Are You Doing Your Part?
Good Morning Friends,
Some people go to church to have their needs met. Typically they end up being disappointed because they are under the false impression and expectation that sitting in a pew listening to a sermon and music is all God expects of us. Indeed it is sad but true that too many go away broken having never discovered that the only way to have needs met is to have a servant spirit in which we discover the joy of serving. Today we explore how unity of the body is established. Here we discover that it is like putting diverse puzzle pieces together when we serve others. Are You Doing Your Part?
Scripture: 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 the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would 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 would 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 the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 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? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 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.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (NRSV)
Message: In ministry every member of the Body of Christ has a need for every other member. We all have a job to do. We are all vital pieces of the picture. We all have a part to play. We all have gifts we have been given that fit nicely together into the Body of Christ. And here we exist to carry out the work of the Body and in so doing, because we love, our own needs are met. As part of the Body everything good we want in life is within our grasp if we will just help enough other people to get what they need. When we love each other no one is insignificant. In today’s scripture Paul uses the analogy of the body to describe the Church. He makes the amazing claim that we, the called out Assembly of God, are the Body of Christ. But for people who work for the church, we all know that different parts of the body must all work together or the body goes to pieces. The human body does not exist to meet the needs of just one of its parts…but that one of its parts not functioning can be a world of trouble. The Church at Corinth knew this all too well. So the message is that each part of the body exists to meet the needs of the whole and in doing so meets its own needs. So too we exist as the Body of Christ, not to meet our own needs, but to help other people get what they need. However if we do not know our purpose then we have a problem. The puzzle pieces need to hold and fit together. And that is where Christ comes into the picture. For just as each of our individual body parts has each of us in common, so too, the “Church” has Christ. Without that focus…that Spirit… we are just severed body parts. Paul makes more than 30 references to the body of Christ and I think he uses this because though imperfect, our physical bodies do have diverse parts that are joined together into a recognizable identity. The body has the unique ability that, when functioning in unity, can both touch and cry in compassion for another. Indeed the human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So if one part hurts, the whole body hurts. If one part loves, the whole body loves. So it is with the body of Christ when we serve His purposes. And part of this purpose is to glorify God by functioning in teams that work together in the privilege of service.
Pray that all the tongues, feet, uplifted hands and the eyes and ears of the body work in harmony. Pray that we realize that God did not make us identical at the first birth, nor did He make us identical in our second birth. Pray that we face the paradox of being so dramatically different and still maintain our unity. Pray that we have the same goal. Pray that we care for one another. Pray that we encourage the body. Pray that we live in peace. Pray that we are always thankful. Pray that we care for one another. Pray we share each other’s troubles and problems. Pray we never think we are too important to help someone in need. Pray we provoke others to love and to good works. Pray that when someone’s passing creates a vacancy at the table that we invite someone else to join in the fellowship. Pray we each be able to articulate our faith…our function…our fellowship…our freedom. Pray that we hold to the truth in love.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 