Have you ever wished that you were something you were not?
I suspect we all have. There are times as I watch some of the
professional athletes on TV I wish that I could be them...playing
games and making megabucks at it. Great life. But I realize
that I cannot live that life: I am too old, too fat, too slow,
and too lacking in talent. Still, nice dream.
Have you ever wished you were NOT something you ARE? I
confess that I do. There are times when I begin a week, look at
my calendar, see how much there is to do, I wish that I were
doing something else. You may have seen the cartoon that says,
"God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of
things. Right now, I am so far behind I will never die."
My point is simply this: we are all SOMETHING, and whether
we always like it or not, there is a niche we are to fill. We
might dream about being something else, but in most cases, those
are only dreams and should not prevent us from being what we are.
Historically, the failure to think like that has created
problems within the church. It has occurred in every age back to
the very beginning. And it has been a serious problem, serious
enough for the Apostle Paul to be led to address it. The lesson
we read a moment ago indicates that the church at Corinth had
problems about WHO was to do WHAT. Some people wanted to be
something they were NOT; others did NOT want to be what they
WERE. On top of that, some folks who held certain positions
within the congregation tended to "lord it over" those who were
in supposedly LESSER positions, and THAT created all sorts of
resentment. So Paul's message to the church was...and is...THIS
OUGHT NOT TO BE!
To explain himself, Paul likened the church to a body, the
body of Christ, and used that description to explain how the
church should operate. Listen again to what he said: "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. For
we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body..."
Paul has several points. First, there ARE differences among
us. He makes no effort to gloss that over, nor would he wish to.
However, he says there is UNITY in our DIVERSITY. We are ONE
BODY, and we should remember that as we work, because if we DO,
we WILL work together.
Next Sunday afternoon, I am going to watch the Super Bowl.
You too? OK, you coaches and Monday morning quarterbacks - think
how absurd it would be if the man who takes the opening kickoff
would find that his ARMS wanted to return the ball up one side of
the field, while his LEGS insisted on going up the other. As it
is, assuming he plays his position properly, his EYES will follow
the ball in the air as it comes to him. His BRAIN will register
the path and speed of the ball and instruct his HANDS and ARMS in
grasping it when it reaches him. Then his EARS will hear the
instructions of his teammates as to the best route for the
return, the BRAIN will register that along with the further
information the EYES pick up and set the LEGS and FEET in motion.
All along, the HEART and LUNGS will be pumping away to beat the
band to allow all the other parts to work. And if any of them
decide they do not WANT to work, the other team will BURY him.
Each of the parts have their function, and all must perform IN
UNITY if there is any hope of the kickoff return being
successful.
See what else Paul says about the body of Christ working as
a unit. Artificial differences have to be put aside. We cannot
worry about nationality or racial background or economic status.
Jews, Greeks, slave or free - all are a part of the same team.
What would happen next week, coach, if a WHITE offensive
center said he would refuse to carry out his blocking assignment
if he had to do it next to a BLACK offensive guard? Right! If
the players are not able to put aside artificial differences to
be a part of the team, they will not BE a part of the team.
Do you find that in the church? Say it ain't so, David.
But, sadly, we know it is. Racial differences, national
differences, economic differences ALL have an effect on the way
our congregations are structured. And woe to that preacher who
would think of upsetting that system.
One thing more Paul says about unity within the body of
Christ: he points to the sacraments, Baptism and the Lord's
Supper, as means by which we are indeed unified..."we were all
baptized by one Spirit...all given the one Spirit to drink."
Through the years, if you can imagine, even those sacraments have
created divisions among us: WHO is allowed to participate, WHEN
we participate, and so on. I doubt that Paul would say that one
group is right and another wrong in the way we go about it. If
there WERE one way that should be the ONLY way, scripture would
have made that plain. I DO know that he would say that the
divisions between Christians concerning the sacraments are nuts!
The football analogy again. Think of the members of a
particular team. There are differences in the way they prepare
for a game: the quarterbacks practice passing, the receivers
practice receiving, the kickers practice kicking, the linemen
practice blocking. But ALL have gotten their instructions from
the same coaching staff which is perfectly happy to have them
practicing different skills with an eye to performing different
functions in the game. Still, there is an essential unity among
them: the same game plan, the same playbook and, to be sure, the
same head coach. Paul says, YEA, TEAM!
Move a step farther with him now. The apostle explains that
even though differences exist, differences in abilities and
functions, every part of the body has a job to do. Hear his
words:
Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 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. 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. If they were all one part,
where would the body be? As it is, there are many
parts, but one body.
It is hard to improve on an illustration as graphic and
down-to-earth as that. Perhaps we can simply add the football
analogy one more time. If the offensive tackle says, "Because I
am not a running back, I am not really a part of the team," you
would not have to be a genius as head coach to point out how
vital a strong and cohesive offensive line is to a productive
running game: without their particular blocking talents and the
ability to open holes in the defense, the runners would be
stopped in their tracks. Or if a defensive player says, "Because
I don't play on offense, I am not really a part of the team," you
would respond that without a good defense, the offense might
never have the ball in the first place. Each individual has a
role to play, some glamourous, some not so glamorous, but each
one is essential if victory is to be achieved.
