All Parts Required
All Parts Required
I Cor 12:12-31
For the church to be what it was called to be and to have an active and vital ministry all of us as its members have to be involved, engaged and fully a part of it.
D. Robert Chance
January 24, 2010
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
For Christmas Mary and I bought ourselves a bookcase to hold all the CD’s we have come to accumulate over the years. Somehow, just stacking them, one on top another wasn’t working as well as it did when only we had a few. The stacks had begun to topple into one another and the mess and disorganization had become quite a embarrassment. So, we ordered a beautiful, new CD storage cabinet from one of the many catalog companies we get catalogs from.
It arrived just before Christmas and together we faced the imposing task of assembling it. Being one of “those” kind of people I insisted that we lay out all the bolts, screws, washers, clips, clamps, and myriad parts to be sure we had everything. We gathered all the tools we would need. The process began. Mary was in charge. She is smarter and more gifted than I am when it comes to assembling things and I learned to yield to her assembling insights a long time ago. The thing that I want to tag today though is that all of the parts were required and all of the tools were required – or the cabinet could never have been assembled. All parts were required, all parts were there and all the parts were used. The cabinet looks beautiful.
The Bible talks about the body of Christ being like a body – though made up of many different parts all the parts are required in order for it to function. What would happen if the foot should say “because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body”? What would happen if the ear were to say “because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body”? If the whole body were an eye or an ear it wouldn’t work would it?
No, the plain fact of the matter is that for the church to be what it was called to be and for it have an active and vital ministry all of its members have to be involved, engaged and fully a part of it.
Merely being in the church and calling myself a Christian isn’t enough. God calls us to assume responsibility for the church. God calls us to know what our own unique gifts and strengths are and then to use them in the church for the good of the whole. God calls us to recognize what others gifts and strengths are and to honor them and bless for their gifts. God calls us to value and respect one another and to work together for the whole body – not just ourselves or our needs or our perspectives or our groups or our clubs or our activities.
Each of us are to accept full responsibility for being a part of the whole body of the church.
I. Each of us is important to the vitality of the congregation.
We can’t all teach Sunday School.
We can’t all give beautiful prayers at the table.
We can’t all preach.
We can’t all sing.
But we all have gifts – and God expects us to use those gifts for the good of the whole church.
Everyone in the church is responsible for something.
Everyone in the church has something to give.
Everyone in the church has special and uique gifts – and we are expected to use those gifts for the whole mission of the church.
What are your gifts?
What can you do better than anyone else?
What are the uniqe talents and gifsts that are yours?
Don’t tell me “nothing”.
Don’t tell me “oh, I don’t have any unique an special gifts”. Everyone us has something we can do, some gifts we can share, some ministries that we should be doing.
Each of us are important to the church.
Some play the piano.
Some sing.
Some serve at the table.
Some plant the trees and the flowers and tend to the building and grounds.
Some teach.
Some give the gift of leadership.
But all are important. The mission of the church is bring the joy of the Lord to people’s lives and to bring people ot the joy of the Lord and to do that we need everyone involved, engaged and sharing their gifts.
But we are important, not just for our “gifts” but equally importantly for who we are, what our unique personality is and what our insights are. Each has a unique spirit and all of us contribute something to the whole spirit that makes each church unique and different and ready to be used by God.
II. When you share your spirit and your gifts for the good of the whole good things happen.
(1) People’s lives are touched. People’s lives are changed when we use our
The hungry are fed. The thirsty are brought drink.
People who are hurting are offered healing.
People who come seeking spiritual renewal are given opportunity.
(2) The church grows and the more it grows the more lives can be touched, the more people can be helped and the less the church has to spend just to keep alive.
(3) You grow and your spirit renews and expands and the more you sense the power of God in your own life.
(4) The more the Holy Spirit is let loose to change people’s lives, heal people’s hurts and bring God’s life changing power into our lives.
(5) The more relevant and powerful the church becomes as it touches our lives and brings us closer to the Lord.
