Community Church Sermons
January 21, 2007
The Third Sunday of the New Year
I Corinthians 12:12-31
Dr. R. Tim Meadows
Listen to this Sermon!
Today is January 21st. Twenty-one days into the New Year and many of them are still there! Who are they? They are what we dedicated “gym rats” refer to as the “January People”. Every January after the New Year begins they throng to our health clubs and disrupt the routine of the “gym rats”. But we hold out hope, for we “gym rats” know that by the first of March, most of them will be gone, and we can resume our normal routines.
If you are one of the “January People”, I apologize for my pessimism, but it is based in years of experience. If you are a fellow “gym rat”, let me assure you, I FEEL YOUR PAIN!
The question that always occurs to me with the coming of the “January People” is Why? The answer seems to be that at least for a time they are concerned about the body. A concern for the body is also what prompted Paul to write the bulk of the letters we have in our New Testament. The body in this case is the body of the Church, which in today’s New Testament reading Paul compared to the human body. From this letter and others in the New Testament which use the body metaphor to describe the Church we learn at least the following:
I. The Body Is Durable Yet Delicate:
“Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” That is a statement of durability! The Church has probably overcome more difficulty in its time of existence than any other organization. A tribute to its durability! However, despite this undeniable durability we must also acknowledge that the church is a delicate organization, affected by the decisions of all who identify themselves as a part of the Church.
The durable nature of the Church means that it will be here long after we are all gone. The delicate nature of the Church means that we must make it part of our mission to care for its reputation. Think of the times when your life and world have been impacted by the durability of the Church. Are you grateful? Think of the times when a part of the Church used its mission and influence indelicately. Were you embarrassed? Ashamed? Hurt? Angry? Think of your place in maintaining the durability and protecting the delicate nature of the body that is Tellico Village Community Church. What would God ask you to do for the body?
II. The Body Is Diverse Yet Coordinated:
God intends for the Church to be a “melting pot”, filled with all varieties of people, but God does not intend for the church to be Babel of confusion. This is why Paul reminds us that just as the human body has many parts that function together to accomplish a task, so also does the Church. Just as no part of the human body would normally endanger or neglect another part of the human body, neither should the body that constitutes the church.
God intends for my strengths to compensate for your weaknesses, and for your strengths to compensate for my weaknesses, but God never intends for any of us to use our strengths to manipulate or exploit anyone else’s weaknesses. God calls us to celebrate the wonderful strangeness of our complex diversity, and to embrace the fact that the diversity makes us stronger when it is coordinated for the good of God and other people. It is through the coordination of our differences that God intends to change the world.
Think of the times that your life and your world have been impacted by the coordinated diversity of the church. Are you grateful? Think of your place in contributing to the diverse gifts and needs of the body that is Tellico Village Community Church. What would God ask you to do for the body?
III. The Body Is Dependent Yet Free:
United we stand; divided we fall is an idea with which we are all familiar. Before it was a governing principle of our republic, it was a biblical principle governing the body of Christ. Paul knew that the strength of the body of Christ lay in mutual dependence. Paradoxically, the more we depend on each other, the more freedom we have to develop as God intended us to.
When we live in the splendid isolation many of us crave, we are confined to every mundane task of every day. Everything in our world really does depend on us! When we live in mutual dependence our combined resources allow us freedom we cannot possess independently.
Think of the times your life and your world have been freed by exercising mutual dependence with others in the body of Christ. Are you grateful? Is your life stronger and freer because of your willingness to be dependent on others? Think of your place in contributing to the freeing mutual dependence of the body that is Tellico Village Community Church. What would God ask you to do for the body?
Bodies whether human, automotive, or institutional are always evaluated by those who encounter them. The body that is Tellico Village Community Church will be also. People will either say “Hey, Did you SEE the Body on that church or “Hey, Did you see the BODY on that church? You and I will determine which it will be by how we live together as a body.