CHRISTIAN A & P 101: COMMUNICATION & NOURISHMENT
Ephesians 4: 1-7; 11- 16
1. Over the past two Sunday we have been examining Paul’s favorite description of the Church as the Body of Christ and my purpose has been to highlight at least 4 aspects of our human anatomy and physiology and make the application to our spiritual or Christian anatomy and physiology. I have singled out the 4 aspects of:
• THE UNITY OR ONENESS OF THE BODY
• THE SUPPORT THE MEMBERS GIVE ONE ANOTHER
• THE SHARING OF COMMUNICATION AND NOURISHMENT
• THE BODY CARRIES OUT THE WILL AND DIRECTIVES OF THE HEAD
2. Just by way of quick review, we have noted the Oneness of the Body and we reminded ourselves that:
• The church was never intended to be an exclusive club for noses or eyes or feet
• It was never intended to be a gathering of clones, exactly fashioned in our image
• But it is thankfully a remarkably diverse organism with many, many different parts and cells all working together for the mutual benefit of the one body
• We reminded ourselves that while we accept and are glad about that great diversity of body parts and functions in the natural – our physical bodies, when it comes to the spiritual application in the church, we are not always as ready and eager to be accommodating. We are not always as accepting of one another’s differences and so some real work needs to take place in that area.
• We have recognized that just as there is a process of a man and a woman becoming one in marriage – and learning through much understanding and patience and forgiveness and acceptance to become one, so there has to be a similar process within the church multiplied many times over by the number of members in that body – because we all bring into this relationship not only the good and admirable qualities each of us certainly possess, but also our quirks, our idiosyncrasies, and our sin – and so we do not just walk away from one another when there are differences – but by the grace of God we seek to work through them and resolve them.
• And we do that because the Unity and Oneness of His Church was so important to Jesus that He spent the entire night before His crucifixion praying for us that we might be One as He and the Father are one.
3. Then last Sunday, we spoke of the Support that the members have for one another and we reminded ourselves that our body parts were not just thrown together any old how – that they all have their own unique place and function and they are all very firmly connected to one another with joints, muscles, and ligaments.
• We don’t just lose a body part without noticing it. They don’t just come apart from one another because they are firmly connected and bonded to one another with joints, muscles, ligaments and connecting tissues
• And we suggested that the spiritual joints, ligaments, muscles and connecting tissues that hold us together in the Body of Christ are the covenant commitments and the vows we make with and to one another.
• Just as a couple getting married make their vows to one another and ratify them by giving and receiving of rings and signing a marriage certificate, so we pledge ourselves to Christ and one another in the ceremonies of baptism, confirmation, membership, holy communion, in the prayers we pray with one another, in the tears and laughter we share with one another, in our fun and in our work with one another.
• And because none of us has yet arrived at the state of perfection and we mess up and relationships sometimes get infected and inflamed – and if we are not careful, spiritual gout and arthritis and paralysis can completely immobilize a church body – we need to all remain watchful and vigilant and prayerful and do what is necessary to maintain good body health. And so repentance and forgiveness and kindness and humility and all the fruit of the Spirit are essential to the Body’s health and well-being.
• I ended by saying that just as in our physical bodies while all the various different parts are members of the same body, they are not all immediately attached to one another. You remember the song: “The toe bone is connected to the foot bone and the foot bone is connected to the ankle bone and the ankle bone is connected to the leg bone…” and so on. And the same is true with the other organs and parts. The spiritual application of that truth is that God has specifically fashioned your nature and personality and temperament to slot in well with certain others who need what you have to offer. And so, I imagine that over the years or however long you have been here - you have already identified certain other persons in this congregation with whom you more readily identify and relate than with others. You seem to have a natural affinity with some more than others. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It is not a case of being exclusive. It doesn’t mean you never connect with the rest, but there are those with whom you share at much more than a superficial level.
• I asked each one to consider where in the body God has placed you – to whom He has joined you – for whom He has given you responsibility and accountability.
• Has anyone given some thought to that question during the week that you would like to share?
• One pastor did this exercise at a time when he was feeling very disgruntled about his church. He said, "I know exactly what body part I am. I’m the lower intestines. I feel that all I do all day is try to eliminate waste products." (Well, that isn’t exactly the way he put it... but you get the point!)
THE SHARING OF COMMUNICATION AND NOURISHMENT
1. So in addition to our responsibility to remain firmly connected to and knit to one another through the bonds of our vows, our commitments, and our covenant love, one of our primary functions is to share nourishment and communication with one another.
• That’s what happens in our human physiology – food and drink is taken in through the mouth and passed on down the esophagus into the stomach where the digestive process continues to convert that food into nourishment and energy that is then passed on through the entire body and the waste products are eliminated through our bowels and bladder.
