“Everybody is Somebody”
1
Corinthians 12:12-31
If you go
east out of
The
philosophy behind this city motto is pretty straightforward. It doesn’t matter where you come from, what
you do, or who you are, in Snellville, you’re somebody. You matter to the town, you’re important to
the health and vitality of Snellville.
You’re not just some unknown face in crowd, not just another person in
the sea of humanity that constitutes the millions of people who live in
Metropolitan Atlanta; you’re a resident of
Is this a
pie-in-the-sky philosophy? A utopian ideal?
Well, maybe. We certainly know
that living in a town, regardless of it’s size,
doesn’t always seem as warm and fuzzy as we would like to think it is, and not
everybody does great work or holds high offices. City managers, government officials, and
certain economic, business, and religious leaders have a lot more say in what
goes on in a town than your average run of the mill citizen. In any town or city, there are always those
with more power and prestige, more authority and clout, more influence and more
of a reputation than the average person.
The church is no exception.
Paul knew
full well that churches, if they’re not careful, can take on the life and
pecking order of the town in which it is located. A church draws its membership from the
community at large, from a people who come from different backgrounds with
different beliefs, different economic and social status, and different
political ideologies. Paul knew that
such diversity in a church, if it’s not grounded and tempered with unity, can
lead to problems, such as hierarchal mentalities, spiritual superiority, and
power struggles. This was especially the
case in
Corinth was an extraordinary place, a first century New
York City, Las Vegas, and Washington D.C. all wrapped up into one. It was a major port city with an urban center
of commerce and Hellenistic culture, but it also had its darker side with
rampant prostitution, crime, and corruption.
Corinth had both a a sophisticated citizenry schooled in philosophy and
rhetoric, as well as those who found themselves outside the sophiscated and
schooled elite, on the fringes of society.
The
congregation that made up the Corinthian church was a cross section of all of
this, rich and poor, sophisticated and simple, most with humble if not questionable
beginnings before becoming Christian. And yet, the church was full of gifted people,
people who were given the fruits of the Spirit – wisdom, knowledge, faith,
powers of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, and,
do I dare say, the mystical, ecstatic speech known as “tongues.”
In our
text for this morning, Paul is addressing an argument about who was more
important, the one with the most spiritual gifts or the one with the least
amount of spiritual gifts. For the Corinthian
church, this was not a theoretical question, but a real life question, because
certain people were vying for the preeminent place within the
congregation. The result was not just
hurt feelings, but alienation. Those
whose gifts did not equip them for the higher ranks of power were not only
getting lost in the struggle, they were being demeaned, and treated as though
they were not important. It is to this
argument that Paul gives us his famous metaphor of the body. But for Paul, this was no metaphor, but a
very special, and even mystical, reality.
For
Paul, the members of the body need one another, because each person plays an
important role in the church, each person is one part of the whole, each
person’s gifts is as important to the church as another’s. Just like the members of our body cannot
function without the other members of the body, neither can the church. The church needs everyone, regardless of a
person’s perceived importance, in order for it to be effective in its faith and
life, in its ministry and service. Even
those people who are often thought of by others, or by themselves, as less
important, are to be treated with the utmost respect, because they too are
absolutely indispensable to health and future of the church. Even the smallest acts of mutual service rank
the hightest with God.
There
is a story told about a Scottish minister who was well known for his
preaching. One day he told his
congregation about one his dreams. He
had dreamed that he died, and naturally had presented himself at the gates of
heaven. But to his dismay, Peter denied
him admission unitl he presented his credentials.
The
man told of the great sermons he had preached, but Peter said that no one had
heard them in heaven. The man spoke
about his service to his city and of his pastoral work, a work that had made
him beloved by many people. But, even
that was unknown in heaven. The man
began to turn away in despair when Peter said, “Stay a moment and tell me
this. Are you the man who fed the
sparrows?” “Yes,” the man replied, “but
what does that have to do with it?”
“Come in,” said Peter, “the Master of the sparrows wants to thank you.”
Great
services may reflect our gifts, talents, and abilities, but small services
reflect the depth and range of not only our faithfulness, but our holiness as
well. One does not have to do dramatic
works or hold prominent offices to be important to the overall mission and
ministry of the church, in fact, they are critical to the fulfillment of our
calling as the church, because we are the body of Christ.
It is
one of the greatest mysteries of faith that we are in reality no less than
Christ himself. We are more than just a
body of people who happen to come together on Sunday morning. We are more than a collection of spiritual
gifts, more than a group of volunteers, we are the living Lord who speaks his
message of love, redemption, and peace through us. We are Christ, when we touch the weak to give
them strength, when we lay hands on the sick to make them whole, when we use
our minds to make wise use of our gifts and resources, when we use our
knowledge to make the gospel accessible and understandable to others. But we can only be the body of Christ, when
all of our members are united together as a whole.
A fire
that does not have glowing embers underneath will soon lose its heat and the
flame and will slowly die out. Even the
smallest of embers, when combined with the whole, keep the flame of the fire
going, as they pulsate in unision with their radiant heat. Separate the embers from the fire, and soon
even the embers will turn cold and grey.
So it is with the church as well, for it is only when all of the members
working together, pulsating with the radiant heat of the fire of the Spirit of
Christ, that we can keep the fire going, and re-incarnate the one who resides
in us for all the world to see.
In
just a few moments, we will join together at the table, but we do not join
together at the table alone. We come
together with all of those in every time and in every place, in every nation
and in every land, and from every walk of life to every diverse culture and
people. We all come together not just as
many members, but as the very body of Christ.
It is in our unity and our common ministry that we bring vitality and
effective witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ as Christ’s faithful servants,
as we suffer together and rejoice together, one for another, for where the
members of the body of Christ are lifted up and honored for their importance,
so there Christ himself will be as well, burning brightly, at work, and
fulfilling through us God’s mission of salvation in the world.
If you go east out of