Shepherds of God's Flock (Part 2)
1 Peter: Chosen • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Church is a Body
This is probably the most common picture that we have
There are quite a number of references in the Bible comparing the church to a body
But it’s not only a comparison, it is a statement. We, rather the Church, the Church is Christ’s body
Romans 12:4-5 “4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”
1 Cor. 10:17 “17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
1 Cor. 12:12-13 “12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”
And other passages like this
This is one picture that is probably the most prominent in the NT—church is a Body
And it operates like a body
What are some of the characteristics of a body
1st characteristic. Well, just like our physical bodies, the Church has a head
Col. 1:18 “18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.”
This word that is translated “head” can mean
What is on top of your neck
It can refer to the whole person
Or, it can refer to someone who has the highest status
In a sense, These are all accurate when talking about Christ as the Head of His Church
In our human bodies, you can lose a limb, or you can have an organ removed, and still live.
But you cannot survive without your head. It’s impossible. They haven’t invented a way to do that
It is your head that identifies you.
It is your head that controls your body
Your are fed and watered through your head
And the same is true of Christ, the Head of His Church
Through Christ, we as His Church are identified as His
He is the one who sustains us, who feeds us and gives us living water
Paul, preaching in Acts 17 says, “In Him we live and move and have our being”. that is, we exist.
Without Jesus, our Head, we would be unidentifiable and dead.
So, as a body, we have a head. that is Jesus Christ
Secondly, as a body, we also have body parts
Many parts, but all one body
Many parts that have different functions, but all of which are needed to make a functional and healthy body
In Romans 12, there are a few of these parts, or people with different giftings:
Prophecy
serving
teaching,
exhortation/encouragement
generous giving
leading
showing mercy
And the list could go on and on
All of these gifts working together for a healthy and thriving body
The interesting thing is I think it’s possible for church to function without the full complement of body parts that are available
Just like it’s possible for a human body to lose a part and continue on, and the body sort of adjusts and the person may not even think about it that much any more.
but someone else might come along and think, “hey that person is missing something”
Maybe it’s possible for a church to be the same way
But God makes all of these different body parts and giftings available for a healthy and thriving church and when they work together, it produces beautiful harmony for the glory of God
And having these gifts working together is meant to bring sobriety and humility to us
Romans 12:3 “3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
We take the attitude that, not a single one of us is more important than the other one in the functioning of the body
We do not have the right to rank our giftings and roles according to what we think is more important or more significant
Rather, we make every effort to use sober judgement.
Sober—clear thinking
To understand clearly the role that we all have in the body of Christ
So, we think clearly about our giftings
In order for the body to be effective, the parts have to move in unity
again, thinking about the physical body, in order for the physical body to be effective, the parts have to move in unity
The other day I was thinking about this, and I started to think about multi-tasking
Now, some people like to talk about how well they can multitask. (about the best I can do is walk and chew gum at the same time)
Science actually says that this is impossible
Most people who say they are multi-tasking are actually just switching tasks
And you actually aren’t getting any more done
It’s like some mornings, i find myself trying to catch up on emails, make some phone calls, and write a sermon all at the same time. And I’m not doing a very good job at any of those tasks!
So, multitasking is actually a myth
The physical body MUST move in unity on a single task in order to get things done
You can’t be playing baseball with one arm and ping-pong with the other
Imagine trying to run a marathon with one foot and a sprint with the other!
Kind of a goofy idea, right? It just doesn’t work!
the body HAS to work in unity
I love playing ping-pong. Think about everything that has to happen in order for the body to play ping-pong
The right hand has to grip the paddle, the arm and the wrist have to move the hand, the lungs are providing oxygen to the blood, the eyes are zeroing in on the ball, the ears are hearing the sound of the ball as it comes off their paddle, the legs are lunging, the brain is controlling all the functions
The entire body, every part using its giftings and abilities, is working in unity to play ping-pong
The body naturally works in unity to complete a task
Yet, iit seems a little more complicated in the church, doesn’t it.
We have various churches in this community, and it seems like sometimes we are all trying to do differing things. I often wish that we could work more closely with other churches
But working in unity can also be a challenge right here in the local church, can’t it.
Some of us have certain priorities
And others of us have other priorities
And I think that’s good. It shows that God has created us all differently
But, it’s a challenge for us to figure out how to work together.
This is something that is a work in progress
Here’s the thing: while it’s good to have a lot of different ideas and priorities, all of those ideas and priorities must come under the lordship and authority of Jesus Christ
They must come in as a distant second place to the priorities that Jesus set for His followers.
But this is why we have a mission statement.
Because it reflects what Jesus told his disciples before He left this earth
Go
Preach the gospel
Make disciples
So, Church is a body. The Body of Christ. Jesus in action here on this earth
Church is a Family
Scripture is rich with references to Believers being part of a family…the family of God
And this idea of being a family of God has its foundation, not on what we as Believers do, and not on how we choose to structure ourselves as far as church goes.
Rather, it is based completely on what God has chosen to do:
That is, God has adopted us!
