Unity in Christ

This message was written for a combined service for both of the churches that I serve and preached on Sunday September 25, 2005. I'm including the Scripture and referencing a movie clip in the text.


1 Corinthians 12:12-27 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free- and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

Unity in Christ
- Unity in Christ! Sounds nice doesn’t it? Everybody all together, believing the same thing, planning for the same thing, hoping the same thing. Almost sounds like utopia doesn’t it?
Question is, is it realistic and how do we make it happen?
You may remember a few years ago when Snoopy, the lovable beagle in the Peanuts cartoon, had his left leg broken. Hundreds of people wrote letters to Snoopy or sent sympathy cards. Snoopy himself philosophized about his plight one day while perched on top of his doghouse and looking at the huge white cast on his leg. "My body blames my foot for not being able to go places. My foot says it was my head’s fault, and my head blamed my eyes.... My eyes say my feet are clumsy, and my right foot says not to blame him for what my left foot did...." Snoopy looks out at his audience and confesses, "I don’t say anything because I don’t want to get involved."
Corinth was an ideal place for a congregation: its lanes were heavily lined with merchandizing booths. In fact, it was like one big mall. It was an old city made new (Rome had destroyed and rebuilt it), it was centrally located, considered a commercial haven by people from every nation of the Roman Empire. It was a big, busy city. In our society, it might be seen as the ideal place for a church.
BUT... the church at Corinth was not living up to its potential. In fact, it had some distinct, troublesome problems.
Ever hear the saying, "Beauty is skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone?"
The Church of Jesus Christ in Corinth was an ugly place - ugly clean to the bone.
I Corinthians 3:1-4 tells us about jealousy and division in the church. I Corinthians 4:18 talks about arrogant men in the church. And I Corinthians 5:1-2 speaks of the sin of pride being held up in the church. But there’s more! I Corinthians 9:1-6 tells of the church’s tendency to be backbiters of Paul’s ministry. I Corinthians 11:17-22 tells of potluck suppers that turned into spiritual food fights. Chapter 12 talks about the conflict between those who had the gift of tongues vs. those with other gifts. Then of course, there was chapters 15 & 16. These talked about a bad doctrine concerning the resurrection that had leaked into the congregation.
I don’t know about you folks, but if I had lived in Corinth, I’d go to another church. I’d walk several miles to go to another church. Corinth was a congregation on a downhill slide and someone had greased the chute. Frankly, this church didn’t measure up.
So how come Paul didn’t give up on Corinth? He wrote two letters to them: I & II Corinthians.
That’s a total of 21 pages in my Bible. The only other church to receive that many letters was Thessalonica and those two letters only get 5 pages in my Bible. I & II Timothy = 7 pages. I & II Peter = 7 pages. I, II & III John = 6 pages. In other words, Paul went to great lengths to reach out to this fractured, disobedient church.
And, not only had Paul not given up on Corinth, God hadn’t either. They still had their gifts.
If I had been God Corinth would have experienced something like a bad Christmas. The kid’s been a brat... load up his presents, put them in the trunk and slam the lid shut! But, God is in the business of mending broken things.
Why didn’t Paul and God give up on Corinth? Because the church had the potential to change.One example of this is found in II Corinthians 2:5ff. Paul had rebuked the church for looking the other way when one of their members had been sleeping with his father’s wife. But by the 2nd letter, the church’s discipline of the sinner seemed to be working. The man was apparently showing signs of repentance, and Paul was telling them to now let him back in.
God is merciful, but He expects us to fix what is broken and yield to Him in obedience. He expects us to realize that this is Christ’s body - not ours.
Now when I’m talking about Christ’s body, I’m talking about this church. Not the building. Because the building could be obliterated from the planet tomorrow and the church would go on.
I’m talking about the people. And not just the people of one church. We’ve got two churches here this morning worshiping together. That is a true demonstration of the unity to be found in the body of Christ.
Has anyone here, the adults now, seen the movie “Ice Age?” It’s a prehistoric animated film about some animals who come across a human baby and what they do with him. After some discussion about leaving him to die and about eating him, they decide that he should be returned to his tribe, or as they say, his herd. Now this eclectic little group consists of a wooly mammoth named Manny, a sloth named Sid, and a saber-toothed tiger named Diego.
Now Diego is with the group on a ruse. He’s not really there to help, he’s trying to find the humans’ camp so the other tigers can hunt them.
Now, our heroes go through the standard variety of perils and hijinx, but this one clip is one that you need to see.
(Play clip starting with scene 14 on the DVD and ending when Sid say “weirdest herd I’ve ever seen.”)
“We are the weirdest herd I’ve ever seen.” Take a look around. Were truer words ever spoken? We are one weird herd.
But don’t forget what Manny said here. When Diego asked why Manny put his own life in peril to rescue him, Manny said, “Because that’s what you do when you’re part of a herd. You look out for each other.”
We may be a weird herd, but we are a herd. One herd, part of an even bigger herd.
We’re a family. The family of God. We take care of each other and we look out for each other. At least that’s what we’re supposed to do.
The question is, are we doing a very good job of it? Are we really taking care of each other, or are we fostering infighting and back-biting and gossip? Because if we can’t even take care of each other, and all of us are Christians, how in God’s name will we ever turn our concern outwards to the rest of the world?
So for the sake of the unity of the Body of Jesus Christ, let’s lay aside our differences and our jealousies and our indignations. And let’s live like that weird herd we saw on the screen this morning, traveling together, one purpose, taking care of each other on this great, mysterious journey that we call the walk of faith.
Maybe we can find utopia.
We certainly can’t go wrong by trying.
AMEN

