Epiphany 3 (Year C)

27-1-13

Pastor Lester Priebbenow

Life in the Body of Christ

1 Cor. 12:12-27 [ESV Anglicised]

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body", that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body", that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you", nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honourable we bestow the greater honour, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Last Sunday we focussed on the verses immediately preceding this passage where Paul, the founding apostle of the Corinthian church, addressed a question about the validity of certain supernatural gifts that were evident among its members. His answer, put very simply, was that the "gift" of the Holy Spirit Himself always brings glory to Jesus, so his genuine "gifts" will do the same.

Today's passage answers a further question: How do God's gifts best bring glory to Jesus? Paul's answer is: Christ is glorified in the church when each person's gift is seen as a function of Christ's body – the Church – and when it is valued and works as part of that body. To make that point he uses the illustration of a human body with all its parts working together.

Lately some of you might have been watching a bit of tennis.

If you watch a tennis player serve the ball you see an example of a body with all its parts working together. Every part works in unison from the top of his head to the tip of his toes; the mind to control every action and thought, the eyes to focus and every muscle - neck, shoulders, arms, hands, back, legs and feet - working together in harmony to product the balance, the co-ordination, touch and action needed to achieve one single purpose; to propel that ball into the opponent's court at speeds sometimes exceeding 200km/h.

No one part of his body is more important that the other. Roger Federer may joke that his skinny left arm is only there to hold his watch, yet he knows what an important part it plays in maintaining balance and in tossing the ball consistently up into exactly the right spot for the racquet in his right hand to hit. Supporting the obvious outward actions are many internal organs and tissues, some which retrieve the energy from food and drink and transfer it to exactly where it is needed and others which control muscle function. If just one part does not function as planned, the whole service action will suffer.

In the context of their question about 'spiritual gifts,' Paul encouraged the Corinthians to think of their congregation as a body. He wrote: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. Paul's little 'analogy from anatomy' has a spiritual application. He concludes: So it is with Christ (12). This comment is interesting. He could have said, "So it is with the congregation," but instead he says, "So it is with Christ." He uses the name of Christ as synonymous with (or meaning the same thing as) the Christian congregation.
That means that we glorify Jesus when we think of ourselves as members of Christ himself. We have been 'incorporated' into Christ's body on earth, not by our own choosing, but by God's grace active in our lives. It all began at baptism, 'For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body ... and all were made to drink of one Spirit' (13). The conclusion is: 'Now you are the body of Christ and each of you is part of it' (27). Every part of Christ's body plays an important role in the 'service action' of Christ in the world.

This spiritual principle is to govern our life and work together in the congregation, and from it Paul draws a number of practical applications. The first is that there is no cause for degrading ourselves.

Some Christians think of themselves as inferior to, less qualified, less gifted or less important than other members and excuse themselves from the body, claiming they have nothing to offer. To them he says: excusing yourself from Christ's body is not an option. He writes: For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body", that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body", that would not make it any less a part of the body. If you are a member of Christ, through faith, you are also a member of his body. That is his "gift" regardless of what "gifts" you have been given. You can't be both 'in Christ' and 'out of the body'.

Some Christians grumble, or envy others because they can't do what others do. To them Paul says: We can't all be the same, so let's honour the particular gifts we each have been given. 'If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?' (14-20). We are all part of Christ's body - every one of us - because God has loved us and 'incorporated' us by the gift of baptism and has given us all our particular function in his body. If we degrade ourselves because of our supposed lack of gifts or envy others for the gifts they have, we are grumbling about the way God has arranged things – and we should know that he never makes mistakes.

St. Paul then goes on to say that there is also no cause for thinking we are more important than others because of their seemingly lesser gifts. 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!" (22).
One part of a functioning human body would never think of saying, "I don't need you," to another (if it could talk), so why should the parts of Christ's body (who can talk) ever say or think that kind of thing? Instead, St. Paul encourages us: go out of your way to affirm and value especially those who seem weaker or less important in the body of Christ. He writes: The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honourable we bestow the greater honour, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body (22-25a).

St. Paul says is necessary that we accept and affirm those who seem weaker, less important, or less confident in our midst and that we honour them as valued members 'so that there may be no division in the body.' If just one part does not function as planned, the whole 'service action' of Christ's body will suffer. There isn't division in Christ's body, in the way God has ordered it, so let's not create it!

How are we to avoid creating division in the body? Paul's answer is simple: The body's parts should have equal concern for each other (25b). Think about how an eyelid closes in a split second to protect the fragile eye from a flying object, or how a hand moves instinctively to protect another part of the body from danger. St. Paul writes: If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. Think about how the whole body is affected if one little part is injured, e.g. if you stub your little toe. Or how we don't usually say, "My head aches," but "I have a headache." The whole body owns the pain of any one of its parts. St. Paul writes: if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it (26). Think about how the whole tennis player is honoured with the prize for winning, not just the arm that swung the racquet.

Paul concludes this section (v.28-31) by acknowledging – as we should too – that there are many obvious gifts and functions in Christ's body, some of which receive more public acclaim and recognition. Paul's advice is that we resist any temptation to compare gifts, but instead to value each member for the gifts each has received and to encourage that each person and each gift to play its own part in the work of Christ's body. The greatest gift is that God has 'incorporated' us into Christ's body by his Spirit. So let us allow the "gifts" he gives us to give glory to Jesus. Let us affirm, value, encourage, love and care for one another as we live and work together in the Body of Christ! Let us think about how we might do that, practically, in our own congregation.