United as one body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-26
The joy and excitement I feel being in Fiji is great. I had the real pleasure this week of travelling around the country well, the island of Viti Lavu with Major’s Phillipa and Merika, visiting the Corps and spending some time with officers and seeing part of the work of The Salvation Army here in Fiji. I would like to say from what I have seen in the past two weeks there is a dedicated group of officers here and I am really looking forward to ministering alongside them and the soldiers of The Salvation Army here, ministering alongside all of you. We live in a truly spectacular country and I am really pleased to be resident in Fiji. What a wonderful place.
However I am lacking something, my mainstay, my wife Rochelle, my family is still in New Zealand, some good news on the family front though a got a call from Louis my oldest son who mentioned that he and his girlfriend Hannah are engaged. Part of being a married couple is that you know you are part of something greater than yourself I would like to say, I’m so looking forward to Rochelle and Janaki our daughter's arrival. Being part of something dynamic be it team or relations with others is a terrific thing and I’d like to say what a great team there is here at DHQ. In a week or so I will be passed the point of getting names wrong, my apologies in the meantime.
Lyndon Buckingham once said when he was The Territorial Youth Secretary that his team was a pleasure to work with and they supported him in his ministry and that he felt he was surrounded by people who were more gifted and capable than him. I don’t know if he was just being modest but the then Major, now Chief of the Staff left an impression on me that I have thought of this past two weeks as I have met with and shared time with officers and soldiers here in Fiji. We have what it takes here to advance the Kingdom of God, to bring back those who have wandered from the narrow path and to take the message of the gospel to the lost and suffering. Fiji for Jesus! Though you Jesus to Fiji and the World!
Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians spells out to the Church there the need to be united in their cause. The Church at Corinth was a group of people who had mainly come from pagan backgrounds and were a bit stuck in old ways, they were a bit interested in externals things, about glory and position, who had what gift rather than what the whole Church was achieving. So, Paul wrote this letter in part to sort this out. Paul describes the church as a body, he uses this metaphor, this picture of a body, as the hands, feet, eyes, the nose also modest body parts and parts that are honoured. But in all this, as one body united and functioning together…the Church as one body together, step by step advancing the kingdom of God, I would add here taking the gospel, getting involved in its community and showing love to their neighbours as the Lord commanded and in their unity showing love for other members of that body. Because of that love for others they were then able to be seen by their neighbours as one body, members belong to a group who were obviously disciples of Jesus. There’s a reference there to John 13:35 when Jesus said, “By this will all men know you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” There’s a question there for us if we don’t show our love for one another will we be seen as Jesus disciples? In our unity, we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus' mission to all people.
So the Church is a unit, made of many parts, Paul makes it clear that we all have baptism through the Holy Spirit, verse 12. It does not matter who we are, by accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour we all have been baptised by the Spirit of God. The same Spirit that hovered over the waters at creation, the same Spirit that was with the old testament Prophets, the same Spirit that came to the disciples at Pentecost, the same powerful Spirit that empowers His people, His Church today. Many people, many parts. As we respond to God, united we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus mission to all people.
Many parts of the body all with the same Spirit, the Spirit of God who is our helper, guide, comforter and friend, all of us, many parts. Paul asks if a part might say, a foot in his question, “because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.” Or an ear, “Because I am not an eye I do not belong to the body.” Paul was saying this because some were saying things like, look I help out at the service on Sunday setting out the place of meeting or I provide drinks and welcome people at the meeting, or I take food to the widows in the congregation but I don’t prophecy or have gifts of healing, so I am not really that important to the Church. What Paul wanted to do was to make it clear that everyone in the Church at Corinth was just as important as the next person no matter what their giftings were.
God has arranged the whole Church into a body of believers. Now, this is an amazing thing. Is the Salvation Amy the whole Church, are the Methodists, Pentecostals, the answer is no. Is it only the Church in Fiji, of course not, all over the world the Spirit is moving, we are part of something so vast and wide that God himself only understands it fully. At this time there are people all over the world worshipping God, united in their worship of the One True God, 31.2% of the planet’s population are Christian, 2.3 billion people. We have one Spirit the Spirit of God with us all. The great Church is united in many ways and in our unity, we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus' mission to all people.
Okay back to The Salvation Army in Fiji.
