We’re All in the Game – October 13, 2024

Old Testament, I Corinthians 12:12-31
October 13, 2024

This sermon is sort of a follow-up from last week.  Do you remember what we were talking about then?  It was World Communion Sunday.  And if you recall, the sermon was about “Seeking Unity.”  That is, seeking unity in a congregation, and unity in the Church all around the world.  I said that day, and I think you’ll agree, that the Church needs to be a shining example, that “City set on a hill,” in a badly divided world.

If you weren’t here, go back and read (or watch) what I said.  And when you do, be sure to revisit Paul’s words to the Philippians in chapter 4.  Read again his fervent appeal to them to seek unity, and to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  That was so important to Paul that he started out begging the people – begging them (and us) to live a life worthy of the call.

Now, with that in mind, I was drawn this week to these words Paul also wrote, this time to the church in the Greek city of Corinth.  Here he made this comparison between the people of the church and the human body with it’s different members.  “For just as the body is one but has different members, so it is with Christ.  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”  Those are familiar words, I’m sure!

And with that in mind today, I’d like us to be thinking about how we are all part of the body of Christ.  And in doing so, I want to emphasize Paul’s observation that all the parts of the body are important.  No one of us can say another person is not important.  “We’re all in this together.”  That was a common phrase during the pandemic.  Do you remember?  Well, today I’m using a sports reference as my example.  “We’re all in the game.”  (And I was writing this on Tuesday this week, fearing I would have to revise it depending on what happened!)

That’s what I want you to think about today.  “We’re All in the Game.”  It’s been said, and I agree, that there are no spectators in the church – or at least there shouldn’t be.  You’ve heard me say this before about worship.  And this can apply to all of church life!  I’ve said, “Worship is not something you go to, to watch somebody else do!”  It’s something we all do!

Now, the hard thing to get around is that most churches are set up in a sort of “theater” arrangement.  Like we have here!  And it’s too easy for us to think that we’re performers with an audience.  We have to remind ourselves constantly that we’re not!  We’re not performers with an audience, we’re a worshipping congregation.  We up here lead you, in worship.

I try to remind us of that often.  And when I welcome people on the internet, I try to say it to them, too.  Because seeing the services on a screen – a computer or a tablet – too easily makes us think we’re just observers, or “watchers,” doesn’t it?

Church is not performers with an audience.  We’re all in the game.  And we’re all important!  We’re all needed.  The Phillies did well this season when they got contributions from everyone!  When all parts of the lineup got hits and runs, they won!  And it was a beautiful thing, wasn’t it?  (And unfortunately I had to back and change that sentence to the past tense!)

The problem that Paul saw, and wrote to these Corinthians about, was that some people in churches were feeling like they were not in the game.  They were feeling like their contribution were not important.  And I love Paul’s two examples here.  Because they cover two of the ways people can end up feeling excluded in the church.

I’ll start with the second one first.  “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’”  Do people in churches ever do that?  Does one person ever say to another, “You’re not needed?”  Or “You’re not as important as I am?”  And maybe it’s not so much in words, but in actions and attitudes.  “You’re not here as much as I am.”  “You’re not as involved as I am.”  “You don’t contribute as much as I do.”

Now, some people in churches are just “doers.”  What I mean by that is, rather than getting someone else to do a job or help with a job, they just do it.  And believe me, that’s not a bad thing!  We need those people.  But other people are “encouragers.”  They get others involved.  They make them feel good about what they’re doing.  And that’s so important.  We need those people, too!

We always need to be aware of how we might be excluding people.  And we need to look for ways to get everybody involved – even if some of us are just “doers.”  We need to let other people “do!”  And we always need to remember this comparison Paul gave about the church and the human body.  Because we know that when people are actually missing parts of their bodies, they are “less able.”  (I have to be careful how I say that!  There are certain “socially correct” ways of describing such people!  I believe “Differently-abled” was a term that was being encouraged a number of years ago.)  But you know what I’m talking about.  And then, even if we have all of our “members,” as we get older, parts of us don’t work as well!  And it’s the same thing.

We have to be aware of the eye saying to the hand “I have no need of you.” – or acting like it – intentionally or unintentionally.  Because that attitude can lead to, or reinforce in somebody, the second of Paul’s examples here.  And this is the first one he gave.  But I’m saying these backwards.  He said, “The foot cannot say to the hand, ‘because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body.’”  And the ear cannot not say the same thing to the eye.  It cannot say “I do not belong.”

Do any of us feel that way?  Do we feel like we’re not part of the body, like we’re not “in the game?”  Because Paul says we are.  We’re all in the game!  But too many people in churches feel that way.  They think they don’t have much to contribute, or that their participation is lacking in comparison to someone else’s.  So they feel left out.  And sometimes those feelings are made worse because others are leaving them out of things!

We’re all in the game!  We cannot say we aren’t in the game, or that someone else isn’t.  On the contrary, we need to include everybody.  And we need to honor those “less presentable” parts, as Paul said here.  And he was very careful the way he says that, wasn’t he?  And sometimes some of us might feel like we are those “less honorable” parts of the body.  And we need to be aware of when that happens, and bring those people back into the game.

Now, I say all this, because this is October.  And October isn’t just the time to think of Baseball playoffs.  October is also the time we think about Stewardship!  Actually, as I’m quick to point out, we need to think about Stewardship all year long!  But October is the time we emphasize it.  October is the time we think about our contributions for the coming year.  And as we’re thinking about that today, it’s important to know, and to remember that, “We’re all in the game.”  There are no spectators – at least there shouldn’t be!

So, as you think about stewardship this month, remember that a ball team works the best when all the players are contributing.  And it’s the same with a church – all the way down the lineup!  You can’t just have one or two all-stars, no matter how good those all-stars may be!  So here in our church, let us know for sure that, indeed, “We’re all in the game!”

Prayer

Eternal God, give us the strength we need to be your people, people who are part of your kingdom.  Help us to know that each one of us is important.  And help us to remember your call to be stewards – stewards of your Grace, and stewards of this place.  For we pray in the name of him who is head of the church, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.