Body Parts
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12 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ.
13 By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
14 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.
15 If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so?
16 If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body?
17 If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell?
18 As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.
19 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn’t be a body, but a monster.
20 What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own.
21 Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, “Get lost; I don’t need you”? Or, Head telling Foot, “You’re fired; your job has been phased out”?
22 As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the “lower” the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach.
23 When it’s a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons.
24 If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn’t you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?
25 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t,
26 the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
27 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.
28 You’re familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his “body”: apostles prophets teachers miracle workers healers helpers organizers those who pray in tongues.
29 But it’s obvious by now, isn’t it, that Christ’s church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional Part? It’s not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker,
30 not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues.
31 And yet some of you keep competing for so-called “important” parts. But now I want to lay out a far better way for you.
We believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead. We don’t think that the body is evil and the spirit is good. We don’t believe you leave this body behind to go to you eternal reward. Any separation from the body is temporary after death. Our bodies are part of our lives every day. Our bodies are part of our redemption in glory. One day the Bible tells us we will have a new body like the one Christ had after the resurrection.
This is important to remember. It’s gnosticism to teach that we are trapped in these bodies and will finally be free of them. It’s Christian to say immediately after someone dies they are absent from the body and present with the Lord. But it’s a temporary absence. One day all who hope in Christ will experience the resurrection and receive a new more glorious body.
I think this affects how we experience every day. If we think of our bodies as a trap, how will we experience pain and suffering? If we think our bodies as part of God’s creation, something that will be redeemed and made new as part of God’s plan, that changes the equation. Our bodies are incredibly useful and do so much for us. They are not a burden, they bear many burdens. The suffering we experience in the body is part of life but pain is helpful in alerting us to issues and guiding us toward better choices as well.
I could say so much more, but I’m simply laying the foundation that for Christians the body is a good thing, that’s why it’s mentioned so much in the Bible.
This was true for Jewish thought as well. So, Paul writes this letter assuming that people do appreciate the good things about their bodies, despite the limitations.
So Paul says, think about how your body works. So many very different parts all amazingly and sometimes strangely working together for good. Your feet may hurt and maybe don’t smell their best at the end of long day. But think of all they did for you to end up in that condition! Your eyes may get tired after a long stretch of reading or using a computer. But think of all you learned and accomplished before they got tired. Your hair may be a mess in the morning, but it helped keep your head warm all night. Your nose can help you find trouble or guide you to the kitchen for a fresh cup of coffee.
Our bodies are an integral part of who we are. They ground our existence in the natural world. They help us communicate and survive. To be human is to exist with a body.
So Paul makes the case that this is what it means to belong to Christ. To be part of a larger body that makes up God’s people.
12 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ.
So we are part of something larger than ourselves....
13 By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.
Being saved. Being baptized. We become part of one larger body. Bodies have a massive number of moving parts, especially as you go down to the microscopic and subatomic levels. It’s just incredible but all the parts are important in some way.
14 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.
So everyone who belongs to Christ is part of something important. Nobody sitting things out. Nobody cast aside.
15 If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so?
Now there’s a whole series of these but you get the point. We can’t start saying only certain parts matter. We can’t say, I don’t get to be like that other part so therefore I’m not playing my role. If your colon goes on strike, you’re in trouble. If your left arm says not today, you’ve got a problem. So, it’s a problem for the body.
However, if ear says hey, listen up, even though he’s hidden under hair and gets cold in the wind, you hear that car coming and avoid getting hit. If tooth says, I’ll help you turn your meal into energy, good things happen.
And if all of us are connected in this way, you can begin to see the possibilities...
25 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t,
26 the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
So how are we staying connected to one another? How are we supporting each other in times of trial and in moments of celebration?
Are we developing those relationships by reaching out and remaining connected? COVID has made things choppy at times. This current surge hasn’t helped. But thankfully we have ways to remain connected. We can do it. Usually that’s what I like to emphasize: the opportunity we have to live the life God blesses. But there is another side to this: the body suffers when a part refuses to cooperate.
So check yourself and listen to the Spirit. Usually the Spirit isn’t just going to tell you to go with what you prefer. The Spirit will lead you to where you can do the most good. Whether you think of it as becoming part of the body of Christ or joining God’s family, we all usually arrive because of our own needs. But we really can’t resolve our own needs without beginning to do our part to help others. That’s just how it works. The selfish person doing selfish things simply becomes more and more selfish over time. No matter how much good happens to them they remain independent and they never feel they have enough. It’s really hard to be happy that way. On the other hand the person who is generous and willing to help others soon discovers just how blessed they are.
In my experience, people who realize they have been blessed are the ones happy to extend grace to others. The ones who judge the most are forgetting how much they’ve been forgiven. Hopefully it’s just temporary amnesia.
Some of us are more coordinated than others. Some people are blessed with a body that obeys their every command. These people can become professional athletes or graceful dancers. Like poetry in motion. But if it seems like you’ve got two left feet, well dancing is a sight to behold.
Christ is the head of the body. All of us have a key role to play: hands, feet, noses and ears. When we are all connected and all in sync with the head it’s beautiful whenever we are in motion together.
Several have pulled together to help a family in need recently. Sometimes our part is being willing to accept that help. Let it flow, don’t stand in the way of what God is doing. If you don’t let someone else help you could literally be keeping them from obeying God’s leading in their life. So it’s great to serve. It’s great to be served when it’s a true need.
If we all give, we can pay the bills and more. If we all show up, it’s more enjoyable to be together. If we connect online it’s more than just watching a video of a service. If we all make that phone call or send that card or note, everyone is remembered. Nobody is forgotten. Nobody will say “the church should do this”… because particular people will have already done it. Well I take that back because I have seen cases where no matter what people do some still find fault. You can’t help that. But we can do what we can...
Someone dear to me has been extremely ill across this last few years. You wouldn’t know it, however. She just oozes grace and encouragement to absolutely everyone. Barely mentions her own suffering. The other day she said, I can’t do much anymore, all I can do is pray.
Well you know I was all over that because: first of all making intercessory prayer for others a priority in your life is a massive thing to do. It doesn’t fall into the ONLY category. But, more importantly, it’s not all that person does. She’s such an encourager. Obviously, she has the gift of encouragement. She doesn’t even realize she’s doing it. She doesn’t even think it counts. But in this way she’s every bit a part of the body of Christ even though her physical body is limiting her right now.
Don’t compete, compare, or diminish others or yourself
Don’t compete, compare, or diminish others or yourself
We are all needed. We all make a difference. We all have something important to do for the body.
27 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.
But when you do accept it, your part means everything. Today, keep going in discovering who God made you to be and what God made you to do. Be willing to do it in humble circumstances. Be willing to do it in concert with others. Believe that we become something more than our parts when we are all committed, all surrendered, all devoted. Let’s be the body of Christ here where we live and work and play. Find your gift or gifts. Find your fit. Discover what God can do in and through us… Let’s pray...