“One Body”
Romans 12:1-8 (TPT)
August 23, 2020 (12th Sunday after Pentecost)
St. Elmo UMC (FB Live)
Romans 12:1-8 (TPT—The Passion Translation)
1Beloved friends, what should be our proper
response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to
God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all
that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.
2 Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture
around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy
Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to
discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his
eyes. 3 God has given me grace to speak a warning
about pride. I would ask each of you to be emptied of self-promotion and not
create a false image of your importance. Instead, honestly assess your worth by
using your God-given faith as the standard of measurement, and then you will
see your true value with an appropriate self-esteem. 4 In
the human body there are many parts and organs, each with a unique function. 5 And so it is in the body of Christ. For though
we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we
are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others.
6 God’s marvelous grace imparts to each one of us
varying gifts and ministries that are uniquely ours. So if God has given you
the grace-gift of prophecy, you must activate your gift by using the proportion
of faith you have to prophesy. 7 If your grace-gift is serving, then thrive in
serving others well. If you have the grace-gift of teaching, then be actively
teaching and training others. 8 If you have the grace-gift of encouragement, then use it often to encourage others. If
you have the grace-gift of giving to meet the needs of others, then may you
prosper in your generosity without any fanfare. If you have the gift of
leadership, be passionate about your leadership. And if you have the gift of
showing compassion, then flourish in your cheerful display
of compassion.
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THIS IS THE WORD OF LIFE FOR GOD’S PEOPLE.
THANKS
BE TO GOD.
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Title comes from verse 5. But let’s go back and start with verse 4—
4 In the human body there are many parts and organs, each with a unique function. 5 And so it is in the body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others.
We are many parts and organs, each with a unique function. One body.. Vitally joined to one another.
Who here is familiar with
Mr. Potato Head? (Now when I say “who
here”, I know that I am the only one in this physical space, but what I mean is
all y’all on YouTube or FaceBook.) If
you ever had or played with a Mr. Potato head, go ahead, type it in now. Let us know.
Here is my Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head suitcase. Yes, suitcase. Remember I am a retired language teacher. This came in handy when we learned vocabulary for body parts. Just as it does today when we are talking about the body of Christ and its many parts.
We would not function properly without each member of the faith community living into their role in the body. We help each other out and work together as needed.
Verse 6 says this—“God’s marvelous grace imparts to each one of us varying gifts and ministries that are uniquely ours.”
It goes on from the 2nd part of verse 6 to the end of today’s passage in verse 8 talking about grace-gifts and gifts. What a great expression “grace-gift” is in The Passion Translation, as all gifts given are by grace and we receive them by grace equally.
Before we look at the specific gifts, let’s talk about gifts in general.
Do you ever NOT open a gift given to you? Think about it for a moment. When someone gives you a gift, do you ever NOT open it? You might be shy to open it in front of the giver, but most likely, you DO open it, right?!?! Gifts are picked out specifically for another person based on their personalities, their likes, etc. The giver enjoys giving as much as the receiver enjoys receiving.
That’s how it is with the gifts in today’s passage. We are uniquely created and gifted. The One who knows us best has given us gifts. We are to use those gifts for the one body.
Let’s look at the gifts listed: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leadership, compassion.
These gifts listed in today’s passage are not an exhaustive list of the gifts given. There are other passages with gifts.
You may be asking yourself at this point, ‘how do I know what my gifts are?’ Or you may be saying to yourself, ‘I don’t have any gifts… this isn’t for me.
Note: we all have gifts, whether we recognize them or not. Here’s a couple of ways to find out what our gifts are:
1- Ask folks who are close to you. The people who know you best, who have
observed you—they will know some of your more obvious gifts. The grace-gift of encouragement tends to
stand out. If someone is an encourager,
you can spot them.
2- Take a spiritual gifts inventory. There are short ones and there are long ones. I am grateful to the Council members for taking a rather lengthy one several months back so I could learn what their gifts are. In the process, we learned that we are a well-rounded group of leaders in our giftedness. There is more for us to explore, as there always is with any topic. Our Disciple’s Path class that started in January and just recently ended in July also took a a spiritual gifts inventory. (I’ve mentioned spiritual gift inventories in the past and posted links on our FB pages. I will post again.)
The purpose of spiritual gifts is found in Ephesians 4:12-13: “12 His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ 13 until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ.”
As we learn and live into our grace gifts, our spiritual gifts, then we as the entire body of Christ can more effectively live into the mission and ministry we are called to be and do.
You may not be aware, but we have areas in the faith community that need the grace-gifts of the body: technology (there are many aspects), youth, children, finance, etc., etc., etc.
I invite you to learn what your spiritual gifts are and then begin to explore where you best can serve in mission and ministry based on those gifts.
If you wondered how your gifts could fit into an area of leadership, I put together a sheet connecting those details. For example, for someone that has the grace gift of encouragement that is listed in today’s passage, here is where they could plug into the faith community: Nominations/Leader Development; SPRC; Finance; Nurture, Outreach, Witness; Age-Level/Family Ministries; Children's Ministries; Youth Ministries; Young Adult; Adult; Older Adult; Family; Camp & Retreat; Campus; Christian Unity & Interreligious Relationships; Church Media Resources
We must all figure out what our function is and live into it so that we are able to effectively function as one body.
It is important that we remember that we are one body with many parts and that we are all gifted. Even if we haven’t begun to live into our giftedness, it isn’t too late.
The renown poet Mary Oliver passed away at age 83. She had a gift of being able to speak into lives with her words through her poetry. In her poem, “The Summer Day”, a line that has spoken to many is the final line: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
We each have something to contribute, a gift given to us by the Holy Spirit, for the common good of community.
As we contemplate our gifts and how we might use them for the good of the kingdom and the glory of God, hear this short Mary Oliver poem entitled “The Gift”.
Be still, my soul, and
steadfast.
Earth and heaven both
are still watching
though time is
draining from the clock
and your walk, that
was confident and quick,
has become slow.
So, be slow if you
must, but let
the heart still play
its true part.
Love still as once you
loved, deeply
and without
patience. Let God and the world
know you are grateful.
That the gift has been given.
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May the Holy Spirit guide us as we seek to know our gift, to grow as mature believers, sharing the gifts given to us, so that together we can live effectively as one body.
May we grow as disciples of Christ so that we can make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Amen.
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