The Body                  I Corinthians 12        January 21, 2007

The apostles found out that starting a new congregation takes a lot of work; especially if no one had ever started a church before. The apostle Paul wrote two letters Corinthians in response to problems he’s heard about. For one, those who were rich and well fed in the congregation were not eating with those who were hungry. Another issue was that those who were Jews wanted to go back to following Jewish laws and customs and exclude the newer gentile Greek members. Still another problem was that some leaders were claiming they had some kind of special spiritual power that made them better than everyone else.

Throughout his letters, Paul brings them back to the cross of Jesus Christ, saying that his grace alone is all that is necessary for salvation. He steers them back to their roots in baptism and Holy Communion. He says that the Lord’s supper is not just social eating, but a re-enactment of his promise to us. He argues that when we were baptized, we were buried in his death so that we will also rise with him in his resurrection. Therefore, we follow Christ living in his resurrection.

In today’s reading, he’s saying that we are the body of Christ, and individually members of it. Like feet and hands, eyes and ears are in a human body, so each of us is part of the body of Christ active in the world. Each of us is a valuable part in this body. Amy, thank you for your reflection about the Cherish Our Children Initiative in the ELCA. Yes, the growing problem of pornography and prostitution is alarming. It is like cancer that has infected cells our body. Cancer in one part of the body will make the whole body sick. What you are doing to heal this cancer is remarkable.

Now, as we consider our congregation, we have had various presentations over the past several weeks. As I look at all we do in this congregation through our various ministries and through our synod, I’m amazed. We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in the world, and that is awesome! I look for us to grow stronger so that God will consider us as a part of the resurrection when Christ returns.

However I am also aware that there are issues that we must address in the spirit God’s love for all of us. A few months ago, we started a process of Natural Church Development. The process is designed to help us reach our full potential as a congregation. We found that we are quite strong in many respects, but we can grow stronger. To my surprise at that time, the survey revealed our maximum leverage point is the area of inspiring worship.

The health team has come together two times, and I am now very confident that the team will help us make our worship more inspiring. I was pleasantly surprised at the spiritual maturity of those leaders on the health team. They recognize their own desires apart from the differing needs of others on the team. They understand that our congregation has a variety of gifts. Some are like ears, some are like feet, others like eyes, each one contributes to the whole body. These good leaders recognize that all of these can work together in one body.

Let me tell close with this story of good leadership by Dr. William Self. He said that “One of the joys of being a grandfather is getting to take your grandchildren to do special and wonderful things. Not long ago, he was called upon to take my two grandsons to their swimming lessons. I thought this would be the routine trip, but I was wrong. The pool was enclosed in a rather large building, and the sounds of all those excited children of different ages and abilities were deafening.

Upon further observation, he noticed something unusual. All the noise was coming from the shallow end of the pool. The only sound coming from the deep end was the sound of experienced swimmers swimming with discipline and confidence. There was no yelling, no crying, no complaining, no evidence of fear or frustration. They were following the instructions of their leader.

Friends, the church is similar. The leader in the church is Christ, and we have access to his voice through the Word. Are we swimming in the deep water, or are we at the shallow end of the pool? Are we able to stay in our own lanes and swim together, or is there lots of pushing and shoving, backbiting and blaming of others?

I am glad for our good leadership here at Grace today. I’ve seen their spiritual maturity. But I’ve also seen poor leadership at work. I’ve sat through thousands of church meetings in over 27 years in five congregations as either a pastor or a lay person. After listening to the conversations, I hear that all the noise comes from those in the shallow end of the pool. They have no confidence to go in the deeper water. When they get in over their heads, they feel like they’re drowning. The fighting and backbiting, come from those who haven't learned to swim in the deep water yet.

This also applies to families, Boy Scout Troops, sports teams, anywhere people come together. When people fail to work within their own spiritual gifts, and will not venture into the deeper water. When an eye thinks a foot should be the same as they are, there’s problems for the group. When challenges arise, those at the shallow end will complain and panic and feel like they are drowning in water over their heads. In their anxiety, some members will turn to drugs, alcohol, even sex abuse.

On the other hand, those who recognize their own value, and the value of each member will swim in the deep side of the pool. They will not panic when they are challenged. They will remain at peace with each other. Those who have learned to swim in the deep water remain calm and focused on their swimming in their own lane, and follow the directions of their leader.

So what can we do to swim in the deep water confidence and follow Jesus Christ, who is our leader? We follow him in three basic ways. These three correspond to the six marks of discipleship that we have taught. Briefly, the first way is daily prayer and weekly worship. Prayer and worship is central to following Jesus.

The second is reading the Bible to hear God’s Word. This is how we hear the voice of the one we follow, Jesus Christ, guiding us together.

The third is to give and do things generously for the sake of the Christ through the church and congregation. This giving is the way we claim the purpose God gave us. Our purpose is to plant the seed of Christ’s love in our community.

Now I could preach three more sermons about each of these. But I must be brief today. I will close by saying that when we have confidence to swim in the deeper end of the pool, we will invite others swim with us. And we will give thanks for the gift of the spirit of Christ working in and through us.

Amen