"BODY PARTS”
Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 24, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
You are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:27 (ESV)
It has been observed by anthropologists that man is a social animal.
What they mean by that is that we exist always in relationship to
other people. On the surface it may seem as if that statement is
saying that we have no real existence of our own, but let’s look at it
more carefully. So much of what we are is tied to our relationship
with others. For example, I can say that I am a husband, but if I had
no wife, I wouldn’t be a husband. So my identity as a husband exists
only in relationship to my wife. In the same way, I can say that I am
a father, but if I had no child, I wouldn’t be a father, so my
identity as a father exists only in relationship to my son.
It shouldn’t surprise us that we are social by nature. It’s been
that way since the very beginning, and even God has always dealt with
His people in corporately. When He created Adam in the beginning, He
was not satisfied with His creation; it was incomplete until He had
also created a woman to live in relationship with the man. When the
Lord called Abraham, He called him not to be just an individual, but
the father of many nations. Likewise, when Jesus carried out His
ministry here on earth, He called to Himself not just one, but twelve
disciples. And even today God the Holy Spirit has called us in
Baptism not to be a bunch of individuals, but the Church--the body of
Jesus Christ--the fellowship of believers. As we examine this
morning’s text from the apostle Paul’s First Letter to the church at
Corinth, we will give some thought to what we are as Christians--both
collectively and as individuals.
The passage before us very clearly and very bluntly says to us: “You
are the body of Christ.” You will notice that it doesn’t say that we
are bodies of Christ, but the body of Christ. As the body of Christ
we are a unity. In another one of Paul’s letters we read: “There is
one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to the one hope that
belongs to your call--one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians
4:4-6). You see, we are to be in fellowship with one another to such
a great extent that what touches one of us touches all of us: When
one of us is hurting, the hurt is felt by the whole body; when one of
us has reason to rejoice, the whole body shares in the joy. That’s
why in the ecumenical Christian creeds we confess that we believe in
“the holy Christian Church, [which is] the communion of saints”
(Apostles’ Creed, Article III) and “one, holy, Christian and apostolic
Church” (Nicene Creed, Article III). The Church is a unity; there is
only one Church, no matter how much human sin and error may have
divided it. And we are the Church, so we are one body--all redeemed
from sin and death by the same innocent blood of the same Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
But we are not united just for the sake of being united. We are
united for a purpose, and that purpose is the proclamation of the
saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are united in the task of letting
sinners know that they are sinners who, even though they deserve God’s
wrath and punishment, are nevertheless spared from it through the
life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of
God. It doesn’t really matter in the long run how well we get along
with one another or how well we work together in petty human
undertakings. What does matter is that Jesus Christ is proclaimed by
us, not only in the words that we speak but in our actions as well;
not only here in this building but wherever any of us may go when we
leave this building. We are united for the purpose of working
together in a common proclamation of Law and Gospel throughout the
world and especially in our own immediate community.
But we don’t lose our individual identity just because we are united
in one Church under one Savior for the carrying out of one mission.
Each one of us is still a unique individual, each of whom the Savior
loves so much that He laid down His life for him or her. And as
individuals we are an important part of something that is much bigger
and better than any of us are on our own. It is true that I am just
one little part of a congregation of about a hundred members; and that
congregation is just one little part of a circuit of seven
congregations stretched out from northeast Pittsburgh to as far away
as Punxsutawney and Munson; and that circuit is just one little part
of a district of seventeen circuits that cover just about all of
Pennsylvania, about half of New York State, and one county in
Maryland; and that district is just one little part of a synod of
thirty-five districts nationwide, with partner churches and missions
all over the world. But the truth of the matter is that the whole
Church needs every little part. No matter how silly it may sound, the
Church needs you and it needs me. When we begin to see ourselves as a
small part of “the big picture,” we aren’t so quick to become so
wrapped up in ourselves that we don’t know or care about what else may
be going on in the Church of Jesus Christ.
As a part of something bigger than ourselves, each one of us has a
responsibility to use the resources that the Lord has given us for His
purposes. I don’t care who you are--there is something that you can
do in the service of Christ. No matter what you may think of
yourself, there is something that you can do better than anyone else.
It may be something as simple as being friendly toward a stranger or a
lonely person. It might be a talent or technical skill that is hard
to come by. Maybe it’s financial security that allows you to be a
little more generous than the average person. Whatever it is that you
have going for you, you have it because God gave it to you to use to
His glory and in the service of your neighbor. And we are accountable
to God for how we make use of what He gives us. That’s what
stewardship is all about.
There is a double danger that we need to beware of in our Christian
life. There are some people who, sad to say, choose to be a “lone
ranger” of sorts, trying to live their lives in isolation, as if they
neither need nor desire to have anything to do with anyone else. They
think that they don’t need the Church or the fellowship that it
offers. They prefer to “go it alone.” On the other extreme there are
people who so totally lose themselves in being members of the larger
group of the Church that they ignore their individual responsibility
to be about the business of proclaiming the love of Jesus. The Lord
has called us not to be either of these extremes, but to be
both--collectively to be the body of Christ and individually to be
active and functioning members of that body. What’s more, by the
power of His Spirit, working through the Gospel, our Lord and Savior
makes us what He calls us to be, in spite of our faults and failures,
in order to extend His kingdom of grace and to enlarge His body,
bringing into it more of those for whom He suffered and died so that
they, like us might receive the blessings of salvation that He has
purchased for all with His own blood.
Amen.
May the God who caused light to shine out of darkness cause you to
increase and abound in love toward one another and toward all people,
as His love abounds for us; and may the glory of His Son be manifested
to you and in you, that you may be witnesses to all nations now and
until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.