Take Care of the Body
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
(May 13, 2001)
Introduction
I have a feeling that since this is Mother’s Day, many of you, especially you ladies, thought this was going to be a Mother’s Day message.
And if that’s the case, my guess is that the title of the message may have got you wondering when the next pastoral vote was coming so you could get rid of this insensitive preacher!
A couple years ago, I was leading the singing at the Gideon State convention in Huron, and I had a song picked out for just after the big evening meal.
I picked, And Can it Be That I Should Gain?
It didn’t dawn on me that I had picked that for singing after eating a big meal at a convention!
Well, this message is NOT about physical health! We are not going to discuss drinking, smoking, overeating, or anything like that.
So you can relax bit, okay?
I will be addressing the issue of the Body of Christ, which is made up of every person who knows Christ as their Savior.
We are part of a wonderful, diverse bunch of people who love the Lord Jesus Christ and want to serve Him.
The book of Ephesians says that Christ cares for His body. Our text this morning says that we are to care for it as well.
Please turn with me to 1 Cor. 12-27, which can be found on page 813 of the Bibles in the seats.
We’re not going to read the whole passage right now, but we will cover it all through the rest of the message.
My purpose this morning is to encourage you to take care of the Body of Christ, and I want to do that by pointing our three main things. And the first of these is that…
I. We are part of the Body (vv. 12-20).
A. Our Church as a whole.
God has a plan for Aberdeen Wesleyan Church. I am convinced that He has a plan to advance the kingdom of God in this area, and that it includes this church in a big way.
And I want to illustrate from Scripture a principle that we need to grasp if we hope to have an impact.
Please follow along with me as I read verses 12-20 of our text.
The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 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.
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Some would look at this church and think, because we are not one of the larger churches in the area, that we would have little or nothing to contribute to the Kingdom.
Others would say that because our name isn’t as recognized as say, Baptist, or Methodist, or Lutheran, that we have little or nothing to contribute to the Kingdom.
Well, let them say all they want. The danger comes when we think that way.
B. The Church is made up of individuals.
Folks, don’t ever let Satan convince you that we have nothing to contribute to the Kingdom.
Let me clue you in on something. The Kingdom of God, the Body of Christ, is not made up of churches and denominations, it is made up of people.
And you, as a born again child of God have something to contribute to the Kingdom.
God has gifted you uniquely for service. Your gifts are probably different from mine, and that’s great! We can complement and cooperate with each other.
Make no mistake, Christ established the institution of the church, and our fellowship is one manifestation of that church, but the church is made up of individuals.
And that is so important to understand.
Because you have Christ as your Savior, you are a part of the Kingdom, and collectively, Aberdeen Wesleyan Church is part of the Kingdom, and I am convinced that our church can play a huge part in taking the gospel to the people in our area, and around the world.
We are a vital part of the Body. Next, I want us to see that…
II. They are part of the Body (vv. 21-27).
What do you mean by that, Brian? Let me read these next few verses, and I’ll explain.
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it
Three things here:
A. We need other churches.
Having already said that we are an important part of the Body of Christ, I need to also remind you that we aren’t the whole Body.
God has churches sprinkled all across the earth who seek and work to fulfill Christ’s Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.
And I don’t know about you, but I’m awful glad about that! This church can’t do it alone. I can’t do it alone. This denomination can’t do it alone.
There are a whole bunch of hungry people in our area. We don’t have specific ministry geared toward helping that problem.
But there is a church who not only helps, but specializes in helping that segment of society.
We can do more to help, but it is not our specialty.
We are not a Pentecostal or Charismatic church. But there are some people who can only be reached by those types of churches.
Thank God for those churches.
Some will only come to Christ through the big, liturgical churches that use a lot of stained glass and ritual.
Thank God for those churches.
Believe it or not, people even come to Christ through Baptist and Presbyterian churches! Whoa!
And we need them. You see, our bodies aren’t made up of just a finger. It’s not made up of only a head. It’s not made up of only a bellybutton.
It’s made up of parts that have different locations and different functions.
The human body is a wonderful thing. The more I learn about it, the more fascinated I become by it.
The parts of your body are put there by divine design. Think of what would happen if say, your hand was on top of your head.
Not only would you look awfully strange, think of how you would greet someone.
“How do you do?” (Bow down to shake hands)
And just as our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made, it is no less true of the Body of Christ.
We need other churches. And because of that, we need to recognize that…
B. They are worthy of honor.
Here’s what I mean. If someone outside of our church or denomination is out there working to make disciples, we need to rejoice!
We need to say, “Way to go, baby! I’m pulling for you! Alright!”
That’s one of the reasons I’m a big fan of the Gideons. Men from all sorts of different denominations get together to work for one reason: to win men and women, boys and girls, to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rarely, if ever, will you hear someone say, “Well, at my church we do it this way or that way.”
They don’t care! All they want to do is make God’s Word available to as many people as possible so people can know Christ as their Savior!
