Gordon E. Ellis
January 21, 2007
MANY MEMBERS, ONE BODY
A few years ago, The New York Times Magazine included a special report on children with Asperger Syndrome, which is a type of AUTISM. But UNLIKE a typical autistic child, children with Asperger Syndrome can communicate very IMPRESSIVELY. It’s not uncommon, for example, to hear one of them explain that their Happy Meal was prepared in a Sigma Model 3000 deep-fat fryer, or that the PATELLA is one of 206 bones in the human body, ALL of which they can NAME. At a science museum, you might hear one of them explaining the intricacies of atomized optics. However, these SAME boys and girls are JUST like other AUTISTIC children in the sense that they have extremely MINIMAL social skills. They MAY know the names of ALL the passengers on the Titanic, or the birthday of EVERY member of Congress, but they can’t READ the FACIAL expression of the person sitting NEXT to them. They may spend ALL their time quietly in their rooms studying college-level MATH, but they DON’T have any FRIENDS. People OFTEN call them “little PROFESSORS,” but they’re also social MISFITS, suffering from intense isolation. Hans Asperger, who discovered this phenomenon back in 1944, said that children with Asperger Syndrome become fixated on things that EVOKE their curiosity, but not always in a life-enhancing WAY. They FAIL to SEE themselves as part of a WHOLE community. [1]
Well, I think that, in a SENSE, we ALL suffer from a KIND of Asperger Syndrome sometimes, because we TOO focus on the things that INTEREST us, but NOT always in a life-enhancing WAY, as Dr. Asperger SAID. And THAT was the situation in CORINTH as St. PAUL was writing his FIRST letter to the CHURCH there. Now, it HELPS to know that Corinth was an EXPLOSIVE city, sort of like a COMBINATION of Washington, LA, New York and Las Vegas, ALL rolled up into ONE. It was SO cosmopolitan, in fact, that folks FLOCKED there from all OVER the Roman Empire. It was a CENTER of government and commerce, sports and wealth… and SIN. In fact, their patron SAINT was APHRODITE, the goddess of LOVE, whose TEMPLE was SERVED by a THOUSAND prostitutes!
Well, PAUL carried the gospel to CORINTH back in the year 51 A.D., and within 18 MONTHS, he had formed an EXCITING community of CONVERTS. However, 5 years LATER, he HAD to write them this LETTER because he was extremely UPSET with them. You see: HE had received REPORTS that there were FACTIONS and CLIQUES among them, which were TEARING the church APART. Like Asperger children: as GIFTED as they WERE, they had little SENSE of being a PART of a whole COMMUNITY of faith. INSTEAD, they ran around trying to IMPRESS each other with their displays of INTELLECT, and their spiritual POWERS. They were so PROUD of their GIFTS, but they FAILED miserably at working TOGETHER. SO, they were TEARING apart the CHURCH that God had CREATED there.
Now, at least 4 factions are mentioned in Paul’s LETTER. The better EDUCATED were following Apollos, because HE knew the HEBREW scriptures, the OLD Testament, INSIDE and out. A SECOND group felt equally strong about Cephas, or PETER, the PRINCE of Apostles. Most of the POOR and freed slaves were proclaiming allegiance to PAUL. And a FOURTH group thought that THEY were closer to CHRIST than their FELLOW Christians were.
SO, how did Paul REACT to these FACTIONS? Well, Paul let them HAVE it -- with BOTH barrels. In 1 Corinthians 1, verses 12-13, Paul writes: What I MEAN is that EACH of you says: ‘I belong to Paul,’ or ‘I belong to Apollos,’ or ‘I belong to Cephas,’ or ‘I belong to Christ.’ Well, has CHRIST been DIVIDED? Was PAUL crucified for you? Or, were you BAPTIZED in the name of PAUL? BUT, even though he ASKS these questions, he doesn’t ANSWER them until chapter 12. And THEN he says, WE were baptized into ONE body, and that ONE body is the BODY of CHRIST. And THEN, he picks UP on this metaphor of the body, and he USES it as His PREVAING image through the REST of the chapter. With great HUMOR, he demonstrates their UNITY, in SPITE of their diversity. In non-medical language, he says that the human body is made up of feet and hands, eyes and ears. And he calls them to imagine a body that is ALL hands or feet, ALL heart or liver, or ALL bone or blood. Well, not only would it LOOK funny, but it wouldn’t WORK. Feet and hands, eyes and ears ALL belong TO the body, but they cannot BE the body. And a body cannot SURVIVE without ALL of its parts working TOGETHER, working in HARMONY with each OTEHR!
