Many Parts Form One Body in Christ

I worked at Target during college and seminary. One of the areas I was trained in was putting the bicycles together when they came off the truck to get them ready for the sales floor. On one hand, bikes are very basic in that they have two wheels, handlebars, a seat, pedals, a chain and a frame. On the other hand, bikes are complicated in that the wheels, handlebars and seat all need to be straight, the chain not too tight or too loose, and the brakes need to be adjusted properly. When you look at a bike, you might not notice the many little pieces that allow a bike to be properly put together, but you notice right away when you ride a bike that has not been put together properly or is missing even a very small piece.

You did not need to be an expert living in the town of Nazareth to notice Jesus. In Luke 4, we hear the account of Jesus visiting his hometown of Nazareth. There was a buzz surrounding his visit because he had already been teaching throughout the area, and his message was different. On the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue, which would be like church today, and he was given the scroll of Isaiah to read. He unrolled to a section from Isaiah 61, and read, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The one who would fulfill this prophecy of Isaiah would be the Savior. He would be the one anointed by the Spirit of the Lord, which happened to Jesus at his baptism. He would help the poor, prisoners, blind and oppressed. He would usher in a new era of the Lord’s favor. Jesus read these powerful words in his hometown of Nazareth, 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This was the equivalent of a mic drop. It was like the moment in a love story where she realizes she is into him or in an action movie where the hero finds the one weapon to defeat the bad guy. The people in the synagogue expected some words of wisdom from Jesus, not to hear him claim he was the Messiah. Jesus’ message was different because he was not only another Israelite from Nazareth, but he was also the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel and the head of his body, the Church.

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he compared the body of Christ or the church to an actual body. In 1 Corinthians 12, we read, 12 “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free…” The point here is simple. The body is a unit; it is one. At the same time, it has many parts. There are toes, feet, legs, fingers, hands, arms, torso and head. The body also has many parts on the inside like the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, bones, muscles, tendons, veins, arteries, cells, etc. Yet, those many parts form the one body; any part on its own is not the body. This is the same with Christ. Since the one Holy Spirit brought all of us to faith and washed us clean of our sins through the same baptism, we are one body, one unit, sharing one common faith in the one true God and our Savior Jesus. Regardless of your language, nationality, status, personality, etc. you are one body in Christ. Being one in Christ is the greatest, deepest, most fundamental and enduring identifying aspect of your life.

Parts of the body cannot survive separated from the body. If in an unfortunate accident someone loses their pinkie toe, then the body will survive, but the pinkie toe will not. No one would hear about this accident and think that there are now two bodies. The body is a unit made up of many parts, but one part is not the body. Paul explained it like this, 15 Now if the foot should say, “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. 16 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. 17 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? Paul is using the obvious truths about the body to teach you about your place in Christ’s body the Church. You are a uniquely gifted part of the one body of Christ. You have a unique role with unique spiritual gifts to serve God. Your temptation is to think you do not belong in the body of Christ because you do not have the same spiritual gifts as another believer. Your temptation is also to covet another believer’s gifts. When you give into these temptations, they are sinful because they deny God’s desire for the body to be made up of many unique parts to work together. It is sinful to deny or despise the spiritual gifts God has given you. These sins lead you away from the body and away from Christ putting you in danger of losing your faith altogether.

God wanted you to be part of Christ’s body. God’s response to your falling into the temptation of not wanting your spiritual gifts to function in the way he made you and wanting to have someone else’s spiritual gifts is to stop focusing on yourself. Also, stop focusing on other people and focus on God. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul wrote, 18 “But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” God put Christ’s body, the Church together. God knows every one of you and through baptism and the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit you are part of the body. He wanted you to have your unique spiritual gifts so that the body would be able to carry out its different functions.

When you are stuck looking at yourself or determining your place in Christ’s body by looking at others, look back to Jesus. Again, listen to what happened in Luke 4, 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Fasten your eyes on Jesus. He came to preach good news, freedom, healing and grace. In Romans 8, we hear, 29 “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” God has done everything to make you part of his Church through Christ. The gifts he has given you have a place and purpose in the body among your brothers and sisters in Christ.

God wants the many parts to be one body. After the section of Isaiah 61 that Jesus quoted in Luke 4, the focus switched from the work of the Savior to the work of believers. We read in Isaiah 61, 4 “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. 5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. 6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.” The three subjects in these verses are “they,” “strangers and foreigners,” and “you” plural. These are all describing the Church, the many believers who make up the Church, the body of Christ, those who have been saved by the one the Spirit of the Lord rested on and anointed at his baptism, Jesus. You are the priests and ministers of God as we hear in 1 Peter 2, 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. God made you one body with one purpose, and each of you contributes to that purpose as one uniquely gifted part. You are all called to serve God and you all serve God in different ways.

When you look at a bike, you might not notice the many little pieces that allow a bike to be properly put together. A simple children’s bike without brakes or gears can function, but a bike with the many pieces that make up the breaks and gears allow a higher level of function. God wants every part of the Church to be one, united by baptism and the Holy Spirit. He wants each part connected to the others. Paul wrote, 26 “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” The many parts are to be so close that whatever happens to one affects the other parts in the same way. This coming Saturday, January 29^th at 1:00 pm we as a church are going to study Scripture learning about the parts of Christ’s body God has brought together here at Divine Peace. Through the Personal Member Ministry S.H.A.P.E.D. workshop you will come to better understand your spiritual gifts and the ways God wants to use you. You and I, God’s people, are many parts that form one body in Christ. Amen.