SERMON: Stagnant Bottoms and Puzzle Pieces I Cor. 12:12-27 August 4, 2002
I. Introduction
A. Bishop Lindsey’s Story
1. I recently had the opportunity to hear our Bishop, Lindsey Davis, speak. He is an avid golfer, so much so in fact that when we went to Augusta for the North Ga Conference meeting they gave him a green jacket – I’m not sure why – I’m kidding I do know the significance of a green jacket in Augusta. Anyway, Bishop Davis he liked to think of himself as a natural golfer. He didn’t need lessons or anyone to help him with his game.
2. Until this year, this summer he said his game had gone south so he gave in and signed up for lessons. When he arrived at the club for the lessons he was greeted by what he thought was a young boy only it turned out to be the golf pro. Then this young boy took him out to teach him golf and the golf pro began setting up all this video equipment. By this point Bishop Davis was beginning to become a little frustrated. He had humbled himself and come up to improve his golf game and this young boy was busy taking videos. The golf pro instructed him to take a couple of swings at the ball. When Bishop Davis had taken what he thought was a pretty good swing,
3. The golf pro took him inside to a computer screen. By this time Bishop Davis was beginning to think he had wasted a lot of time and money. The young golf pro pulled Bishop Davis and his swing up on the screen and then split the screen and place a video of Tiger Woods and his swing on the other side of the screen. Slowly and painfully Bishop Davis said the golf pro went through and compared Bishop Davis swing to Tiger Woods swing – pointing out all of Bishop Davis flaws in his execution.
4. When all was said and done, Bishop Davis asked the pro what was the root of his problem and the young pro hemmed and hawed a bit before he told the Bishop, “you have a stagnant bottom, sir.”
5. A stagnant bottom! The Bishop said he expected a dropped shoulder, a lazy hand grip, or wrong placement of the club but a stagnant bottom! The pro went on to say “Yes sir, you see when you execute your swing your back side if you will just kind of sits there and does nothing and if you really want to experience the full power of your swing then you have to get your back side, your whole body into the swing.
6. Bishop davis said he began to ponder that a lot and began to wonder if part of our problem in the church was that our pulpits and pews might afflicted with stagnant bottoms. He began to wonder what it would be like if the church, the whole church – every memeber in every church, the whole body of Christ into the swing of things, what it would be life if we experienced the full power, full spirit, the full being of the Body of Christ..
7. I wonder if someone was to take a video of our Church and lay it on a screen next to an image of Jesus Christ our example and head of the church on the other side – I wonder if they would find we too have stagnant bottoms .
B. TURN WITH ME IF YOU WILL TO TODAY’S SCRIPTURE – I Cor 12:12-20
II. Interpreting the Scriptures
A. CONTEXT
1. Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth. The city of Corinth was a very difficult place for ministry, so much so that Paul spent his longest stay there after having left the company of Barnabas. He stayed in Corinth eighteen long months working and strengthening the church for ministry. And then after he has left and gone on to new places, new ministries he hears the Corinth church is in trouble! Some of its members had begun to think they were not needed in the church and had begun just to sit in the pews, had quit working thinking their job was done or not necessary. Others thought their job was the most important and that nobody else in the church matter or had a anything important to say or add to what they were doing. The church had become divided in it purpose and activity rendering itself ineffective – lacking the full power of the Holy Spirit in their work
2. So Paul wrote these words to encourage, inspire the members to get up and get moving – all the members of the church that they might know the full power of God.
B. VS 12
1. Paul makes over 30 different references to the body of Christ in Romans, I Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians. It is a powerful image, an image the people of that time easily understood. It wasn’t unique to Paul many Greek philosophers used it. Plato once taught if my finger has pain, then the whole body would speak up and say I have pain for there are many different body parts but there is one underlying single personality that unifies them together.
2. SO IT IS WITH CHRIST - The human body is a unique, visual, living illustration of what the body of Christ should be.
C. VS 13
1. You and I, Jack, Martha….all of us have been baptized into one body. When we choose to accept Christ, when we choose to accept his grace, his love and lordship in our life we were baptized, immersed into the Holy Spirit, united together into one church, one body of Christ. Not just WUMC but the whole church, the kingdom of God here on earth the universal church. We are the body of Christ – his hands his feet his heart, his eyes his mouth his body living and breathing in this world.
