July 11, 2021 We are the Church Together
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (GNT)
12 Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.
13 In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
14 For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.
15 If the foot were to say, “Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
16 And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell?
18 As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be.
19 There would not be a body if it were all only one part!
20 As it is, there are many parts but one body.
21 So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” Nor can the head say to the feet, “Well, I don't need you!”
22 On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker;
23 and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty,
24 which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it.
25 And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another.
26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.
27 All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (GNT)
12 Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.
13 In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
14 For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.
15 If the foot were to say, “Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
16 And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell?
18 As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be.
19 There would not be a body if it were all only one part!
20 As it is, there are many parts but one body.
21 So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” Nor can the head say to the feet, “Well, I don't need you!”
22 On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker;
23 and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty,
24 which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it.
25 And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another.
26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.
27 All of you are Christ's body, and each one is a part of it.
Reflection
Our scripture reading today comes from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. It seems the people there were slip-sliding back into their old ways – in fact some of them may have like their old ways a little better- because at least you knew where you were in the hierarchy. Jew above Greek, men above women, free above slave – at least that is how it would be at the Temple in Jerusalem, that is how it would be in the synagogue outside of Jerusalem, but here in the communities of the The Way, the followers of Jesus could not cling to these old defined roles – there was no male or female, no slave or free, no Greek or Jew.
There had to be some way to tell where you fit in the scheme of things so they latched onto the gifts the Holy Spirit had distributed so freely, assigning, at least in their own minds, some importance to healing, and teaching, speaking in tongues and interpreting, knowledge and wisdom, faith and miracles – so many gifts, and everyone had a gift. Some people began to take pride in their own gifts as if they had somehow achieved the gift through their own effort, as if they had deserved their gift, as if they had somehow earned earned their gift and that it conferred a status over and above gifts given to others.
You can see the problem, for Paul, it meant that they were back at square one and had just exchanged the label that they used to put themselves back on the pedestal.
Paul wants to stop this kind of thinking right in it’s tracks without destroying the community.
And so Paul says to the community: “Christ is like a single body which has many parts” Fascinating isn’t it?
Paul who could easily have used the word “ekkelsia” the word we often translate as church which refers to the people called out by God into this gathering of faithful.
But Paul uses the word: “Christ” - “Christ is like a single body, which has many parts”
And the unity of all the parts or people is immediately understood by his use of that one word “Christ” After all no one is going to start an argument that one part of Christ’s body is more important than any other. It’s all one body – it needs all it’s parts to function.
Just like the church community needs everyone’s gifts to function well. No one gift or person is more important than another and everyone belongs, everyone’s gift has a place, and everyone’s gift is to be celebrated.
I guess today we might speak of different gifts: administrative, music, social leadership, youth ministry and outreach along with some of the old ones – healing and teaching and preaching. Many churches use the creative arts dance, poetry, visual arts to enhance the worship experience. So many gifts!
You get to be yourself here and yet at the same time you are an important part of the whole gathering. Who you are is important because you are a part of it all. Your presence means you are welcomed, your presence means you belong.
You want to sing – great!
You want to pray- great!
You want to sit in fellowship- great!
But Paul goes beyond even this uplifting and recognition of the individual and his or her gift – in verse 26 he says:
“If one part of the body suffers all the other parts suffer with it;
if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.”
You can see Paul is getting into the nitty-gritty stuff of our relationship to one another.
To be the body of Christ, to be the church, to be a part of those who are called out by God is to put yourself into a special relationship to one another. We are called to love each other and in that love to care about and for each other.
Just as Jesus told his disciples to love one another, Paul understands that this is the commandment which not only makes the difference in the church- it is what makes the church, the church! “Love one another as I have loved you” Loving one another , wanting the best for each other, struggling to understand one another – it’s all a part of being the church in the world, being the body of Christ in the world.
When someone is suffering, when someone is in pain, when someone is anxious or fearful, when we are filled with joy, when we are grateful, when we celebrate being alive, when one person is passionate about climate change, and another about old growth trees, and another about indigenous rights, and another about black lives matter, and another supports and is an ally to the LGBTQTS community. We are called to love one another – to care and support each other, respecting and honouring our differences and our gifts.
When Paul called those early followers of Jesus back into remembering who they are and whose they are, he calls us too. He calls us back into the body of Christ where a hand is just as important as an eye, where the person welcoming you and handing you the order of service or the person who picks up the orders of service from the pews is just as important to the functioning of the church as the preacher. Where the coffee makers and musicians are just as important as the people behind the scenes who run the meetings and pay the bills.
