The Body of Christ

Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons,

a ministry of Second City Church in midtown Harrisburg.

This fall, we're studying the book of Second

Corinthians. Second Corinthians is a heartfelt

and practical book calling us back to the life

of the cross. We, like the Corinthians, so often

pursue glory, admire eloquence, shun suffering,

hide hurt, and hoard our goods. And yet the gospel

of Jesus tells us that resurrection comes after

a cross. that comfort comes after being crushed,

that the way up is the way down, that the way

to glory is through suffering, that his strength

is made perfect in our weakness. We'd love to

meet you and we hope you'll consider coming and

joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m.

in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find

us online at secondcitychurch .org and on Facebook,

Instagram, and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this

sermon. God bless. Let me read for us 2 Corinthians

7, 13, down to 8, verse 2 again. And His affection

for you is even greater as He remembers the obedience

of you all, how you received Him with fear and

trembling, I rejoice because I have complete

confidence in you. We want you to know, brothers,

about the grace of God that has been given among

the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test

of affliction, their abundance of joy and their

extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of

generosity on their part. Let me pray for us.

Lord God Almighty, we pray you would bless both

the reading of your word and the preaching of

your word. God, open our hearts to you and to

one another. Knit us together as one body, we

pray. Amen. All right. I want to say it's lovely

to be with all of you. Certainly it's a little

bit of a different Sunday and it's a joy to have

different Sundays, particularly with other Christians

who worship in our own space. It's just wonderful

to gather together. We have been studying the

book of 2 Corinthians this fall and like 1 Corinthians,

part of the great lesson of 2 Corinthians, is

the reality of the Church of Jesus reflecting

the reality of God the Father, God the Son, God

the Holy Spirit, one yet many, one yet diverse.

The body of Christ, when enlivened by the Spirit

of God, reflects this reality of living as the

children of the Father. So some of you will remember

this. We moved here nearly 10 and a half years

ago, and an early illustration that I gave, and

I don't remember even what I was illustrating

necessarily. It's going to use, maybe it's a

similar illustration this morning, but an early

illustration that I gave was that early when

Lily was born, I heard from a number of people

at our church that we moved from in Richmond

that Lily was Peter in a dress. That is a funny

idea, but praise the Lord. More and more, she

resembles the heart and body and being of her

mother and certainly her own person. But the

fact is that it's true, right? Children resemble

us in all kinds of different ways, uniquely,

but they resemble us. Their bodies and their

hearts and their minds are reflections often

of their parents and of the communities that

they're surrounded by. So if I ask you a question,

this question, I will tell you there's many answers.

Actually, there's a number of answers you could

give. It's not indefinite. But if I ask you the

question, where is the body of Christ? There's

a few answers you could give. In Paul's writings,

you can think of about four ways he uses this.

You can think of the body of Christ in his incarnation.

God took on flesh. He walked among us. You can

think, Or you can hear in Paul the body of Christ

in light of the resurrection and the ascension.

Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.

The reality of the body of Christ seated at the

right hand of the Father. You can hear the body

of Christ in Holy Communion. The bread broken.

This is my body broken for you. Think of the

blood shed in the wine that we share together.

One loaf, one cup. Because there is one body.

You can also hear of the body of Christ in the

mystical union of the church. The church itself

is said to be the very body of Christ. Those

individuals gathered together in a corporate

body who have faith in the work of the Lord Jesus.

Think with me, if you can, of Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

There, Paul, he wasn't yet called Paul, he was

called Saul. He was on the road to Damascus and

he was on his way to arrest men and women who

were following the way of Jesus. If you know

the story, he had actually first been mentioned

a couple chapters earlier in chapter seven, where

he was standing over those who were putting their

coats at his feet, which was to say he was presiding

over in an authoritative way, the stoning to

death of Stephen, giving testimony to the work

of Christ. But then he was on this road to Damascus

to do the same thing. kill those who were following

in the footsteps of Jesus who were part of his

body. And there he was literally blinded by the

light right there on the road. And he hears a

voice saying, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting

me? And what's his response? Who are you Lord?

