Two weeks ago, as we were
commemorating the Armenian Genocide, we read Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones in
the valley ( Ezekiel 37). We realized that God did not bring to life a
few people, but a vast army - an army that obeys its commander-in-chief.
The Apostle Paul often
wrote about becoming one in Christ. How
can a variety of individuals unite and become one body in Christ?
Mao Tse-tung,
the leader of the Communist Party in
1. Different gifts, one
body
Paul does not talk about
uniformity; he talks about “one body” or unity.
He says: “So in Christ we who are
many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (vs.
5). Unity in itself is not an end. We are united in order to serve together as
the body of Christ, using all our potentials for the building of the body. “We have different gifts, according to the
grace given us…” (vs. 6). Paul listed those gifts as: prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging,
contributing to the needs of others, leadership, and showing mercy (vs.
7-9). Paul continued the list of gifts
in other letters, too. However, let us
remember that these are not privileges but are entrusted to us by God through
His grace (vs. 5).
Which gift is more
important for the church? All are
equally important in the building of the body.
Each has its role just like the members of our physical body. Imagine the foot, the arm and the mouth
boycotting against the stomach, which receives all the food daily, and not
letting the food reach the stomach. After
some days without food, the whole body is affected. They will realize that the food that went
into the stomach was all for the body and not just for the stomach.
2. Not only unity, but
also unity in Christ
“So in Christ we
who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others” (vs.
5). Unity is not the issue. People can unite for many reasons. They can even unite plan crimes. The issue is unity in Christ. Our gifts need to be nurtured in Christ, grow
in Christ, act for Christ and serve for Christ.
Once there were four
friends: Mr. Someone, Mrs. Everyone, Mr.
Anyone, and Mrs. No one. They belonged
to the same church. Although they were
friends, yet they had serious communication problems. Unfortunately, their lifestyles were shameful. Someone liked to visit his friends on
Sundays or liked to invite them for a barbeque.
Mrs. Everyone had the desire to go to church and worship, yet she
was afraid that Someone will not speak
with her. So who went to church in
Sunday? No one. In fact, No one was the best of
all.
No one visited; No one
served; No one wanted to help the needy.
As you see No one was very “active.”
Once the pastor announced
that the church needed Sunday School teachers. Someone thought that Everyone could do it.
Everyone thought that Anyone
could do it. So guess what? No one won. Mrs. No one became the teacher of the
Sunday School.
I told you. No one is very
active in the church. She is the best.
A 5th person
joined this group. He did not know
anything about Jesus. Someone thought
that Everyone could do it. Everyone thought that Anyone could do it. And you know that again No one invited
him to Jesus.
I am afraid the sometimes
we are unified without Jesus and our unity is like that group in the story: as if they are doing something - in fact,
they are doing NOTHING.
Therefore, as Paul
says: “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” (vs.
3).
Let us be united in Him
for HIM.
Amen