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Sermon - The Healthy Body - 21st January 2007
Saint Aidan’s West Epping 8:30am
Readings: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Snoopy, the dog in the Peanuts cartoons, was going on a hike. As he walked, a conversation was going on amongst the various parts of his body. His feet were complaining that they were overworked and underpaid: why should they have to do all the walking? His legs were insisting that they have to work just as hard. His stomach was defending itself against accusations of laziness. Meanwhile his brain was complaining about all the noise: it was trying to get some sleep!
Of course, they are all vital to Snoopy’s hike! Without his feet, he won’t be able to walk at all. Without his legs, his feet will be pretty useless, if they’re there at all! Without his stomach, he won’t be alive to do the walking. And without his brain, there will be no signals to his legs and feet to do anything at all!
Where did Charles Schulz, the writer of “Peanuts”, get this idea from? As he often did, he got it from the Bible: this time from Paul’s picture of the body in 1 Corinthians 12, this morning’s second reading.
We heard about feet and ears trying to declare independence from the body. We heard of eyes telling hands, and heads telling feet, that they weren’t needed. We tried to imagine what a body would be like if it were one huge eye or one big ear. Nonsense, of course! But there was an important point.
In last week’s reading, from the first part of the chapter, Paul wrote of how the Holy Spirit equips Christians with differing gifts, so that we can serve each other and serve Christ’s church in our different ways, for the good of all. Paul goes on in today’s reading to correct some wrong attitudes held by many of his readers. What he says is important for us today, as we think about the church, and how we fit into it.
The church, as Paul says, is the body of Christ. Therefore we, both in the Parish and at St.Aidan’s, are the body of Christ. In fact, we will acknowledge that to one another in a short time when we come to the greeting of peace. But what does that mean in reality? Paul brings out four truths: simple, but relevant to us in our life together.
Firstly, we are one. We are family: we belong together. I am not just a head, a couple of arms, and various other bodily parts that happen to be in the same vicinity. My body is not just a collection of bodily parts: it is a body. That’s me!
In the same way, the body of Christ is not just a collection of people who happen to be in the same building at the same time on Sundays. The people make up a unity; they are intimately linked together in the purposes of God.
And as a church, as a Parish, it is the same with us. We are one in Christ, united in him. As Christians, we not only belong to Jesus, we belong to one another in his family. As Christ’s followers, we are part of the church: that is a vital part of our Christian commitment.
Firstly then, we are one. We belong together.
The second truth Paul brings out is that we are different. My body is made up of ears and eyes, arms and legs, liver and intestines, and so on. Many different parts. If I have one nose and one heart, that’s good. If I have two noses and no heart, that’s a major problem. To be a healthy person, we need the full collection and the right combination of bodily parts, and we need them all functioning well.
In the body of Christ, it is the same. We are different from each other, just like our different bodily organs. We all have our contribution to make, our own role we can play. There are things each of us can do for our life together that no one else can do in quite the same way. Like different parts of a human body, we work together in co-operation, not in competition.
Each of us is unique. Each of us is special. Some are comfortable being out the front; others do better out of the limelight. Some are better doing particular types of jobs, while others are better at relating to people. We each have our own unique contribution to make to the life and witness of our church. Yes, we are all different.
We are one. We are different. And thirdly, we are all needed.
If some part of our body is not working effectively, we are worse off. Yes, we can get by without an arm or a leg: some people I meet at hospital have to. We can get by if our eyes or ears are not functioning, but it is more difficult.
In the same way, the church as a whole suffers if any of its members is not playing their role in its life. If some of us hang back, or don’t make an effort, or fail to consider how we can help, the church will survive. But it will not be as effective.
If we take the attitude: “I’m not important: they won’t miss me”, we’ll be wrong. You’ll be surprised how often people comment on someone they missed seeing at a church service or activity. On occasions someone might even contact you to say: “We missed you today. How are you?” Perhaps that’s something that could be done more often.
Of course, people might feel that it’s like checking up on parishioners, or making them feel guilty. However, if we don’t make that contact, people can indeed feel that they are not noticed or needed or missed. I suspect this personal concern is a strength of St.Aidan’s: our members do need to know that they matter to us.
If we say, “Don’t expect me to get involved” or “I’ve got nothing to contribute”, we miss out individually, and the whole congregation misses out on what we have to contribute. All of us are called to be ministers of the church, as followers of Christ.
Yes, your contribution is important. Your presence is an encouragement in itself, and your absence can be a discouragement. Your prayer, your interest, your giving, your ideas can all make a difference. There are different ways we can help at a practical level. The phone call or enquiry when someone has not been well is a ministry. The welcoming smile or chat with a visitor. The information which might help our leaders to be aware of a need. And so on. The quiet person is needed as much as anyone else.
Yes, every one of us can be of some help in some way in the life of our church. We can all contribute in our own way. We all matter to God: we also matter to each other. Yes, we are all needed.
We are one. We are different. We are all needed. And then fourthly, we all need each other.
We know how the different parts of our body need each other. Paul brings that out in this passage. The eye can often see more clearly if the hand brings something closer to be examined. The hand can manipulate more effectively if the eye enables the person to see clearly what he is doing.
Similarly, we will find it harder to go forward on our spiritual journey as members of Christ’s body, if we try to be spiritually independent. Our active involvement in the life of the church is one of God’s ways of keeping us spiritually healthy. And it will be more effective if we seek actively to play our part.
We all need each other: clergy need laity as much as the laity need the clergy. The Rector is not like a bus driver with the congregation as his passengers, sitting back while he drives: Fr John is more like the captain-coach of a team where every member needs to play their part. We support him in prayer and encouragement, but we also play our part in the life of the parish.
Yes, we all need each other. And we need to accept what each other has to offer, even when it is not exactly the way we would do it. We are not in competition with each other: we are not rivals. We need to appreciate what each other has to offer, and support each other.
And if there is some way we can help, especially a person who would benefit from our assistance, let’s make the effort. Let’s encourage each other to be involved, and work together as a team, just as the healthy parts of a body do. That way we will be more and more effective in our ministry together.
So there they are: these four truths about the body of Christ - and that’s us!
- We are one
- We are all different
- We are all needed
- We all need each other
We are all in this together in the body of Christ here at St.Aidan’s. Some of you, I know, are making a large contribution to church life: that’s great. Some can’t do so much for all sorts of reasons: thank you for the contribution you do make.
And let us all seek prayerfully to be open to ways that we can continue to strengthen our life and ministry together, and the part that each of us might play. Let’s benefit from the ministries we can offer each other. And let’s encourage each other, as we share in the blessings and the opportunities that come from being members of the body of Christ, and especially the family of God here at St.Aidan’s and the Parish of Epping. Amen.