We’re all in this together
A sermon by Jamie Howison on 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
The church is Christ’s body; we are Christ’s body, individually all members of it. That is one of the most significant and even transformative images of the church, and one for which we have Paul to thank. Using the image of the body was not original to Paul, for it appears in many Roman writings of the day as an image for the way that the society worked. What Paul has done, though, is to shift the image considerably, for where Roman orators would imagine the Emperor as the head of the body, and then see a strong hierarchy of body parts (so to speak), Paul is insistent that it is Christ who is the head, and all of us are members of the body. He’s equally insistent that these parts are all in need of the other, such that whether you are a hand that can do all of this visible work or a spleen that is tucked deep inside and does… well, I’m not entirely sure what it does!... all of us matter.
But let me back up and offer some more general comments on the church in Corinth and why Paul is so insistent in his use of this image.
It is important to bear in mind that Paul had planted the church in Corinth, spending time with them as they found their feet, and then had gone on to plant another church community in a different city. Somewhere along the line things had begun to get a bit bumpy in Corinth, and so some of the local church leaders had written to Paul and laid out their questions and concerns. Here in 1st Corinthians, Paul is writing back to that church, with counsel, some strong words, and fresh images like this one of the Body of Christ.
A quick run through of some of the sorts of issues the Corinthian leaders have raised with him:
a man is living in a common-law relationship with his stepmother
people are looking to resolve conflicts using the Roman courts rather than dealing with problems internally
some of the men are visiting prostitutes, arguing it was no more serious than taking food to fill one’s stomach
some folks are buying food in the market that had been sacrificed to idols, which is making others really anxious
some people are arriving in good time for the house church gatherings, bringing plenty of food and drink, while others—probably enslaved people—arrive late and are left without anything to eat or drink
Now a lot of these issues are related in a sort of upside-down way to a central theological teaching brought to Corinth by Paul, namely his core proclamation that we are declared justified or set right with God not by anything we do, but by sheer grace. This key Christian belief, however, was then taken by some to mean that it doesn’t matter what we do—that we are in fact free to do anything—because it is grace alone that puts us right with God. As Paul responds to all this, you can almost hear him sigh with frustration. “‘All things are lawful’” he writes, citing a phrase common in Corinth, “but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful’, but not all things build up. Do not seek your own advantage, but that of others.” (1 Cor. 10:23-24) I think if you added “for heaven’s sake, people” to that verse you’d really get his tone. “For heaven’s sake, people, don’t seek your own advantage here, but that of others.”
By the time he’s launched into the section of his letter that we read today what he’s trying to confront is the fact that many in the church in Corinth have created a hierarchy of spiritual gifts, with some people claiming top spots for their own particular gift, leaving others without any sense of their true value in the life of the community. This is where he grabs hold of this image of the one body that has many members. “So it is with Christ,” he writes. “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.”
And then he launches into what can strike us as a slightly absurd set of images… and maybe he meant it to sound a wee bit absurd to the Corinthians! Those images like, “If the foot were to 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,” or “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?” “But,” he then writes, “as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose… there are many members, yet one body.”
After this comes what is a rather extraordinary section, and one which completely upends the way that Roman culture made use of this sort of image of the body.
[T]he members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this.
What’s he talking about? Well, all the parts of our bodies that we carefully clothe and cover and protect; the parts related to sexuality and to digestion and all that follows! Oh, and I suppose to those mysterious internal organs like that spleen, that the vast majority of us haven’t a clue about, but Paul calls them “indispensable,” and he’s right. And so he continues,
But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.
Do you see how he is pushing to have those church members in Corinth understand that what affects one person impacts the community as a whole? That they are called to “have the same care for one another”?
He then turns to the matter of different roles or gifts in the life of the community, saying that “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.” He’s not backing away from saying that there are different callings in the church, nor is he suggesting that there isn’t a kind of ordering to them, right? “First apostles, second prophets, third teachers,” and so forth. But then he then makes a crucial turn, and asks, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers?,” and so forth, which he ends with both a challenge and an invitation. “But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”
I think those two sentences have to be read in tandem. Strive for the greater gifts… but slow down for a moment because I want to show you an even more excellent way, which is Paul’s transition toward his greatest reflection on the need for love, which is the 13th chapter of this epistle. It is our reading for next Sunday, but a wee preview will help it all come together: “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” That’s just the opening verse, but already his emphasis on love—agape—is clearly in view. Agape is sometimes referred to as divine love or godly love, but it is best to think in terms of an unconditional love that is chosen, and that will continue to be chosen regardless of circumstance. That’s where Paul has been headed the whole time he’s been talking about the body and the foot, eyes, ears, and the weaker parts and so-called less respectable parts. He’s been moving toward calling them away from distinctions and toward that love that will be the only thing that will bind them together. That’s agape.
I really appreciate what N.T. Wright has to offer on verse 27, which reads “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
These words should be engraved on the mind and heart of all church members. They should be especially taken to heart by those who are called to more high-profile office, or who have been given some special gift that, by thrusting them into the public eye, brings upon them the temptation to arrogance that was afflicting some in Corinth. “You are the Messiah’s body; individually, you’re members of it.” That is the basis of all true understandings of the church, and of all humble service within it. (N.T. Wright, Luke for Everyone)
That’s our identity, folks. That’s who we are called to be and meant to be. Together the Messiah’s body, and individually members of it. As Paul would have it, that’s a pretty key place to begin dealing with any disagreements, problems, or potential divisions any church might face. We’re in this together!
Amen.
