Mid-Lent 5
1
Cor 12:12-26
4/5/17
If you are going to have a
championship basketball team, you must have stars. You have to have players who can be counted
on to put up points night in and night out.
In particular, you need those same players to be the ones who score in
the clutch – when the game is on the line.
However, it’s not possible to have
every player be a star of this kind. It simply won’t work. While a team has five players on the court at
one time, there is only one ball. I suppose that theoretically you could have
everyone share equally in the scoring, but the reality is that there are always
going to be one or two guys who shoot and score more. It just doesn’t happen that a team has five
players of equal skill as stars. A team
is lucky if they have two or maybe three players that fit this category.
In fact, in order for those several
players to succeed as stars, you need some players who focus on other things
besides scoring. You need players who
pass well, who are willing to set screens to free up scorers; players who
rebound and focus on defense. Perhaps
they chip in and score some, but that’s not really what they are counted on to
do.
Players like this won’t get lots of
press. They won’t be the focus of attention.
But they are crucial. Sometimes
we call them “glue guys.” They do all
the little things that keep the offense running, make the defense tough and
help the team to succeed. They are easy
to take for granted. But if they are not
there the team is simply not as good.
In our text tonight, Paul is making
the same point about the church. Not
everyone has the same gifts. Not
everyone has the same role. Yet all of
those gifts and roles are needed. However,
in his discussion Paul goes a step beyond the mere unity of an organization
like a team, because those who have been baptized, have been baptized into one
body – the Body of Christ.
The church at Corinth was a divided
and messy place. The people there had
chosen to align themselves with leaders. They said things like, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or
“I follow Christ.” They were divided
because of the way that the rich were treating the poor at the meal that
accompanied the Sacrament of the Altar.
And they were prideful about which gifts God had given to them.
Paul has begun this chapter by
saying, “Now
concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were
led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to
understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says ‘Jesus is accursed!’
and no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit. Now
there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of
service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is
the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”
There is a
diversity in the church. But in our text Paul drives home the point that more
importantly, there is foundational unity.
He says, “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. 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.”
Paul
describes the church as a body. Just
after our text he will say, “Now
you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Paul says that the Church is the Body of
Christ. And while this is a metaphor, it becomes clear in Paul’s writings that
the apostle is using this metaphor to refer to a spiritual reality that must
shape the way we think about ourselves and about other Christians.
Paul grounds this truth in
baptism. He writes, “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.” The apostle says that
through baptism we have become part of the Body of Christ. It doesn’t matter
what differences exist – here he mentions the great divide between Jews and
Greeks; between slaves and free persons.
None of that matters because of the unity they now share in Christ.
It is the
Spirit who has created this unity in baptism.
Two weeks ago we heard about how the Spirit gives us regeneration in
baptism – about how we are born again of water and the Spirit. Here Paul emphasizes that through baptism we
have received the Spirit – we have been made to take him in as if drinking.
It is the
Spirit of Christ who has done this. It is
the Spirit who in baptism has joined us together as the Body of Christ. Elsewhere Paul describes this as being “in
Christ.” By this he means that we have
been taken into the saving work of Jesus – his death and the cross and
resurrection for us. Earlier in chapter six Paul spoke about the Spirit and
baptism when he referred to the sinful past of the Corinthians, but then went
on to say, “And such were some of you.
But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
To be in Christ – to be part of the
Body of Christ – is to be a forgiven sinner.
It is to be a saint because of Jesus Christ. This unity has been
established in Holy Baptism. It is
something that is expressed and made present every Sunday in the Sacrament of
the Altar. For Paul has said in chapter
ten: “The cup of
blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The
bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because
there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one
bread.” The Sacrament of the Altar is
the sacrament of unity.
Paul speaks
about the unity that we have as the Body of Christ through baptism because he
is talking about how Christians treat one another. Though different in gifts and abilities we
are all one body in Christ. We are all valuable. As Paul says in our text, “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.”
Paul’s
words tonight lead us to consider how treat other Christians. And I’m not talking about other Christians
that we meet out in the world, or even those here at Good Shepherd. Let’s get
closer to home. Let’s consider those who
are right in your home. How do you treat your husband or wife; father
or mother; son or daughter; brother or sister?
Do you see them as a fellow member of the Body of Christ? Do you consider
them to be someone to whom God has given various gifts and abilities? Do you treat them accordingly?
The apostle
says at the end of our text, “But God has so composed the body, giving greater
honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body,
but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member
suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” Because we have been united through Christ
with one another in Holy Baptism, we now suffer with and support those who are
suffering. We rejoice with those who
experience success and honor.
We seek the
welfare and good of those who through baptism share in being in Christ; who are
part of the Body of Christ. What is true
at home is also true here at church – in our congregation. You know many people. You have many kinds of
relationships with them. You are tied to
some by past experiences. You are tied
to some by shared interests and hobbies. You are tied to some by the sports
teams you support. If you see a
Cardinals hat you sense an immediate bond or if you see a Cubs shirt you
recognize a fellow exile in a foreign land.
But here’s
the thing – the thing we overlook and forget.
Your bond with the people at this
church goes beyond anything you share in any of those other
relationships. Here you have have been
joined together through baptism into the Body of Christ. You have been united in the crucified and
risen Lord as the forgiven children of God.
And here that unity of the Body of Christ continues to be made present
and renewed each time you come to this communion rail to receive the true body
and blood of Jesus.
The world
knows nothing of this. But God’s Word
has revealed it to you. In this
revelation we find the peace of forgiveness and salvation because of Jesus
Christ. And because of this revelation
we come to see our fellow baptized Christians in a way that is different from
everyone else. We see them as being part
of ourselves and so we have the same care for one another. Through Holy Baptism
we are the Body of Christ and so if one member suffers, all suffer together; if
one member is honored, all rejoice together.
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