Monday, September 20, 2010

Members of One Body

On a recent Sunday morning at Grace, we experienced one of those delightfully unplanned but memorable moments. It was just a little accident that was quickly cleaned up, but it provided an object lesson that I keep thinking about.

Dan Dilts had gotten up to make an announcement about a Wednesday evening class. In his excitement, he knocked over the cup of water that sits on the podium for the pastor to sip when he gets a dry throat or a tickle during the sermon. Everyone laughed, Dan sat down, and to a casual observer, that might have been the end of the story. However, during the prayer that followed Dan's announcement, I opened my eyes and raised my head just enough to see Matt Houts with a handful of paper towels swabbing the carpet and wiping down the side of the podium. After prayer, while the offering plates were passed, Leigh Smith delivered a fresh cup of water to the pastor, who set it back in its now dry place.

Don't you love it?! This is the way the body of Christ is supposed to work. Each person does his or her part, and the service continues. No one asks for special recognition or praise, but just does what needs to be done. It's the same thing that happens when a family works around and beside one another to cook a meal or when a group of athletes operates as if they share a brain in their several bodies. The experience is sweet harmony and the results are delicious or victorious, as the case may be.

On that Sunday morning, Pastor Euler mentioned the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He remarked on how the problem in "one little place" had disrupted the whole ecosystem of the gulf. It was a passing remark in a discussion about a different topic, but it fit right in with the water spill in my mind and illustrated for me how badly things go astray when some part of the system isn't working correctly.

The apostle Paul has a lot to say about the body of Christ. In First Corinthians 12, he reminds Christians that we each have a role to fulfill. "For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." I so enjoy being part of the body of Christ on earth, and especially love the body at Grace. I want to remember to do my part so that everything works as it should. Let us pray for one another and look for ways to "care one for another" in the body.

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your post Sherry! Matt came by the nursery asking to borrow a sippy cup for Pastor :) I was reminded of the apostle Paul's words in First Corinthians 12:4-7 that say "there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit and varieties of ministries, and the same Lord and varieties of effects or results, but the same God who works all things in all persons for the common good." The beauty of each one of us fulfilling our God given gifts in the body of Christ with love is very noticable to those seeking answers to this life. I have seen the body of Christ at Grace use their God given roles with all the love of 1 Corinthians 13.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Sherri - this fits so perfectly with what was taught in youth small groups last Wednesday night - an important reminder of how significant our service is to the body of Christ!! Can't wait to share some of this with the girls in my group and continue encouraging them in that area!

    ReplyDelete