Why Are We in Tumbler Ridge
1 Corinthians 12:21-30
Why Are We in Tumbler Ridge?
“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?”[1]
The first responsibility of Grizzly Valley Baptist Church is not to evangelise Tumbler Ridge. The first responsibility of Grizzly Valley Church is not to worship the Son of God. The first responsibility for Grizzly Valley Church is to be worthy to bear the Name of Christ the Lord. I am the first to admit that we cannot make ourselves worthy of bearing His Name before the Father; we stand in His grace before the Father’s throne. Before the eyes of the watching world, however, we are called to reflect His glory in the church and thus demonstrate that we are worthy of being called Christians. This means that we are responsible to know the mind of Christ for our congregation and that we are responsible to courageously do that which He intends.
In order to determine how to be worthy of fulfilling the will of Christ we must know what His will is. Paul, writing the Corinthian saints, speaks quite pointedly to the will of Christ for each church. I ask you today to especially focus attention on our text, verses twenty-one through thirty of the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians.
The Will of Christ is for Unity in His Body. We cannot evangelise if we fail to honour Christ in first things. Neither can we worship Him if we dishonour Him in primary issues. When we come to the letters written to the churches, we see a theme that seems to predominate. Repeatedly, the apostles plead for unity in the Faith. This is more than mere appeal for agreement in doctrine. It is a plea that as Christians we be united as a community of faith; it is a plea to act in concert as a congregation.
Think of a few of the Scriptures that plead for harmony in our mutual Faith. Paul, concluding the salvation section of the letter to the Roman Christians urges us to “live in harmony with one another” [Romans 12:16]. It is a plea that Peter iterates in his first letter. “All of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind” [1 Peter 3:8]. At the beginning of this first letter to the Corinthians Paul began with a plea for unity. “I appeal to you, brothers, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement” [1 Corinthians 1:10].
When Jesus prayed His high priestly prayer, He pleaded for His own to be united. “I do not ask for these [who have been with Me] only, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in you, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me” [John 17:20-23]. Paul echoed this same prayer, “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” [Romans 15:5, 6].
In his Colossian letter, the Apostle commands the Colossian Christians, and thus commands all the saints of God, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” [Colossians 3:12-14].
Consider another command that is found in the Ephesian letter. Be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” [Ephesians 4:3-6].
Unity is not incidental to our life as a community of faith—it is essential. Unity is foundational for us as a congregation of Christ. Paul makes this abundantly clear as he employs the concept of the church as a body. The eye is an integral part of the body. It does not have the option of ceasing to be part of the body or of condemning another part of the body. In fact, the eye is functional only as it integrates with every other part of the body. Likewise, the head cannot decide that it no longer needs the feet and thus attempt to banish the feet or worse yet to leave the body. Both the feet and the head are integral to the body and each is essential to the other. Only as they unite and work together can the head and the feet reflect the glory of the Designer of the body.
Because we confess our mutual need of one another, we must accept one another. This acceptance will lead us to treat one another differently from the manner in which we might otherwise relate to one another if the church was merely an organisation. Was the church simply an organisation—a political entity listed with the Registrar of Societies—we would not necessarily need to know who our fellow members were. We would be under no particular obligation to get along. In fact, if we could gather a sufficient number of supporters we could control the work and admit or dismiss whom we pleased.
The church is not a political organisation, however. The church is a living entity—the Body of Christ. The practical impact of this statement leads us to confess that we do not join the church, but we are rather placed in the church as God decides. We do not dictate to God what we will do in the church, but we rather submit to His Spirit to fulfil the will of God through exercise of the gifts He has entrusted to us. We are not elected to office, but we are appointed to office. Do not think that I am dismissing the role of the congregation in selecting leadership. God appoints to office, but the congregation is responsible to recognise God is working. We trust that the congregation when instructed will seek out and ratify those whom God has appointed.
The clearest mark that we have understood God’s call and His work in the church is that we demonstrate a submissive spirit. We do not exalt ourselves, but rather we seek to honour God through fulfilling His will. We do not divide the Body of Christ through creating cliques or promoting sects within the assembly, but we do whatever we can to include and to unite. We do not think of ourselves other than a gifted person whom God chose to equip for service within this particular congregation. Likewise, we accept those whom God brings to us as equally gifted. We resist the pressure to rank and segregate the people of God because we understand that only together do we constitute the Body of Christ. We joyfully accept God’s appointment of those He has chosen to lead us and we refuse to permit ourselves to undermine or resist their sincere efforts to lead the church.