Sorry for the delay

It's been a really hectic month getting started up for the ministry year. I haven't posted sermons in a few weeks because I've just been so busy. Anyway, I probably won't catch up but will just follow this post with this past Sunday's message. Grace and Peace,
Don

Things happen

Have you ever had one of those days, weeks or months when you feel like the whole world is caving in on you? Right now I'm dealing with some emotional baggage from 26 years ago. It shouldn't be as painful as it is, but wounds without closure just fester. I have gotten some closure on this particular issue, but unfortunately other people have been hurt in the process. I never meant for anyone to be hurt or to stir up bad old feelings, but I thought that we had all moved far enough from it to be able to discuss it civilly. I was wrong. If any of those folks happen to read this blog, I'm truly sorry. If I had know how this would go I never would have brought it up. I'm not sure if there's enough asprin in the world to take care of my headache right now.

August 7 message

This message is based on the lectionary texts from Genesis and Matthew for August 7, 2005 - Joseph's experience of being sold into slavery by his brothers and the story of Jesus walking on the water and calling Peter out to him.

A FedEx from God
So there I was, in a job that I hated, and it was a total dead end. There was absolutely no chance of advancement without changing careers, and I worked with people that I was, well, I wasn’t going to be on their party guest lists any time soon, or were they likely to be on mine. The pay was decent, but I worked five 11PM to 7AM shifts a week and had little time with my wife and daughter. I was not happy there and it showed in my attitude. What’s worse, I was a Christian at the time and people that I worked with knew I was going into the ministry. Not only was I miserable, but I was a poor witness because of my attitude.
Trapped – that’s how I felt, trapped. Have you ever been there? Been in a place where you felt like you had no way out? Been in a situation where you felt trapped?
Problem – Sometimes we find ourselves in places that we do not want to be.
You see, that’s a problem that we can probably all relate to. We’ve probably all felt a little trapped in a situation at one time or another. We may not have been stuck in a boat with eleven other people in a storm. We may not have been thrown into a well by our brothers. But we’ve all been there. Maybe it was a job like mine that was a dead end. Maybe it was a relationship where you felt smothered. Maybe it was a commitment that you made and then regretted afterward. Whatever it was, it was not fun and it was not interesting and you wanted out.
The disciples probably felt pretty trapped in that boat when the wind came up and Jesus wasn’t with them. They probably understood feeling trapped and isolated and without direction. You know who else understands how you felt, besides the disciples and me? Joseph understands. Joseph knew what it felt like to be trapped, Because Joseph really was trapped.
His brothers didn’t like that he was the favorite child. His brothers didn’t want to hear anymore about Joseph’s dreams. They just wanted him dead or something like dead anyway. So what did they do? At first, they were going to kill him. They planned to shred his coat of many colors and cover it with blood, And then tell their father that a wild beast had killed him. But Reuben at least convinced them to not kill him right away.
Instead, they threw him in a dry well. While he was in there, an Ishmaelite caravan came by and the brothers decided to sell Joseph into slavery.
Now slavery, that’s trapped. Joseph knew what it meant to be trapped for sure.
CS Lewis puts it this way, “Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters. (C.S. Lewis in "Equality" from Present Concerns, quoted in Christianity Today, February 3, 1989, p. 31.)
Good News – The reality is that God wants us to be exactly where we are at all times.
But you know what, if you think about it, I’d be willing to bet that in whatever situation you felt yourself trapped, Something good came out of it. It necessarily didn’t have to be a good result,
when I left that miserable job, I went to school and I worked as a part time substitute teacher. There were times when I felt like I had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. But I left on good terms with my fellow employees. I had at one point decided that I was there for a reason, And I began starting my nights off with a visit to the chapel for prayer. I prayed for self-control and joy, and I prayed for my coworkers and I to get along. It didn’t work right away; it was no miracle in that sense. But, it did work.
There came a time when those people that had been my biggest adversaries at work Became my closest friends. What life and fate had meant for my downfall, God had meant for my edification.
