Ephesians 4 1-16 2006
Pentecost 10
Ephesians 4: 1-7, 11-16
August 13, 2006
“What a Body Needs”
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE: Let’s play a game. I’ll name a part of your body, and you tell me if you have one or two of these parts by saying “one” or “two.” If I say hands, you would answer “two” because you have two hands - Nose, feet, head, arm, and so on. Ok how about: body, Jesus, Holy Spirit, God the Father, Baptism, hope to live with God forever. Those last words weren’t body parts at all, were they? No, not really. But our Bible reading today says they all have something to do with a body. When we believe in Jesus, we are all part of one body. That’s a way of talking about the church. People who believe in Jesus are called the body of Christ. We’re all together. We’re all like one body. We Christians are one body together because we share one Jesus, one Holy Spirit, one God the Father, one Baptism, and one hope to live with God forever.
There’s only one God. We Christians all worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There’s only one Savior. We Christians all believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again to take away our sins. That’s the one faith we all share. And we Christians became members of Christ’s one body in our Baptism. There’s only one Baptism, the kind you’ve had right here at our font or somewhere else like it, where the one God makes us his children. And we all hope for—that means we all look forward to—going to the same one place: to live with God forever in heaven. There is only one way to get there—by believing in Jesus. We know he has earned heaven for us.[i]
What a Body Needs
Introduction: Not long ago I remember seeing an ad. Now I can’t remember what the ad was for, but the head line stated that what ever it was selling was just “What a Body Needs.” Do you remember that add or what it was for?... Well, anyway, I did an internet search for the ad, which I never found, and I came across a men’s health site. It listed what a body needs. First is good nutrition. Second was proper rest. The third was exercise. That seems simple enough. I imagine if these things are good for men that they are just as good for women. As I was contemplating such sublime things I began to wonder how, or in what way we could relate these to a very different kind of body…that is the Church of Jesus Christ. As we heard the Church is called the body of Christ? If good nutrition, rest and exercise are what a human body needs, what does the body of Christ need?
In our text St. Paul declares that we have been called to unity as members of the body of Christ. And he tells us what this body needs. “After having set forth the great doctrine of the Una Sancta [the One, Holy Church], Paul now tells his readers how their lives should be shaped to be in accord with this teaching or doctrine. He encourages believers to keep that unity in very practical ways. And Paul, urges us to “live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” So what is it the body of Christ needs?
First just like the human body the body of Christ needs rest. We need to be at peace. First we must understand that we are at peace with God through Jesus Christ who gave himself to death on the cross so that God’s mercy and grace could be given to us through faith. We are forgiven; there is no greater rest than this. Have you ever done something wrong, so much so that you rightly deserved the anger and punishment that you knew was soon to follow? Think about that for a moment. Remember the terror? Remember the unrest? Now, hopefully you remember a time when the terror was past? Perhaps you were punished, but then you found that you were still loved and cherished and forgiven. I hope there have been times like this in your lives. If not, there is still one for you. And it is found in Jesus Christ. For though we have all sinned and deserved God’s wrath and punishment, we have been completely forgiven and know God’s love in Jesus Christ. This gives us rest for our souls.
Because we have this rest, this peace with God, we should also have it with each other. We should consider the members of our church like we would consider the different parts of our bodies. Now, if you’re like me, there are many parts of my body that I don’t really like, my legs for instance, my sister once told me that I have the legs of a chicken. My genetics is another thing, why is it that some people can eat all they want to and never get fat? My belly testifies that I am not made like that. Given the chance, there are a number of things about this body that I would change or even want to get rid of. That’s not reality though is it? This is my body, blemishes and all, and I am glad God gave me this body. One of the problems that churches have is that they are often made up of people that just don’t like some members of there own churches, there own body. Given the chance they would just as soon change these people or even get rid of them, all for the sake of making the church “more beautiful.” As a result we bring unrest into the church through are pride and self-exaltation. Unrest comes when we are self-serving and self-centered, when we are discourteous and inconsiderate. And unrest comes when we are short-tempered, unwilling to tolerate otherpeople opinions or ways of wanting to do some things that might be different from the way we think they should be. Unrest comes when we are not willing to tolerate what we see as other peoples weaknesses and faults.