The united Body of Christ is a formidable entity. Together that Body can face the enemy and demonstrate the reality of Christ’s promise that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against” His church [cf. Matthew 16:18]. Together the people of God will unite in worship and gain the grudging admiration of unbelievers who are compelled to fall down and worship God, declaring, “God is really among you” [see 1 Corinthians 14:25]. As the people of God unite, they will experience that undefined but very real presence of Christ, which results in “glory in the church” [see Ephesians 3:21].
This is the church I long to see. This is the church that Tumbler Ridge is dying to witness. This is the church that conquered kingdoms and advanced the message of life. This is the church that withstood pagan assault and heretic attack against all that is holy. This is the church that shone light into European darkness and created a haven for the Faith when light was being extinguished under Moslem hordes. This is the church that spanned an ocean and set Methodists circuit riders penetrating dark American forests. This is the church that flamed as Baptist evangelists shone the light of God in every frontier town and village. This is the church that ensured that a world would hear of the Son of God before the close of the last century. This is the church that powerfully evangelised nations and glorified the Son of God. I only ask, why not now and why not here? Why not us? Why not today?
Christ Wills Mutual Strength in His Body. A united congregation is a church in which each member is secure in his or her calling. They know that they have been redeemed by the grace of God. Likewise, each member knows that he or she is set in the church by the will of God and that each member is equipped to honour God as He desires. Each member of a united assembly is free to receive every other member, knowing that each one is a precious gift given by God. When the Body of Christ is united we will receive one another as qualified by God to fulfil the ministry He assigns. We will treat one another with respect and accord each other dignity befitting those given by the gracious hand of our God. We will value one another above the world about us because we know that each is dependable to accomplish all that God wills.
There is, however, an ancillary aspect of our unity in Christ. When we are united—not when we merely confess unity, but when we are truly united—we enjoy strength beyond anything this world can comprehend. This truth is displayed throughout Scripture, but there is one place in particular where this truth is stated and then restated. In Ecclesiastes Solomon presents this otherwise easily overlooked teaching. It is this teaching of enhanced mutual strength which I ask you to ponder for a bit. The passage is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Two are better than one because they anticipate a greater return for their labour. The return is exponential. Perhaps we could restate that by noting that the return of two is not the sum of their labour, but it is a multiple of their efforts. Among other reasons for this is the knowledge that if two are present there is an aspect of compassion that would otherwise be absent. The two parties look out for one another. They assist each other when injured. They tend to one another; they defend one another. The benefits are multiplied and thus productivity is more than the sum of the individual labours.
Solomon concludes by observing, “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” His statement is enigmatic, because to this point, he has been speaking of two and suddenly he uses an example of three. Really if you have grasped the exponential quality of unity you see precisely what he is saying in that summary statement. The two united are not simply two, but they have now become stronger than two—they are essentially three.
The application to the Body of Christ is simply that as we accept one another and encourage one another toward unity in the Faith and toward unity in the Body we benefit from the presence of each other beyond what mere numbers can communicate. As we begin to truly value one another… as we begin to truly trust one another… as we begin to truly respect one another… we become stronger than a simple tally would indicate.
Christians in the old Soviet Union did not comprise a great proportion of the population. They were despised and hated by the authorities. “These all … acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland” [see Hebrews 11:13b, 14]. To speak of them is to blush at what we have been spared here in Canada. Thinking of them I am compelled to consider the words of the author of Hebrews who speaks of those who “through faith conquered kingdoms” [Hebrews 11:33]. Indeed, of them, “the world was not worthy” [Hebrews 11:38]. The summary statement of Hebrews 11:16 certainly applies to those saints, “Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.”
Though small in numbers, their strength was infinitely greater than that of the armies of that Soviet Empire. Stalin laughed and asked how many divisions the Pope had, but any church within that evil empire which was united and dependent upon Christ in their midst had more power than all his assembled military might. That is our God!
Just so, there is strength here in this church which has yet to be witnessed. “those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable… the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty.” I learned that lesson as I witnessed the power of God while ministering in the Outer Mission District of San Francisco during the seventies. Those were wild days and that was a wicked environment.
On the day our family moved into our house in Daly City, just on the outskirts of the Outer Mission District, three children were shot in the school a block away. One boy was killed. Another was permanently blinded as a bullet passed through his head and severed the optic nerve to either eye. Another youth received a flesh wound. All I could think to say as my wife trembled and clutched our daughters was, “Welcome to San Francisco, dear.”
Something special happened at the church we attended. It grew, but how it grew was beyond anything we could ever have hoped to witness. God confounded all the experts and blessed beyond all expectation. When I arrived, about ninety people were worshipping there. Within two years, the ministry had spread throughout the city and over three thousand people were receiving ministry through the church each week. When my son was born at Kaiser General Hospital in the city I spoke with the nursing aid who was assisting in the delivery room, and between coaching my wife and waiting on the resident she had aroused to deliver our son I asked about her faith.