In John 14, Jesus has broken the news to His disciples that He is about to leave them (actually, if they had been paying close attention and would have had hearts of understanding, they might have picked it up before this)
And Thomas gives voice to the feelings of distress that they all must have had at this time:
“Lord, we don’t know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
I imagine that truly their hearts are grieving at the news that they have just heard
John 14:18 “18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
The Greek word “orphanos” is only found times in the NT. In james 1:27 and here in this passage
When Jesus uses this word, I think that He is identifying very clearly what they are feeling. “We are going to be like orphans”
We’ve given up everything for you, Lord: homes, family, livelihood, friends
And now you are going to leave us!
We are going to be like children living on the street!
But Jesus tells them, “No, hold on! Don’t be so sad! I’m not going to allow you to live like orphans. I’m going to come back to you! I’m goign to send My Spirit to reside in you and inside of you!
Yes, you have given up much for my sake, but you are going to have a new family. You are going to be adopted.
And then, as we make our way through the NT, we start to see time after time, this idea, sometimes stated in different ways, that we, as Believers in Jesus as Messiah, have been adopted into a new family!
I don’t have any personal experience with adoption, as far as my immediate family…I have a number of cousins who were adopted
And I know that adoption can be very hard, especially if a child has experience abuse or trauma
And it can be very hard for the adoptive family
But on the other hand, how many children, left destitute and alone, or living in a hellish, abusive, situation, have been given a second chance at a fulfilling life, because someone has reached out and taken a chance on them
Dared to give this child a second chance, and loved them and given them a new family..a home to live in
We are traveling this journey with Holly and little N. and I just want to weep at the situation that many children like him are in.
You get a very stark picture of this if you travel overseas into developing countries—children living on the streets and fending for themselves
But Holly has reached out and given this little guy a second chance. The future looks uncertain and big, but we promise to stick with you and support you in this!
And I want to thank you, Holly, for demonstrating to us what God did for us
Church, this is what has happened to us. Without God, would be like street children: alive physically, yet abandoned and alone. Deceived by the deceiver and then abandoned to fend for ourselves out on the street!
But God, rich in mercy, reached out and adopted us back into His family through Jesus Christ!
PICTURE OF US DOING SHOEBOXES
Romans 8:15 “15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!””
Ephesians 1:4-5 “4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,”
And we could go on. You and I, through Jesus Christ, have been adopted into a new family. That is, the family of God!
But church, how often do we, as adopted children, go back to living like street children
PICTURE OF STREET CHILDREN
You think about how children on the street have to live in order to survive
They have to create their own rules
They have to put themselves first. IT’s surivial of the fittest
They might have a very small group that they live with
But overall, they take care of themselves first
Children at the airstrip in Mozambique
They live lives of fear and mistrust. They look at everyone with suspicion or as means to their own survival
They are alive physically, but it is up to them, and them alone to survive. No one is going to give them what they need
And church, can this be a picture, a tragic picture of how we tend to be in church?
We’ve been given a new life, adopted into a new family, yet, for weird reason (I think it’s called a sinful nature), we tend to go back to living like we are street children
We acknowledge our adoption in our heads, but in our practice and interactions with each other, we can act like street children
We make our own rules, create our own way of living, create our own way of “being a Christian”
We feel threatened if others try to change those rules or have a different opinion
We have our own territories in church and we feel threatened if others tread on those territories
We look at each other with fear and suspicion
We see people talking over there in the corner and we wonder, “I wonder what they’re talking about”
Sometimes for good reason. We know stuff is being said out in the community
We come into church meetings with our hearts racing, ready to do battle with each other, or defend our positions
And many times we literally run away from each other or avoid each other
And I believe that sometimes we think, “If I don’t save this church, nobody will!”
When it comes time to making decisions together as a church, we are more concerned with making sure the right process is followed and that we have our say so, than we are about hearing what the Father has to say to us.
I think that God must sometimes look out the window and see His children out there on the street, living like orphans, fending for themselves like street children
Even though Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans”
And I imagine that God must be standing at the door, holding it open wide and saying, “Hey, come on back inside. come back home. I love you. I miss you. I really wish you were sitting at my table again, and hanging out in my living room with me”
How would it be if we were to go back inside. (PICTURE OF US DOING SHOEBOXES) back into the presence of God our Father, who, through Jesus Christ has adopted us, and given us a new family
And we allow him to clean us up and feed us, heal our open sores, and we quiet ourselves before Him and saying, “Father, it’s really good to be home.” And we sit with Him and learn from Him and He directs our lives and His church
And we stop living like street children and instead living like adopted sons and daughters, like royalty?
Would we still be so fearful of each other? Would there still be people whom you would just rather avoid? Would we run from each other? Would we get defensive and accusatory with each other when we have different ways of understanding or have differing opinions?
I know that in our natural families, we do have our differences and we do disagree on things
But church, we are the Family of God!!
Our natural families should be a snapshot of the more wonderful reality of being adopted sons and daughters of the Living God
Fairview, you are royalty. You are loved by Him. Do you believe it?
You are adopted sons and daughters through Jesus Christ! Do you believe it?