Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Every Part Matters.

We know this is true for any thing that is made.

A car will not go without a driveshaft even if everything else is in place.

Nor will a car go without wheels and tires.

Try roping a cow without a saddle, it gets sketchy.

But a saddle without a tree is not a saddle but leather.

Also, a saddle without leather is nothing more than wood and rawhide.

They need every part to work the car and the saddle.

Each part by itself is not much but together they are a functioning car and a functioning saddle.

Much like this prayer.

A Cowboy Church preacher was attending the men’s breakfast and Bible study.

He asked one of the older cowboys in attendance to say the opening prayer.

The cowboy began, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.”

The pastor opened one eye and wondered to himself where this was going.

Then the cowboy said, “Lord, I hate lard.”

Now the

pastor was worried.

But the cowboy prayed on, “And Lord, ya’ know I don’t care much for raw flour.”

As the pastor was about to stop everything, the cowboy continued, “But Lord, when you mix ‘em all together and bake ‘em up, I do love those fresh biscuits.

So Lord, when things come up we don’t like, when life gets hard, when we just don’t understand what you’re saying to us, we just need to relax and wait ‘till You’re done fixing’ and it’ll likely be somethin’ even better than biscuits.

Amen.”

I am with this man, I am not much on any of those ingredients alone but together they are tasty.

But alone, not so much.

This is what Paul is telling us in this passage.

We alone are not much because we cannot do all the things we can for the Lord.

We are not capable of doing it all, but together we can do many things for the Lord.

Not only that, but we are supposed to be together because when we believed in Christ for our salvation, we became the body of Christ.

Not like the body, but the body of Christ.

This means that we must function together if we are to function correctly.

We are many members but one body.

Just like those biscuits the man described are many parts but one biscuit, that is us.

Many make the one.

Paul lays this out clearly in 1 Cor.

12:12-27

There is a lot to unpack in this section so I will focus on the main points that the many makes one, we are to do the work that only we can do, we all depend on one another, and we share all things.

It may seem like crazy math but...

The Many Makes One (12-14)

The body is one but has many members.

Like arms, hands, feet, legs, and many other parts.

Paul says this is the same as the body of Christ.

I am not you and you are not me but we are the body of Christ.

We we all.

who are believers, have been baptized by the Spirit into this body.

We were made one with the Lord as His body.

And as such we are many members that make one.

This is like doing math like 1+1+1+1=1

We all come into the body but the body is one.

The reason why this is not off and wrong is because the body has many parts.

Like Chuck Swindoll said:

In our physical bodies, an eye may be able to see a piece of nourishing fruit, but it requires an arm to extend its reach to pluck the fruit from the tree with the fingers.

Then the body requires a mouth with teeth to eat it, along with a whole host of unseen internal organs to digest the fruit so it can nourish the body.

(Swindoll, Charles R.. Insights on 1 & 2 Corinthians, (p.

186).

Tyndale House Publishers.)

One body has been nourished by the many members working for it.

In our lives as followers of Christ, disciples, we are part of this body and it takes all those members to make a difference.

No arms meant no apple picked.

No teeth meant no apple ate.

It takes members to make a body and as those parts we are to...

Do The Work Only We Can Do (15-20)

Here in these verses Paul uses rhetorical questions to answer what it would be like if parts said they were not part of the body because they were not another part.

Just think of the silliness of this.

An ear saying it is not part of the body because it is not an eye.

The foot saying it is not because it is not the hand.

That is foolish and silly.

Yet, the same happens every week with people who are in the body.

We tend to compare ourselves against others.

We will look at another who does great work for the Lord and say things like,

I can’t do that.

I am not that gifted.

I am not eloquent and talented so why try to do anything.

Yet, you are gifted with what God has given you and it is to that work you must do.

No believer can function alone nor is any one gift or talent from God enough to make the work of the body happen.

It takes every part to make the body function.

As important as any one part might be to the whole, their reliance on the rest, even to accomplish their vital role, is far more crucial...No one should feel superior about his or her gift; instead, all should use their gifts to willingly serve.

Too often the “up-front” gifts, like speaking or teaching, are more highly regarded than the “behind-the-scenes” gifts, like helping and serving.

No one should discount the contribution of another person, no matter how insignificant it may seem.

We should not be dissatisfied with the gift God has given us but be eager to serve.

Nor should we envy those who seem to have more gifts than we do.

In love, treat everyone’s gift, yours included, as valuable to God. (Bruce B. Barton and Grant R. Osborne, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Life Application Bible Commentary, 177-78)

Just like the body needs the eye to see the fruit, the arm and hands to grab it, and the mouth to eat it, and the intestines to work and spread the nourishment to the body, so you are to do what you can do to help build up the body.

I am here to tell you that each one of you are important to the body.

There is not one person here who is better than another.

We are all important and necessary to the body of Christ.

Do not fall into the deception that you are not important.

You have the Spirit of the Lord inside you and He guides, directs, and helps you in all you do.

You are unique and irreplaceable to the body.

Stop acting like you have been amputated.

There is no such thing as Lone Ranger Christianity.

We are meant to be together because we are a body.

Let us all work together and do what only we are gifted to do.

We can do this when we continue in the Lord and decrease ourselves to increase Him and deny ourselves our desires and follow Christ as He has said to do.

We serve Him until we find what we are gifted to do.

We do this because...

We All Depend on One Another (21-25)

We are not cliques in church.

We do not find our “group” and only hang with them.

We are one together and if you do not like that that is a you problem not another person problem.

Your heart is wrong if you are against another member of the body.

Who are we to say to a member of this body of Christ that we have no need of them.

Like Paul said, the eye can’t tell the hand it has no need of it as we see in verse 21.