2. And as his body each of us are uniquely gifted, uniquely made and placed here at this time in this place to act on his behalf.
D. VS 14
1. The physical body is truly miraculous. Each and every part is unique, different and each and every part has a purpose. Have you ever noticed while you have two feet and they look the same they are still quite different. I mean one little toe is slightly longer than the toe next to it the little toe on the other foot is slightly shorter. You wear a size eight on the right foot and an 8.5 on the left. Even the left and right side of the face are uniquely different; the hair on each side is different. You can get one side of your to do something, flip under pouf out and the other side just lays there – ladies know what I am talking about. No two parts of the body are identical and no one part is unnecessary
2. I may have told you this story before but the family joke at my parents house is that when Dad fixes something there will be spare parts. I mean it doesn’t matter what it is he is fixing when he is finished “fixing it” there will be a part left over. “Um, dad, thanks for fixing my car and all but what is this springy, greasey thing-amagig here on the ground. And Dad would inevitably reply, “Oh, I don’t know it just a spare part you don’t really need it anyway – see its working just fine.
3. Now granted you can have a few parts of the body removed and you can still walk, talk and function just fine. I mean I am missing a few of my original parts but I’m still up and kicking. But the truth of the matter is that each body part has a purpose, a function, a role that it serves in our body and when it isn’t working or when it is removed the body, the body suffers. It doesn’t function or work up to its full capacity. Another part of the body has to work overtime to make up for or compensate for the missing or useless part. And we never again operate at the same level we did when we were in our prime – when we were 16, 17 and perfect!
E. Vs 15
1. Paul was describing one of the main debilitating attitudes in the church at Corinth, one of the main debilitating attitudes in our churches of today – the attitude of insignificance, a sense of not being needed or wanted in the church, a sense of having “already done my time” and I don’t need, don’t want to do anything else attitude.
2. Youth understand what I am talking about – many feel that the church as a whole, the old people don’t want them there. Or they feel they don’t need to give anything back to the church the church is merely there to entertain them. Newcomers to a church know what I am talking about –its that feeling that even while people are shaking your hand and smiling at you that you’re really do not want or need you in their church. The leaders of the churches know what I am talking about when they ask someone to fill a vacancy, to help with a ministry and they are told – I have already served my time get someone else someone younger person to do it and the young family says sorry we have children and are just starting out get a retired person to do they have lots of time on their hand.
3. It’s that attitude that says “I am or I feel insignificant in the church” The church doesn’t need me, doesn’t want. It is the attitude that keep people from committing to the church. It is the attitude that has its excuses all lined up and ready why someone is asked to do.
4. Each and every person in this church, in God’s, church in the kingdom of God has a purpose,has a place ordained, designed uniquely for just them by God.
F. VS 18
1. Did you know that? That God wants you here. Here at WUMC. You are here, at this time, at this place for a purpose. It doesn’t matter whether you were born into this church, lived here all your life, or a Johnny come lately. Or a visitor here today for the first time. You have been placed here, at this time, at this moment in history by God.
2. Pretty awesome thought isn’t it! That God has placed you here now and there are no spare parts. You are needed, valuable and necessary to the ministry of this church.
3. If we, WUMC, part of the universal church, if we are ever going to experience the full power of God then we, all of us, each and every person, each and every person in this church, each and every part of Christ’s church must work together to fulfill his purpose.
4. That’s not to say that you are or are not working as God has ordained you too. Only you and God know that.
5. What I am saying is that you need to stop and assess your activity and efforts in this church to see if you are really doing what God wants, NEEDS you to do. It is easy to sit and throw money at the church and say that is your purpose and granted that is some gift to be able to give money but it isn’t everyone’s gift – the question is, is it truly your gift, the gift God wants you to share with this church.
6. Likewise, it is easy to give your time and effort and argue that is your tithe and then never give a penny to the church. It is easy to use the excuse that you work all day long, work long, long hours and you don’t have time to give to this church, the church is doing fine without you; BUT, who gave you the ability to work, who gave you the talent to succeed. God did!
