Past Sermon

Sermon Title: "All One Body We "
Date: January 21, 2007
Minister: Rev. Charles E. Ensley, Jr.

Lesson:  1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Things were not going well at the Corinth Community Church.  It was quite enough that some people joining were not from that denomination, but were Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian, a few Baptists, and, believe it or not, most surprising of all, Orthodox Christians and Jews.  Add to that, some folks had no religion at all when they joined.  Some former Jews thought new Christians should be circumcised as they were; others thought that was ridiculous.  It was bad enough to gather all these people to worship, but can you imagine what the board meetings were like?

So the Apostle Paul wrote first one, then a second letter to them.  Now, of course in the middle of the first century there were only future Episcopalians, Methodists or Presbyterians.  But, to be sure, there were former Jews, Greeks who had no concept of one God; there were slaves and free, servants and businessmen.  And so, to ameliorate their differences, Paul came up with the metaphor of the body being like a congregation.

Just as every part of our human body has a different function, each one is important, perhaps none more important than another, and they work best when they work in concert with one another.

I thought a good illustration of this point is to think of a marathon runner.  When he or she crosses the finish line, do we give all the credit to the feet which pounded the pavement for 26 miles?  What about the lungs, which breathed in air and oxygenated the blood?  What about the heart, which kept beating at an elevated pace for a couple of hours?  What about the sweat glands, which kept the body air-conditioned?  What about the knee joints, which absorbed the jolts of each pounding footstep?  Believe me, I know, bad knee joints make running, or even walking, painful.  What about the eyes which looked at the road ahead?  What of the arms, which worked in tandem with the running legs to give balance to the act of perpetual falling, which is what running is?  So is any one part of the body more important than another for that marathon runner?

The imagery of the church being made up of many individuals, just as many body parts make up the whole body, has stood well the test of time since Paul wrote it nearly twenty centuries ago.  It affirms both the diversity and the unity inherent in Christ, something we experience, and most other congregations as well.

We in the United Church of Christ do not belong to a denomination with a rigid catechism to which we must adhere or we show you out the door.  Some folks here are more conservative in their theological understanding; others are more theologically liberal.  Some people interpret scripture one way; others another.  Have you ever been in a Bible study, heard something new and said either aloud or to yourself, “I never thought of it that way!”?  Even in Bible commentaries, the authors often acknowledge one group of scholars interpret a scriptural passage one way, and others another way.  It only gives validity to the words Congregational pastor John Robinson said to the Pilgrims departing from England for America in 1620, “The Lord hath yet more light and truth to break forth from his holy word.”

I look around at you sitting here in worship.  Some of you come for the music.  Some come to hear the sermon.  Some come to see if the children can stump the minister.  Some come to pray.  Some come to share fellowship with others in corporate worship instead of watching worship on TV or praying at home alone.  Every one of those varied reasons for being here in this sanctuary at 9:30 on a Sunday morning is a valid one, unique to you, but making us all part of one body.

If we were to say worship was the most important part of our church, what about Christian education?  How are children going to learn about the love of God and God’s Son Jesus if not in Sunday School?  If we were to say worship was the most important part of our church, what about our many mission projects throughout the year, reaching out and touching the lives of those in need, most of whom we will never know?  In worship we hear Jesus say, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”  (Matthew 25:40)  But if we only hear it and do not proceed forth from this place to do it, those are only hollow words echoing in our ears.

I am distressed, saddened, sorry every time some member leaves this church over some theological or philosophical difference.  If a different style of worship better meets their needs, I can understand that.  But to have good people who have dedicated ten or twenty years of their lives to this body of Christ leave because we don’t think the way they do, or they don’t think the way we do—whatever that is!—seems to deny the very lesson Paul was trying to impart to the congregation of Corinth Community Church nineteen-and-a-half centuries ago.

When we come together as a church family, we are all affected by what happens to one of us, just as when one part of your body is in pain or recovering from surgery, all of your body is affected.  Paul wrote, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” (12:26) 

All of us were shocked and saddened to hear of Ali Bosl’s sudden death last month at the age of 22.  At her memorial service yesterday, more than one of our church members said to me it makes them want to go home and hug their own children a little more tightly.  Even those of you who do not know the Bosls thought of the pain that family must be going through to lose their daughter and sister.  “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it…”

As I studied today’s text from first Corinthians 12, a phrase kept running through my mind, the phrase I used for my sermon title.  “All one body we” is from the hymn with which we will conclude today’s worship, Onward, Christian Soldiers.  Some people love that hymn and have fond memories of singing it.  Others grimace at some of its militaristic imagery.  Perhaps the background as to its origins will help make us more comfortable.

The Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924), a curate in an Anglican church in Horbury, England, was also responsible for the mission church at Horbury Bridge, a short distance away.  It was the custom there for the Sunday School children to march from one village to another during Pentecost with cross and banners “going on before.”  The hymn was written so that the children might sing it as they marched, and was first published in 1864.  It is said that Baring-Gould was thinking of his happily united children when he wrote, “We are not divided, all one body we,” and not of the church universal.  The jaunty tune, which contributed greatly to the popularity of the hymn, was written by Sir Arthur Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame.

We have not sung Onward, Christian Soldiers in over four years, because it is not being included in most late-20th century hymnals.  But whenever we do, I like to think that all of us Christians—whatever language we speak, whatever our style of worship—are indeed “all one body” in Christ, feeling one another’s pains and rejoicing in one another’s accomplishments.  Paul concluded the 12th chapter of his letter with this declaration:  “Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.” (12:27)  In the name and spirit of Christ, let’s live and speak and act as if we are.