May 7, 2006

Walking Together Sunday

Have you ever had your photo taken in one of those headless frames? (show examples)  You know, one of those wooden frames painted up like a muscle man, or clown, or beautiful princess?  But there is a hole where the head should be… and you put your head in there and someone snaps a picture?  Have you been in one of those?  The photos are humorous.  They look silly, and why do they?  Because the body doesn’t fit the head.

Well… You are the body of Christ!  He is the Head, and we are the body.  Does this body fit the head?  If we could picture Christ as the head of our local body of believers, would the world around us laugh at the misfit?  Would one not match the other?  Would it look as silly as those photos?  Or would they stand in awe of a human body so closely related to a divine head?

I think we would have to admit that we often look pretty silly and awful compared to our Head, the Son of God.  Honestly, we are sometimes a pretty pathetic looking body on which sits a perfect Head.  We have been infants in our faith, being tossed back and forth by the challenges this world throws at us!  Even the small ones.  We have not trusted our God the way we should trust Him, have we? Our pettiness, selfishness, arguing amongst ourselves, lack of commitment, and unwillingness to serve makes us look like infants, when we should know better. 

And do we speak to others in love?  Or are words often harsh?  Bitter?  Do we just tell people what we think they want to hear?  Do we ever nod our head and pretend to listen when we really don’t care?  Do we always speak the truth in love?  I don’t think so.  We often act like babies.  Not mature followers of a wonderful and powerful God.  But like selfish children who don’t appreciate their awesome God.  When you think about it, we must look silly.  We must look like we don’t really belong to our Head.  We are a far way off from looking like Jesus.

Looking like Jesus would mean that we would pitch in and help where needed.  If we are part of the Body of Christ, then it means we have a job to do, right?  Every part of the body has a job.  What if those parts didn’t want to do it?  What if they, instead, argued whose job it is?

A patient in a hospital once knocked over a cup of water, which spilled on the floor beside the patient’s bed. The patient was afraid he might slip on the water if he got out of the bed so he asked the nurse’s aid to mop it. The patient didn’t know it, but the hospital policy said that small spills were the responsibility of the nurse’s aides, while large spills were to be mopped up by the hospital’s housekeeping group. The nurse aide decided the spill was large one and she called the house keeping department. A housekeeper arrived and declared the spill a small one. An argument followed. “It’s not my responsibility,” said the nurse aide, “because it’s a large puddle.”  The housekeeper did not agree: “Well, it’s not mine, the puddle is too small!”

The exasperated patient listened for a while, then took the pitcher of water from his table, and poured the whole thing on the floor.  “Is that a big enough puddle now for you to decide?” he asked.  And that was the end of an argument.

Every part of the body has a job to do.  Every part of God’s body has some work to do.  A meaningful job.  A way that He has asked you to humbly serve Him.  God has asked us all to step out of our comfort zones, go out of our way, and selflessly serve other people, to show them his love and build up his body.  And friends, have we done it?  Let’s be honest.  In our lives, at home, school, or work, you and I have not been functioning like the parts of the Body of Christ we need to be functioning like.  We have failed our perfect God.  We look like a silly, headless, frame, with the paint chipping off.  One headed to the eternal junk pile…

But you know what happened? Christ has made us his body!  Yeah, we look bad.  Yeah, you could look at us and shake your head.  But Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, said, “That is my body.  Those are my people.  You are my flock.  I want you to be part of me.  I know you haven’t been perfect, but I am going to make you part of my body anyway.”

And how did He do it?  Friends, Christ is the part of the body that always pitched in!  Jesus wasn’t afraid to serve when He was needed to.  He wasn’t afraid to leave his comfort zone and selflessly help those who needed Him.  He did what was needed to be done.  The things we didn’t do, He did.  He did them for us.  He trusted his Father.  He always spoke in love.  He always built up.  He always helped.  Always served.  Matthew 20:28 says: “…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Jesus did his part as the Head of the body.  He gave his everything, his all, for us.  And when we needed Him to give away his life for us, so we could be forgiven, He even did that.

As part of his body, that is something you need to know.  You are forgiven for your sins against our Holy God.  He holds nothing against you.  He isn’t angry with you.  How do I know that?  Because He has made you part of his body.  That’s proof of his love!  To let someone become part of your body shows the greatest love.  Christ loves you – a part of his body!