And the voice from heaven speaks back, I am Jesus

whom you are persecuting. Which is to say there

is such a union between the followers of Christ,

between the brothers and sisters of the way,

the men and women whom he was seeking out, and

Jesus, that he could say, you are persecuting

Not my followers, that's not what he says. He

says, you're persecuting me. I'm Jesus whom you're

persecuting. You could say there's such a union

between Christ and his people, between the head

and the body, between the groom and the bride,

that Jesus can say that his church, which Saul

was persecuting, is him. The church as the body

of Christ is no small thing in the New Testament,

particularly not in Paul's writings, but maybe

specifically actually in the Corinthian texts.

Think of 1 Corinthians chapter 12. I hope you

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

know that chapter. There's the famous verses

about the eyes and hands and the feet there,

right? What he says is, hey, the eyes can't stay

to the hands. Ah, I don't need you. I'm just

good looking. And the hands can't say to the

feet, I don't need you. I'm just good at the

grabbing stuff, right? Can't do that. In fact,

there in verse 27, he says, now you are, which

is wild. He doesn't say you are like, it's not

a similitude. It's like ontology. It's their

being. You are the body of Christ and individual

members of it. Such a union between Christ and

his body. The church, the collective of Christians

in their unity of individual parts is the visible

expression of Jesus. And this of course means

a lot of things. It means that ministry is not

for the few, right? That's part of the tech,

part of the point is you can't just have the

church. I've said this before, particularly in

our membership classes, New Begin says the church

is not a bag full of eyeballs. That's a picture

for us. It means mutual respect between different

members. It means interdependency. We actually

need each other. It means most of all that the

body finds its life and its direction through

the head, our Lord Jesus Himself. We're governed

by Him. We're given our movements and our direction.

We find our life blood through Him. So we come

to this text in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 to the

2 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

beginning of 8. And I want to point out just

a couple things that we find, and this is throughout

Paul's letter, but I think particularly right

here also we get this. And what we find is the

gifts of the individuals and the necessity of

the gifts of the individuals, and also the gifts

of the collective, okay? So, the gift of the

individual. I said, you know, part of the point

in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, is that the eye

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

is not the hand, and the hand is not the foot,

you know? And that because of that, we can't

say to each other, I don't need you. I don't

have any need of you. Rather that each and every

one of us, in the various ways that you specifically

have been gifted, are necessary for the life

of the body to work properly. And so, Paul begins

this passage in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 13, with

2 Corinthians 7:13

saying, we are comforted. But then he goes on

most of that paragraph to talk about Titus and

Titus's presence in his life and Titus's presence

in the Corinthians life. So what's going on?

Titus is mentioned nine times in the book of

2 Corinthians. He's by far in a way the greatest

individual who's mentioned in the book, nine

times he's mentioned. And seven of those nine

times are mentioned right here in chapters seven

and eight. The first time is back in chapter

two. And some of you might remember when we look

at this, because Paul says there, my spirit was

not at rest because I did not find my brother

Titus there. Let me help you remember this. So

Paul says he had gone to Troas and he says there

was a door opened for him for the gospel there

in Troas, which is like a missionary's dream,

right? Or a pastor's dream. It's just clear that

God is at work. And yet he says, my spirit was

not at rest because I didn't find my brother.

We know he didn't stay there because Titus wasn't

present with him in the work he was given to

do. So they left and they go on. to Macedonian,

which is to say, as great as the opportunity

was, he wouldn't take it without his right arm,

without the hand, the eye, the foot. Then in

chapter seven, verse six, he said he was comforted

by Titus. Here in 13, he says that the Corinthian

church as a whole was comforted by Titus. And

I'm not going to go through all the different

references there, the nine different references

to Titus, but part of the point is that the ministry

of Paul is dependent on this other, this other

individual, and the comfort and the joy of the

collective body of the Corinthians was dependent

on Titus, gift of the individual, the specific

person that is part of this greater body. What's

certainly clear here in this passage in 2nd Corinthians

is the necessity of the gifts of each individual.

