UNITY: Through the Gift of Our Diversity

1 Corinthians 12:12-30                                            Rev. Todd B. Freeman

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Dallas                                  June 19, 2005

Just over a month ago, on May 15, we celebrated Pentecost Sunday. I preached on the standard biblical text for that Sunday from Acts 2. The Epistle Lesson for that day, however, is what I used as the basis for the Time With the Children message.

You may remember that message because I used a really big prop – a large four-wheel car for toddlers. After they expertly identified each individual part of the car I asked the children how well it would work if one of those parts were broke or missing, like the steering wheel or the tires, for example. They understood that each part of the car is indeed important and necessary.

I extended that line of thinking to apply to the church: we need each one of them (and every member of the congregation) in order for us to work to the best of our ability as a church. I reminded them how important they are to all of us.

That children’s message was loosely based on a verse near the end of the Epistle Lesson for Pentecost Sunday, 1 Corinthians 12:12. “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.”

I must confess that what that children’s message was really based on is today’s passage that begins (not ends) with verse 12 and continues through verse 30. For it is today’s passage where the Apostle Paul actually mentions different parts of the human body by name and tells us how important each one is to the functioning of the whole. So important, in fact, that the body doesn’t function as it should without even the most seemingly unimportant or unnoticeable part.

By extension Paul uses this metaphor to apply to the church. The message is simple: different people in a congregation have different gifts, skills, resources, and even personalities. It is only when all participate and work together for the common good that the church functions as God intends.

This lesson is a great way to illustrate a favorite theme here at Bethany – we achieve unity only through our diversity. Another way to state this is that in the church there are no “nobodies.” Instead, everyone is a “somebody,” somebody special to God and special to this congregation.

Here’s yet another metaphor that Paul would not of been familiar with in his day and time. A great orchestra doesn’t consist of just one kind of musical instrument. Instead, it’s only when each different instrument plays its given part that an orchestra can make the beautiful music of, for example, a Beethoven symphony. The Apostle Paul did not have a “single-instrument” vision of the church. Recognizing, affirming, and celebrating its diversity was the best way (and only real way) the church’s unity could be exhibited.

The theme of unity was a major focus during our meeting of Grace Presbytery held just over a week ago in Fort Worth. Throughout the year each meeting has, or will, focus on the “peace, unity, and purity” of the church. Two brief position papers on the subject of unity were presented. One paper was written by a theologically progressive pastor, the other by a theologically conservative, evangelical pastor.

Both presentations were surprisingly very well received by those in attendance at that presbytery meeting. The reason for that is because both emphasized Jesus’ call to accept others where they are in their own faith journey, and that unity does not mean uniformity – something you’ve heard me say many times over the years.

So how can individual congregations apply this important message? Let me answer that, in part, by sharing another story. This is a true story of a visitor being shown around a leper colony in India. At noon a gong sounded for the midday meal. People came from all parts of the compound to the dining hall.

All at once lots of laughter filled the air. Two young men, one riding on the other’s back, were pretending to be a horse and a rider as they entered. They were obviously quite amused with their game.

As the visitor watched, he saw that the man who carried his friend was blind, and the man on his back was lame. The one who could not see used his feet; the one who could not walk used his eyes. Together they helped each other, and they found great joy in doing it.

Imagine a church like that, a society like that, where each person or member uses his or her strength to make up for another’s weakness.

All of us have weaknesses, and unfortunately that what’s easiest for most folks to focus on. We tend to compare ourselves to others and to dwell upon the gifts and talents that we don’t have. But each of us also has strengths. Today’s biblical text begs the question: What are your strengths, your gifts, your talents, your resources? And as importantly: How can they be used to build up the body of Christ, especially in this congregation?

I want us look at four quick observations that unfold in Paul’s argument about the unity through the diversity of the body.

The first is that God is singled out as the source of the variety of gifts. The text declares that God arranged it so that all members would not have the same gifts, but that within the unity there would be diversity.

Diversity does not just happen, but is a part of God’s gift to humanity and to the church. The Creation Story from Genesis 1, which we heard part of in this morning’s Old Testament Lesson, reveals that diversity is built into God’s good creation. This, in itself, should help us to stop comparing ourselves to others. The Christian Church has for too long thought of differences as barriers to unity, as obstacles to be overcome. This is the typical approach that most churches take in assimilating new members. The often unspoken message is: “Be, or become, like us.”

By recognizing diversity as a gift of God, the biblical text reorders the issue of power in the church. Differences are neither ignored nor viewed as limitations, but celebrated, "for in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." This, in my estimation, has been one of the greatest rewards we’ve experienced in conjunction with our immigrant Hispanic ministry over the past 6 years.

The second observation grows out of the first. The members of the body need one another. No one part can say to others that they are not needed. The point is that which keeps the body functioning properly is precisely the need of each member for the others. This church, for example, needs you and what you have to offer! That’s one reason why it is so hard to say goodbye when we lose any of our members or staff, for whatever reason. The body is never quite as complete.

The third observation grows out of the second. There is to be no hierarchy of gifts within the church. God arranges things in the human body so that those apparently less worthy parts are accorded appropriate honor. They have indispensable functions to perform. If you’ve ever stubbed your little toe, you know what I mean.

What is true for our physical bodies is true for the church. There is an established mutuality and interdependence that make hierarchical structures inappropriate.

The fourth observation depends on the previous three. The summation drawn is that in place of dissension and strife there is to be a mutual care for one another. I’m sure you’ve noticed that when one part of your body really hurts, your entire body is affected. If you’ve ever had a migraine headache or food poisoning or a bad knee, for example, you know how true this is.

The only possible conclusion is serious attention to and care for one another. But if mutual suffering is a reality, then so is mutual rejoicing! We experience that each week as we share our joys with one another, and each time we fellowship with one another.

In 1980, Presbyterian poet Ann Weems published a book of her poetry entitled, Reaching for Rainbows.  One stanza in her poem Where is the Church? explains:

The church of Jesus Christ is where people go

when they skin their knees or their hearts,

is where frogs become princes

and Cinderella dances beyond midnight,

is where judges don’t judge

and each child of God is beautiful and precious.

Let us strive to be that kind of church, where there are no nobodies! For you are a somebody, an important somebody – whether it be with this family of faith or elsewhere!

Amen.