I’m a “dunker.” Not with a basketball, as I am only 5’9”, but rather with chocolate chip cookies. There is nothing quite like the chocolate chip cookie. They come in all shapes and sizes, but they are very similar in how they are made. There is the flour, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla and, of course, chocolate chips. All these ingredients work together to form the chocolate chip cookie. I have met very few people who don’t like chocolate chip cookies. We bake them for one purpose: to be eaten. Sure we send some to school with the kids when it’s their birthday, or we leave them for Santa, but all with the intent that somebody will consume them.
The human body is like a chocolate chip cookie, with many ingredients, but making up something much bigger than the individual parts. The Church is like that, or at least it should be.
Turn with me to I Corinthians 12:12. Keep your Bible open, because we will work our way through this passage.
Just as the ingredients in a chocolate chip cookie exist in the cookie, so we exist in the Church. The ingredients were baked to form the chocolate chip cookie, so we were baptized to form the body of Christ (the Church). Paul was writing to a church that wasn’t operating as one unit. At the beginning of the letter, he refers to that, saying, “One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’ [who we know as Peter]; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’” There were racial distinctions and social and economic distinctions as well, that Paul mentioned in verse 13. But throw all of that away, because the Church is one in Christ.
What is an unimportant ingredient in a chocolate chip cookie? Flour? What if we left out flour, because it’s not a “flour” cookie? We can’t really leave out anything. If all we had were sugar, we would have sugar, but not a chocolate chip cookie. Or if there were no sugar it would be bland. The chocolate chip cookie recipe gives specific ingredients in a specific order and a specific quantity for a reason. Because that’s the way it works best. Too much of one thing or not enough of another throws off the balance of the chocolate chip cookie.
There is no unimportant part of the body. The foot may not be able to run up and down the piano reproducing the music of Mozart, but without the feet, the hands will never get to the piano. If we were all a hand, we would look like the hand from those old Hamburger Helper commercials. God designed these bodies that we inhabit. They were designed in a way to be efficient and practical. We would starve to death if our hands and arms weren’t long enough to reach our mouths. The ear is shaped in a way to gather sound. If our noses were turned upside down, we would drown in the rain. No part of the human body is insignificant.
Mike, you’re a football coach. Are quarterbacks important? Is the left guard inferior to the quarterback? If there’s no offensive line, the quarterback is going to eat a lot of grass. Just because an offensive lineman doesn’t get the same recognition as the quarterback, that job is still vital to the success of the team. If you don’t believe me, answer this question: who quarterbacked the Denver Broncos to back-to-back Super Bowls? John Elway. Who was the left guard? I have no idea, but without the left guard the Broncos wouldn’t have won.
No part of the Church body is insignificant. There is no insignificant job in the Church. Everyone that works for the betterment of the Church plays a role in making the Church body healthier. The Church is one in Christ.
The chocolate chip can’t say that it is the star and the other ingredients don’t matter. In fact, it is the ingredients that you can’t see in the finished product that are most vital to the chocolate chip cookie. The liquid ingredients (vanilla, eggs and butter) hold it all together. Without those you would only have a mixture of flour, sugar and chocolate chips. In fact, the chocolate chips could be left out and you would still have a functional cookie. What about if one of the eggs were rotten? How would that affect the cookie?
Without the hand, the body can’t pick up something the eye sees. The eye can see the most delicious chocolate chip cookie, but has no way of retrieving it on its own. What we tend to think of as important parts (feet, hands, eyes) the body can, if necessary, life without. People function in society everyday without feet or sight. They certainly have many more challenges to overcome.
What about the less “honorable parts.” We couldn’t function without a liver or trachea. We could get by with one kidney, but take that away and we’re in trouble.
Also, when one part of the body hurts, the whole thing suffers. I recall on time when I got this huge sliver in my hand. It seemed like a tree limb stuck in my hand. I’ve never had one that big. Man, did that thing hurt going in, and it was worse coming out. Now my foot, over here, wasn’t going, “Yippee, it’s not me that’s hurt!” No way, my whole focus was on getting rid of the invader. When a member of the Church passes on, there is sadness in the whole Church not just the immediate family. When a member loses a job, the whole Church feels it. The energy of the Church is focused on the hurting member: helping, comforting, reassuring, praying for and with the hurting member, whatever needs to be done.