Think about the disciples in the boat. Think about how they felt with that storm raging around them. They probably believed that the wind and the waves had conspired against them. I’m sure that they believed that evil was working against them. But what was meant for evil God turned to good. For instead of a tragedy, the disciples witnessed a miracle that strengthened their faith.
And, what Joseph’s brothers had meant for evil, God had meant for good. Joseph ended up first as the house attendant for the captain of the Guard, Potiphar, Then as the second in command of all of Egypt. Eventually, Joseph is able to save the Hebrew people because of his position.
Now, could Joseph have done this if his brothers had not sold him into slavery? Of course not!
Could the disciples have witnessed Jesus walking across the stormy sea without the storm?Obviously not!
You see folks, the good news out of these passages is that God is in the process. God does not abandon us to the wiles of this world. God works through the events and the people of this world to God’s own ends. And God’s ends are always good.
There’s a story about the famous preacher C. H. Spurgeon that goes something like this. One day Spurgeon was walking through the English countryside with a friend. As they strolled along, the preacher noticed a barn with a weathervane on its roof. At the top of the vane were these words: “GOD IS LOVE.” Spurgeon remarked to his companion that he though that this was a rather inappropriate place for such a message. “Weather vanes are changeable,” he said, “but God’s love is constant.” “I don’t agree with you about those words, Charles,” replied his friend. “You misunderstood the meaning. That sign is indicating a truth: Regardless of which way the wind blows, God is love.” (Stories Illustrations and Quotes, Robert J. Morgan, 2000)
And for us, regardless of where the world takes us, God is in that process. God is in that place and we’re there for a reason.
Response – Go with the flow because God is in the process somewhere.
So what do we need to do? As Christian people, as people receiving this FedEx from God, what should our response be to the fact that God is in control?
Well, look back at the Genesis passage. Joseph didn’t fight his brothers when they stripped him and threw him into a well. At least we’re not told that he did.
Consider Paul and Silas in prison. They didn’t try to escape when they had the opportunity.
Even the disciples in the boat settled down when they realized that the “ghost” was Jesus.
What’s God saying? Go with the flow. God is telling all of us that only God is sovereign and only God is in control. Even if life in this world leads us into slavery, God is still in control.
There’s a song I obtained recently by a band called “Casting Crowns” called The Voice of Truth.
The lyric goes something like this:

Oh what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I’m in onto the crashing waves.
To step out of my comfort zone, into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is. And he’s holding out his hand
But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I’ve tried before and failed.
The waves they keep on telling’ me, time and time again “Boy, you’ll never win. You’ll never win!“
But the voice of truth tell me a different story. The voice of truth says, “Do not be afraid.”
And the voice of truth says, “This is for my glory.”
Out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.

The voice of truth, the voice of God says, “Do not be afraid." God says, “Whatever you’re going through is for my glory.” So go with the flow. Relax and know that the God of all creation is directing the flow of your life experience. And know that God’s intentions are always for your good.
AMEN

I'm Baaaaaack!

Got back Thursday from my stint out at camp. Good week there by very hot and no AC. Two nights of VBS and still working on this week's message. That plus dealing with other family and extended family issues has me feeling like I'm chasing my tail a little bit. But, there are two things that came up recently that I need to talk about here.

First - last night at VBS we had a big event planned. The theme of the week was a circus motif. For Friday night we had rented a popcorn macine, a snowcone machine, and a moon bounce. It was looking like it was going to be a good time for the kids. But, as 6PM was approaching, so were the storm clouds and the lightning. The kids were meeting inside for a lesson first and Melissa, the VBS leader asked me to pray with the kids that the rain would hold off for us. We prayed and by 8PM when it was time to go home we had had one brief (literally 30 second) shower. The night was a great success and we all got a powerful lesson in the power of prayer.