Without all of you there is no church here, there is no gathering of the faithful, there are no prayers raised to join the prayers of all the other churches in the world.
We may be one small church, but we are one small congregation that joins millions of other people every Sunday, in fact, every day in participating in the single body of Christ.
Amen
Our scripture reading today comes from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. It seems the people there were slip-sliding back into their old ways – in fact some of them may have like their old ways a little better- because at least you knew where you were in the hierarchy. Jew above Greek, men above women, free above slave – at least that is how it would be at the Temple in Jerusalem, that is how it would be in the synagogue outside of Jerusalem, but here in the communities of the The Way, the followers of Jesus could not cling to these old defined roles – there was no male or female, no slave or free, no Greek or Jew.
There had to be some way to tell where you fit in the scheme of things so they latched onto the gifts the Holy Spirit had distributed so freely, assigning, at least in their own minds, some importance to healing, and teaching, speaking in tongues and interpreting, knowledge and wisdom, faith and miracles – so many gifts, and everyone had a gift. Some people began to take pride in their own gifts as if they had somehow achieved the gift through their own effort, as if they had deserved their gift, as if they had somehow earned earned their gift and that it conferred a status over and above gifts given to others.
You can see the problem, for Paul, it meant that they were back at square one and had just exchanged the label that they used to put themselves back on the pedestal.
Paul wants to stop this kind of thinking right in it’s tracks without destroying the community.
And so Paul says to the community: “Christ is like a single body which has many parts” Fascinating isn’t it?
Paul who could easily have used the word “ekkelsia” the word we often translate as church which refers to the people called out by God into this gathering of faithful.
But Paul uses the word: “Christ” - “Christ is like a single body, which has many parts”
And the unity of all the parts or people is immediately understood by his use of that one word “Christ” After all no one is going to start an argument that one part of Christ’s body is more important than any other. It’s all one body – it needs all it’s parts to function.
Just like the church community needs everyone’s gifts to function well. No one gift or person is more important than another and everyone belongs, everyone’s gift has a place, and everyone’s gift is to be celebrated.
I guess today we might speak of different gifts: administrative, music, social leadership, youth ministry and outreach along with some of the old ones – healing and teaching and preaching. Many churches use the creative arts dance, poetry, visual arts to enhance the worship experience. So many gifts!
You get to be yourself here and yet at the same time you are an important part of the whole gathering. Who you are is important because you are a part of it all. Your presence means you are welcomed, your presence means you belong.
You want to sing – great!
You want to pray- great!
You want to sit in fellowship- great!
But Paul goes beyond even this uplifting and recognition of the individual and his or her gift – in verse 26 he says:
“If one part of the body suffers all the other parts suffer with it;
if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.”
You can see Paul is getting into the nitty-gritty stuff of our relationship to one another.
To be the body of Christ, to be the church, to be a part of those who are called out by God is to put yourself into a special relationship to one another. We are called to love each other and in that love to care about and for each other.
Just as Jesus told his disciples to love one another, Paul understands that this is the commandment which not only makes the difference in the church- it is what makes the church, the church! “Love one another as I have loved you” Loving one another , wanting the best for each other, struggling to understand one another – it’s all a part of being the church in the world, being the body of Christ in the world.
When someone is suffering, when someone is in pain, when someone is anxious or fearful, when we are filled with joy, when we are grateful, when we celebrate being alive, when one person is passionate about climate change, and another about old growth trees, and another about indigenous rights, and another about black lives matter, and another supports and is an ally to the LGBTQTS community. We are called to love one another – to care and support each other, respecting and honouring our differences and our gifts.
When Paul called those early followers of Jesus back into remembering who they are and whose they are, he calls us too. He calls us back into the body of Christ where a hand is just as important as an eye, where the person welcoming you and handing you the order of service or the person who picks up the orders of service from the pews is just as important to the functioning of the church as the preacher. Where the coffee makers and musicians are just as important as the people behind the scenes who run the meetings and pay the bills.
Without all of you there is no church here, there is no gathering of the faithful, there are no prayers raised to join the prayers of all the other churches in the world.
We may be one small church, but we are one small congregation that joins millions of other people every Sunday, in fact, every day in participating in the single body of Christ.
Amen
