One Body - 1 Corinthians 12

2 weeks ago when we had our blood drive I gave a double red cell donation. It was my first time giving a double red donation and after I was done - I felt great. If you remember that Saturday, it was a sunny day, somewhat mild for January and not too windy, (much like yesterday) so when I got home I decided I would go for a short run. I knew I had just donated blood so I wasn’t going to go far or fast, and since I really felt fine I didn’t think the blood donation would bother me. So 2 hours after donating red blood cells, I started my run. I got about 200 yards from my house when I started thinking, wow, I am having a hard time getting my breath, I’m really out of shape. I only ran 2 miles that day and had to stop 4 times to walk and catch my breath, and I kept thinking to myself –how did I get so out of shape in 2 weeks?

You can probably already figure out what was wrong, besides some poor judgment in deciding to run 2 hours after donating blood, the problem was that the double red donation depleted the number of red blood cells in my body and it is the red blood cells that carry oxygen to all our muscles. With all my muscles and heart and lungs crying out for oxygen and not enough blood cells to do the work, I was having some trouble. Now I share all of this because it is a great example of what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul reminds us that our bodies are made up of many different parts and each part – no matter how small or unseen – is important and has a job to do. If our heart, lungs and muscles are going to function well then they need those red blood cells bringing them oxygen. Our bodies really are amazing machines that are made up of many different parts and every single part is needed if the body is going to function well.

With that image in mind, Paul tells us that we are the body of Christ. This means that together each of us individually helps makes up the body of Christ which is the church. Paul says we become part of this body through baptism (12:13). Now let’s be clear that it is not the water that makes us part of the body, it is our commitment to Jesus Christ. What unites us as one body is our common commitment to worship God, follow Jesus and serve the people in need around us. We were reminded again this morning that what really takes place in our baptism and in our profession of faith is that we are committing ourselves to a way of life where we trust God and follow Jesus together. If we profess Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are part of the body of Christ – it is inescapable.

Look at 12:14-16. What Paul is saying here is that being part of the body of Christ is inescapable, like it or not we are part of a community and movement that is larger than ourselves and we have a part to play within it, we really don’t have an option. The foot can’t just decide it doesn’t want to be part of the body. The hand can’t say, no I really don’t want to work with the rest of the body, so I’m going to leave. If they remove themselves from the body, they die. If we decide we just don’t want to be part of the body of Christ, then there is a part of our faith and I think a part of our lives that dies. Being part of the body of Christ is inescapable – if we trust God and follow Jesus we are connected to one another and we need to think seriously about what this means for us.

The first thing this means is that we are no longer independent; we do not live our lives of faith on our own thinking we don’t need each other, we are now interdependent. As part of the body we are not only connected to one another but we need one another if we are going to survive and thrive in this world. Look at 12:20. We can’t look at one part of the body and say, I don’t need you. The eyes need the hands, the hands need the feet, and all of our muscles and heart and lungs need those red blood cells. Jesus showed us that we are interdependent throughout his ministry.

Think about how Jesus ordered his ministry. He could have done everything on his own and been a one man show. He could have supplied for all his needs, travelled on his own and accomplished all God wanted for him by himself –after all, he was God. But Jesus chose not to do that, Jesus made the conscious decision to work with others. What is the very first thing Jesus did once he entered into public ministry? After his baptism Jesus went off into the wilderness to pray and to think about what kind of leader he was going to be and when he came back to Galilee the first thing he did was to call together his disciples. After his baptism – Jesus formed a body because he knew that the way God wanted him to work in this world was going to be through a team, so Jesus called together Peter, Andrew, James and John and then the rest of the disciples.

Now what’s interesting to think about is that Jesus didn’t just call individual disciples to follow him; Jesus started by calling an already existing body. Jesus first called Peter and Andrew, 2 brothers who already worked together as fisherman; and then he called James and John, two more brothers who worked together as fishermen. Some people think that maybe these 4 men all worked together, they certainly knew each other because they all fished the same waters and stored their boats along the same shores in Galilee. So the first 4 disciples, 1/3 of Jesus’ ministry team already knew each other and they were comfortable working together. Jesus knew he needed to form a strong cohesive body to work in this world and so he first called together an already functioning body to form the foundation of the discipleship team. It is not only a brilliant leadership move on the part of Jesus, but it shows us how important it is to be part of a body.

