Gospel ministry in
all its forms because that gift brings others into the Body of Christ.
God has made us members
of the church and blessed us with the Spirit so that we can not only serve one
another already in the church, but so that we can be about his work of bringing
others into the church. There is always
room for more members in the Body of Christ and it is our privilege to use our
gifts to bring them to Christ. God grant
us the desire to do so! Amen.
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