Paul says when he's talking about the body of

the Church of Jesus in Ephesians chapter 4, which

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

is another one of the great passages of the body

that Paul has for us, he says when each part

is working properly, makes the body to grow so

that it builds itself up in love, And what that

implies is that when each part of the body is

not working properly, the collective doesn't

reflect the body properly. Each individual offers

something that is necessary. So the gift of the

individual, but think of that passage in Ephesians

chapter four, when each part is working properly.

And so let's think of a few ways in which maybe

the individual parts don't work terribly well.

That we suffer from different illnesses in the

body when each individual part isn't properly

working So think about amputation, you know the

idea maybe there in in In second or first Corinthians

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12. I have no need of you. Let's cut

you off. Okay? Sometimes we cut our ourselves

off from the body. I Don't think you actually

need this hand This this foot is not helpful.

I am NOT helpful We don't maybe want to commit

to the idea of interdependency. For the hand

to thrive, it actually has to be connected well.

We draw back from costly shared life together.

We check out. We find worship as an option when

convenient. We decide that there are times when

our part of the body isn't needed. But the amputated

limb can't live, and what remains of the body

cannot function well. Each part is needed. Think

of elephantitis. I'm not sure if you say that

right, and I was surprised when I actually was

looking up these different ideas that that's

a word, and it's a disease. It's actually when

a limb swells up due to a parasitic worm that

blocks limb fluids. I don't really understand

that. You get the idea. Elephantitis. Something

gets enlarged. A member, let's just be honest,

often a pastor has an inflated view of themselves.

And what happens then in the body of the church

is that others don't have the opportunity to

actually use their gifts. So much energy is being

used for this inflated part that the others become

diminished. Think of atrophy, somewhat related.

Members just sitting in the pews, keeping them

warm. Church becomes spectacle, right? Something

to simply observe, to take in, rather than participation.

When you sit there, when one part of the body

doesn't exercise its muscles, what happens? It

atrophies. Your spiritual life atrophies when

you do this? The body as a whole, our spiritual

life atrophies when we do this. Even the strength

that you once had begins to diminish and the

health of the body as a whole weakens. Think

of fractures in our bones. I've only had one

of those actually in my life. I was going off

a big jump on a snowboard and I smashed my thumb

and I had to tape it. I couldn't use my hand

for a while while it healed. Think of fractures

in the body. Church members fall out with one

another, and your falling out with another individual

is never just about the two people who fall out

in the life of the body. It never is. That fracture

affects how the entire body is allowed to function.

Paul in 1 Corinthians tells them, don't take

one another to court. Deal with it inside. Why

would he do that? Because he knows that if there's

this great fraction that takes place, even among

these two individuals, the whole body will be

harmed. Of course, we could keep going, but if

a church is to be the body of Christ, and if

the body is to grow so that it builds itself

up in love, then each and every part must bring

the gifts that it's been given. Paul, both in

his ministry of preaching in Troas and in his

comfort over his concern for the church in Corinth,

both of those things needed Titus, which say

without him, they actually couldn't really happen.

Titus isn't a take it or leave it figure in these

communities or with Paul. And here's what comes

out of that. Neither are you. You are not. Each

and every one of you are an important member

of the body. And without you, it does not grow.

It does not function. It does not build itself

up properly in love. You are an essential member

of the body of Christ. If you are getting a little

older, we celebrated Mary turning 97 last week.

She's an essential part of this body. You are

if you are a young one in our nursery. I know

some of our nursery folk are watching right now.

You are an essential part of the body of Christ.

If you are a young parent with little kids just

frazzled, you bring an essential part of the

body to this life together. You are if you are

a single adult. Now often churches are full of

family ministries. single adults, you are loved

and you are needed. You are essential to the

body working properly. The gifts of the individual.

