Church – The Body

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Today's reading is from one Corinthians, chapter twelve, starting at verse twelve. That can be found on page 1153 of the church Bibles. And that's one corinthians, chapter twelve, starting at verse twelve. Just as a body, though one has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one spirit, so as to form one body, whether Jews or gentiles, slave or free.

And we were all given the one spirit to drink. And so the body is not made up of one part, but of many. Now, if the foot should, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body. It would not, for that reason, stop being 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, stop being 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 placed the parts of 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.

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 honourable, we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.

But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, 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. Now, you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Thank you so much, Chris, for reading that. Please do keep your bibles open to those pages. That will be helpful for me. All the more helpful for you, because that is God's word that you've got in your hand and he's going to speak through it. To that end, why don't I ask the Lord to speak by his spirit to us this morning?

Father, thank you so much for this series that we're looking at what church is and how we relate to it, or her. And father, I pray that this morning I ask that by your spirit, we would hear your voice, that you would dispel lies that we so often fall for, lies that say, am not needed or I don't need this, lies that forget that you are the one who is in control of all things, that you save us for good works. So, by your spirit, I pray you would speak to each of us this morning. Amen. And I'd love you just to picture the scene.

It's 930, and it's the first sunny Sunday in a very long time. And you had a fairly late night last night, and the bed feels warm and it feels like, you know what? The thing I'd love to do? I'd love to have a lion and a cup of tea and then head on out to the Peak district. That's what I would like to do.

And at that stage, you begin to think, and, oh, yes, I looked at the weekly email at church this morning. They're not singing any of the songs that I really like. You know, it's not. I'm missing that. It's Ben speaking.

He speaks all the time. I've heard him a million times.

Why should I go? And then at this point, that kind of inner voice comes and says, well, of course, you know, going to McDonald's doesn't make me a burger. Does going to church really make me a christian? It's about me and Jesus, isn't it? Like, that's where it's all about.

Why should I spend this morning going to church? And if we think like that, I imagine that the people who Paul was writing to would think that even more because there was a church that was dysfunctional with a capital d. Later on, we're going to take communion. Imagine if, when it came to communion, there was one person who took a whole lot of the bread and just stuffed themselves. And then there were people who hadn't eaten in weeks, just sitting there watching on.

Imagine if one person was getting drunk on the communion wine. We would think, this is a church that's got all sorts of issues. And then if you looked around and actually everyone was vying for the most important position as they saw it. Everyone wanted to be visible and doing the jobs that they liked. Oh, and at the back, there's a conversation going on between two people.

Do you know what? I'm kind of team this apostle. And then another person saying, no, no, no, I'm more into this apostle over here. And then somebody else is saying, well, I look down on both of you because I'm just team Jesus. Imagine if that was going on, it would be a dysfunctional place to be, wouldn't it?

And Paul writes to them and he gives some great reason why they should be part of the church. And in fact, I'm going to get you guys to do some work, because sermon, perhaps better when it's done with the whole church family. So what we're going to do is we're going to look out for some repeated words. I'm going to read that first paragraph, verse twelve through to verse 14. And I want you to listen out for any words that you see repeated.

Okay, I'll read it. I might even hint in the way that I read it. But let's see. Just as a body, though one has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one spirit so as to form one body, whether jews or gentiles, slave or free.

And we were all given the one spirit to drink. But even so, the body is not made up of one part, but of many. Okay, tough question. Any repeated words? Come on, help me out.

One. Okay. Yes. So we've got one as a repeated word. That's one repeated word.

Body. Yes. And many. And many. Yes, there are a couple of others, but those are the ones that are repeated most.

One body, many. So he starts writing to this group and he says, do you know what? You are one. You are one. And he says, you're one because you are given the one spirit to drink.

Or verse 13, you were all baptised by one spirit. This is the one place, actually, in Paul's writings where he talks about being baptised in or by the spirit. And what he's talking about here is what happens to us when we come to know Jesus. We know that before we know Jesus, there's nothing good in and of ourselves. We do good stuff, but we often do it for wrong motives.

And yet what happens is that when we come to know Jesus, that Holy Spirit comes and he lives in us and gives us faith and trust in Jesus. And then what he does is he takes the promises of God and he makes them true to us. We saw last week when Jesus says on the cross, all that I am, I give to you. All that I have, I share with you. When he says, I'll take your sin and I will share my perfection with you, the Holy Spirit takes that and he says it to us, and then he lives in us, that we might become more and more like that.

Jesus. That's what happens at conversion. We have the Holy Spirit of God who comes and lives in us. And Paul says that makes us one. You see, just as there's one Jesus and one father, there is only one holy spirit, which means that if I have the Holy Spirit living in me and you have the Holy Spirit living in you, guess what?

