Beyond These Walls (January 23, 2022)

BEYOND THESE WALLS

Text: I Corinthians 12:12 -31

1 Corinthians 12:12-31  For 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.  (13)  For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.  (14)  Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many.  (15)  If the foot would 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.  (16)  And if the ear would 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.  (17)  If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?  (18)  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  (19)  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  (20)  As it is, there are many members, yet one body.  (21)  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."  (22)  On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,  (23)  and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect;  (24)  whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member,  (25)  that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.  (26)  If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.  (27)  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  (28)  And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.  (29)  Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles?  (30)  Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?  (31)  But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Bees can show you something about teamwork. On a warm day about half the bees in a hive stay inside beating their wings while the other half go out to gather pollen and nectar. Because of the beating wings, the temperature inside the hive is about 10 degrees cooler than outside. The bees rotate duties and the bees that cool the hive one day are honey gatherers the next. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. This illustration tells us something about effectiveness of a team because they all participated.

God organized a community which is referred to as the Body of Christ. In I Corinthians 12 Paul tells us a lot about the intended work that God had for the Body of Christ. Since the birth of the church on the Day of Pentecost, God has planned for the Body of Christ to be in the world but not of the world to change the world. God can do greater things through the Body of Christ (John 14:12) than the influence of the devil in the world. Are we carrying on effectively and fruitfully in the teamwork that God has called us to as missionaries in our mission fields? Behind these walls, we have entered to worship and beyond these walls we will exit to serve God by loving people as He first loved us even before we were ourselves were lovable! We wrestle with mutiny issues.

MUTINY IN THE BODY?

Surely we have all heard of the fictional story called Mutiny on the Bounty, but is there non-fiction Mutiny in the Body---the Body of Christ?

As you know, a body has many parts. But as Max Lucado points out, “His body has been known to misbehave. The brain discounts the heart . (Academics discount worshippers.) The hands criticize the knees. (People of action criticize people of prayer.) The eyes refuse to partner with the feet. (Visionary thinkers won’t work with steady laborers.) A clear case of mutiny in the body.” (Max Lucado. Out Live Your Life. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2010, p. 45). Did God call us to competitive mutineers or unifying disciples? God called us to be unifying disciples.