But there is actually this flip side in this

passage, and I was so glad when this passage

kind of landed on this Sunday that we get to

gather together with part of our Kenya Rwandan

Fellowship that meets in the afternoons. Because

this passage really is not just talking about

the necessity and the gifts of the individual,

but as soon as you turn to the next chapter,

it gets to the idea of the gifts and the necessity

of the collective. Okay? So just as we know,

the gifts of the Father and the gifts of the

Son and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In theology,

we call this the economic working of the Trinity,

that they have different... different ways in

which they are working out for our salvation,

working their gifts out for our salvation. Well,

we know the gift of receiving God as Trinity,

also collectively, God comes to us as Father,

as Son, and as Spirit, but also as one, as collective.

The gifts of the individual and the gifts of

the collective are for the church, too. Both

of them reflect God. So, chapter 8, Chapter 8

is mostly, and Adjad preached a couple weeks

ago about that and did a very fine job. Most

specifically, it's about giving, and it's about

giving particularly for the needs of the church

in Jerusalem. Paul, this is a big part of Paul's

mission actually. He mentions this collection

actually at the end of 1 Corinthians in chapter

16. He also mentions it in Galatians, and we

know that he did get back to Jerusalem. you know,

Acts chapter 21. But there's a very important

Acts 21 · chapter mention

lesson that's taking place in those little verses

that I read for you in the beginning of chapter

eight regarding the body of Christ. Because there

are very, very clear texts, like the ones I've

mentioned, Ephesians 4 and 1 Corinthians 12,

that talk about the necessity of each individual.

But it's also true that there's a necessity of

the collective body working together, that as

we as individuals work together well, we build

up the collective properly. So, in chapter eight,

verse one, He wants the Corinthian church to

know about the grace of God that has been given,

he says, among the churches in Macedonia, which

is a region, but we know those are collective

bodies within that region. Think of the churches

of Macedonia. You can think of the Church of

Philippi or the Church of Thessalonica. It's

almost like he's mentioning Macedonia as a presbytery,

that whole region of churches, but then he mentions

them together. There's a benefit to the collective.

And he's saying, that as bodies, they are collectively

part of the gift of God to the church. The part

of sharing the gifts of the collective body is

part of sharing the grace of God, he says. And

I think what's really lovely about this too is

that what's very clear in that passage in chapter

eight, even in these first few verses, is that

he doesn't equate sharing the gifts with some

kind of extraordinary means. He's not like, oh

man, these people have their music together.

You might know this, there's four big musical

groups that put out like 90 % of church music

now, Hillsong and Bethel and places like that.

He's not looking at like, oh man, these people,

I've got to tell you about. them because of this

extraordinary thing. He says it's actually out

of their poverty that they share. It's out of

their weakness that they actually extend the

gift of the grace of God. Maybe we can say it's

actually out of their poverty that they reflect

God in a unique way as the one who became poor

that we might become rich. But all this is to

say is that we need one another and we don't

just need one another in the individual sense,

but we need one another in the collective sense.

Which is to say, Kenyarwand and speaking brothers

and sisters, it is a gift to us that you are

in our space and part of a broader collective,

right? Different bodies that we can look at and

say, thanks be to God, because you offer us something

and we grow because of you. Let me just mention

a couple fairly simple and maybe obvious things.

We know the reality of a God who is over all

things by the fact that different languages praise

him. We know the reality of a God who's over

all things by people from different countries

praising him. We know the joy of the promise

that we have that every tribe and tongue Right?

We'll praise Him by the fact that in our space

on Sunday afternoons, a different language is

praising the very same God. What a gift to us!

I mean, that's a gift to my children, to know

the great global reality of the body of Christ.

It is a gift, and it's a collective gift that

you sort of offer as an individual, but not remotely

in the same way. You help us know Jesus better.