A couple of weeks ago, my family and I went to the showing of a movie at First Baptist Church. After the movie, I was visiting with Pastor Salem, and he offered us the free use of the film and projector.
He’s not concerned that it isn’t going to a Baptist church. His concern is for the Kingdom of God.
Thank God and pray for those churches and individuals who are out working to advance the Kingdom of God.
And do me a favor, will you? When you talk about other churches, leave the negative at the door. Talk about the great things they are trying to accomplish.
It will bless them. And it might just turn around and bless you!
And thirdly,…
C. They are worthy of our concern.
Look again at the last part of verse 25-26:
but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
When we hear of something tragic in other churches or denominations, what should be our response?
Celebration? “I knew it. It was just a matter of time!”
Gossip? “Well, I’m not surprised. After all, you know what they were saying about the pastor.”
NO! Our response should be one filled with concern for them and the Body of Christ! And weeping with them and for them if called for.
This church has been the recipient of many prayers lifted by other churches in the area. And they continue to pray.
They are concerned about us. I don’t know how many pastors I have talked to since coming here who have offered their assistance, whether it be in prayers or materials. And they mean it. It’s not just a glib remark.
I recently had lunch with Pastor Ken Palmer, from the Nazarene Church. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, during which we shared our struggles and victories.
And he shared how he has been praying for our church for quite some time.
That means a lot to me, and it should mean a lot to you as well.
We need to reach out in love to our brothers and sisters in other churches who weep and suffer, and rejoice with those who rejoice!
I appreciated you response a number of weeks ago when we took a love offering for Tim and Tracy Harms, youth pastors at First Baptist, after the fire in their home.
You could have said, “Let their church take care of them.”
But your giving says, “We are their church.” Because they are part of the Body of Christ.
Psalm 133:1 says,
How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
This may seem redundant, but it bears repeating: we are all the body of Christ.
If you have Christ as your Savior, you are part of the Body of Christ.
And the Body is made up of wonderful, godly people of many denominations. Rejoice that you are part of such a wonderful, dynamic force.
You know, when churches get together, people notice.
When Brookings Wesleyan Church and Bethel Baptist Church got together for a joint Easter musical, it got front page coverage in the paper.
And people started talking: “Look! Two churches from different denominations getting together for a common cause! Wow!”
And people came to the performances.
And people came to Christ.
The next year, we did the same thing. And the same thing happened.
And the next – we even invited 2 other churches! And the same thing happened.
Here’s an important principle: The Body works best when it works together.
And be glad that you don’t have to be the whole Body. We wouldn’t want it and we couldn’t handle it.
Our last point this morning is that…
III. A Healthy Body is a Happy Body.
No Scripture here, but doesn’t it just make sense that our bodies work better if they are cared for?
It’s not wise to knowingly or intentionally do things or put things in our bodies that would damage it.
It’s the same with the body of Christ.
When you are ill or injured, you do something about it, right?
It’s the same with the body of Christ. We need to reach out to those members that are hurting, and do what we can to bind the wounds and break the fever.
We become healthy by being people who individually and corporately spend time in worship. We become healthy by fellowshipping with other Christians. We become healthy by ministering to those in need, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and otherwise.
We become diseased by neglecting all these, to the detriment of the rest of the Body. And we run the risk of becoming a festering sore on the Body, causing others to run from the Body rather than want to be part of it.
Seek to be a healing force within the Body, rather than a hurting force.
By the way, it might be helpful to remember just who the Body belongs to. It doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to Christ, and you have no right to be abuse it.
Conclusion
If we were to apply the analogy of the body to the church in a more literal sense, I would have a hard time deciding which part we would be.
Are we a hand? Are we a foot? Are we a spleen? I don’t know.
But I do know that I don’t want to be an appendix! Remember what I said about being diseased and infected?
God can take us out of the picture if we get in the way, or if we become infected.
But I thought you said God is planning to use us! How can He do that if He cuts us out of the picture?
God uses that which is useable. If we are not usable, He will raise up people who are.
If we want God to use us to bring the message of the cross to the lost and hurting around here, we need to be open to His making us usable.
And then just watch God move, baby! We won’t be able to keep up!
If we get too full of ourselves, we run the risk of taking ourselves out of the race. We need to remember our place in the Body of Christ.
And that is place is not the Head. That position belongs to Christ alone.
Invitation
He is not only the Head of the Body, He is its Savior.
But you are only a part of the Body of Christ if you know Christ as your Savior.
If you are not sure about your place in heaven, than I want to urge you to listen carefully, as I tell you how you can know for sure you are going to heaven.
The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. That’s you and me, and Billy Graham and Mother Teresa.
And we deserve nothing but eternal punishment for our sins.
But God has provided a way out, by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross to pay the penalty we deserve.
And He rose from the grave in triumph over death.
In dying and rising again, He secured heaven for all who would call on Him.
Call on Him, won’t you? Confess your sins and turn from them with His help, believing He died and rose for you, and ask Him to give you the eternal life in heaven that He so wants to give you.
As we close in prayer, you will have that opportunity. Shall we pray?
