WE BELONG TO THE BODY OF CHRIST
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-26 JANUARY 26, 2003
1 CORINTHIANS 12:12-26
12The 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. 13For 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.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If 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. 16And 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. 17If 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? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while 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, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
We live in a country and a society that is diverse and different. We celebrate the fact that there are people of all different nationalities that live in these United States. Because of the diversity of our nation and the difference, sometimes there is a lack of a sense of belonging. Because of that diversity, there is a lack of conviction and commitment because we don’t want to step on anyone else’s ethnic background. That describes our society in general as a whole. Also, we see that some of that attitude has crept into the churches of today. One of the biggest Lutheran churches today, when it comes to doctrine, says they don’t want to make a firm stand anymore in case they would offend someone. Their main teaching about doctrine is that they agree to disagree. If people disagree then, that’s all right. BUT it is completely different when one looks at what scripture says and when one looks at what faith means to us. It is true. We are diverse and different, but we still ought to feel a sense of belonging--because we belong to Christ. The Lord tells us: "You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness"(1 THESSALONIANS 5:5). He says, yes, we know what is right and wrong. We cannot simply state that we agree to disagree when it comes to doctrine. We still take our stand on that which is right and try to avoid that which is wrong. We belong to the body of Christ in other words. That’s what the Apostle Paul wants us to concentrate on this morning in the words of our text. He says
WE BELONG TO THE BODY OF CHRIST
I. As different members
II. United in one purpose
I. As different members
We have to remember that in this church at Corinth, they indeed were quite different; they were very different from one another. They came from different backgrounds, they had worshipped many different false gods; some of them even worshipped more than one god. To describe that, Paul uses the simple comparison and description of the human body. He says, ‘Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.’ Those, in that congregation in Corinth, certainly realized that they were made up of many different parts. Then he goes on to say, ‘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.’ He said the foot cannot cut itself off from the body simply because it thinks that it doesn’t want to be there anymore. Then it would not be part of the body. The fact is, then, if it weren’t part of the body, it would have no purpose, it would not survive. Paul goes on—another part. ‘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.’ In other words, the ear should not be jealous of the eye. They each have their own function as different parts of the same body. There’s a reason for that.
These many parts work together; these many parts do different things so that that body would function. ‘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?’ He goes almost to the absurd here, doesn’t he? What would happen if the body were an eye? There would be no smell. What would happen if it were just an ear? It would not work; it would not make sense. Paul was reminding these people that as they were different parts of the body, that each had their different function for different purposes and it was all according to God’s purpose. He says, as he sums up all of this description, ‘But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.’ It is according to God’s great plan that the church was established with different parts, different members, just as He wanted it to be.
When we look at Christian congregations around us, we see that there are different kinds of people—even in our own congregation. We have quite similar backgrounds, and yet we are still different. We have men and women, young and old, different ideas, different talents and different abilities. When we look at our synod as a whole, we certainly see that there are people from all kinds of backgrounds—all kinds of religions coming from false gods as we consider our mission fields in Africa, Japan and throughout the world. Yet, all of these parts make up one body, no matter how different. All of these parts have different functions and different purposes just as you and I do.
In the early Christian church when the apostles were given the commission by our Lord to go out and preach the good news, it grew on Pentecost by five thousand and it grew by thousands more later on. It was just too much work for these twelve apostles to see to the daily affairs of the body of believers. They realized they couldn’t do this all by themselves. They had to pick members to be responsible in the body of Christ. From ACTS 6:3,4 we read: "Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word. They turned the responsibility of providing for the widows over to these seven men, the first elders of the church. They were able to then devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. As we look at that, we realize sure, that applies to us…some of us are good at fixing things, some of us are good at prayer, some of us are good at teaching. The Lord would have us foster those gifts that He has given us.
Today we install our church council once again to remind us that they too, were chosen as leaders in the church and as people whom God has seen with different gifts to do different functions for His body, the church. No matter what our gift might be, whether we think it’s great or small, a gift is still a gift, isn’t it? The gifts God gives to us are meant to be used. The Lord says, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms"(1 PETER 4:10). God gives these gifts to us as our personal gifts so that we might serve others, that we might use them for the body of Christ.
We talked about gifts last time a bit, but it’s good to refresh our memories. We need to look and figure out what gifts we have and how we can use them to serve others. Always, a guiding principle is to do our best. In Timothy we read: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth"(2 TIMOTHY 2:15). Maybe the gift we need to look at the most that He’s given us is the gift of faith, which causes us to see and know God’s grace in our lives. With that gift of faith, we are able to study and hear God’s word so that you and I as individual believers will be able to correctly handle the word of truth. When some churches would teach ‘It’s best to agree to disagree’, we would say, ‘No, it’s best to know the difference between right and wrong according to what God’s word says.’
The Lord reminds us that we belong to the body of Christ as different members and as different parts, just as the hand or eye or ear, but still united in one purpose.