So now, how can we show our appreciation?  Wouldn’t it make sense to act like a part of his body?  To grow in our faith.  Stop being infants.  To become strong in our knowledge of his Word.  Not get dragged into false teachings and tripped up by books and movies that challenge his Word.  Be kind and loving in the way we deal with our friends.  Our family.  Our spouses.  Be mature in the way we live.  Help out whenever we can.  Build up our brothers and sisters in faith.  Use our actions for the good of the body of believers.  Pitch in when needed.  Help others use their gifts to serve.  Working together.  Walking together.  Being a real body!

At Columbia University, a test was done on how members of the various sections of the symphony orchestra perceived each other. The percussionists were viewed as insensitive, unintelligent, and hard-of-hearing, yet fun-loving. String players were seen as arrogant, stuffy, and unathletic. “Loud” was the primary adjective to describe the brass players. Woodwind players seemed to be held in the highest esteem, described as quiet and meticulous, though a bit egotistical. Interesting findings! With such widely divergent personalities and perceptions, how could an orchestra ever come together to make such wonderful music?  The answer is simple: regardless of how those musicians view each other, they subordinate their feelings and biases to the leadership of the Conductor.  Under his guidance, they play beautiful music!

Friends, look at all our widely divergent personalities and perceptions!  Aren’t we straight out of the Land of Misfit Toys?  Imagine all the different ways that the body of Christ could be described!  Look at all of our faults!  But we have One who brings us all together to work for Him!  To play beautiful music!  To work together, walk together and carry out his mission together!  Our conductor, our Head, is Jesus Christ!  First, He made us perfect before his Father.  And now, through his Spirit, He motivates and empowers us to live a little bit more like Him!  To act like a body!  To work together, serve together, and walk together!

He has given us some help.  He has given us pastors and teachers to prepare us for works of service.  To help us work and serve Him together.  To teach us his Word and guide us in it.  To rebuke us with his Law and comfort us with his Gospel.  To encourage us and equip us to do ministry and service.  So we grow in our faith through his Word.  Become more mature.  Strive toward the pure unity of faith and knowledge of Jesus.

How has He given us such a blessing?  Through a bunch of his children who are “walking together” in faith.  We call such a body that walks together a “synod.”  A larger body of believers that can put together a worker-training system: schools to train these pastors, teachers, and staff ministers.  Who in turn can help us begin and grow congregations of believers, smaller parts of the larger Body of Christ, which can grow together and work together to be more and more like our Head, our Saviour: Jesus.

So friends, let’s walk together.  Let’s grow together.  Let’s be in his Word.  Let’s let Him strengthen us so that our faith in Him wavers less.  Let’s keep growing up, so that we are looking less like infants and more like mature believers.  Let’s build each other up in love.  Let’s encourage one another.  Let’s pitch in and serve together.  Let’s support our synod, our brothers and sisters in the faith, our worker-training schools.  Let’s all do our part.  Because that way, we will start looking more and more like we belong to the One who is our Head.

The story is told about a king who longed for a son. Years passed, & finally God answered his prayers & a boy was born. The whole kingdom rejoiced. He was such a perfect child & everybody was so happy. Then, when he was 6 years old the little boy fell off a horse & was injured to the point of being partially paralyzed. The king & all the kingdom mourned. Then the king did a strange thing. He instructed the royal sculptor to make a statue of a man standing strong & straight. And every day they wheeled the boy out to the courtyard where the statue had been erected, & the little boy looked at the statue of that man.

The story says that gradually the boy’s spine started to straighten. Strength came back to his muscles & bones. Finally the day arrived when that boy stood up in the shadow of that statue. And as the kingdom looked, lo & behold, they saw that the boy bore the likeness of the statue! He had become what he had been looking at every day!

God made us his children through what His Son did for us.  And now, He places before us His only Son, and He says, "Look at Him. Become like Him, and the more you look at Him, the more you read His Word, the more you’ll grow to be like Him."  Christ wants his body to win the lost and build up the saved. He wants every part of his body growing in the Word and serving its purpose.  So fellow members of his body, let’s live in a way that makes us look more like his body!  Walking Together and Growing Together!  Amen.

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