Talk given by the Revd Helen Wilkinson on 8 June 2008Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
Introduction
A study was done of people who were high flyers in various walks of life. The people were involved in a many different areas of life, and their backgrounds were very mixed. What was it that enabled some people to feel that they could transcend the ordinary and do something special and different? The study found that the only thing these people had in common was that in their formative years, someone outside their immediate family, maybe a youth worker, a teacher, or a friend of the family, had told them that they were really good at something, whatever it was, and that they'd go far. A seed was sown in their growing years that enabled them to excel in later life. Identity Now supposing someone who's in possession of all the facts, and who's opinion of you, you know can be completely trusted, says something amazing about you. How do you respond? Do you shy away in false humility, or do you find it so scary that you back off and go into denial?
How do you react when God tells us who we are? That's the challenge of today's reading from 1 Corinthians 12. 'You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.' 'You are, [we are], the body of Christ'! How many of us really believe that? What Paul is giving us is a visual aid concerning the work of the Spirit. The body of Christ is the image he uses to describe the community life of the Christian Church. He's been arguing in 1 Corinthians that the Holy Spirit gives a variety of gifts to the church so that all the gifts dovetail in together. He's explaining that there's unity in diversity. And those two themes of variety and unity are perfectly illustrated by the image of the body. He hasn't chosen the image of the body at random. The body image has been picked deliberately. He's saying that in building the Church, God is creating a new humanity - one that will do all that the first human beings failed to do. This time, in the new creation, God is making a new and true humanity that will glorify his Son Jesus Christ. 'We are the body of Christ.' Our identity is in him.
The most basic thing about the church is our identity as God's true people. We are a holy people belonging to God. And so the Church is not a building. Neither are we a club or a voluntary society. We are the body of Christ. Not like the body of Christ; we are his body here. Knowing that, enables each of us to become a high flyer in life - someone who can far exceed what we might have thought we could be. God pours upon us 'the riches of his grace', as it says in the baptism service, so 'that within the company of Christ's pilgrim people [we] may daily be renewed by his anointing Spirit.' God has great plans for us, if we will but drink of his Holy Spirit.
Think of a hero who knows who he is. An example straight out of the middle of the twentieth century would be James Bond. James Bond is secure in his identity - 'The name's Bond. James Bond.' 007 is proud to be a British secret agent. His gifts, his mission in life are crystal clear. He is there to eliminate the bad guys and ensure that the good guys - the democratic west - are free from those who would seek to dominate us and deprive us of our democratic rights. In his imaginary lifetime, James Bond makes a significant difference to the course of human history. There's something attractive in being so sure of our identity that we are secure and significant in our mission in life.
And that's what God offers us through Christ. 'You are the body of Christ', writes Paul. We are Christ's body - we have our identity in him, and so we are secure in Christ. Our significance comes from knowing that we are involved in his purposes, both individually and in community, as part of a much bigger picture than we might have at first thought.
Security
'Now you are the body of Christ', writes Paul, 'and each one of you is a part of it.' (12:27) This body community runs on team work - working together. When you're in a team we all have different gifts to bring. The key is not to feel threatened by someone who has a different skill set from you. And feel that therefore you have nothing to contribute.
In this season's version of 'The Apprentice' most of the candidates have found it difficult to work together in teams because they're competing against each other to become Sir Alan Sugar's apprentice. But in the Body of Christ there's no place for competition. It's all team work. No one should be motivated by jealousy or resentment or a desire to put others down. We can be secure in God's order. Paul writes, 'God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. (12:18) It is God the Holy Spirit who gives gifts as he sees fit. We need to accept that. Many of us struggle for years wanting to be like someone else. Often someone who can do what we find difficult. We often want to be someone from a different background. You can see the Corinthians hankering for other things. 'I am not a hand', says one. I am not like you, so I can't belong. Paul says all are included. Because we're all part of the body of Christ. All too often we overlook our own gift. It comes naturally, it seems easy, so we think it's what everyone else can do too.
Yet rather than striving, we need to relax, accept the gift that God has given us, and get on with using that. After all, as Paul says, '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? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.' (12:17-18)
'To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.' (12:7) Be secure in what God has called you to be. For a body it to function, it has to work in harmony. Otherwise it gets sick. It can grind to a halt, immobile. 'If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (12:19-20) 'There should be no division in the body', (12:25) In fact, Paul argues that to promote unity, we should ensure that weaker members are treated with greater respect. 'The parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour.' (12:23) Because, argues Paul, 'they are indispensable'. (12:22)
Home groups are a great expression of this body life - shopping, cooking meals, being there for one another. I'm a member of Foundations, one of our small groups. We meet on a Tuesday morning. If someone in the group has a new baby, the rest of us sign up on a rota so that the family are delivered a cooked meal every day for the days following the birth. Several husbands have said what a powerful witness this is to Christ. And for families who aren't used to church life, it breaks down the suspicion that so many people today feel towards the church. The security of being together as the body of Christ is such a powerful witness in a world where people are very insecure. Don't let anyone tell you, 'You have no right to be here. You don't belong.' '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. 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.' (15-16) You are secure, you do belong, however you may feel. Because God says so. And he is the final authority. We are a new and different community, with a new and different Lord.
Significance
'You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.' It is the interrelation of the members of the body that interests Paul time and again in his letters. The body means interdependence, unity. No part has all the gifts. No part is dispensable. That means that each of us is significant. If you or I aren't here to meet with others one Sunday or another, it matters. Each one of us is valued, in and of our own right, as members of Christ's body. It matters whether we're here or not because we are the expression of Christ's body and we are members one of another. We don't have to be doing something. It's our presence that's required. We might be having a tough time, we might feel we can't offer anything, and yet, just to be, is an expression of being the body of Christ.
12:21-25 'all parts should have equal concern for each other.' That's why if someone has to move on it can be such a wrench. The test of how significant we are to each other comes in 12:26 'If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.' Because each of us is significant in God's sight.
We need one another. That means we're all significant. 'The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" (12:21) Here in 1 Corinthians there is a test that we can make to see how we're doing with our community life as a body. Are we really more concerned for the greater good than our personal preferences? 'If one part [of the body] suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.' (12:26) Paul exhorts us to be part of something bigger, and to live out what that means in a practical way. 'each member belongs to the others.' He writes to the Romans. (Romans 12:5) 'If one part [of the body] suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.' (12:26) Paul writes to the Ephesians that it is with works of service that the body is built up. (Ephesians 4:12) Let's look to the needs of others in the bigger scheme of things. We are the body of Christ.
Conclusion
In the life of the body we find our own personal story and the story of God's people are intertwined. Each of us has a unique identity given to us by God, but we can only realise our true identity as part of community. A community that is the body of Christ. We are made to be the body of Christ to strengthen us: our identity as the body assures us of who we are, it means we can be secure in our calling, it means that each one of us is significant, and it means that together in Christ we can make a significant difference in our world. If you remember nothing else from this morning, remember this: 1 Corinthians 12:27 'We are the body of Christ, and each one of us is a part of it.'
© 2008 Helen Wilkinson
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