We all have a part to play. Is there a part for you to play, are you doing something now? If you are not, approach the Corps officers. In regards to the Corps Officers, we have some good news on that front, it appears that the Captain’s work permits will be finalised this coming week. So, if you want to play a part in this congregation approach the CO’s, and offer to serve this place, to be part of the work here. Remember that whatever part you are engaged in here it is because of the grace of God, we are all intended to have attitudes of servanthood when we serve just as Jesus did. Any spiritual gifting you have is because of God working in your life. All these things given by God are for the mutual benefit of the whole body of believers. Interestingly so that others might be attracted to that body of believers and come into a relationship with their Saviour. This, however, is a group effort in our unity we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus' mission to all people. The Church is in no way complete that this stage, there are many who are to be part of this body that don’t know it yet, there may be some here today seeking answers about their lives about a relationship with God. We are as Paul says to have equal concern for one another. This is in some respects about the way that those in ministry are involved in pastoral care for their congregations, but also that we should all have a ministry where we see someone in need, we meet that or go some way to helping those in need. I like a saying that is about me personally having a need for food is a physical thing but if my neighbour has a need for food that is a spiritual thing. People, of course, have needs within and outside these walls. As we reach out as members of the Church in our unity, we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus' mission to all people.
I was a bit concerned this week when I heard that someone had commented on the injury of a fellow believer in such a way that they believed that the injury was a punishment from God and that in some way they were celebrating the outcome as God’s revenge on the person. I don’t see this in Jesus nature, Jesus said himself that he was gentle and humble of heart (Matthew 11:29) and that we should take on board that teaching, he warned Peter against violence in the garden of Gethsemane. I don’t believe he wants any of us to suffer, he said he came that they might, we might have life in all its abundance, that’s a joyful thing a life of wholeness and relationship with God and our fellow man without pain, sin, and conflict, a relationship of loving God and our neighbours, not celebrating suffering, that is wrong.
Of course there are natural consequences to our actions, if you wrestle with a bear you are going to get mauled, if you engage in addictive habits you will most likely end up addicted, walk in front of traffic you will likely get run over. Those who believe that any of us should celebrate another person’s pain or suffering should realise that as Paul says” If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” Verse 26.
Here’s a case in point, I have this disability I can’t lift my left arm above my shoulder due to an old injury, it gets fairly entertaining changing light bulbs or sticking stuff in a top cupboard, is there anyone here with a disability that is happy to have it? Of course not. When you have a toothache your whole body knows that you have it, trouble eating, trouble sleeping. So thinking about this picture Paul has of the body, we are all one body, maybe just maybe when the band gets together and the drummer is not able to play, the tune doesn’t sound as good and it’s difficult to follow the rhythm. When one of the singers can’t make it the harmonies don’t sound as sweet as they usually do. Imagine a brass band that only has a horn section or a church filled with people who all want to preach every Sunday. We are all needed, we all have a part to play, when one of us suffers, we all suffer, the part you have in this Corps is important, the part you have in your wider community is important. Remember also that we need the wider Church, when the Church in Nigeria is persecuted we should be praying for the Church there, we should be praying for growth in the declining church in Europe a place where there is much physical abundance but spiritual decline. I think a good number of people will be shocked at the end of their lives when they realise that they have things, things that they need to leave behind, but not the greatest thing, a relationship with God. Paul also mentions after this passage on suffering that we all can rejoice.
This is really good, exciting stuff, when one rejoices, we all get to rejoice. As I travelled this week, I learned of a young man at one of the Corps who is now due to his participation in The Salvation Army’s sports ministry outreach a member of a national team, I even got to see some of his medals from some prestigious events. I know that you know who I am talking about. I have never met this young man, but do we celebrate of course we do. He is honoured and we all rejoice, what an awesome outcome for him, the wider community and Fiji and his sport. Potential realised through the faithful ministry of members of the body of Christ. We all get to celebrate with him because we are part of what he belongs to, we all get to suffer with those who suffer because we all belong to the same body they belong to. This body of Christ the Church is an amazing thing.
We have God’s Spirit with us, in our unity we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus' mission to all people. Each person has a place of importance in their congregation, wider church and their community. The Church, the body of Christ at work here is the main event at this time in history. I have never been one for preaching about the end times. However, we are all heading towards eternity, our fellow men and women who don’t know Jesus need to hear about him so that they too can accept him as Lord and Saviour. While we all have an individual witness, in our unity we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus' mission to all people. People see this when we love one another as Jesus loved us.
I would ask that if there are any here with something against a fellow believer that you make that right with them. Our battle is against powers and principalities in the heavenly realms, not people. For others if you know that you have a part to play in the Church that you have not been, take this opportunity to start. If you see an opportunity to serve, take it. For in our unity we are seen to be fulfilling Jesus mission to all people.
As always there is a place here in The Salvation Army, a place where you can come and meet with Jesus a place as Major Uraia said last week of victory.