We have the same holy spirit who is living in us. And that means that there is a unity that you have with any other christian, whether they are here or on the other side of the globe, whether you have met them or not, you have a unity with them that you don't have, even with your closest friend who doesn't yet know Jesus, because you both have the one Holy Spirit living in you, making you more like Jesus. But it might be that you're here and you wouldn't call yourself a Christian yet, and you're listening to this and you think, well, God coming and living in me, making me one. Does that mean all christians become the same? Like, does this kind of become a bit like the Star Trek, the Borg, you know, that we all become clones of one another?

Well, no, because remember that second repeated word, many. I'm going to do that really awkward thing that preachers sometimes do. I'm going to ask you to turn and to look. Just look around you at the other faces that are there. You don't have to say anything, I know it's awkward, but just look for a moment and what you're going to see is that even here in a church in southwest Sheffield, small part of the world, there are a whole load of people who are very different to you.

You might be slightly older and you'll see that there are younger people. You might be sporty and you'll see that there are people who look less sporty. There might be people. You look around and you think, they've got a better sense of humour than I have. I do that as I stand here.

You see lots of people who are funny. You might see people who are more intelligent, see people who are into all sorts of different things from all sorts of different backgrounds. You see, we're one because we share the one Holy Spirit, but we're also many, various and different and unique, and that's wonderful. And yet, how does that work? How can we both be one and many?

Well, it's through this idea of being a body. If you have the one Holy Spirit in you, if you are a Christian, Paul says, you are part of a body, whether you like it or not, you become a Christian, you got the one spirit, you're part of a body.

And the thing about being part of a body is that if you take a part out of a body, it's not good for the part or for the body. A Christian who's not part of a church is like a liver that's not part of a body. The liver doesn't last very long, and I'm not medical. There are people who are way more medical than me. It doesn't last very long if it's not part of a body.

And you know what? A body doesn't last very long if it's not got a liver. So what we're going to see really briefly today is two things. Firstly, that the church needs you, and secondly, that you need the church. Firstly, the church needs you.

Verse 15. Now, if a foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body, it would not, for that reason, stop being part of the body. And if an ear should say, because I'm not an eye, I don't belong to the body, it would not, for that reason, stop being 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?

You see, we are different, and that's exactly why we need one another. This is why the church needs you. If you imagine a body saying, okay, all the ears, right, we're going to go over here and we're going to have an ear club, okay? And we're going to be over here and we're going to be really good at hearing. The body would be stood there saying, well, I now can't hear.

I'm deprived of hearing because I've got no ears. That, I know this gets a bit freaky when we imagine it, but it's true, isn't it? A body without ears is not able to hear. The church needs you. Imagine it with your hands.

Imagine that tomorrow you woke up and for whatever reason, you suddenly didn't have any hands. Strange thought process, but imagine it. Imagine trying to get breakfast or what your day at work might look like. It would be very difficult, wouldn't it? Or imagine, actually, if your hands were just sometimes there and sometimes not.

How frustrating as you plan ahead. Well, I'll come and see you on that day if I've got my hands that day to drive. Yeah, of course I'll send you that email if I can, because I've got hands that day. It'd be really frustrating, wouldn't it? Or if your hands were kind of half there, there, but really actually focused on something else.

You want them to type, but they're more interested in doing whatever hands they're into. I'm stretching the analogy, and some of you are sitting there thinking, this is just weird. I. Has Ben finally lost it? If it's weird to imagine life without hands, why are we happy for church to be without us?

This analogy is saying, look, if we are parts of the body and the body needs us, then the body without us is losing out. That Sunday morning, I say, actually, do you know what? I'll skate to the peak district. It's like saying, hey, church, do without your hands today. But some of you won't believe this because you'll listen to this and you'll say, okay, I kind of get that if I'm part of a body, maybe I'm the appendix, right?

Like, I get, if Ben's not here, the sermon doesn't work. It'd be a bit of a different service, might get through. But it's probably. But if I'm not here, does anyone really know, like, I've only arrived in the last few weeks. Who would care?

If I'm not here, what do I contribute?

And that might be a really good conversation to pick up. If you're in a growth group, chat with people. What is it that I do at church? How am I a part of what's going on at church? But I know that you do have a role, and I know that you do have a part, because, well, verse 18 tells me so.

But in fact, God has placed the parts of the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. You say body doesn't need me. God says, I placed every part where I wanted it to be. And we might need to do a bit of work on working out what that looks like and how that works. But I know that every part means.

Every part means everyone who is here as part of the body.

Do you know, I chatted to somebody about this passage quite a long time ago. I'm going to call her Georgina, which isn't her name, but she was one of my young people. Years ago, Georgina was painfully shy. And I remember she came along to church. She said, look, my parents don't come to church.

I don't sing very loudly. I don't know many of the songs. I know you say it's important to be here, but I don't really know why. I don't see myself, really, as a part of the body. And we chatted and we prayed, and a few weeks later, Freya.

We'll call her Freya. Again, this is a true story. I'm just changing the names. Freya came to youth group. Freya was just a delightful, delightful girl, full of life, but slightly different to the other girls.