Second - After that I went to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with my wife and daughter. I mentioned early on in this blog that I would probably talk about connecting movies with the Gospel. Here's one of those times. The film wasn't bad, especially as a cautionary tale for kids. In that respect it was very much like the original film with Gene Wilder. But near the end, Wonka offers the factory to Charlie and Charlie asks if he can bring his whole family to live there with him. Wonka replies, "Of course you can't!" Charlie explains to Wllie Wonka that he wouldn't trade his family for any amount of chocolate. My first thought was, "That'll preach!" I reminded me of the scripture from Ephesians 2:19. As Paul is talking about all people, Jews and Gentiles being one in Christ he says, "So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family." Is there anything more important than family? And since we are all one in Christ, is there anything more important than the family of God? How often we sell each other out for so much less than a chocolate factory. What a shame that we all aren't a bit more like Charlie Bucket.

No message for 7/24

There is no sermon message for July 24. Not because I didn't write one. Simply because the one that I wrote was for a youth retreat where I was the Spiritual Advisor, and it's not typed yet. Thanks go out to Howard Cassaday for filling in for me at my churches this past weekend. I spent the weekend running around in the woods with 22 teenagers in high Point State Park. I'm sore! Obviously, I'm still too out of shape to be running around in the woods. If I get the time this week I'll try to type up the message from the weekend and post it here for anyone to peruse. In the mean time, I've got VBS this week and I'll be teaching at Delanco Camp next week. With what's on my schedule right now, if I'm still posting here by the second week of August it means that I'm still alive and that I survived the most hectic part of my summer. Keep watching.

A Full Plate

Was just thinking about all that I've got on my plate for this Summer and it's got me feeling a bit overwhelmed. Some folks think that pastors just take off from June to September like schoolkids. Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from the fact that we still have church every Sunday and those sermons don't write themselves, Vacation Bible School at two churches, visitation, and preparation for starting up regular programs and Bible Studies in the Fall fill this pastor's summer schedule. Plus, this year I've been asked to be the Spiritual Advisor for a youth retreat held annually by my home church, and I'm teaching a study on The Gospel According to the Simpsons at a Jr. High camp this summer. But, as the kids are know to say, it's all good. I wouldn't do those extra things if I didn't really want to. Even though I'm the "Senior Pastor" now, my roots are in youth ministry and I still love the opportunities to relate the Gospel to youth and children. There's no greater joy than seeing a kid that you've been working with suddenly light up when they "get it." Yeah, I might have a full plate, but it's all good food and it won't put any more weight on me either. So it's all good!

What if...

The other day I was in that half-asleep-not-yet-quite-awake state when I had an interesting thought/epiphany. I wondered what I would say to myself if I could go back in time to when I was 14. I thought about how my life now would be different based on what I told my younger self. Would I still be a pastor? Would I have been a pastor sooner? Would I have gone whole-hog into the medical field? I came to realize, in my half-aware state, that I really am content with where I am now and how I got to be here. No, I haven't done everything right. In fact, I've messed up a lot! But the mistakes that I've made have made me who I am now, and that's a good thing that I'm not willing to muck with. I think the only thing I would tell my younger self is to avoid a relationship with Sue, the girl from grade school that's going to come back around when you're 18. She's nothing but trouble that you just don't need. That, and lay off the fast food, it's going to make you fat!

Post Independence Day Blahs

Just getting over my first day back from a long weekend spent with family and friends. I always feel so run down and wiped out after spending time with the family. Why is it that family wears us out more than any other relationship? Is it because they know us best and can push our buttons better than anyone else? I don't know, but I'm beat.

Been thinking as well that this might be a good place to post my sermons for folks that miss a Sunday to read them. Maybe I'll start this in another post.

Start up

OK, so this is my first post to my first blog. By way of introduction, I am Don. I'm just over 40 years old, and I'm the pastor of two small churches in rural America (It's not where you might think!). If you want to know my interests, go read my profile. The only thing that I really didn't put in there is how much I like movies. I like movies a lot. I especially like finding a nugget, a scene in a movie that I can use to illustrate the Gospel when I preach. That is something that I will probably comment on a lot I suppose.

I've started this blog as a way for me to think out loud and get some feedback on my thoughts. Be as blunt or critical as you like. I'm a big boy, I can take it. Well, that's all for now. I'll be back soon.