Being the Body of Christ - January 24, 2016 - Third Sunday in after the Epiphany - Text: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Last week Paul was tell us about the fact that God gives gifts. God gives spiritual gifts for the purpose of strengthening His people and that is done through our encouraging and building each other up as brothers and sisters in Christ. God gives spiritual gifts for extending His Kingdom and that is done through our living lives of faith and sharing the good news of Jesus with others. And God gives spiritual gifts so that we might give Him praise and glory, which He rightly deserves and this is done through our encouraging and building each other ups as brothers and sisters in Christ and through our living lives of faith and sharing the good news of Jesus with others. This morning we continue reading through Paul’s letter as he compares Christ’s Church, the Holy Christian Church, and we as one congregation of the Holy Christian Church, to a body.
 

Just as Paul began with God last week, so He begins with God again this week. The function of the body of Christ, that is the function of the Christian church in a local congregation or in the body as a whole always has its roots in God. God does and God gives and we are done to and given to. Thus, Paul begins by reminding us of our redemption. We begin at verse twelve, “12For 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. 13For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (v. 12-13).
 

As we read and hear Paul’s words for this morning we want to make sure we do not misunderstand Paul, nor take his words out of context, nor put them in opposition to any of God’s other word. In our text Paul is speaking about the order of redemption. The order of redemption is that by faith in Jesus we are all, everyone of us as individuals, at the same time sinner/saints. When it comes to the order of redemption there is no distinction made among the people of the world, no distinction between race or culture, gender or ownership. Before God we are people, individuals, who are sinners, who have, by faith in Jesus, been redeemed and made saints.
 

What we want to be careful of is that we do not make the order of redemption take the place of nor negate the order of creation. The order of creation continues alongside the order of redemption. The order of creation continues to be the fact that God has created the world in an orderly manner, that He has set certain boundaries within His creation for the sake of good order, for the sake of peace and harmony. These boundaries have not been negated by the order of redemption.
 

Paul helps us to understand the order of redemption and he does so by what I call making the comparison in negative. We pick up at verse fourteen, “14For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If the foot should 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. 16And if the ear should 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. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21The 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.” 22On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.” (v. 14-25)
 

Notice what Paul is not doing. Paul is not making a one to one comparison, in other words, he is not saying that the feet are one board or committee within the congregation and the hands another board or committee. He is not comparing the fingers with Mr. Evischefski and the toes with Mr. Jones and so forth.
 

Notice that Paul is not mentioning what he believes to be the weaker or indispensable parts, although I cannot imagine him thinking in terms of appendix or tonsils. Perhaps he understands that different people look at their own bodies differently as we do today and so he is leaving this to the readers understanding.
 

And notice that Paul is not mentioning which are the parts which receive greater or less honor. Again, perhaps there were people just as vain then as they are today who wish to hide certain parts of their bodies and to show off other parts. The fact of the matter, for Paul and for us, is that we do not necessarily look at the Church or our congregation in the same way that God does. Although our human thinking might tend to elevate certain people or positions, Paul reminds us that in God’s eyes we are of equal value and importance.
 

Continuing on, Paul gives us a more positive comparison. We pick up at verse twenty-six, “26If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31But earnestly desire the higher gifts” (v. 26-31a).
 

Anyone who has been sick and in the hospital and has one part of their body breakdown or malfunction, such as having a heart attack, or a kidney stone or a gall stone, or a stroke, or whatever, will certainly understand that Paul is telling us the fact that a body has to have all its parts working to function properly. When one part fails the whole body struggles.
 

Here again, Paul is comparing the fact that we may humanistically put more emphasis on some parts of our body and hide other parts, we may humanistically believe that certain positions or boards and committees are more important or less important, but he reminds us that all parts are equally important.
 

And Paul reminds us that when one part suffers the whole suffers. Again, anyone who suffers from one part of the body suffering knows that this is the way it is, that when one part suffers, the whole part suffers. Likewise, when one member is suffering we do indeed all suffer, even if we may not feel like it at the time.
 

So, what does this mean? And what does this mean for us? We need to constantly remind ourselves that it is God who redeems us and He has redeemed us for a purpose. He has redeemed us so that we might be His people, so that we might live lives of faith, so that others might see how we love each other and give glory to God, so that others might see our faith and praise the Lord.
 

We want to constantly remind ourselves that it is a privilege to be the people of God in this place and to do the works of service He has prepared in advance for us to do. We want to constantly remind ourselves that God is the one who gives us not only to do works of service, but also the gifts to do them.
 