“You must go to Calvary Baptist Church,” she said. I was somewhat astonished and replied in the affirmative. “I can’t go nowhere in this city without seeing you people talking about your Jesus or trying to shove a tract down people’s throat. I’m a Jehovah’s Witness and if we worked half as hard as you we would have filled this city with Kingdom Halls.”
I laughed and shouted and praised God and offered her a tract.
When preparing to come to Vancouver, I had occasion to spend some time in the office with Dr. W. A. Criswell, my pastor. “Dr. Stark,” he said, “I have heard you speak of what God did in San Francisco. Tell me about your experience there.”
I told him about Armondo Gonzalez who could read neither English nor Spanish but who memorised John 3:16 and would stop people on the street to recite that verse and ask them if they understood what it meant. God permitted Armondo to lead many people to Christ.
I told him of George Bassett who looked like his namesake. Dismissed from the United States Postal Service at age thirty-four because of drug abuse, George could not speak two sentences without losing track of what he was saying. When he spoke, he had the disgusting habit of drooling. When George asked for a bus and a driver to bring families to church, we denied his request because it was unreasonable to think that he could do such a thing. Yet, I saw that man fill not one bus, but two busses each Sunday morning with families who came to worship Christ. Who can explain such a thing?
I told him of Clemente Quiteves who was converted while listening to J. Vernon McGee on the radio. When he wrote Dr. McGee and told him that he had become a Christian, he received a letter telling him to attend Calvary Baptist Church in San Francisco. Clemente came. The first week he brought his wife and she was saved. The next week he brought his mother and led her to faith. The following week he brought his boss and led him to faith. He was unschooled and ignorant, but he had the power of God.
Clemente almost always came to church bringing someone with him whom he had led to faith in Christ in the week previous. Here that person would come testifying to the grace of God and asking for baptism. Who can explain such a thing? Later that same young man went to the Philippines where with inadequate support and the ridicule of every mission board he approached save one (Have Christ, Will Travel) he established over twenty-seven churches which are still in existence to this day.
I told him of Jonesy, his mind was grievously injured at birth and who was well over seventy years of age. Without family and no friends save those of the church, Jonesy faithfully came to the services each week. Seated at a school desk at the back of the church he would fill reams of foolscap with indecipherable notes as the preacher spoke. Shuffling to the front of the auditorium each week he would give those notes to whomever spoke that week and tell them, “Read this! Read this! Do better next week!”
I told him of the day Jonesy shuffled up to me, and pointing to his shoe indicated that he needed it tied. As I knelt to tie the shoe of an old man with a horribly injured mind, I felt Jonesy drool on my head and cheek. As I recoiled, I seemed to hear the voice of the Master say, “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did to Me” [Matthew 25:40]. I wept hot tears of repentance.
I told the pastor that when Jonesy died the church building was filled with people who came to honour our weakest member. He taught us how to love. Jonesy gave, and asked nothing in return, and because we dared embrace a feeble-minded old man we were strengthened in ways we could never have imagined.
I told Dr. Criswell of all this—of the prostitutes and the pimps, of the criminals and the street people, of those who would never be welcomed in most churches. I told him of the powerful testimonies of God’s grace and how people walking by the church were strangely drawn to come inside to hear the message of life in Christ the Lord, with many of them being saved. I told him how our people were ostracised by polite society and rejected by other pastors who preached to empty pews in their own churches. I told him how the people loved one another because they had no one else and of how they determined to work together because they had no place else to labour for Christ. As I spoke that great man of God stood from where he was seated and stood in front of me.
Kneeling before me had asked me to place my hands on his head and pray for him. “For over forty years I have sought what you say you found,” he said. “Please, pray for me that I can create such an environment here and so the people will have that vision here.” I tell you my estimate of that great man went up a hundred-fold that day. Every godly pastor longs for unity in the Faith and for the presence of God among the people and for the people to become strong through their united efforts.
We have yet to witness the truth of God’s Word which teaches us that “God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same concern for one another.” We have not yet discovered the power that is expressed in our midst when we practise the truth of verse twenty-six, “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.” We have so much to learn and I pray that God will give us opportunity shortly to witness the truth of this united strength in our church. Amen.
Christ Wills Reflection of Divine Glory in His Body. Do you truly understand the power resident in Paul’s statement found in verse twenty-seven? Listen to those words. “Now you are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.” This is not a statement relegated to some indefinite future date. Rather now… now… now…
What would it be if we could see with the eyes of Christ? If we could see the glory that shall be revealed when Jesus comes, what marvellous glory we would witness even now among us. We would do well to remember the teaching John gave in his old age. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see him as He is” [1 John 3:2]. Now… there is it again. Already we are children of God. Though we do not now see it, at His coming we shall witness a glorious transformation, for we who belong to Him shall be like Him. Could we but see one another as God sees us—and as we shall see one another at His appearing—we would fall down in awe.
