Thank you to John for this message

Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Introduction
What has 1 Skull, 1 Chinn, no Teeth, 6 Bones, 9 Hands, & 9 Mussells?
(Answer at end)

Prayer: Gracious Lord, please open your word to our hearts, and may we open our hearts to your word. For Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

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“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”   “You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12: 12, 27)

The apostle Paul is writing, in about the year 54AD, to the church in the Greek city of Corinth. It’s a very lively church: lots going on. So Paul writes at the start of his letter “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus…You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” (1 Cor. 1:4, 7)
But not all at Corinth is hunky-dory. There are splits & divisions in the church. There are law-suits between Christians. There is flagrant sexual immorality. And the Lord’s Supper is being abused.
Also, the Corinthians seem to have a wrong-headed view of spiritual gifts.

For the last two Sundays at St Christopher’s we have considered spiritual gifts, as described in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. Paul wrote those chapters to correct the wrong attitudes of the Corinthians: and in between he wrote chapter 13. That wonderful and well-known description of real love – the “most excellent way” (12:31) is actually a stinging rebuke to the Corinthian church!

Today we look at 12:12-31. The question is “How do I find my place in the body of Christ, the Church?” In these verses Paul uses the analogy of the human body, for the church: “You are the body of Christ…” (v27).
The basic principle behind this teaching is simple: diversity & variety within unity. “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” (v13) Different faces, different races, different classes and cultures – but all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

In this passage Paul highlights two particular wrong attitudes to spiritual gifts, which he seeks to correct. They are expressed in two imaginary pairs of quotes: parts of the body are speaking to each other and about each other. The first wrong attitude is revealed in the statements in vv15-16.

1. WRONG ATTITUDE NO.1: “I DON’T BELONG” (vv14-20)
The foot says “Because I am not a hand, I don’t belong to the body” (v15). And the ear says “Because I am not an eye, I don’t belong to the body” (v16).

In other words “Because I am not a clergyman, I don’t really belong to the church.” “Because I am not on the PCC… because I am not a great speaker… because I can’t pray like she does… because I am not…., I don’t belong to the church.”
Do we ever think like that? Or maybe we know someone who seems to think like that.

Let’s look at Paul’s answer: he gives two reasons why this attitude is very wrong.
First reason: (a) Don’t be a silly-billy!
“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? If they were all one part, where would the body be?” (vv17, 19) Of course that’s a ludicrous idea. The human body has many different parts. The body of Christ, the church, has many different people with different gifts. (Hallelujah!)

Second reason: (b) God is in Charge
v18 “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” v24 “But God has so composed the body…” v28 “God has arranged people in the church…”
Back in v11 Paul wrote that all spiritual gifts are the work of one and the same Holy Spirit, and “he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”
So if we think, “Because I’m not like Joe Bloggs, because I don’t have Jane Smith’s gifts, I don’t really belong”, we are actually saying “God made a mistake when he made me and gave me gifts.”
In vv28-30 Paul gives examples of various roles and gifts in the church: apostles, prophets, teachers, those able to help others, administrators etc. Are they all the same? NO! Are they all arranged or appointed by God? YES!

Do you say “I go to church”, or do you say “I belong to a church”? God’s word tells us that all who come to him by repentance and faith belong to the body of Christ, and all belong to one another.

The second wrong attitude to spiritual gifts is addressed by Paul in vv21-26.

2. WRONG ATTITUDE NO.2: “I DON’T NEED YOU” (vv21-26)
(v21) The eye says to the hand “I don’t need you.” And the head says to the feet “I don’t need you.” I can cope by myself. I am quite able to do the job without any help.

What is Paul’s answer? He gives two reasons why this attitude is very wrong.
First reason: (a) Don’t be a silly-billy!
v22 “Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” Of course, Paul didn’t have the access to scientific knowledge of the body that we can have, but he was absolutely right. For example, think of the tiny bones and organs inside our ears: so delicate and fragile, apparently insignificant. But without them we would not be able to stand up or walk; we would be unable to balance.
The body of Christ, the church, could not function without people who seem to be weaker or smaller or more vulnerable. Earlier in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise: God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things….so that no-one may boast before him.” (1 Cor. 1:27-29)

Second reason: (b) God is in Charge
v24 “But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it…”
What is God’s purpose in this? “…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.” (vv25-26)

This is called interdependence. This is how God intends his church to work. Mutual concern and care. Each member needs the other members. Just like the body.

CONCLUSION
Those wrong-headed attitudes to spiritual gifts are summed up by two statements:
either   (a) “I don’t really belong to the body of Christ” – that is, “I feel inferior.”
or         (b) “I don’t really need you” – that is, “I feel superior.”

What is our attitude to spiritual gifts? What do we think? I hope we can say this:
“I DO BELONG to the church, Christ’s body. I rejoice in the variety of gifts, abilities and personalities. I am not jealous of the gifts God gives to others. I am glad to serve with the gifts and opportunities which God gives to me.
I BELONG to Christ’s body, so I will express that belonging in word and action. I will meet with my fellow-Christians to encourage them, to learn from them, and to share with them in joys and sorrows. I do belong.”

And – “I DO NEED YOU. I will not be an individualist. I know God does not want me to “go it alone”. I have not got all the gifts. I am willing to admit my need. You need me. I need you.”

Finally….If you were to describe yourself as one part of the body, which part would it be?
A foot? – always on the move, always being trodden on?
Or a hand? – always serving, reaching out to others?
Or an eye? – looking ahead, watching other people?
Or perhaps you think of yourself as the little toe!

It does not matter which part of the body you are, as long as you can say and mean:
“I belong to the body of Christ, his people. I need them, and they need me.”

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Answer: Bournemouth Telephone Directory (2013)


Category: Sermons , The Bridge

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