And so we will continue to work together and working together means we will work together. Working together does not necessarily mean we will always agree with one another, nor does it mean we will always get along together, after all, we are still sin tainted sinners. It is because we are God’s people in this place the devil is going to work on us even more in order to divide and conquer. Working together them means to recognize when the devil is tempting us to be divisive; tempting us to refuse and reject the gifts of God; tempting us to speak half-truths and false statements or prodding others to do so; tempting us in order to move our focus from being God’s people in this place by encouraging each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, especially encouraging each other to be in Divine Service and Bible Class. With the help of the Holy Spirit we recognize the devils temptation to move our focus away from being God’s people in this community working to share God’s Word with those nearest us, instead of focusing all our attention inward as if we are some country club for the Lord.
 

We need to constantly remind ourselves of the bigger picture. We are not here to be self servicing, but we are here to be of service to our Lord who gives us the gifts to use in the first place, in other words, we are here in this place to work to serve our own members so they might be strengthened in faith; we are here in this place to be of service to the community so they might be brought to faith; and we are here in this place to give glory to the Lord. Does what we do give glory to the Lord?
 

Paul’s last statement is “But earnestly desire the higher gifts.” Paul encourages us to desire to be God’s people the best way we can.
 

Finally, let me remind you that we do fail. Time and again we fail, that is why I need also remind you that God never fails. God continues to give us forgiveness and through His Word He continues to guide us to be the people He would have us to be.
    In the Gospel lesson for this morning we were presented with the story of how Jesus own family, friends and congregation treated Him and how they treated Him in person. Perhaps this lesson causes us to pause and ask ourselves how we treat Jesus? Remembering that whatever we do for one of the least of His children, we are doing it to Him.
 

Now, let me take you back to the beginning of our text. Remember, Paul began with God. And so we began with God and this morning we will also end with God. God is indeed the prime mover. The whole reason Jesus came was to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus came to live perfectly for us because He knew that we cannot live perfectly. Jesus treats us perfectly, as sinner/saints. Jesus hurts when we hurt. Jesus suffers when we suffer. And Jesus suffered the greatest suffering, indeed, He suffered the eternal punishment for our sins, for us, in our place because of His great love for us. Jesus forgives us so that we may start over again and again and again. That we would desire the higher gifts would be that we would desire to be more Christlike, that is that we would desire for our Lord to have His way with us, loving us and loving others through us. And ultimately, that our desire would be that our very lives might be lives that bring Him praise and glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Concerning Spiritual Gifts - January 17, 2016 - Second Sunday after the Epiphany - Text: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Last week we began by briefly mentioning that we celebrated Epiphany on January 6. Actually and unfortunately, I guess not too many people really celebrate Epiphany in our world today. I might suggest, tongue in cheek, that the reason it is not a big celebration is because it does not sell very well. Think about it, the big holidays according to our world are those that sell; Halloween, Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day.
 

Before we get to our text for this morning, I do want to speak another brief word about Epiphany, because we are now in the Epiphany season and will be until Ash Wednesday, which is three weeks from this Wednesday, and is the beginning of Lent. As I said last week, the word “epiphany” means appearing or manifestation. If you ever wondered where we get the word in the hymn, “God in flesh made manifest,” the word “manifest” means to appear in the form of. And so, during Epiphany we celebrate that God appeared, was born in flesh in the form of the person of Jesus.
 

But there is more to Epiphany. Epiphany is proclaimed by many as the Gentile Christmas. When the Magi followed the star and finally made it to the house where Jesus was with His mother and father, these were the first non-Jews, the first Gentiles, to bear witness to the manifestation of God in flesh. Thus, we are reminded, as the promise was first made in the Garden of Eden to send a Savior and that promise was given even before there was a Jew or Gentile, indeed as all nations and cultures were in the DNA of Adam and Eve, so Jesus was born to save all people, Jew and Gentile alike. Yes, we celebrate Jesus coming for us, Gentiles.
 

Now, getting to our text for this morning. Paul speaks to us concerning spiritual gifts. And we might say, “Praise the Lord for Paul’s words,” as there are many in our world who get confused about such gifts. Paul begins by pointing us where we need to be pointed. He begins by speaking of the gift Giver. It all begins with God. God is the active party giving the gifts He has to give. God gives and we are given too, especially concerning what we call these spiritual gifts. Paul begins by speaking of the gift of faith. We begin at verse one, “1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit” (v. 1-3).
 

Paul’s words here remind us that faith is a gift from God. Faith is not something we get or do on our own. Faith is not our cooperating with God, nor is it making a decision for God, nor saying the “Believer’s Prayer.” Notice Paul’s words. First, he tells us that noone who is a Christian can curse Jesus. Notice the flow: no one speaking in the Spirit of God is a reference to us Christians, because the Spirit of God is not in a non-Christian, as they are the ones who refuse and reject the Spirit of God, thus they are non-Christians. So, only a non-Christian, one who refuses and rejects God can curse God.
 