What glorious creatures occupy these seats! Men and women who are even now being fitted for eternity, men and women who are being changed into the image of God’s Son, men and women who shall one day assemble before the throne of God together with all those who are members of the church of the firstborn. Before His throne, we shall then appear resplendent in glorious robes reflecting His glory. The church united and strong is a harbinger of that glory, for at this moment you are the Body of Christ.
We should rejoice in the knowledge that we, “are the Body of Christ and individually members of it.” That divided, divisive, degraded congregation was composed of people who made up the Body of Christ. Though they had thoroughly disgraced the Son of God, He longed to be glorified in their midst. The words which the Apostle wrote constitute a plea for the people of God to long for the glory of God in their midst—a glory which can only be seen as the people seek divine unity and as the people seek supernatural strength. As they experienced strength and unity through accepting one another and through realising what God had done for them by making them into a glorious body, they would witness the glory of Christ in their midst.
I long to witness a church in western Canada which will live out this marvellous truth. When that happens, nothing will be impossible for that congregation. God dwells among His people by faith, but when that people set aside all their petty feuds and reject their divisive spirits they will begin to move toward revival and toward everything God intended the church to be. When that church dares embrace one another as divine gifts, trusting one another to fulfil the ministry which God alone gives and treating one another with respect and dignity, the world will see the demonstration of the power of God.
When God blesses us with His presence, things will change. The worship team will not struggle to lead us in worship, but worship will be natural because the glory of God is shining among us. The pastor will not plead with sinners, but all alike will reach out with a heart of love to bring the lost to faith in the Lord of Glory. The people will not simply come to church, but they will rejoice to be the church knowing that God shall meet them as they join with fellow saints in worship of the True and Living God.
Here is what will happen when the glory of the Lord is revealed among us. We will cease trying to draw water from wells because the water will gush forth to refresh and renew. Those who wonder what Jesus is like will witness His presence for they will see the Living Christ revealed through His people as they go about their daily business. The power of Satan over loved ones will be broken. We’ll no longer plead with our children to believe, but they will ask us how to receive the Son of God. We’ll no longer beg our friends to come to the Faith, but they will seek us out so that we can tell them of Christ the Lord. We’ll no longer wonder how to introduce our neighbours to the Saviour, but they will ask us the reason for the hope that is in you.
Here is a truth that draws together all that has been said. If we know the will of Christ and submit ourselves to Him as Master of life, we will evangelise. The surest evidence that we dishonour God is the fact that we see few souls coming to faith in the Risen Son of God. If we live worthy of the Name of Him to whom we belong we will be evangelistic. Our evangelism will flow from our submission and not be incidental to life. Furthermore, if we know the will of Christ and submit ourselves to Him as Master of life, we will worship. Only as we submit to Him as Lord can we worship. Worship will cease to be an effort when we have made Christ the centre of our Church. It is as we honour Christ through exalting His Body that we glorify Him.
Have I spoken today to a fellow Christian who hesitates to unite with this Body? Perhaps you know that Christ has placed you here and that you should join with this congregation. Do so today. We invite you to come confessing that God has placed you here and that you seek to honour Him through a spirit of submission to His will.
Perhaps I have this day spoken to some someone who though a Christian has hesitated to identify with Christ the Lord in baptism as He commanded. Perhaps you endured a rite at the insistence of your parents and came to faith in later years or perhaps you submitted to a rite which you were told was baptism but which you know does not meet the criterion of the Word. We haven’t the right to change the pattern we received and through you struggle with that you know it is right to now honour God through submission to His will. Won’t you come today seeking His blessing? Your submission honours him and will encourage another who hesitates to do what is right.
Perhaps today I have spoken to someone who is a member of this church, but all is not right in your life. You still harbour hurt and perhaps even anger toward another. Your submission to Christ will bring us that much closer to revival and renewal and glory in the church. Lay down your anger. Come here to the front and kneeling at an old fashioned altar confess your sin to the Lord and seek His refreshing.
I have no doubt spoken to some someone who is yet outside the Faith. My plea to you is that you believe the Word of God today. I urge you to know that our God is a gracious and merciful God who will forgive your sin, set aside your rebellion and give you a place in the family. Here among the people of God is a place of acceptance and service set aside for you. You need but come believing today.
The Word calls us to life, saying, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10]. Come and angels attend you in the way. Amen.
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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.