7. He has uniquely gifted you to be part of HIS kingdom, to expand HIS ministry, HIS kingdom. Are you fulfilling that task?
III. Stagnant Bottoms or Puzzle Pieces
A. As you came in this morning each of you were given a piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Would you please take out that piece of puzzle now and look at it with me.
1. You are holding in your hand an incredible piece of cardboard. There are 1000 pieces in this room today and each and everyone one of them is unique, different. No two pieces are the same! Compare it to your neighbors. The shape might be similar, the coloring about the same but I promise you no one piece can fit in another pieces place in the puzzle – Believe me I have tried to force a few puzzle pieces that didn’t belong in my time.
2. Notice how on each piece of puzzle no picture is complete, in fact for the most part you might not even be able to tell what your piece is part of – the sky, a window, a door, grass. Notice how some pieces are pretty with bright colors, flowers, lights and how some pieces appear APPEAR dark, menacing even ugly and useless in a picture as pretty as this.
3. Each and every piece of the puzzle is important to the overall picture. If even one piece is missing the picture is incomplete, unfinished. How many of you have ever worked on a puzzle only to find a piece or two is missing. How aggravating and totally frustrating it is to right there on the verge of complete the picture of seeing the full beauty of the puzzle only to discover a hole, a vacant spot right in the middle of the picture. You may have most of the picture but you won’t have all of it – some of the power but not the full power.
4. Even those pieces that are dark and menacing are necessary, important in the overall picture for how could we see the shadow of the trees, the intricacies of the light playing in the sky, the depth and beauty of the water if it weren’t for the darker colors, darker spots that help illuminate the whole picture. The pieces aren’t ugly or difficult at all they are part of a bigger picture, part of a bigger plan than one can see when you look only at one piece.
5. Each and every piece is important, significant, precious in the overall scheme of the picture.
6. And each piece has to connect with other pieces in the puzzle in order to complete the picture as it was designed to be. Try to connect your piece to your neighbors. Now it would be a miracle if your two pieces actually fit together- if they do see me afterwards I need your luck and touch in putting the rest of the puzzle together. – but the truth is your piece does connect to two or three other pieces in this sanctuary. It is just a matter of finding where they are, where you are in relation to the rest of the puzzle.
7. Putting a puzzle together takes a lot of time, a lot patience and a lot of organization. Each piece has to be looked at for its own unique characteristics, colors, shape and size. And sometimes you have to try a piece in several different places before you find it’s perfect fit. But sooner or later you will find that spot that place where your piece fits into the puzzle and as more and more pieces come together we will be able to see the beauty of the puzzle coming together, being expressed in ways each individual piece cannot express.
8. I think you can see the analogy I am drawing here. You have the ability to be puzzle piece, a connecting part of this church, this church’s ministy. You are piece of God’s puzzle uniquely gifted, uniquely placed in the bigger picture to create beauty beyond description, beauty that only the creator, the person with the box top can see. And when we really start working together, connecting the pieces of our lives, our talents and gifts in the church we will see the beauty that God created us to be, we will experience the full power of the swing.
B. Stagnant Bottom or Puzzle piece, which are you? Are you keeping the church from experiencing the full power, the full glory of God in its ministry and work? Are you trying to find your place, your ministry? Or are you confident you are doing what God has ordained, commanded for you, you alone to do,
1. If you are not sure, talk to God, listen to God let him guide you, let him lead you in knowing your purpose, your place. Come talk with me let me share with you the needs, vacancy in this church, in this community where you might fit in.
2. You are as uniquely and as beautifully made as that puzzle piece you hold in your hand and God has a placed you in this church in the universal church where you are, right now, right here and you, you alone fit perfectly in the place he has made for you. And you believe me, in God’s design there are no spare parts!
AND NOW WE COME TO THE TABLE, HIS TABLE WHERE ALL are GENUINELY, uniquely bound TOGETHER INTO ONE COMMUNION WITH GOD, ONE BODY, THE BODY OF CHRIST.
Turn with me in your hymnals to page 12.