And she didn't make friends very quickly. And to be honest, I was fearful that she would head off again. Until one day when I saw, as I walked in, Georgina and Freya just talking in the corner of the room. They were just chatting and getting on. A few weeks later, I was at church and I looked out and there was Freya, sat next to Georgina.

Freya gave her life to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when she was baptised, it was Georgina who held her towel. Do you know, today, Freya, having done ministry work as a gap year, is now at Uni and going on with the Lord?

There was Georgina saying, I don't feel like I'm part of the body. What do I contribute? I'm an appendix.

Couldn't be further from the truth. God had put her just where he wanted her to be. Maybe you are a Georgina today, but if the church needs you, you need the church. It goes the other way, too. Verse 21.

The eye can't say to the hand, I don't need you. The head can't say to the foot, I don't need you. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable. We can't say, do you know what I don't need? The other people around me.

Or actually, as I come to church. Actually, I don't really need that person. Or that person. I'll take my friends, I'll take the people who are like me, but I won't take the others.

And yet this passage seems to. No, no, no. Just as a liver can't live without the body, body. So you need the body. We need one another.

I need you. I worked out this morning that. Let's imagine for a second that I was to try and have a ten minute conversation with everybody who's come to church today. Just ten minutes. And I didn't take any breaks.

One person to the next person. The next person. The next person. It would take me over 26 hours to get through every single person. That means I cannot pastorally care one to one for everybody in the church.

I can't do it. And that's without spending any time with my family or being pastorally careful myself. I need you. I need you to do the caring for one another. You need others who will do the caring for you.

But it might be that again, you sit here and you think, okay, I kind of get that. I kind of get the Christian on their own is a bit like a piece of coal that falls out the fire. It stays hot for a while and then goes cold. I get that.

But I don't really believe it when it comes to that person. How is it true that I really need that person who, when I speak with them, it feels like they're draining me of energy every time? Or, actually, how is it that I need that person who just seems to demand more and more from me and I don't know what I can give? Does the church really need that person who everyone looks askance at?

Yet this passage seems to say yes.

Says, on the contrary, those parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable. Let me tell you about Alfred. He's another true person, and I've changed his name. But he has taught me more than, I think, a thousand sermons ever did. Alfred was a man who came to know Jesus.

It was quite an amazing story, really. The very first day he walked into church, he was greeted by somebody who he literally had a punch up with two weeks before. It was a little awkward, but the thing about Alfred was that Alfred was a recovering alcoholic, and alongside alcohol, he was addicted to a number of other substances. But Alfred taught me more about my judgmental heart than a thousand sermons had done. Alfred taught me about what it looks like to really battle with addiction and love Jesus at the same time.

Alfred taught me what it looks like to really get grace. When you hate the results of the last few days and what you've done, and you come to Jesus and you truly know that he forgives you, despite. And in the midst of all of that, Alfred's not the kind of person who you would see up on the church billboard. Maybe he should be, but he's not. He's the kind of person that people might look at askance as they come into church.

But I needed Alfred, even though I would have written him off. Parts that seem weaker are indispensable. Again, we know this, don't we? Thought experiment for you. Full of them today.

Please don't correct me if I'm wrong on this. I want you now to think about which parts of your body are covered by the most layers of clothing. Or if that's a bit awkward. I want you to think about which parts of your body do you cover up when you strip off everything else to go swimming? Or if that's slightly awkward, let me ask you which parts of your body are the parts that you always make sure that you washed in the shower.

Now, feel free not to correct me, but I'm guessing that the answer to those things is probably your stinky feet and your private parts. Now, those aren't the bits of our body that we would show off to, I hope. They're not the bits of our body that would show off to everybody. And yet we treat them with special modesty. Did you see that?

The parts that are unrepresentable, verse 23, are treated as with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatments.

Do you know, sometimes it's those parts of the church that we think are unpresentable, where actually we're finding parts of the body that we need the most.

Sometimes it's when we come to church, we go, that's a bit pathetic, or that's a little bit of an awkward situation. But actually, as we dive into it and throw ourselves in, we say, here is beautiful grace, and I can learn a lot from it. So it's 930. It's the first sunny day in ages. You were up late last night, Ben, preaching again, not singing any of your favourite songs.

Why do you go to church? Why do you get up and come to this place, even when it's cold?

Because we need you and you need us. And if you think you don't, perhaps that's exactly the person that you need the most. So over lunch today, here's my challenge. Chat to some people. Chat to some new people.

Don't all chat to the person who thinks awkward, because that would get very awkward very quickly. But chat to some new people. Get to know your church family, see the gift that they are to you, and see the way in which they are going to point you to Jesus. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so, so very much that in your grace you don't kind of just save us and then we teleport up to heaven.

But in your grace you save us into a body that is a manifold body of lots of different parts. Forgive us when we question your wisdom in that. Help us as we interact with others to become the Georginas, to love those father, who we might see as weak, like my friend Alfred. And father, would we be a church that is one united church, drinking of one spirit, looking manifold and different, as different parts of the body love and care for one another. For I pray that in Jesus name, amen.