Week of prayer for Christian Unity

Corinthians 12:12-31 (New International Version)

12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. 29Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[b]? Do all interpret? 31But eagerly desire[c] the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.

Some of my thoughts today on this section come from a commentary by The Rev'd Steve Lewis.

In the first part of this chapter the apostle Paul had explained that even though there is a wide variety of spiritual gifts and ministries and effects, all of these come from the one Holy Spirit, are energized by Him, and are given only as He decides. The Corinthians were focusing on a few of the more spectacular or showy gifts, and they were looking down on believers who did
not manifest what they considered to be the greater gifts. In the last section of this chapter, the apostle Paul is going to illustrate the importance of the unity of the members of the church by giving an analogy comparing a healthy church to a properly functioning human body.

Where did the analogy of the body come from?
The first place in this letter that we see a body referred to in this way was 1 Cor 10:16-17, where the apostle Paul was discussing the Lord's Supper. He said, "We who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread" (1 Cor 10:17). It seems that Paul had more to say about this idea of becoming part of the body of Christ, so in this chapter he proceeded to expand on this illustration.

"Even as the body is one and yet has many members" . The apostle Paul had been explaining
that the different manifestations in the Corinthian church were all the result of the working of the one Holy Spirit. Here he is saying that this is similar to the way a human body is a single organism but is composed of many different parts. Even in a single unified body, a diversity of members is required for it to function properly. "And all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body" . Here Paul states the same truth in the reverse. Even though there is a diversity of members, they all must work together for the proper functioning of the one body.

These phrases give us a mini-summary of this entire section of chapter twelve -- they show the flow and movement of thought that Paul is going to follow in this concluding section of the chapter. "So also is Christ" We would almost expect Paul to have said: "...so also is the church." After all, that is the organization that Paul wants to apply these truth to ultimately. But instead of identifying the church here, Paul actually opens up an additional set of truths that can also be applied. Individuals become part of the Church only because they first have been placed in Christ.

"By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body" (aorist passive) body. Anyone who puts his trust in Jesus Christ becomes a full-fledged member of Christ's body at the moment he or she comes to faith. There are no partial Christians or partial members of His body. This miraculous event is accomplished by the one Holy Spirit through a special baptizing ministry.

"Whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free". Here Paul explained the meaning of the word all in the previous phrase: All means every believer, and believers come from every nationality, every cultural background, every social class, and every economic status. The church as an organism consists of believers from a wide diversity or cross section of society.

People have always be fascinated by the way the different parts of the body co-operate. Long ago Plato drew a famous picture of the body in which he said that the head was the fortress or castle of the body; the neck was the isthmus or narrow strip on land connecting the head to the body; the heart was the fountain of the body; the pores the lanes and the veins the canals of the body. Plato also pointed out that we do not say "my finger has pain" we say "I have pain". There is an "I", a personality which gives unity to the many and varied parts of the body. What the "I" is to the body, Christ is to the Church. It is in him that all the diverse parts find their unity.

Paul goes on to say that "You are the body of Christ". There is a wonderful truth here. Christ is no longer in this world in the body; so if he wants a task done in the world he has to find a person to do it. If he wants a child taught, he has to find a teacher to teach the child; if he wants a sick person cured, he has to find a doctor to do his work; if he wants a story told, he has to find a person to tell it. A voice from the fourteenth century, St. Teresa of Avila, reminds us that WE are God's hands.

"God has no hands but our hands to do his work today;

God has no feet but our feet to lead others in his way;

God has no voice but our voice to tell others how he died;

and, God has no help but our help to lead them to his side."

The body is healthy and efficient only when each part is functioning perfectly. Paul mentions three things which aught to exist in the Church, the body of Christ.

1. We ought to realise that we need each other. Far too often we become engrossed in the bit of the work that we are doing and how important it is that we neglect or even criticise others who have chosen to do other work.

2. We ought to respect each other. In the human body there is no question of relative importances. If any limb or organ stops working it throws the whole body out of gear.

3. We ought to sympathise with each other. If one part of the body is affected. all the others suffer in sympathy because they can't help it. The church is a whole. When we can't see beyond our own organisation or our own congregation or our own family circle, we have not even begun to grasp the real unity of the Church.

At the end of this passage Paul speaks of various forms of service in the Church.

a) At the head of everything he puts the Apostles. They were the greatest figures in the Church and their authority was not confined to one place. Why? The qualification for being an Apostle was that they must have accompanied Jesus during his earthly life and they must have witnessed his Resurrection. As far as we know, Jesus never wrote messages on paper, he wrote on men and women. They were the Apostles.

b) Then Paul adds teachers. These were the men who had to build up the converts who had been won by the preaching of the evangelists and apostles. They had to instruct people who knew literally nothing about Christianity. The first gospel was not written until about 60AD or 30 years after the crucifixion of Jesus. So we have to think ourselves back to a time when printing did not exist and books had to be hand written and were very expensive. When ordinary people could not hope to ever possess a book. So the story had to be handed down by word of mouth. This was the teacher's job. Now today we have the Internet and books but it is still through people that Christ's love is spread.

c) Then Paul speaks of helpers. Their duty was to help the poor, the orphan, the widow and the stranger. From the very beginning Christianity was an intensely practical thing. A person may not be able to stand up and speak to a group but it is open to everyone to help.

d) Administrators. The Greek word is very interesting; it refers to the work of a pilot who steers a ship through the rocks to harbour. This is essential work for the Church. Yes, the preacher and the teacher hold the limelight but they could never do their work without the day to day administration.

There are parts of our bodies which are never seen but whose function is more important than any other. But now Paul goes on to speak of a greater gift than all the others. The danger is that those with different gifts will be at variance with each other and hinder the work of the Body. But Love is the oil that keeps the parts moving smoothly and binds the Church into perfect unity.

In this week of Prayer for Christian Unity we give thanks for the progress made in so many areas of Ecumenism and we pledge ourselves to working for even greater unity.