1 Corinthians 12:21-27 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while 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, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
The church, the body of Christ on Earth, a visible form of God, represents the God of Eternity. No other institution made up of men can claim this magnificent reality. We Christians are ambassadors of God and of his kingdom, performing ambassadorial functions individually and collectively. As we have already seen, Paul describes us as parts of the body, performing by the Holy Spirit in us. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:4) Every member of the church, no matter how noble or ignoble its position in the body, has the Holy Spirit. As Paul instructed the Corinthians, many parts make up the body, and every part should work in unison, harmony, and peace with every other part of the body. Without the Holy Spirit working freely and openly in every member, we become nothing more than an institution made up of men and women. The light of God will not be reflected to the world in a body of discord or sin. Paul told the Colossians to rid themselves of their old lives and to do everything in gratitude: And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17) We must remember every part of the body of Christ is important; consequently, every part should be active: the hands, the feet, the organs, and so on. Every part must reflect the attributes of the Holy Spirit. If any one part believes it is dispensable, not necessary, and decides not to function, the imperfect body will sicken and fail. Every member must appreciate that the Holy Spirit has given him or her a unique and important responsibility in the church. When all of the members fulfill their responsibilities in the church and value the other parts, God's light goes forth to the world, and the unsaved understand how to come to the light and win eternal life in this world of sin and death. People of the world enjoy wearing elite athletes' jerseys, indicating the teams they are on, with their names and numbers on the jerseys. We who are in the body of Christ, must understand we wear a winner's jersey. No matter who we are in the body of Christ, no matter where we work in the church, our jersey and number are the same. We might be cleaning up the restrooms in church, yet we wear that same jersey, with that number, indicating we are winners who have joined forces and identified with THE WINNER. We might be talking to thousands over television or radio or speaking to one person on a quiet street, but we wear that jersey, that number. We are all on the same team, with the same blood stained jersey and number. Christ did it all. We wear his robe and He is number ONE! We are those who work for Christ in one body.
Often the world does not see that we really are on a winning team. They just see us as a neighbor, a friend, a fellow employee, and the like. They do not see the jersey we wear. They consider us as insignificant or unimportant in the events of the world. Jesus ran into that problem in his hometown. They saw him as a carpenter, the son of a carpenter. They did not realize He was on a mission and that the Holy Spirit in him had made him special, God himself. In his hometown Jesus could not do many miracles. They would not come to him to be healed, to be comforted, to be fixed. They rejected the idea that He was the Son of God, representing the miraculous, the heavenly to them. "Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:3-6) Peter and John were considered as men without power by the lame man who asked them to give him something to sustain him for that day. The lame man received much more than he could have ever dreamed from these two average men. They represented God in his fulness that day to him, for they gave him strong legs, a powerful surge of strength in his total being. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. (Acts 3:6-8) The lame man did not recognize that these two ordinary men were wearing a jersey that day that had a winning number on the back. He did not recognize that these two men had miraculous ability within them, the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit that had fallen upon them on the day of Pentecost. These ordinary, Holy Spirit filled men represented a powerful institution on Earth, known as the body of Christ. They answered the call of God to function in the body of Christ and to do the Father's will.
Today, dear friends around the breakfast table, we all wear the same jersey of THE WINNER, JESUS CHRIST. We all have the number the Holy Spirit has placed on our jerseys when we died to ourselves and came alive in Christ our Savior. We all are in the same body of Christ. We all have supernatural powers within us. None of us can say we are different from the rest of the body or that we do not need the other parts of the body. We are sons and daughters of the Most High, sitting in heavenly places even now with our Lord, Jesus Christ. As members of God's mighty body on Earth, we need to be active, energized daily by the Holy Spirit. None of us should be passive, living without passion, inoperative in the local community of Christ. Each of us should take up our position in the body, whatever it is: the janitor, the preacher, the cook, the teacher, the greeter, the singer, the helper, and anything else the church needs. We should understand we are supernatural in the best sense: we have the God of Eternity in our souls, and we have the Holy Spirit to lead and to guide us. We are not just ordinary people; we are God's people. We have been set apart as the Levitical priesthood was set apart for God's purposes. Our inheritance is neither land nor things, but God himself. He is our portion, and He has chosen us to have the most intimate position in all creation as his sons and daughters in his family. We have much to offer to the world, the attributes of the Holy Spirit and everlasting life. Let us not live as Christians in a slovenly manner, without purpose, living life for ourselves. FOR WE ARE EACH A MEMBER OF THE BODY OF CHRIST WITH AN ESSENTIAL PART IN THAT BODY. If we do not carry out our role in the body, the church will be weak and helpless in a needy and lost world that God loves. He has chosen you to carry the banner of his love. He will not write to the world, "I LOVE YOU!" in the clouds from horizon to horizon. Who would believe it! They would categorize it as a natural phenomenon of some sort or a hoax by some prankster. No, my friends, God has written on our hearts and on the collective church's heart: I LOVE YOU. Let this message be seen by the world in our daily activities, in our actions and reactions, in and out of church. When Jesus was preparing to go away, He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
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