Introduction
Paul uses an interesting metaphor in our text, He states that “the body is one and has many members…if one member suffers, all suffer together.” I know that when my back hurts, the rest of my body suffers as well. If you get a sore throat or migraine the rest of your body “suffers” with your head. You don’t feel like doing anything until that part of the body that is suffering has time to heal.
The Text
Paul, however, sees a deeper meaning to his metaphor. He sees, Christians, as the many members that make up the body, the church. We are members of the body with Christ as the head. Just as any body cannot function without the members working in perfect harmony, so too the body of Christ, the Christian Church. The church cannot function in perfect harmony unless all its members work together.
Malady
Don’t sow evil; if you sow evil, you will reap it. Everyone is calling for growth and responsible leadership that prioritizes the confessions of the church, the welfare of the people over personal achievements.
Malady
Does the church work in harmony? Do we make an effort to welcome a visitor or make another member feel comfortable in worship? Do we pray for a member who has not worshipped with us for a while? Experience has been that people who have not been at church in a while want to be called, they want to be missed. Do we make an effort to seek out the pains of other members of this body? If we just look inward then the missing pieces are not missed. When the members of the body are not in, the picture is incomplete, there’s a hole in the church.
Illustration
When our bodies become injured we take care of it. We visit a doctor to get a shot or a prescription to relive the pain and quicken the healing. We take care of the injury until it is healed.
Gospel
Is it any wonder that we refer to our Lord Jesus Christ as the “Great Physician?” He alone is the One who has taken our sin of self-centeredness upon His shoulders to the cross of Calvary. He is, as the Gospel text states, “sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind.”
Unlike the parts of our body suffering, Christ suffered in order that the entire body might not suffer. Upon His shoulders were the infections of our souls. By His cuts and bruises we are whole. St. Paul writes in Romans 5:8 that “while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” By way of His forgiveness He wraps us and heals us to such an extant that there is no scar, no reminder of our sins. The healing balm of the empty tomb bursts forth in glory to each and every one of us as we appear at His throne of grace and forgiveness. Each time we take the Lord’s body and blood the soothing ointment of grace heals the suffering of sin.
Reflection
Paul in this text is calling us a family; the many-membered body of Christ. We have family members that need to be reached. We don’t have to travel thousands of miles to see them. They may be in our family, under our same roof, or those we have become friendly with. They need the good news of the Resurrected Christ. They need the same love that Christ has shown you. They need to know they are missed. They suffer if they don’t hear about the healing of God’s grace. Is there a missing piece or two that you notice as you look around the pews/chairs at church during worship?
Paul gives the direction in the text. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.” In other words, no one is more important than another. We have an equality in the body of Christ. It is like the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All are equal in majesty, divinity and eternity.
Application
So it is with us. We have the same baptism and an equality of purpose. The Council is not more important than the Elders, the Treasurer is not more important than the Trustees, the Women Fellowship is not more important than the Sunday School teacher. All work together for the unity of the body, for the good of the body, for the glory of the body, Christ Jesus our Lord.
We never did find the missing piece. Look at the altar and there toward the cross it stares you in the face, the puzzle is complete. Christ completed it all and gave you life.
Conclusion
May God grant us all the strength to work as a body, in unison with one another in love, to bring back our missing pieces. Amen.