Good things happen to the church.
• More people are helped.
• More kinds of people are helped.
• More love can be shared and spread.
• More is available to help and grow the church instead of just going to maintaining it.
Good things happen to you.
• Your spirit is fed and can grow.
• Your sense of wellness and wholeness is grown.
• Your sense of being and importance is experienced.
• You help others and in turn are helped by others.
Good things happen to the world round us.
• The world becomes a better place to live and grow.
• The world becomes happier and healthier.
• The world becomes more beautiful.
• The more the world begins to look like the kingdom of God and what it was intended to look like in the first place.
III. God is calling us today to remember that we are all part of the whole. We are all important. We are all called to share whatever gifts of spirit and heart and soul and hands – together – not just for ourselves or our group but for the whole church.
As a part of the church what are you doing to enhance the body of Christ?
The church is a holy place and is to be loved and respected and given first place in our lives. We are all to treat the church with honor and care.
The practical application of all of this is know our gifts and use our gifts – not for our own gain or glory or to call attention to ourselves but to lift up and praise God and to build God’s church.
This means we are …
1.We are called to know how important we are but also how important everyone else is.
We are all members of the body. We are all valued. We all have a place.
We aren’t more important than another part of the body.
We all need each other and we all need to set ourselves aside to be the church.
2. We are all called to use our gifts – not just know about them.
Since we all have gifts – different gifts we are all called to use them in the church.
3. We are all called to use our gifts for the good of the whole.
The choir isn’t more important or less important than the Sunday School – and both are called to use their gifts and find their place in the life of the church for the good of the whole – not just themselves or their program.
4. We are all called to love the whole body, the whole church more than anyone or anything else.
5. We are all called to service.
We are called to give, not get.
We are called to serve, not be served.
We are called to use our God given spiritual gifts to lift up others, to help others and to make the world a better place.
We are called to service.
6. You are called to love one another.
“1 John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Are you a contributing member of the body of Christ?
Are you actively serving God and sharing Him with others?
Are you contributing to peace and unity within the body?
Take a moment to evaluate your life in light of these principles:
Closing…
Years ago I went to one of our church members and asked her to play the piano for our Sunday School Assembly. We needed the piano to help us sing. We need to sing to help the opening assembly be joyful and happy, especially for the children.
The church member told me she wasn’t all that good a pianist but if there was absolutely no other alternative she would try. I told her I sure didn’t know of any other alternatives.
She told me ok but that I had to tell her all the songs ahead of time and we could only sing songs that she could play. I was desperate so I said OK, whatever it takes.
She began playing for us. At first it was tentative and difficult and it imposed a lot of extra limits on me in choosing hymns but eventually, little by little, week by week, month by month her playing got better and better and soon we could do almost any of the songs in our songbook and she got such joy and such meaning out of playing the piano and became so beloved and appreciated by everyone involved in Sunday School that it was awesome.
Because she used her gift, even if haltingly at first, because she offered what she had God used her and expanded her gift and Harriet Ashmore became an integral and joyful part of our Sunday School.
A whole generation of kids grew up knowing and loving Harriet Ashmore. She, in turn knew and loved a generation of kids she would have never known. Her piano playing skills improved and she got better and better. The joy and fun of church grew both for and within Harriet. She was important. She was needed. She had more of a place than ever before in the church.
It was great for both the church and for Harriet. That is the just the way it works. Whenever we give of ourselves freely and joyfully, without expectation of anything in return good things happen – both to us and to the church. Whenever we realize how important we are and let God use us in his church we grow and the church grows and most importantly the kingdom of God grows.
Are you letting God use you in the church?
Have you never really gotten involved, just sat on the fringes or was once fully involved but now retired and just soaking up the sunshine?
Are you engaged in the partnership with God in building the kingdom of God?
We are all important.
We all have gifts to share.
We are all vital to the life and well being of the church.
For the church to be what it was called to be and to have an active and vital ministry all of us as its members have to be involved, engaged and fully a part of it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.