In Ephesians, chapter 2, Paul has a SIMILAR theme. He writes: YOU who once were FAR off have been brought NEAR by the blood of Christ. For HE is our peace; in HIS flesh, He has made BOTH groups into ONE and has broken down the DIVIDING wall; that is, the HOSTILITY between us. (Ephesians 2:13-14) LIKEWISE, Paul reminds the CORINTHIANS that they may come from MANY separate traditions -- Jew or Greek, slave or free -- but the power of God has broken DOWN their DIVIDING walls in order to make them ONE. They can GRUMBLE all the WANT, but they ALL belong to ONE body, the Body of CHRIST! In chapter 12, verse 27, Paul states his LESSON: YOU are the body of Christ, and individually MEMBERS of it. You see: it’s IMPERATIVE for Paul that they BEHAVE like ONE body; that they work together in HARMONY with each other, REGARDLESS of their differences! TOGETHER, they are to be the Body of Christ, DOING and saying what HE would do and say if HE were here in the flesh!
You know: one of the things I WORRY about in a church like OURS -- which has so MANY different groups, programs and ministries, and even styles of WORSHIP -- is that we could EASILY become FRACTURED. We could EASILY become like those CORINTHIANS, thinking that MY way of worshipping is BEST, or that MY style of music is the only one APPROPRIATE for worship, or that MY program or ministry is the most IMPORTANT one in the church. Yes, THAT would be EASY in OUR kind of church. So I think it’s IMPORTANT for ALL of us to be on guard AGAINST that way of thinking. It’s IMPORTANT that we remember that, TOGETHER, we are ONE church! Yes, we are DIVERSE, but let’s CELEBRATE our diversity -- and let’s USE it to become BETTER at BEING the Body of Christ in our world! MOREOVER, it’s IMPORTANT that we CONTINUALLY remember our stated PURPOSE, which we just READ, so that EVERYTHING we DO fits INTO that PURPOSE, so that EVERYTHING we DO fits INTO what we’re REALLY supposed to be ABOUT!
And what ARE we to be ABOUT? Well, at the END of this lesson, Paul speaks of the diversity of TALENTS in the church. And he says that some are apostles or prophets, teachers or healers! Others are leaders, and SOME speak in TONGUES. And while the church is BLESSED with all these GIFTS, their SINGLE, utmost PURPOSE is to live out GOD’S vision of love and peace in this world. Who CARES if you have the gift of FAITH, or the gift of TONGUES, or the gift of TEACHING, or the gift of SINGING, or the gift of playing an INSTRUMENT, if you don’t really LOVE God, and love neighbor, but only LOVE yourself? And THIS is PRECISELY the point that Paul CONTINUES to emphasize in the NEXT chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, which is USED in so many WEDDINGS. It’s really just a CONTINUATION of chapter 12. In fact, in the last VERSE of chapter 12, He writes: And now I will SHOW you the BEST way of ALL. And he goes ON to say that ALL of our GIFTS, no matter WHAT they are, or how SPECIAL they are, are NOTHING without LOVE!
You see: the church in Corinth was like a room full of Asperger children. All of them were VERY gifted in their OWN right, but they were working as INDIVIDUALS. Each ONE was focused on HIS or her OWN project, or his or her own THING! Each ONE had HIS or her OWN ideas about HOW the church should operate! Each ONE was pushing his or her own AGENDA! But when it came to BEING the Body of Christ TOGETHER, and LOVING God and neighbor TOGETHER, they were MISSING the MARK. They were MISSING the POINT! And the POINT is LOVE. SO, it’s no ACCIDENT that the famous LOVE chapter, 1 Corinthians 13, follows IMMEDIATELY after 1 Corinthians 12. Yes, it’s ALL about LOVE: loving GOD and loving NEIGHBOR, because THAT’S what Jesus SAID in Matthew’s gospel when He was ASKED Him to name the most important COMMANDMENT, and He replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind… and love your NEIGHBOR as yourself.
And it’s TRUE! We can come to church and participate in ALL the activities here. We can be the absolute BEST at whatever we DO here! BUT, without LOVE, it’s ALL a CHARADE. Without LOVE, we’re just PLAY-ACTING. You know: WHEN we stand before God on Judgment Day, I don’t BELIEVE that God will ask us specific questions like: Were you the BEST singer in your church choir or the church band? Or did you attend ALL the adult retreats that your church offered? Or did YOU get your WAY in that difficult church decision? Or were you on the RIGHT side in the GAY issue? NO, there will only be ONE question! And THAT will be: Did you really LOVE God and your neighbors, ALL of your neighbors? And the CHURCH, my friends, ENABLES us, and EMPOWERS us, to DO that! We DO it with the SONGS we sing, with the PROGRAMS we offer, with the MINISTRIES and MISSIONS we promote and SUPPORT, and with ALL that we DO as a church family. And MOST importantly, we do it TOGETHER, because TOGETHER, WE are the Body the Christ, who came to us as God INCARNATE, God in the FLESH! And WHO is GOD? God is LOVE! Amen.
(My thanks to my colleague, Mickey Anders)
1. Lawrence Osborne, The Little Professor Syndrome,” New York Times Magazine (June 18, 2000), 55ff; qtd. in Homiletics (January 2001).