Jesus shows us and he teaches us that we need to work together. He shows us that the fullness of life and the kingdom of God is only going to be found when we are living in community with one another – we will not and can not find this kind of life and fullness on our own. The Holy Spirit didn’t come upon the disciples when they were scattered off by themselves but when they were together. The first act of the church was to organize 3000 new believers into one community of faith. Our faith is all about community and being interdependent and so we have to get rid of this idea that we can just live on our own and experience the fullness of God. We can not. We need each other for life and for faith and according to the Reader’s Digest for happiness.
I love the Reader’s Digest because they are always talking about different studies that have been done and one study showed that people who went to church were happier than other people. They said it had nothing to do with their religious beliefs (which I’d like to argue), but what they said is that what made a difference was being part of a group. They said what makes people happy is “the community part”. It’s holding hands and singing. It’s knowing folks who will bring you soup if you get sick.” I would also say that what makes people feel happy is taking soup to those we know who are sick – it’s serving that makes us happy, not just being served. But that all comes in community, and this is why small groups are so important; they not only will make us happier, but they are part of how we connect to the body of Christ – so consider being part of a small group during the upcoming Lenten season. If you want a genuine and authentic encounter with Jesus, join a small group, become part of a Sunday School class, the choir, bell choir, or the Easter Choir – any small group, just connect yourself with the larger body of Christ and open yourself to the fullness of God.

So being part of the body of Christ is inescapable, and we are interdependent – but being part of the body also tells us that no one is insignificant. Look at 12:22-26. Each part of the body is important; each part of the body has its job to do. Within our physical bodies every part has it’s job, even those parts that are small and unseen are vital to our overall health. Those tiny red blood cells that no one ever sees are essential if our bodies are going to run efficiently. Some of the smallest bones in the body are found in the inner ear, and yet if those bones get damaged or broken it can not only cause hearing loss, but it can cause such profound dizziness and imbalance that it makes it virtually impossible for us to even stand up. You may not realize it but our toes, from big to little, also help us stay balanced when we stand or walk, so something very small and seemingly insignificant is actually essential to our overall wellbeing, and it is the same with the body of Christ, every member of the body is important, and again it is Jesus who shows us this.
Think about the people Jesus reached out to during his life and ministry: children, women, prostitutes, tax collectors, and lepers. These were all people the world said didn’t matter, they had no significance, but Jesus included them in his life and work. Jesus said, not only do they matter, but they are significant – they are important to the overall health and wellbeing of the body. The tax collector Matthew became one of Jesus disciples and the children were the model for what it meant to have faith. So every member of the body of Christ is important; every member is needed. As Faith Church, we need everyone working together if we are going to be able to share the love and grace of God with our community and world. There are gifts that only you have that the body of Christ needs. You might be the one who has the gift and ability that will make all the difference in what we as a church are going to be able to do. No one is insignificant, no one is unimportant.

Many times we feel like we may not have gifts to offer to the work of God because we only think of ministry as worship, so if we can’t play the organ, sing in the choir or preach to the people – we think that you don’t have anything to offer or share, but worship is not the church and the body of Christ does so much more than gather for one hour on Sunday morning. The body of Christ is at work every hour of every day sharing the love of God, and the gifts that you have are needed. You might be the one who will take a meal to someone in need that will open the door for them to experience the love of Jesus. You might be the one who will visit a shut-in and remind them that God has not forgotten them. You might be the one who will help fix someone’s home and give them the hope to carry on. It might be your prayers that will lift up someone in need and change someone’s life; it might be the money you give that will provide the help for a child in Haiti. You do have something to give, you do have something to share with the body of Christ that will help the world see and experience Jesus and each and everyone one of us needs to share what we have.


No one is insignificant and if we all work together, what we can do in the name of Jesus will be indescribable. The Bible is pretty clear that together we can do more than we ever thought or imagined. Look at Ephesians 3:20-21. Immeasurably more then we ever thought or imagines. Working together we can do more for God than we thought possible. Jesus said, you will do even greater things than I am doing, (John 14:12). That promise has always amazed me that we can do more than Jesus. Now individually this is not true. On our own we can not do more than Jesus, but working together at the body of Christ, working together with the spirit of God working in us and through us we can do even greater things than Jesus. Together as the body of Christ, we can change this world.

Together we can feed the hungry and care for the needs of the lost, lonely and hurting. Together we can offer hope to the people of Haiti. Together we can shine the light of Jesus into every corner of this world which even Jesus himself couldn’t do when he was just working on his own. If we come together and offer our gifts to God and if together we support the work of God, then what we can do in Jesus name will be indescribable – more than we ever thought or imagined. As Faith Church, if every person here this morning would come together as one body – the work we could do would be indescribable and together we could change the lives of people in our community.

Being part of the body of Christ is inescapable. If we have accepted Jesus and if we trust in God then we are all members of this body and we are interconnected. No one is insignificant, all are important and if we work together using the gifts God has given us, the difference we will be able to make will be indescribable. No one else will do it; no one else can do it, because we are the body of Christ.