“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” So much of the wisdom of God is found in the Body of Christ. We get glimpses, but I wish we could understand it all. As a part of a local church, you have probably experienced aspects of the body. We know different ones have different gifts and each person is needed. One time I hired a whole staff of camp workers that were pretty much just like me. We had a great time, but no one could ever find their keys! God knows we need people around us with strengths we don’t have. When we humbly do what we’re good at and encourage others in their strengths, the body works. When the foot tries to do the job of the hand, we struggle.
We’ve also experienced the love members of a congregation have for one another. “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” I think it is more fun to be on the giving end than on the receiving end, but we usually don’t get to choose our circumstances. Love builds up the wounded. Acts of kindness help a hurting member make it through a day. Often the giver may not even know he made a difference, but God knows how important the little things are. I received a beautiful card from a family in Chattanooga yesterday. I have never met this family, but they are friends of my brother and learned of my sickness. Since they are connected to my brother, they are connected to me, so they blessed someone they didn’t even know.
For some reason God has allowed me to experience another aspect of His Body that is hard to explain. The Body of Christ is all over this world and though we’ve never met most members, we are connected. This morning, a beautiful young lady who teaches school in her African country, Namibia, e-mailed me to say that she and all her friends were praying for me. She then relayed the Scripture from Joshua that says to ‘be strong and courageous’. How did she know that is what I needed this morning? Last week, a native of India we met through The Voice of the Martyrs, a ministry that serves the persecuted church, called from his Indian home to check on me. He asked if he could pray for me over the phone. Somehow I knew God was also connected with that phone conversation. I have heard from members of the Body who live in Jerusalem, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Canada, Brazil… and I realize I am no more special than anyone else. Every member is precious to God! We are parts of His Body… He cannot forget us. Yes it pleases Him when we reach out and bless the hurting, feed the hungry, care for the sick, and visit those in prison. But these acts of love within the Body reflect the awesome love of the Father. And if, for one reason or another, I find myself in a place of suffering where no one even knows I’m hurting, His love is no less.
We know Jesus suffered once on the Cross to redeem the world. Somehow, though, Paul knew that the sufferings of Christ were not finished. “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.” (Col. 1:24) When a member of the Body hurts, Jesus hurts. When we serve one another, we serve Him. When the world sees love, the world sees Jesus… and God receives glory.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” I Peter 1:3-9