HoHum:
Several years ago, two students graduated from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. The highest ranking student in the class was a blind man named Overton and, when he received his honor, he insisted that half the credit should go to his friend, Mr. Kaspryzak. They had met one another in school when the armless Mr. Kaspryzak had guided the blind Mr. Overton down a flight of stairs. This acquaintance ripened into friendship and a beautiful example of interdependence. The blind man carried the books which the armless man read aloud in their common study, and thus the individual deficiency of each was compensated for by the other. After their graduation, they planned to practice law together. No believer is complete by himself, we are to minister to one another, as a family.
WBTU:
Last week we talked about how Paul uses the term “body” especially in 1 Corinthians. About communion, we talked how the term “body” has a double meaning. 1) The physical body of Christ 2) The church as Christ’s body. Remember both in Lord’s Supper
Christ is the head of the church. “And he is the head of the body, the church...” Colossians 1:18, NIV. “He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” Colossians 2:19, NIV. If a church has fallen limp and lifeless, the members should consider whether they have remained connected to the Head. Good question for us, is Jesus our mascot or our master?
This imagery of the church as a body appears most prominently in Romans 12:4-8 (looked at this last year) and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27. “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” 1 Corinthians 12:13
Thesis: Talk about a common duty, a common dependency, a common designer, and a common deference
For instances:
A Common Duty (1 Corinthians 12:27)
This is not specifically stated here but what function do all these body parts have, why do they exist? Why a body? To do their duty and that duty is to obey the commands of the head.
The HS gifts each Christian with talents and abilities and He expects us to use these gifts to contribute to the ministry of the church, to serve the purposes of Christ.
Imagine how the various parts of a human body coordinate to perform even menial tasks. Get a cup of water. To drink this water, my brain needs to send impulses to various muscles. My arm reaches toward the cup, bending properly at shoulder, elbow, and wrist, with all related ligaments, cartilages, muscles, and bones functioning. My fingers grasp the cup with the synchronized mechanical functioning of all parts of my arm, wrists, hand and fingers. I lift the cup to my lips, and my wrist hinges to tilt the cup so that water is poured into my mouth. The water goes across my taste buds telling my brain that it is water. The muscles in my esophagus send the water toward my digestive system, where the stomach might send back a message that the water is cold (too bad it isn’t).
Imagine how the various members of a church coordinate to perform some ministry. Think of all the members involved just to have this worship service on Sunday morning. By the way need some to step us and be greeters for August and September. Need others to coordinate specials for the months of September and November. Need someone to step up and coordinate the Fall Party, Christmas caroling, and the New Year’s Eve Party.
"Christ has no body now but yours No hands, no feet on earth but yours Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world Yours are the hands Yours are the feet Yours are the eyes You are His body"
A Common Dependency (1 Corinthians 12:21)
What Paul says here isn’t exactly true of the physical body, is it? How many people have we known lacked a non essential part of the body- an appendix, an eye, a leg or an arm? Yes, there are people like motivational speaker "Nick" Vujicic (voy-i-chich) who has no arms or legs and he is able to do many things like get married and have a child.
Although our physical bodies can function without certain parts, the body of Christ is not designed that way. Each part depends on every other part to make it whole. In much the same way, Even though Nick has a great attitude and can compensate quite remarkably for the absence of limbs, the fact remains that he is missing arms and legs. No matter how well disabled individuals compensate, no matter how much medical technology and service animals allow them to live full lives, part of their body is missing. Not able to do some things
John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less.” As stated here all humans are interconnected, but the body of Christ is interdependent. Like the armless man and the blind man -They lacked and we all lack that is why we need each other.
In the 60’s Simon and Garfunkel wrote this: I am a rock, I am an island. I’ve built walls, A fortress deep and mighty, That none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain. It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain. I am a rock, I am an island. But that is not how God wants us to be and that is not how God created us! We all lack in some way that is why we need the church and need each other.
A Common Designer (1 Corinthians 11:22-24)
Some think this way: I’ve got many talents, I’m upfront during the service, I teach Bible classes, I’m a cut above all the others.
Other think this way: I’m not as good and important as those who stand up front, teach a Bible class, or do any other public service here (1 Corinthians 12:15-20 cover this).
Notice vs. 24- Greater honor to those parts that lacked it- Has Paul stopped using the metaphor of the body or is he back to talking about the church? It really makes no difference, for Paul is using one to explain the other. In the human body, God has given greater honor to the part that lacked it. The private parts of the human body have been given greater honor by God, for they are the parts that relate to the most beautiful of all human experiences: reproduction. In fact, those parts relate to the very first command God gave people.
The point here is that God has composed the body. God designed the body as he chose. It wasn’t up to me or you to get the gifts God gave us; it was God’s will that gave us our gifts. The design of a human body is encoded in DNA. Because of DNA, the human body is much the same from person to person, but at the same time there are many individual variations that determine our height, weight, skin color and aspects of our personality. The variations within our DNA do not make us any less human than any other person.
We can’t chose the variations in our DNA. We had no choice about the family into which we were born or what color our eyes would be or how tall we would end up. Likewise, we can’t chose our spiritual gifts and talents. It’s another form of DNA: Designed Not Asked.
A Common Deference (1 Corinthians 11:25-26)
Instead of a divided body, the members have the same care for one another. We know how true this in our physical bodies. Our kidneys drain toxins, our lungs bring in needed oxygen, our hearts pump blood to other parts of the body, and our digestive system provides the body’s energy. It is not possible to survive if those organs do not function together.
If one member suffers, all suffer together. If one part of our body is in pain or infected, we are going to have problems from head to toe. The same is true of the spiritual body. We cannot make other members of the body feel inferior without consequences. “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15, NIV.
In the same way, if one part is honored, we all rejoice together. In the body of Christ, when one part receive honored, we all rejoice together. Corinthians who lacked some spiritual gift didn’t need to feel inferior. They had every reason to rejoice with those who had those gifts.
I kept thinking of Doug Johnston as I was preparing for this sermon. Talk about weak, less than honorable (used to have a high position at work) and at times unpresentable. When I first came to Bell Arthur Doug was in bad shape. He was broken physically, spiritually and with his family. Because of his troubles as a grown man he had to move in with his parents. At first the only thing he did at church was attend with his parents, JC and Elsie, and ring the bell for Sunday school. I remember one time I was talking about suffering and I said something like, “The Lord allows suffering in our lives for our own good.” He took exception to this and voiced his opposition in the midst of a sermon. Through the mercy and compassion of the church he started to come around and really got involved in the church. Doug became involved in a Bible study at the local hospital and went back week after week to minister with those who were hurting. He visited those who were in the hospital from the church. He studied and if asked a specific question in the bible he would research it and give a well thought out answer. After I left I understand that he became an elder. He went home to be with the Lord in 2005. Never know what might happen when value each member.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3, NIV. Deference- respectful submission to another.