And quite honestly, I hope we do the same for

you. Hope you know some of the grace of God through

this body, Second City Church. Maybe you praise

God in some kind of unique way because you're

here. You're connected to this group of folk

that call Harrisburg home and this church, the

body of Christ to which they belong. Let me end

by telling you of the happiness belonging to

the body of Christ. So, if the idea that Lily

was Peter in a dress brings you joy, which I

hope it does, I hope that the reality that the

church is said to reflect our God, Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit, get one God. I hope that gives

you a deeper joy and a greater happiness. I remember

when I told you that story, and I remember telling

you that story in part because I have been told

many times that I told that story, and it's always

been with laughter. And I think, like I said

earlier, I think it's often shared with laughter

because of the idea of picturing me in a dress

or of just somebody saying that kind of thing.

But I hope also that it's the fact that maybe

my daughter is my daughter and there's something

sweet about being told You go together You belong

I do also hope that you smile and take joy in

the reality that the church the body of Christ

is to resemble God Father Son and Holy Spirit

diverse yet one And we confess the Father is

not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, the Spirit

is not the Father or the Son, and yet one being

distinct, yet bringing their gifts to the whole,

the whole not existing without the individuals.

So maybe you've heard this. Actually, I really

hope you've heard this. But there have been a

number of studies done recently saying that religious

people are happier than non -religious people.

Maybe you're not a Christian here this morning.

Maybe you hear that and you think, yeah, maybe

that's true. Maybe you hear that and you go,

I don't like... Maybe you hear that and you think,

maybe I should consider Christianity. Anyway,

Pew did another research project about this over

2023 and 2024. So it really is very recent. And

they surveyed 37 ,000 people. So it's not a small

sample. It's pretty good sample size. And I'm

going to share with you just a few things they

found out. The study showed that of the people

who never attended religious worship, 19 % say

they are not too happy. 22 % say they are very

happy. And the survey breaks down, okay, the

survey breaks down into a few different categories.

It's those who say they attend religious worships

seldomly, yearly, monthly, weekly, and then more

than a week, okay? So they're actually trying

to gauge happiness by how often do you attend

a religious gathering? Okay, so the people that

don't attend, say they're 22 % of the time they're

very happy. Well, here's the interesting thing

that at each stage, At each stage, the happiness

grows. No kidding. So 35 % of those who attend

weekly say that they are very happy. But here's

what I found really interesting. 43, it jumps

by 8 % who attend a religious gathering. Think

of a small group or choir plug or ESL plug. 43%.

8 % more chance of happiness. I mean, truly,

that's a rather astounding thing in a world that

is so full of anxiety and worry. The more active

you are, the more you bring your individual gifts,

and they are received by the collective body,

the happier you are. Now, of course, there are

many reasons for this. But think about this,

right? Last week we considered in chapter seven

Paul's sorrow and affliction, which is a very

big part of 2 Corinthians. It is. It's something

we all experience. Sin and broken relationships

with God and one another, they produce sorrow

and affliction. None of us are immune from this.

And yet, if you can remember back to last week,

I know that was a whole week ago, but if you

can remember, How is Paul's sorrow and affliction

turned to joy? And I suggested to you that there

were really two ways. One was the reality of

being reconciled to God, this relationship being

healed, the vertical, and then the other was

the horizontal. That we receive actual joy and

happiness in the life of others who have received

joy and happiness and comfort. through God. Life

in the body of Christ, life with God, Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit. And then life lived out,

not amputated, not atrophied, not elephantitis

de, whatever, but lived out, loving and respecting

and cherishing the gifts of the individual. wondering

at the gift of a collective body and how collective

bodies share with one another. That kind of happiness

and joy and comfort is held out for you. So if

you want to laugh, sure, laugh at the idea that

our children resemble us. It's a joyful thing.

But if you want a deeper joy and a lasting happiness,

then enter into the body together, commit together,

pursue together, and reflect together the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Thank you

for listening to Second City Sermons podcast.

We hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship

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for listening. God bless.