One, But Not the Same

January 31, 2015

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

12 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. 13 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.

14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as God chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 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.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 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; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Sermon: 

A man went to his doctor, complaining of pain.

"You have to help me," he cried. "I hurt all over!"

"What do you mean, all over?" asked the doctor,

"Try to be a little more specific."

The man touched his right knee with his index finger and yelled,

"Ow, that hurts."

Then he touched his left cheek and again yelled,

"Ouch! That hurts too."

Then he touched his right earlobe,

"Ow, even THAT hurts," he bellowed, bursting into tears.

The doctor checked him thoroughly and announced her diagnosis:

"You have a broken finger.”

When something is wrong with our bodies, we know it. 

But what about when something is wrong with the body of Christ?  Do we recognize that as easily?  Today’s reading from 1 Corinthians shows us what the body of Christ looks like when it’s a beacon of health:

There’s not a diet of kale, but rather this body is filled with the life-giving Spirit of God.

All of the various parts of the body work in unity with no one saying, “I have no need of you.”

Everyone is honored, especially those who might be forgotten.

 This body suffers together, and rejoices together.

You probably know what the body of Christ looks like when it’s not a picture of healthiness.  I’d imagine you’ve seen that at some point:

Instead of being filled with the Spirit of peace, people are filled with a spirit of competition and power.

Unity is discarded for rightness, and “I have no need of you” is proclaimed in painful ways, through gossip, judging one another, and those dreaded parking lot conversations.

A select few are honored, and seek to point out the flaws in everyone else.

The whole body suffers, which sounds like 1 Corinthians, but they do not suffer together.  They suffer because of each other, not with each other.

And rejoicing?  The only rejoicing is when someone gets the power they want.

It is a sad picture, isn’t it?

The disease of division afflicts so many churches, and the church universal, as we are divided by theologies, economies, politics, race and gender.  What is the prescription then, for a healthy body of Christ?  1 Corinthians 12 is a good start.

As I read this text, I am struck by all the differences described within that body.

Feet are not ears.

Ears are not eyes.

Eyes are not noses.

Noses are not hands.

Hands are not heads.

Or put another way later in the text:

Apostles are not prophets.

Prophets are not teachers.

Teachers are not miracle workers (well, that one is debatable, isn’t it??)

Healers are not the same as people who speak in tongues or interpreters.

To quote that great prophet of our time, Bono, “We’re one, but we’re not the same.”

We are not the same.  So much of our sickness in the body of Christ centers around a need to make ourselves the same, when we’re not supposed to be.

We assume we do not belong to one another unless we agree on everything from the color of the carpet to our interpretation of scripture. 

But this text doesn’t say the body of Christ was made to drink of one ideology, one theology, one political position, or one way of seeing the world.  It says we were made to drink (whether we want to or not) of one Spirit.  If the Spirit makes us one, then it’s possible to appreciate that we are not the same.

We are not meant to see God and scripture in the exact same way; we need the push and pull of different viewpoints to grow in our faith, otherwise church is just an exercise in validating one another over and over again, a spiritual pat on the back and nothing else. 

We are not meant to all serve God and our neighbor in the exact same way; we need the vision and passion of different approaches and callings to move beyond our comfort zone to mission we might never have dreamed of. 

We are not meant to form alliances within the church of those who most remind us of ourselves; we are meant to seek to honor those who are most unlike ourselves. 

When we see difference, not as a threat to the church, but as the gift of God it is, we can fully serve in this body, not as anyone else, but in our own unique way.  Today, we ordain and install those who have answered God’s call to be leaders of this body.  They each bring different experiences, different faith journeys, different gifts and skills.  They will be a blessing to this body, not because they conform to how we like things to be done, but because they bring new energy and imagination to our ministry together.  I want to encourage you Cathy, Bruce and Julie, and the rest of our session, Dawn, Dean, Andrey, Terry and Randall, to serve this body in your own particular way, never forgetting the gift of the Spirit that makes us one when we’re not the same.

And I want to encourage all of us to look beyond this particular body to the larger body of Christ in the world and ask a difficult question: how has the sickness of division inflicted our relationship with that body?  How have we assumed uniformity of thought is what makes us one, instead of the unity of the Spirit in all our diversities?  When you are tempted to speak ill of another Christian because they practice their faith differently than you do, or care about different issues than you do, remember:  “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as God chose.”

As Presbyterians, those last three words are everything: as God chose.  You might be in church today because your parents brought you every Sunday.  You might be here because, though you left for many years, you decided to come back.  You might be here because it makes you feel less guilty about the rest of your week!  Whatever your reasons, it was not your doing. 

You did not choose to be a part of this body of Christ, God chose to call you to it.  Therefore, you cannot choose to disconnect from this body.  Sure, you can decide not to be here.  But God will always choose you for covenant community, again and again, calling you home.

Thanks be to the God who designed faith to be a communal journey, to the Spirit who makes us one when we’re not the same, and to the Son who uses us as his hands and feet (and knees and elbows) in this world, amen.