Being A Sign of the Kingdom

Written by Ed Kauffman

Being A Sign of the Kingdom: Building Christian Community

February 27, 2011, First Mennonite

Ed Kauffman

 

The Corinthian church had a problem.  It seems there were conflicts in the church, and not just disagreements, but the people had formed groups, factions that opposed each other.  We get that sense from Paul’s letters to the Corinthian church in which he first of all names this problem, and then goes on to try and deal with it.  A few years ago I took a class with Jake Elias on Paul, in which I came to characterize Paul as the first Area or Conference Minister, trying to help congregations deal with their issues.

 And the early church certainly had its issues.  We sometimes portray the NT church as the model, but even they had their difficulties, and the Corinthians were no exception.  It had even gotten so bad that they couldn’t even come together for a meal.  And so in chapter 11 Paul gives them some instructions on how they should handle their common meal time together.  Paul’s concern, according to Elias’ commentary was that the Corinthian church was not living up to the standards or essential claims of a community founded on Jesus Christ.

And so, to help them understand, Paul uses an image he uses in a number of his letters, namely that of the body.  After reminding them that all the gifts come from the same Spirit, Paul turns to his argument for why they should act together, and he begins with a curious statement in verse 12.

 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. (NIV)

 Now one might have expected Paul to end that sentence with, “so it is with the church.”  But Paul says, “so it is with Christ.”  The church, according to Paul’s imagery, is the body of Christ!  We are Christ visible  the world and as such who we are and how we act are what others see of Christ.  And how then should we act?

 Well, Paul goes on with his image of the body.  If you’re going to have a body, you need a bunch of different parts.  One part by itself doesn’t constitute a body.  You can’t have just an eye and say, “there’s a body!”  And Paul interestingly, gives body parts voices!

“Well”, says the foot, “I’d really rather be a hand, and since I’m not, I’m leaving!”  or later the head says, “Look feet, you’re kind of a pain so really don’t need you around, you can leave.”  “Ridiculous”, Paul says.  The body can’t function that way, it doesn’t function that way, and neither can the body of Christ.  In fact, Paul goes on to say in his sometimes a bit convoluted way, all the parts of the body, even those we think aren’t as important or we don’t talk about much, are afforded special treatment. 

 In the body we are all connected.  When one part suffers, it affects the whole body.  We don’t think of our toes as all that important, yet an athlete with “turf toe” ends up on the bench, and I’m told it’s really hard to keep your balance without toes.  Each part has a role to play.

And so it is in the body of Christ.  Yet how often do we think about that in the church? 

Last Sunday I talked about three emphases of Anabaptist Christians.  “Jesus is the centre of our faith, Community is the centre of our lives, and reconciliation is the centre of the work.” (Palmer Becker)  In many ways Paul would say, “If Jesus is the centre of your faith, then community has to be at the centre of your lives, because you are part of Christ’s body.”  Part of being a missional church is being Christ’s body.  And what does that mean?

 As Christ’s body, the church, we are to model in our life together, what Jesus told us the Kingdom would be like.  That is, we are to be a visible sign of the Kingdom that is not yet present in its fullness, but of which we get those glimpses through the life of believers gathered together.  Do you remember the children’s story from two weeks ago, told by the students from Menno Simons?

 It was about the man who was given a glimpse of both heaven and hell.  In both places, to his surprise he found people sitting at tables piled high with sumptuous food.  And in both places he found people who could not bend their arms at the elbow. (or another version has them with utensils a meter long).  In hell, the people were in torment, faced with food they couldn’t eat, while in heaven people were happy and full. “What’s the secret?” asked the man.  “In heaven,” he was told, “we have learned how to feed each other!”

Building community has to do with learning to feed each other.  It means valuing the gift that each person is to the community, and seeing each person as a valuable part of the community.  Do you know that when one of you is missing on Sunday morning, it makes a difference?  I’m not saying that to lay a guilt trip on you (well maybe a little), but simply to say that each person is important to the whole. 

 And it’s not so much about the gift that I have, as it is recognizing the giftedness of others and using all the gifts for the good of the whole.  How often have you heard people say, “Oh, I’m just…..(whatever).”  But in the church there should be no “just…”  Everyone adds something to the body, and each part, no matter how small is of value.