Now Paul takes the opposite tack. Up to this point, he has
worried about those who are not convinced of their own
usefulness. Now he addresses those who are SO convinced of their
own worth that they think the rest of the body is not necessary.
Hear him: "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!' On the
contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are
indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we
treat with special honor. His conclusion is, "If one part
suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored,
every part rejoices with it."
Same in football. If the young running back tells the
offensive line, "I don't need you; I can do it on my own," the
veteran linemen will just smile to themselves and let the idiot
try. They will provide what the incomparable John Madden calls
the "Look Out Block" - as the defenders rush by, the lineman will
watch as they pass then yell, "LOOK OUT!"
Every part is necessary; every part is valuable; every part
must do its job...whether on a football team, in the human body,
or that mystical body of Christ, the church. There MUST be unity
in our diversity if we are to succeed.
Having said all that, Paul finally gets down to the nitty-gritty, the reason for coming up with the image in the first
place. There are different functions for different people within
the church, and Paul says THAT IS FINE...it is the way it ought
to be. He might have said that there cannot be all chiefs and no
indians, or too many cooks spoil the soup. Some are supposed to
be chiefs; some are supposed to be indians; some are supposed to
be cooks; but everyone need not be ALL of them. Look at his
list: "...first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers,
then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing,
those able to help others, those with gifts of administration,
and those speaking in different kinds of tongues." Different
functions for different people.
To get back to Paul's "body language," some are called to be
the MOUTH, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in pulpit or
classroom or choir wherever we might be led. Some are called to
be EYES and EARS, calling the church's attention to areas of
weakness or human need that cry out to be addressed. Some are
called to be HANDS and FEET, taking on that special servant's
role in seeing that those needs are met. Some are called to be
the BRAINS of the church, seeing that our affairs are properly
administered and that we remain faithful to the mission which God
has given us. Some are called to be the HEART of the church,
those who so evidence the love of God in their day-to-day lives
that we cannot HELP but want to join in fellowship together.
In a way (and I almost hate to admit it), but some seem to
be called to be REAR END of the church. I do not want to offend
anyone in saying that, but I do it to call attention to the fact
that some folks do a certain work for the Kingdom by just
SITTING...in the pew...every week...without fail. Their presence
is an encouragement to the minister and everyone else who takes
note of their loyalty. Now, I do not say that to give you an
excuse to do ONLY that if you are called to do something else,
but I mention it just to let you know that those REAR ENDS in the
church can have a special value.
Over and over I have heard the story of the man who came
regularly to worship in spite of the fact that he could not hear
ANYTHING that was going on; he was deaf as a post. His minister
asked the man why he would bother to come since he really could
not get much out of what was going on, and the man replied, "I
just want to show the world whose side I'm on." That is a
valuable ministry all by itself.
As you know, I am big on church membership. I am glad for
anyone who chooses to simply come and worship with us from week
to week, but I am absolutely convinced there is no substitute for
including your name on the church roll. The very act of joining
the church says you realize a responsibility for finding your
place among the body of Christ, then exercising your gifts and
talents for the benefit of all. All the research in church
growth indicates that people choose churches to join NOT on the
basis of what can I get out of it but what can I give.
Wonderful! Paul would say NOW YOU HAVE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE PART
OF THE BODY OF CHRIST.
I heard something interesting this week at our annual
Homiletical Feast gathering in Florida. We always begin with a
time of catching up with one another's lives, and the big news
from our friend Bill Carter was that he had gotten married.
Terrific! Bill told of his conversation with the new wife, her
two sons and his two daughters after the ceremony. He told them,
"We are NOT a family, we are a HOUSEHOLD." Not a family, a
household. He went on, "It's just like the church; folks use
'family' language when talking about the church, but the church
is really NOT a family. In fact, when we baptize our children,
we say not that this child is now a part of the family but
rather, this child is now received into the HOUSEHOLD OF GOD."
Family members are joined together because of the accident of
birth, but households are comprised of people who CHOOSE to be
together." Bill said, "We are like that; we are together because
we want to be, and we will each find our own niche."
That IS the way it is here, isn't it. You and I are
together, first, because God led us to be, and finally, because
we want to be." We are a household, and as we find our own
place, we become the Body of Christ. When that happens,
wonderful things occur. Now, let's get to work, because, as the
poet has expressed it:
He has no hands but our hands
To do His work today;
He has no feet but our feet
To lead folk in His way;
He has no voice but our voice
To tell of how He died;
He has no help but our help
To lead them to His side.(1)
Amen!
1. Attributed to St. Teresa of Avila
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