UNIT TEN B

LIFE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST

INTRODUCTION

Who here has been in the situation where you have been speaking to somebody thinking that you're making sense only to find that the person listening to you makes some pretty broad assumptions?

Well, a priest had a similar experience.

This priest was walking along the school pathway near the preschool building when a group of preschoolers were trotting by on the way to the canteen.

One young fellow aged about three or four stopped and looked up at the priest in his clerical garb and asked, "Why do you dress so funny?"

The priest told him that he was a priest and that this is the uniform priests wear. Then he pointed to the priest's little plastic collar insert and asked, "Does it hurt? Did you fall over and hurt yourself?"

The priest, at first, was confused as to what the young lad was talking about until he realised that to him the collar insert looked like a big bandaid. So the priest took it out to show him. On the back of the collar were some raised letters giving the name of the manufacturer.

The young lad felt the letters, and the priest asked, "Do you know what those words say?"

"Yes I do," said the lad who wasn't old enough to read. Peering intently at the letters he said, "It says, 'Kills ticks and fleas up to six months!' "

Oh, misunderstanding can be the bane of our lives sometimes, but can also be fun, especially when we listen to what children interpret things to be.

One of the roles that parents have is to raise our kids in ways that they understand life. That includes the importance of relationships. And the best way that that can be achieved is that they are raised in loving homes where the parents model true love, effective communication, and understanding for one another. Sadly, as we know, not all families function by these attributes.


You know, those who are truly Christians are called God's children. And because we are God's children we are also a family together. God's desire is that His family model true love, effective communication, and who work towards an understanding for one another. He also makes clear to us that these attributes come from our individual responsiveness to the Lord's work in our lives.

Let's have a look at what Paul says about how we hear God's voice and how we are to live in relationship with one another in Romans 12.

 

  1. GOD'S MOLDING OF HIS BODY

Romans 12:1-21

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20On the contrary:

"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now, some of the things we have just read are not easy to live up to. But the fact is, this is what God wants. Note the premise of this passage - it is all about 'one another's'. Our relationship with God isn't to be individualistic, it's about loving and serving one another. And we cannot do that if we are divided or if we function as lone rangers. So we find here how God desires to mold His body - us - together. The reason Paul wrote to the church in Rome and gave the members some instructions about how the body of Christ should live in relation to each other was that he knew the church needed to learn to function as the body of Christ. Now you might say to me, "Well Scott, that's a pretty logical statement to make". And I guess it is. But let me illustrate something here. I want to give you a picture of two families, and I need 8 volunteers to come up here.

Family A (get some people up to illustrate)

Consists of a dad with 2 kids. Mum left home two years ago. Dad gets the eldest daughter, aged 14, to run the house for him as he has a job that requires him to work from 7.00 in the morning until 7.00 in the evening. He is home on weekends but likes to play golf on Saturdays and go fishing on Sunday. So the kids don't get to see much of him. They get to see their mother once a month.

 

 

Family B

Mum and Dad couldn't have children so adopted a son and daughter. They love these kids as their own. Weekends are spent watching the kids play sport on Saturday's and Sundays are spent around home or going out for a picnic lunch together. Dad likes fishing and takes the kids with him most times he goes out. Both Mum and Dad ensure that they are home most evenings with the kids.

Which of these two families is functioning more effectively?

Sadly, many Christians and churches function as family A. They are dysfunctional and miss the blessing and love that could be shared.

How do we ensure we function as God desires?

  1. Ensure our own lives are right with God

By ensuring our own lives are right with God. We do this by living by the principles Paul sets before us in verses 1 and 2 of this passage. He recommends two things for members of Christ's body so that the whole body would be able to discern God's will. What do you think those two things are? (Offer our bodies as living sacrifices; be transformed by the renewing of our minds) - (EXPAND ON THESE TWO STATEMENTS)

You know, living sacrifices and renewed minds are necessary to "test and approve what God's will is." Pride can cause problems in the body. Society today tells us to put ourselves first, but God tells us to love others as we love ourselves. He tells us to honor others above ourselves. He tells us to live in harmony. And He tells us to associate with people of low position. That's what I love about the Body of Christ, that we have the God given ability to love others of all walks of life and from all cultural backgrounds without bias or prejudice. The ability is there, we just need to use it.