On the other hand, no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. These are God’s Words through Paul. Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, one cannot choose Jesus. Thus, we rightly understand that faith is a gift from God and lack of faith is the fault of one refusing the gifts. If we are saved, God gets the credit. If we are condemned, it is our own fault. And so we see the importance of baptism, and we see God’s work especially when we baptize an infant, they are not choosing Jesus, but being passively brought, and having Jesus choosing them. Jesus puts His name on us at our baptism as the water and the words spoken by the Lord’s instrument, the pastor, are put on us. As a pastor, all I am in a baptism is an instrument. When we witness a baptism we see the Holy Spirit of God doing the doing, putting faith in the heart of the one being baptized, giving that person forgiveness and writing their name in the book of Life. It is all God’s doing.
 

And why does God give faith? Paul continues by explaining the gifts and works of the Holy Spirit. We pick up at verse four, “4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (v. 4-11).
 

Paul mentions a variety of gifts including wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, as well as the ability to speak and interpret tongues. These are gifts that are given only to Christians, only by the Holy Spirit, and only for the purpose of service to the Lord in His Kingdom. The main purpose of the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for the Church as a whole and not for anyone’s special interest or usage.
 

So, we must understand what the gifts are not. The gifts are not necessarily individually given nor discerned. In other words, Paul does not specify that each Christian will receive any one specific gift. A few years back, and I would suppose it goes on even today, there were “spiritual gifts inventories” that a person would fill out in order to discover one’s own spiritual gift. One of the problems with this misunderstanding of the gifts God gives is that this can be misleading. People can be “tested” and find they have gifts they do not really have, because God has not given them such gifts, such as a woman discovering she has the gift of being a pastor. Although the Lord can do whatever He wants to do, the evidence is that some of these gifts has faded as we have moved past their purpose in the first century. In other words, although the Lord gave the apostles gifts of healing, speaking in tongues and the like, in order to attest to their authority, as that generation passed on, so did the gifts and the use of such gifts because they were and are no longer necessary.
 

Today, the Holy Spirit continues to give gifts. The gifts He gives He gives through the means of Grace. And He gives these gifts for the purpose of strengthening His people, extending His Kingdom here in this place, and for the praise and glory of His Holy Name. Any use of these gifts beyond this usage is indeed a misuse and is not from God. In other words, any misuse for personal gain, power, fame or privilege is not from God. Yes, I am speaking of such usage as we might see in particular among TV evangelists, faith healers and the like, as if what they are doing is in fact real.
 

So, what does this mean? What is Paul telling us this morning? First, Paul is reminding us of the bondage of our will. We may think we have free will and we do, but the free will we have is completely tainted by sin. According to our free will all we do and all we want to do is sin. Even as Moses writes, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). Paul puts it this way, we cannot say “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
 

On the other hand, we do have an indication of one’s salvation. Paul’s words remind us that when the Holy Spirit gives faith, He also gives spiritual gifts. And, although we may not be able to discern exactly what our spiritual gift is, we might rightly discern that the purpose for our spiritual gifts is to use them in service to our Lord and in service to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.
 

We will then say, “yes,” the Holy Spirit gives gifts to do good works. We are to do good works, not for the sake of doing good works, not for the sake of earning something, but simply as a response of faith. In other words, to do good works, truly good works, is a natural response of faith. I would suggest three guides for knowing if we are truly doing good works according to God. A good work in God’s eyes is one that is motivated by Him, working in and through us by Him and done to His glory. So, most of the time when we are actually doing a good work, we do not even realize it as such. I guess that gives us an indication that this is really not something that comes natural to us.
 

And one more word on good works. According to Paul, our good works are to be done for the whole of the Church. Even Jesus reminds us that whatever we do for one of the least of His children, we have done it for Him, who is the head of the Church.
 

As we make our way through the Epiphany season, we continue to celebrate that Jesus also came to save Gentiles and to give us faith and spiritual gifts. Paul’s words, from God, remind us that God knows us. He knows our nature, that we are conceived and born in sin. He knows that we cannot do anything to save ourselves. He knows that we cannot choose or accept God. As we well confess in the explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason our strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.”
 

Again, as always we are then pointed back to God. God gives, God does and we are given to and done to. And lest we forget, God gives and does through means or instruments. When we are privileged to witness a baptism we are witnessing God working through Holy Baptism, so we also almost every service of worship witness God working through Confession and Absolution to give us the gifts He has to give. Although we might not recognize it is through the readings of Holy Scripture and at this moment through the preaching of that word, and in a bit we will witness God working through His Holy Supper to give us the gifts He has to give. Through these means, these means of grace, our Lord gives the gifts He has to give, faith, forgiveness, strengthening of faith, life and salvation.
 

And our response is simply a response of faith, a response of thanks and praise. Thanks be to God. We can do nothing else and we can do nothing else except by the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us as Paul so well reminds us this morning, “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit.” No one can give thanks and respond to faith except in the Holy Spirit.
 

And so we do simply respond with a response of faith this morning and say, To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.