II. United in one purpose
When we look at the Christian congregation in Corinth, how did they come together? How were they all gathered in one place? It was through the power of the preaching of God’s word. Our text began by saying that even though they were different, they were united. As we read this text, there were a few words used over and over…unity and oneness. He began our text by saying: The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. Paul tells us even with all of these different parts it is still a unit; it is just one—one body. Right after that, we read: So it is with Christ. Christ is not divided. Christ is one God. The Trinity is not divided. It is true: there are three persons, but there is only one God--Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three persons are the Lord Almighty in one body. Then Paul talks about how this all came together…they heard the word, they believed and what else happened? He says: 13For 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. They were all baptized into the Christian faith. They were saved from the worship of their false gods. They were saved from eternal destruction that they might worship the true God and have eternal life. There is the unity that this Christian congregation experienced. Now, no longer, were they so different. They were alike by their Christian faith, by the virtue of being baptized into that same Christian faith. 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body…that one body of Christ, which is made up of believers.
If they didn’t want to believe it, Paul uses another example. 21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!" He then goes on to describe other parts of the body. These believers realized that certainly, if they lost the use of their hands, how detrimental that was; if they lost the use of their foot, the same thing. As each part of the body would not be used any more, so the whole body would suffer. In that way, he described the body of Christ. Now Paul adds one more thing. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. The many parts not only suffer together as one body, but they are also able to rejoice together as one body.
That is the very same blessing that you and I share beyond all comparison—that we are parts of the body of Christ. We rejoice that God has opened up our eyes to see Him as our Savior. We celebrate the fact that in this season of Epiphany, a season of light, we no longer sit in the darkness. Instead, we belong to the body of Christ. We’re no longer strangers and foreigners; we’re no longer aliens; we’re no longer those who have not received mercy. "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (GALATIANS 3:26,27). That is how we are united…by our Christian faith. Now, rather than being clothed in sin and wickedness, we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ through baptism. God saved us through the washing and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
What is most amazing is the fact that this unity in the body of Christ goes beyond the wall of this church. It goes throughout the United States to people who hold the same convictions, who hold the same truths that you and I do. It goes throughout the United States and throughout the world. This gospel is being preached by faithful pastors in pulpits throughout the land, throughout the world. You and I are united to that body of Christ. We are united to Christ because He is the head of the church. In this great big world of ours, we still have those who hold true to God’s doctrinal teaching as revealed in the Scriptures. Just as Jesus said in JOHN 15:5…’I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.’ With this different example, Jesus describes you and I as being parts of the members of the body of Christ. He says if we cut ourselves off, then we can do nothing. Since we are attached to the vine (Christ), we will bear much fruit. We have seen that in our lives. We have seen the fruitfulness of studying God’s word and hearing God’s word. We have grown in our Christian faith. Part of the fruitfulness of our Christian faith is that we find strength in time of weakness; we find comfort in time of mourning; we find joy in time of sadness. We realize that as members of this body of Christ, there are others who share in our suffering; there are others who rejoice in our joy.
In the world around us that always likes to see themselves taken care of (a selfish society), they are not too concerned with anybody else. They sometimes like to see the downfall of those who were once great, those who are powerful. They don’t rejoice in the success of others. They feel it is a threat. They feel it is something they deserve rather than someone else. It’s different in our church, in our congregations. We rejoice with those who succeed. We find joy in the fact that God blesses each of us as individuals. Oh yes, there are times when we share with one another in suffering, but there are more times that we share with one another in rejoicing. We do that as we share in the Savior’s joy after His suffering. In the book of Romans we read: "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory"(ROMANS 8:17). This whole time on earth we share in the sufferings of Christ. In our second lesson today we heard that the world is passing away. All those things that we have, we ought to treat as not so important because the world is passing away. It’s a world of suffering and sorrow. We also realize that the suffering and sorrow in this life is nothing compared to the glory that awaits each and every one of us. Eventually we share in God’s glory.
In between that time, you and I can share in one another’s glory. You and I can rejoice in the joy of our fellow believers. Why? We are different members, but we still belong to the body of Christ. We’re united in the Christian faith for that one purpose of proclaiming God’s word, of sharing God’s joy. God has shared His joy with us—the joy of salvation. God has shown us His light. God has revealed to us that He is the light of the world, and then we, too, are lights in this sin-darkened world (a purpose of His Christian church.)
We belong to the body of Christ. True, as different members and sometimes from diverse and different backgrounds, we are united in one purpose—to proclaim God’s good news. We are united in one purpose—to enjoy the joy of salvation and to help others share in the great joy of salvation. As Paul wrote to the Colossians: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness"(COLOSSIANS 2:6,7). What a joyous life that is, isn’t it? Be overflowing with thankfulness because we are rooted in Christ our Lord. Even though we are different members, we are still members of the one body. We belong to the body of Christ. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