(Pause)

Now, there have been times in my life when someone has told me to complete a task but I have had very little knowledge as to how to complete it. Some years ago I went for a job interview for the position of a salesperson in a jewelry store. The interview was with the state manager of AMIES jeweler's. To my surprise I not only got the job, but was given the position of store manager. I had some brief training and then was sent out to the store. I had no background in retail, jewelry or management. I was given the job, and expected to accomplish productive sales. Within 4 months I fell flat on my face- not making sales budgets 4 months running.

Here in this passage God gives us directives, but unlike my situation with the jewelry store, He also gives us practical steps in verses 9-21 as to how to accomplish those guidelines. Some of them are:

Note that these are things we are to do - it is our responsibility to put aside things that are going to distract us from living the lives Christ wants for us. This is imperative if we are to be a functioning and healthy church. Our prayer needs to be the same as David's when he prayed in Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

Now we all know that Andrew loves pigging. He has trained his dogs to flush out a catch pigs who are hidden in the scrub, where for us they are hard to find. Dogs have better smell and eye sight than we do and so they are effective in searching for and finding the pigs Andrew is hunting.

David's prayer is that God would sniff out and reveal anything in his life that inhibits his relationship with God. That is the type of prayer we need to be praying continuously in order that He can flush out the offensive ways in our lives that serve as barriers between us and God.

(pause)

2. GOD'S EMPOWERING US TO SERVE

All these things we have spoken about has to do with our heart attitude. As we live together as God's family we also need to realize that the Lord didn't make us like clones, nor does He want us to be clone like. 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the Holy Spirit enabling each member for the common good of all of us. 1 Cor. 12:7 says, "To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." Manifests means He makes visible, clear, known, and reveals the Father and His purposes.

So what the Spirit does is empowers us with various gifts in order that we can function together as a body. These gifts are all important for the effective functioning of the Body of Christ.

1 Cor. 12:4-28

4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.

7Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

(Get someone to come up - illustrate by asking them to do certain tasks, then tie up various limbs to make the tasks more difficult) explain that without us functioning in the roles God has called us to we become handicapped.

You see, God gives us these gifts so that He can do His work in us. Jesus said in John 14:10 "It is the Father, living in me, who is doing His work." So even in Jesus' work it was God the Father doing His work. The Father was in Jesus and worked through Jesus to accomplish His purposes. So the use of these gifts are dependent, not on our own abilities, but upon what God is doing in us. Jesus said in John 5:5 "Apart from me you can do nothing." So a spiritual gift is a manifestation of God at work through you.

God places members in the body as it pleases Him. If He makes a person an "eye" the Holy Spirit will equip the person to see. If He makes the person a "hand" the Holy Spirit will equip the person to function as a hand. Marg Matthews has a wonderful gift of evangelism and caring - the Holy Spirit has equipped her to function in that way. Gwen has a wonderful gift of hospitality, if someone is new to the church, there is Gwen asking them over and ensuring they feel at home - the Holy Spirit has equipped her that way. The passage we just looked at makes clear that if you are part of the Body of Christ, then you have a role and function to play of which the Holy Spirit will equip you for. My question is, are you functioning or just sitting on the fence? Maybe you are injured at the moment and need time for recuperation - fair enough, it is the role of the rest of us to get around you and care for you. But all wounds are healed and once healing comes you need to function in the role Christ has called you to.

You see, if we are to function effectively as a properly functioning body, we need to all be participating in our God given roles. And as we function together we need to be functioning in love, care, patience, and acceptance of one another.

So, back to the question, 'How do we, as God's family, model true love? How do we live in understanding for one another? How do we function together effectively as God's family?

  1. By ensuring our own lives are right with God. We do this by putting the Lord as first priority, and asking the Lord to hunt out the areas in our lives that are offensive to Him.
  2. By living in relationship with one another as a healthy functioning family would. That means looking for ways to serve one another, looking for ways to love one another, looking for ways to encourage one another. That means, no gossip, no backbiting, no holding grudges - but keeping short accounts with attitudes working towards reconciling differences with hearts quick to forgive.

    3.  

  3. By allowing God to do His work in our lives through the gifts He has given us. That means for some of us to discover what those gifts might be - and I am happy to help in that area. It means for some to make ourselves involved, rather than sitting on the fence. And it means for some of us to keep moving in the way we are, trusting the Lord for His strengthening and empowering, even though we may feel tired and drained.

 

 

This sermon has been created and adapted from the book 'Experiencing God' by H.T.Blackaby and C.V.King by Pastor Scott Douglas for teaching in the Burdekin Baptist Church on 15th August, 1999.