 Just as important is how the body functions together.  One of the criticisms of the church is often that we don’t practice what we preach.  How often have you been in a meeting like this? Or perhaps this?  Being the body of Christ isn’t just about Sunday morning, or just about the worship service.  I have sometimes been amazed at how people can worship together in one room, and then walk into the next room for a business meeting and act in ways that make your jaw drop – things you might see in Parliament, or worse yet in the US House of Representatives! 

 In the church, how we do things is often just as important as what we do.  That’s not to say there will not be conflict.  Something that was helpful for me was to hear someone talk about what it means for a physical body to be healthy.  Being healthy doesn’t mean that there are no germs or bacteria in the body.  Our body deals with germs and viruses all the time. But we become unhealthy, or sick, when those germs or viruses are allowed to get the upper hand, take over, or we don’t deal with them in an appropriate way. 

 So it is with a healthy church body.  It’s not that there are no conflicts or disagreements.  But a healthy body knows how to deal with disagreements.  A healthy body stays in communication, doesn’t stoop to personal attacks or innuendo.  A healthy body continues to recognize the other as important, a part of the body that can’t be dismissed saying,  “I have no need of you.”  A church body becomes unhealthy when those conflicts take over and consume the energy and divert the body from fulfilling its mission.

 So, what builds community?  What builds up the body of Christ?  In one sense we could say that, if we start from Paul’s premise, then just about anything we do together can build up the body.  Worshipping together, eating together, playing volleyball together are all things that build up a sense of community.  The bulletin has an announcement about doing road clean-up.  Serving together and working together builds a sense of community.  Small groups help us know each other at a more intimate level.  Being in each other’s homes gives us insight into our lives in ways that meeting on Sunday morning doesn’t. 

 And then, of course, there are those times when the church comes together to meet special needs.  We’re all familiar with the Amish barn-raising image.  While it’s unlikely that we will be called on to rebuild anyone’s barn, there are those other times when we are called to rally around and offer aid. 

 At the Mennonite Church USA convention in San Jose several years ago, one of the speakers told of his coming to the Mennonite Church.  He and his wife had attended for only a short time when he was involved in a rather bad bicycle accident.  To his surprise, within hours the church had rallied to supply meals, someone took his wife to a job interview, and so forth.  Now to us, we might say, well of course, that’s the way we do things.  But that’s not the way most of society operates, and quite frankly, not the way many churches operate.  He was overwhelmed, and amazed.

 I recall a congregation in the States where one member needed a certain medical procedure, and because of changing jobs, his insurance wouldn’t cover it.  Mennonite Mutual Aid said they would cover it, if the congregation would guarantee certain things.  And, I’m pleased to say, the congregation agreed.  In fact I recall one concern was whether this might set a precedent, to which the answer was, “Yes, it might, but that’s ok, we would want to o this for others as well.”

In a time and society where people are mostly concerned about themselves, their rights, and getting ahead, the church is called to model something different, to be a body that works together, caring for each other, looking out for the good of others, and even sacrificing for the sake of others.  In order to do that, we have to know each other, and have time for each other.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges to building community today is the pace at which we live our lives.  Time always seems to be at a premium, and much of our life is scattered.  A recall Tom Sine, futurist author and speaker, putting a label on many of our lives, saying they were filled with “chronic randomness.”  The Alberta pastors’ group that has been meeting monthly has been reading a more recent book by Sine entitled Living On Purpose, in which he provides guidance for getting rid of the chronic randomness that eats away at our time, and replacing it with a sense of purpose and focus.

 “God calls us to be followers of Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit to grow as communities of grace, joy and peace, so that God’s healing and hope flow through us, to the world.”  If we grow as communities of grace, joy, and peace, people will notice.  When we care for each other, break bread together, and handle conflict in ways that build up rather than tear down, people will notice.  When we are Christ’s body, made visible through us, people will notice.

 If we are part of the church, we are part of Christ’s body. We are members of each other.  It’s not a question of whether we are part of the body or not.  We can’t say, “I’m a Christian but not a part of the body.”  Paul says, “now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (v.27)

 The only question is, are we going to act like we’re part of one body, or not?  Are we going to show the people around us what Christ’s body looks like, or not?  Are we going to be the visible sign of the Kingdom of God, yet to come in its fullness.  The Corinthian Church had some work to do, and quite frankly, so does every other congregation in Christ’s body, including this one.  With God’s help and the guidance of the Spirit, we can grow into that community of grace, joy, and peace, so that God’s healing and hope will flow through us to the world.