Likewise, joy is shared. I won one medal in my three-year high school cross country and track career. Some of my teammates looked like they had body armor on, buy my one lone medal stood on my letter jacket. When I won that medal, it was not just my feet and legs that shared the joy, but all of me. Since it was a relay race, all of the members of that team were happy. When a member has a baby, there is a joy and buzz through the Church. Weddings are joyous occasions celebrated by the Church. Baptisms are celebrations for the Church. Whenever a member is blessed the Church is also blessed.
All of this is true because the Church is one in Christ.
Paul is not giving the Corinthians a biology lesson here. If not, then what is he doing?
The baker has designated the ingredients in the chocolate chip cookie: chocolate chips, vanilla, sugar, butter, eggs and flour. Each one has a specific function in the chocolate chip cookie. All of them don’t add flavor or hold everything together.
So it is in the Church. We, as well as the Corinthians and all other Christians from then until now, are a part of the body of Christ. We all have a job to do. God knows where we are and what we need to succeed. He will give us the gifts we need as a Church when we need them. The Church is one in Christ.
Paul lists several roles in the church. He starts with the “chocolate chip” role and goes on from there. There are those that have a little more flash, and those that are more behind the scenes.
Most jobs in the church fall into one of these categories. All are important. Just as with chocolate chip cookies, if there is an ingredient missing, the whole thing is off. It’s just not right.
Paul restates the fact that not everyone has all the gifts. Each person has his or her own gift given from God.
Paul encouraged the Corinthians, and encourages us to use our best gift, the one that is most helpful to the success of the Church. Without helpers, administrators, teachers and others we are nowhere. Like a body without vital organs, the Church fails to function up to its potential without each person doing their best. The Church is one in Christ.
Chapter 13 is one of the most eloquent chapters of the Bible. In it Paul cautions that without love these gifts are useless. Love is “the most excellent way.”
Paul draws this picture of the human body and the Church body to call the Corinthians to unity and utilization of their gifts for the benefit of the Body of Christ. He uses something they can relate to and draws it to something that will benefit the Church. Like the human body, the Church is made up of various parts with different functions, but all working to the same goal. Paul uses this to challenge the Corinthians to a deeper level of commitment to Christ.
Paul encourages the Corinthians to get involved in making the body healthier by performing to their best.
I encourage you to do the same. Evaluate your role. What is your gift? If you aren’t sure, we can discover it together. Are you performing at your maximum potential? Are you trying to be a chocolate chip when you’re flour? Or, are you playing three or four roles the best you can? Would you do better in one role? Are you still on the sidelines, not sure where you fit in? Are you waiting to move in? You know, sometimes (and I’ve been guilty of this) those of us involved deeply in the Church try to over extend ourselves. We won’t move out of the way for someone else better suited for the job.
I want all of us to stop and think for a moment. What are my gifts? Where can I step up (or step back) to make the body healthier? Am I a chocolate chip trying to be sugar?
The Greenville Church of the Nazarene is part of the body of Christ. We each have a role to play in the larger picture. We may be small in number, but we are large in talent. As I have talked to you, I realize you are committed to see the Church move forward. I want you to know today, Sunday, October 27, 2002, that I will commit to you and to Christ that I will do my part to see the Church advance. Like Paul wrote to the Corinthians, however, there is more than one part of the Body. I won’t be able to do it myself. We all are in this together.
Will you commit with me, today, to find your place in the life of the church? Will you maximize your talents in that role? Above all, will you use your talents in a loving manner? We are about the work of Christ here, because the Church is one in Christ.
If you have a desire to show that commitment to the Body of Christ and utilize your talents and gifts to make the Body healthier, I invite you come forward. Tammy will help distribute a reminder of what we have talked about tonight. We have chocolate chip cookies as reminder of the unity of the Church.
