1 Corinthians 12

How many people does to take to change a light bulb? The original answer to the joke is, “Three,” with the punchline being “…one to hold the bulb and two to turn the ladder.”

An old joke among musicians says the task requires five trumpet players…one to change the bulb and four to stand around and tell how they could have done it better. In the case of the movie star, it only takes one…she holds the bulb and the world revolves around her.

We might ask, how many people does it take to be a church?

There is the well-known joke:

After several years of being stranded on a deserted island, a man was rescued. His rescuers asked the man why there were three huts on the island. His answer - the first one was where he lived, the second one was for a church building, and the third for a second church after he left his first church!

These sections of Paul’s letter to a divided and confused church were written to identify how ‘church’ - the act of gathering together, the act of worship - demonstrates to the world around us God’s power and presence.

Rather than reading the entire chapter all at once let’s look at the key sentences that point to Paul’s answer to the question: HOW TO BE THE CHURCH?

“Therefore I am informing you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:3, HCSB)

First and foremost Paul reminds them - and us - that ‘church’ is comprised of believers.

Buildings and auditoriums can be filled to overflowing with people, but that doesn’t constitute a ‘church.’

A ‘church’ is comprised of people who:

a) share common theological convictions. The primary conviction is JESUS IS LORD.

b). a common relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

When an individual professes Jesus as Lord it’s not just a belief. It is a confession of a personal relationship.

People all across our community claim a theological conviction: There is a God.

However, many of those who agree with that theological conviction are distant from God because they have no personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

A church, as Paul describes in this chapter - as well as his other letters - consists of people with a shared personal relationship with God through Jesus by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

“Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God activates each gift in each person.” (1 Corinthians 12:4–6, HCSB)

Each person - indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit, having publicly proclaimed their allegiance to Jesus and their unshakeable conviction that in Jesus God is made real, has a unique and individual gift.

These ‘gifts’ are

-spiritual - that is they are a reflection of God’s grace;

-received - that is they are alloted by God.

In vs 4-7 we read that every believer has a gift, a ministry, and each gift expresses a different activity.

Two different lists of gifts/ministries/activities are listed here. Paul also lists gifts/ministries/activities in several other of his letters. Peter includes a list in 1 Peter 4.

No two lists are identical.

Each ‘church’ is a unique expression of the reality of Jesus in a unique context.

No two churches will need an identical expression of these gifts in order to be all God has called them to be.

At the very start of this letter, Paul made this clear:

1 Corinthians 1:7 HCSB

so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted.” (1 Corinthians 12:18, HCSB)

The context for this assertion is established by vs 7 -

“A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:” (1 Corinthians 12:7, HCSB)

All that God is doing, each gift/ministry/activity that God enables His people to do is not for their own satisfaction.

These gifts are given that the body - the church as a whole - will be benefited.

Paul directly attacks the selfishness that motivated the divisions that were threatening to destroy the believers in Corinth.

The rest of the paragraph from which vs is taken is meant to be humorous.

READ vs 21

1 Corinthians 12:21 HCSB

So the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

A ‘church, as Paul describes is a reflection of the body of Jesus.

Everyone understands how even the smallest ailment, the most insignificant part of the body can impact the whole.

The same is true of the body of Christ - the church. When one part is out of place, not functioning properly and in order, the entire body suffers.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27, HCSB)

Before describing some of the gifts given by God for proper functioning of the body, Paul reminds us:

WE NEED EACH OTHER

We will become fully formed followers of Jesus who live intentionally seeking to share Jesus and invite others to join us in becoming fully formed followers of Jesus.

Listen to this reminder:

“not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25, The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language)

Rather what Paul is referring to might be described like putting together a jigsaw puzzle:

Some of you enjoy jigsaw puzzles. For you that enjoy those let me pose a question:

How do you feel when you discover pieces are missing?

As God is putting together a body of believers who represent and re - present Jesus in our community, how must He respond when any piece is missing?

REFLECT AND RESPOND:

The Body of Christ is created and sustained by the Holy Spirit.

Don’t be confused. To say ‘Jesus is Lord’ is not just to agree with a theological affirmation.

To say ‘Jesus is Lord’ is the result of having been born again, born from above. It is the natural response to acknowledging your need of a Savior - that your sin has cut you off from God;

To confess Jesus is Lord is the natural response of one who is receiving forgiveness of sin;

it is the natural response of a person who has been given new and eternal life through what Jesus did at the cross and made available by His resurrection form the dead.

Genuine worship requires the entire body

This is not just ‘spiritual’ but physical. Several of the OT words translated ‘worship’ or ‘service’ in our English Bibles specifically refer to kneeling, lifting hands, falling on one’s face and so on.

Paul’s questions in vs 29 and 30 are reminders that all the gifts/ministries/activities are necessary:

1 Corinthians 12:29–30 HCSB

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all do miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in other languages? Do all interpret?

What is your ‘gift?’

It may or may not be identified in 1 Cor 12, but make no mistake:

1 Corinthians 12:7 HCSB

A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person to produce what is beneficial:

When we gather for worship what is your gift?

How do you put that gift to work for the benefit of the whole?

There are ways we can work together to identify your specific gift. If you’d like more information about that, use your connection card - let me know

What does a lost and dying world see when we gather?

Do they see a group of people, working together to magnify - to enlarge, to make widely known - the name of Jesus?

Do they see a people in whom the Spirit of God is at work in a powerful way?

God has provided all that we need to be all He has called us to be.

Let’s continue to put our gifts/ministries/activities to work so that this body of Christ will indeed be seen as not just a group of good people doing good things, but as a Spirit-empowered people focused on making Jesus known!