One Whole Body
1 Corinthians 12:4-14,
24[1]
Today is the day that we celebrate the birth of the church.
All those centuries ago, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God swept
through the group of Jesus’ disciples, empowering them to become bold witnesses
for Christ. And the book of Acts tells the story of how they went out in the
power of the Spirit to do unimaginable things in the name of the Lord Jesus. As
they proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ to any and all who would listen,
thousands responded. And what began in a backwater corner of the Roman Empire
became a thriving movement. The power of the Spirit working through the church
of that day would eventually change their whole world, including the Middle
East, Africa, and Europe.
When we look at our churches today, it may seem like a stretch
to think that the same Spirit is still working in and through us. Churches that
were filled with people 50 years ago are now partly, or mostly, or in some
cases completely empty.[2] When you
look around, you might be forgiven for wondering whether the Spirit who we say
we believe empowers us “to witness among all peoples to Christ as Lord and
Savior, and to work with others for justice, freedom, and peace” has passed us
by.[3] Although
the Church is thriving in other places around the world, in this country it’s a
very difficult time to be the church!
While there are a lot of people saying a lot of things in about what churches “need” to do to thrive, I would say the place to start is with our own hearts. I’ve said before it is my firm conviction that only as we carry out our work in the power the Spirit supplies can we hope to achieve any lasting results. That applies to this and every other church. It’s one of the foundational themes of the NT. Everything we do in our Christian lives is the result of what the Spirit of God is doing. Everything we do, from praying, to worshipping, to planting seeds of faith, to growing in service to God, to living lives of kindness and respect, to sharing the love of God, will thrive or not thrive to the extent that we rely on the Spirit of God.[4]
That’s why we have to start with our own hearts. It’s not
going to be enough for us to work hard for the sake of the church. That still
presupposes that whether or not this church thrives is in our hands. But as St.
Paul once confessed, “In ourselves we are not able to claim anything for
ourselves. The power to do what we do comes from God” (2 Cor 3:5, NIrV).
If that was true for Paul, how much more is it true for us. We start by
recognizing that none of us can “make” this church thrive by our own efforts.
We must look to God diligently, consistently, faithfully, and sincerely to pour
out the Spirit in and through us if we hope that what we do will have any
lasting results.
In our Scripture lesson from 1 Corinthians, St. Paul says it
this way: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is
the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve
the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who
does the work in all of us” (1 Cor 12:4-6). Jesus promised, “I will build my
church” (Mt 16:18), and the way he’s been doing that is through the presence
and power of the Spirit working in the church. I believe we can trust that
Jesus will keep his promise. I believe we can trust that the Spirit will
continue working in and through us all. And I believe God will continue to
supply us with what we need to carry out the ministry of the kingdom in this
community.
With that in mind, we might wonder what we can do.
Well, first and foremost, we can pray. Let me be clear about this: we don’t
pray because it’s some kind of “magic wand” that will “miraculously” turn
things around. We pray because that’s how we open our hearts to the work of
God’s Spirit and align our lives with God’s kingdom. I invite you to join me in
praying that God will pour out his Spirit and empower us to carry out his work
in this community. I’ve been doing that since I came here. And one of the times
I pray that prayer is on Sunday morning during worship. All I do is ask God to
pour out his Spirit to help us thrive and to bring us the people we need to
help us. Please join me in that prayer!
But St. Paul also knew that there was another dimension to
a thriving church. He said it this way: “A spiritual gift is given to each of
us so we can help each other” (1 Cor 12:7, NLT). Many of us probably don’t
agree with that statement. We think that if anyone has a “spiritual gift” that
can benefit the church, it must be someone else. But St. Paul makes it clear in
this passage that he believes that the Spirit of God works through every part
of the body of Christ. That means that there’s no one who’s contribution is
“dispensable.” For this or any other church to thrive, it takes every one doing
what God enables us to do. We can’t sit back and expect someone else to do it
for us. It’s going to take all of us working together as one whole body of
Christ if we want to thrive as a church.
Whether we see this time in which we’re all working so hard
to live faithfully as the body of Christ as a crisis or an opportunity depends
on our point of view. We can lament that our churches are nowhere near as full
as they were ten or twenty or thirty years ago. And if we take that approach,
we will likely continue to watch the church decline. Or we can take the
opportunity to step up. Each and every one of us. I believe that if Christians
in this culture truly opened their hearts to God’s Spirit and truly aligned
their lives with God’s kingdom, it would revolutionize the church. It would
revolutionize our world! I believe that if Christians in this culture would
embrace the promise that the Spirit has given each and every one of us gifts to
help the church thrive, we couldn’t contain all the people in our buildings. If
that’s what we want to see, it’s going to take all of us working together as
one whole body of Christ.
I realize that all this may sound too simple to make much
of a difference. But in my experience, a simple shift in mindset is one of the
most powerful ways to effect change. That’s what I’m asking you to do today.
I’m asking you to shift your mindset and trust in the power of God to build up
this church. We don’t have the power in ourselves to do what needs to be done
for this church to thrive. Only God can do that. But God has always accomplished
his work in through people like you and me. And that means we’re all called to
step up. If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll keep getting the same
results. I’m asking you to step up in a new way. Pray for the people of this
church. Reach out to ask someone you know how they’re doing. When the people of
God open their hearts to the Spirit of God in prayer and turn to God by
aligning their lives with the kingdom, great changes can happen. And not just
in this community, but throughout the whole body of Christ. Let’s join together
as one whole body of Christ to do unimaginable things in our time through the
Spirit of God!
[1] © 2023 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 5/28/2023 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2] Yonat Shimron, “Study: More Churches Closing than Opening,” Religion News
Service 21 May 2021, accessed at: https://religionnews.com/2021/05/26/study-more-churches-closing-than-opening/.
The report suggests that in 2019 about 4500 protestant churches closed, while
only 3000 were started. This compares with 2014, when there were 3700 closures,
but 4000 openings. For reference, there are about 320,000 to 350,000 protestant
churches in the US.
[3] The Book of Confessions 2016, “A Brief Statement of Faith,” 11.4, p.
312.
[4] Cf. Henri J. M. Nouwen, A Cry for Mercy, 109: “The Holy Spirit, whom
Jesus promised to his followers, is the great gift of God. Without the Spirit
of Jesus we can do nothing, but in and through his Spirit we can live free,
joyful, and courageous lives. We cannot pray, but the Spirit of Christ can pray
in us. We cannot crete peace and joy, but the Spirit of Christ can fill us with
a peace and joy that is not of this world. We cannot break through the many
barriers that divide races, sexes, and nations, but the Spirit of Christ unites
all people in the all-embracing love of God. The Spirit of Christ burns away
our many fears and anxieties and sets us free to move wherever we are sent.
This is the great liberation of Pentecost.”
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