• Air is breathed in through the nose providing the essential oxygen for every cell in the body and the waste product of carbon dioxide is breathed out through the mouth.
• Through our central nervous system signals and messages are sent at lightning speed from the brain to every part of the body to function as it should.
• In both the communication of nourishment and of information the active participation of every organ and every nerve is essential. Blockages and short circuits either cut off the food and oxygen supply which can lead to starvation and death or to loss of feeling and paralysis.
2. Now while these processes are automatic in our human bodies – I mean aren’t you glad that that is not another thing you have to think about and make a decision on! “I must now breathe in…and now breathe out…ooops, I forgot to think about what to do about the food I just chewed…oh, and I should have thought of pulling my hand away from that hot stove sooner” – in a normal and reasonably healthy body these nutritional and communication functions all happen automatically.
3. But that is not necessarily always the case when we come to the spiritual body of the church – though it should be! Jesus never intended that just one or two individuals in a congregation larger than 10-12 members would be assigned the responsibility of attending to all the feeding and nurturing and teaching and training and discipling.
• Imagine that you are the sole person in charge of a nursery of 60 babies who are all crying to be fed and have their diapers changed and just be held and cuddled for a while. What are your options apart from immediately handing in your resignation?
• You can go from one child to another and slowly take care of one while the others continue to yell. Believe me, before you have worked your way through that entire group the first one will be crying for its next feeding and changing.
• Another option might be that you just fill a bucket with milk like this (pour water into a bucket behind the communion rail) and then tell them to all open their mouths at once and get ready to gulp some down as you hurl it out into the room like this(use another bucket filled with paper balls and hurl it out)... and hope that each one gets enough to satisfy for a moment.
4. Now we may laugh at the patent foolishness of such an approach, but it is just as foolish to assume that you can effectively feed and nurture and disciple a congregation of any size to maturity in Christ simply based on the pastor’s weekly sermon. That word needs to be taken and specifically applied to each person’s life and circumstances and maturity level and that can only happen effectively within the context of a much smaller nucleus of people that meets together regularly for that very purpose of watching over one another, caring for one another, holding each other accountable for our growth and development in Christ, and helping each other apply the word that is delivered on Sunday to each other’s specific situations from Monday through Saturday.
• This was the wisdom that Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, gave to him as he was trying to shoulder the massive responsibility of caring from morning till evening for the entire Israelite nation and running himself ragged in the process. Moses said to him in Exodus 18 “the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws." And Jethro replied: "This is no way to go about it. You’ll burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you--you can’t do this alone. Now listen to me. Let me tell you how to do this so that God will be in this with you. Be there for the people before God, but let the matters of concern be presented to God. Your job is to teach them the rules and instructions, to show them how to live, what to do. And then you need to keep a sharp eye out for competent men--men who fear God, men of integrity, men who are incorruptible--and appoint them as leaders over groups organized by the thousand, by the hundred, by fifty, and by ten. They’ll be responsible for the everyday work of judging among the people. They’ll bring the hard cases to you, but in the routine cases they’ll be the judges. They will share your load and that will make it easier for you. If you handle the work this way, you’ll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also." So the entire assembly was divided into small groups of 10, each with an overseer. And some were appointed with the responsibility of being overseers of small groups of overseers – so the basic needs of everyone were attended to.
• This is the same principle Jesus demonstrated with His disciples by selecting just 12 guys and sharing His life with them – eating, fishing, praying, walking, teaching – and then commissioning them to go out two by two and start the process all over again and do with others what He had done with them.
• John Wesley and the early Methodists did the same thing – and that was part of the reason for the great success and rapid growth of the Methodist movement in the mid to later 1700’s – in every congregation they formed Class Meetings of 10-12 people that met weekly for prayer and study of the Word and doing acts of mercy and holding each other accountable for their walk with God.
5. Times certainly have changed. 2005 is not the 1700’s or the 1st Century or the days of Moses. Life has probably become more hectic and the challenges we have to face may be different from back then, but learning to walk out our relationship with God and one another is the same as it always was and has been.
6. So to wrap up – the point I want to leave with you for today is this – for this congregation to grow in numbers and in spiritual maturity it is going to require the effective communication of nourishment and instruction to every member and that will happen best within the setting of such smaller clusters or care groups of people.
7. Also, I and the Nominations Committee, will be meeting very soon to pray over and consider the leadership positions in this church for the next year and I trust that whether you are approached for leadership or participation on one or another committee, you will remember this message, be ready to respond, and take your place as an active participant in the communication of nourishment, nurture, instruction and discipleship to the rest of the body.
AMEN.