But Christ unites us in together and gives us rest and causes us to grow together in humbleness, in gentleness, in patience, and especially in bearing with one another in love. The Holy Spirit himself creates and sustains “the bond of peace.” The unity is “of the Spirit.” The bond of peace is kept by the Holy Spirit’s efforts in us.
There is another way for us to be at rest with each other. That is by having unity in our faith and confession. Illustration: Four players sitting around a card table may think they’re united simply because they’re together. In fact, it’s hardly unity if one intends to play sheeps head, another canasta, another euchre, and the other poker. They aren’t even really united if all are playing pinochle, but one plays with a single deck and the others with a double deck. But, when all four agree on a single game, then they can share the evening together.
In this day and age we are attached by false teachings and false teachers. They do not bring unity. There are people who spread false teaching among us by “cunning, craftiness, and deceitful scheming.” They draw many followers together. Rather than being truly united on a common foundation (that is, a common teaching or doctrine), followers of false teachers become like “infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching.” Ultimately, each goes whatever different direction each is thrown.
Christ has called us to be a body united in teaching- His teaching. Jesus Christ brings us true unity. As the text says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” We turn to the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for God has given them to build us up with pure teaching. Becoming mature in faith and knowledge of Christ—this is true unity because it places us all on that one common foundation. True unity is created by Christ’s atoning death on the cross where he made us one with God. In this unity we can be at rest with each other. It’s what the body of Christ needs…rest
The body of Christ also needs good nutrition. We need a good diet. Just as food gives our human bodies’ life and energy, for us Christians the eternal food of the church consists of God’s Word, on which we base our faith and hope. Jesus told us, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. We also understand that our spiritual nutrition comes from our Lord’s body and blood shed on the cross and given to us to eat in the Lord’s Supper. As Jesus said, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then He said, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. And also, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
It amazes me sometimes when people admit that their faith is weak and that they wish they were stronger and yet they never read God’s Word, they seldom come to church, and rarely take the Lord’s Supper. Is it any surprise then that they are weak? Even our human bodies testify to the truth. If you don’t eat you will be weak, and if you don’t eat for a long enough time you will die. Be strong, hold fast to Christ’s Word, and receive His body and blood. It too is what the body of Christ needs.
The last thing a body needs is exercise. What is the saying, “If you don’t use it you will loose it.”
Yes the body of Christ, the church needs exercise too. Christ has called us to be a body united in action.
We hear it all the time, our bodies need exercise, except for farmers and factory workers, most of us don’t get enough. We need it to be flexible and strong, so we can move around and be healthy. As much as I need it, the sad fact is, I just don’t do it. The sad fact is that most of us don’t get enough spiritual exercise either. However, I have created a spiritual exercise plan that I would like you to try. Are you willing to try it with me? First, I have what I call the leg lift. Will you please move your legs up and down…yes…that’s good. I have it on good authority that if you do that long enough that your legs will be able to take you from home and into church. The more you practice this exercise the spiritually stronger you become. The second exercise that I want you try is called the finger flip. Are you ready to try that with me…good? It goes like this… and there is a more advances version that includes the tongue lick. This exercise, when included with your home bible and a reading of its text is a great spiritual exercise guaranteed to strengthen you spiritually. Every exercise program includes something for our butts. I call this final exercise the butt lift. Are you ready to try it…good? Ok everybody that can I want you to stand up, that is lift you butts off your seats…good. Now at the end of the service I want you to do the same thing but as you get up I want you to go out and remember to share the good news of Jesus Christ with your families and friends. The human body is healthiest when it does what it has been designed for. The Church, the body of Christ is no exception. What is it we were designed for…it is the great commission, to go and to share our faith and hope in our Savior Jesus Christ? This too is spiritually strengthening. People that talk to me about times when they have shared their faith in Jesus also talk about how it to strengthened them. They weren’t expecting it, but it happened anyway.
It’s what a body needs, rest, nutrition, exercise. We have been given a tremendous gift. We have been called together as one body and our Head is our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him we have everything that a body needs. All that we need is given to us as we come and as we hear the Gospel, which causes us to “grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” We know this will happen because “from [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” For this body, this church we give thanks unto the Lord. Amen!
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[i] Rev. Daniel P. Strussenberg, senior pastor, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of South Hills, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania