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“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1:14)
Or, as the writer of Hebrews tells us, “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.”
(Hebrews 1:1-2)
The Son of God—the One born in a manger in Bethlehem, the One whom we celebrate at Christmas, the One who was God Incarnate, the One who was God in the Flesh—he is the “Word” that God has spoken to us! God says, “Here! This child of Mary is the Word of God. He is the very expression of who I am.”
And when he grew up, Christ did remarkable things, things that revealed the heart of God to people. God in the flesh showed the character of God like nothing else could.
But then it was time for him to depart this world. He died upon the cross by his own choice, to pay for the sins of many. Through the agony of the cross, Christ went back to his glory at the side of His Father in Heaven. How mysterious, how amazing! This mystery captivates us, enthralls us!
As Paul wrote to Timothy:
“Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:
He appeared in a body,
was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
was taken up in glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16)
Now, upon his departure, Jesus created another body to continue to carry out his mission in the world. He indwelt a group of people with His very Spirit, and called them “the Body of Christ.” As such, they are called to “incarnate” what God is all about in the present situation.
“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)
Now sit and think about that profound thought a while. “Hmmm… Now that I have given my life over to Christ as my Savior and Lord, I am a part of the ‘body of Christ.’ I am not just out here on my own, trying to be spiritual, trying to do the right things, trying to figure this whole God-thing out on my own. I am a part of a larger whole. I am integrated into an organism, a part of a living being, a body with Christ as its Head. I have purpose, I have a part, I am important to the whole.”
1. Integration
The key is integration. The dictionary defines integration as “To make into a whole by bringing all parts together; to unify into one unit.” We, as the church, are called to be integrated—all of our diverse parts are actually meant to be a cohesive UNIT, by the power of Jesus Christ. You look around the room and you’ll see people that are different from you, some are not as quite good looking as you, some are better looking that you. Seriously, all these people have personalities that may be very different than yours, they have gifts and abilities that are very different than yours, they have desires and interests that are very different than yours.
And they (and YOU) are all here FOR A PURPOSE. The other night, some of the leaders of our church met in an ad hoc prayer meeting. And one of the things that became very clear to us as we spoke with God, in an almost prophetic way, is that God has brought this very unique bunch of people together for a purpose. This group, this unit, is a body that can do something amazing together!
But the key is integration. God has brought these parts together into a unit.
Look at how the church is described in 1 Corinthians 12.
“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." (1 Corinthians 12:12)
We’ve got many parts, but we are to be an integrated whole.
What happened 40 years ago on November 22? Yes, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. There were a lot of TV documentaries at the end of last month. Did you know that on that same day, in the shadow of that traumatic event, perhaps one of the greatest writers and thinkers of the 20th Century also died? C.S. Lewis.
Look at what Lewis wrote about the unity of the Church:
“The New Testament does not envisage solitary religion; some kind of regular assembly for worship and instruction is everywhere taken for granted in the Epistles. So we must be regular practicing members of the church. Of course we differ in temperament. Some (like you-and me) find it more natural to approach God in solitude; but we must go to church as well. For the church is not a human society of people united by their natural affinities, but the body of Christ, in which all members, however different (and he rejoices in their differences and by no means wishes to iron them out) must share the common life, complementing and helping one another precisely by their differences.”
That’s it—The Church is the Body of Christ, the parts are different, but they are integrated together, complementing and helping each other precisely through those differences!
You have a part in the body of Christ. You might not have found it yet, but you
will, and soon. You just need to seek it. And it will be something that will take advantage of precisely who we are as individuals, parts of the integrated body! Please keep this in your prayers. Please seek to be a part of the unit!
For when Christians forget that we must work together, that we must live with
and for each other, the result is disintegration!
2. Dis-Integration
It’s happened more than a few times in the history of the church. A body that is called to be a unit disintegrates
(literally!). But in that first century, when the church was experiencing its first growing pains, Paul wrote to the Corinthians some great advice in order to stave off such disintegration. It has been saved in the form of Scripture for all of our benefit. Look at 1 Corinthians 12, starting at verse 14—
“Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
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 honorable we treat with special honor. 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 honor 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 honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
(1 Corinthians 12:14-27)
Unity in diversity. That is what the church is supposed to be, what the church is
commanded to be!
So, what is the key to remaining an integrated body? One word sums it up:
3. The Key to integration: Humility.
Notice in that passage in 1 Corinthians that a lot of the problems in churches are caused by pride. We always have a tendency towards self-importance. When we feel that we are not getting our due credit, or the opportunities that others get, we get bent out of shape. But the Christian church is meant to be a place where self-importance is laid aside.
We follow Jesus Christ, who, as God-Himself-in-the-flesh, had every right to demand self-importance. He, after all is God! But, when he became a human being, born as a helpless little baby, laid in a humble cattle trough because there was no room for them at the Inn, Jesus showed us the way to true greatness.
Humility is the Key.
Paul writes to the Philippian Church these words:
“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."
(Philippians 2:1-4)
How are we supposed to live? What are some of the key phrases that stand out?
-Be like-minded
-have the same love
-be one in spirit and purpose
All of these are centered on Jesus Christ. We all will have different opinions on things, but we must be united on seeking to glorify God in Christ, we must be united on doing that which he has commanded us to do as his body.
Jesus Christ’s mandate to us, we have stated in our purpose statements, vision statements, and Core Values, are summed up in his “Great Commandment” and “Great Commission.”
The Great Commandment: Love God and love others (Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 22:37-40)
The Great Commission: Go and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them what Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20, John 20:21)
Stay focused on these things, be like-minded, be one in spirit and purpose. Be in love with this God of ours and his purposes.
-no selfish ambition
-no vain conceit
-consider others better than yourself
-look to the interests of others
These phrases, when we are honest about ourselves, cut to the quick. The reason is that they are the very heart of human fallenness. We don’t want to be like this, but we far-too-easily slip into self-interest and self-aggrandizement at the expense of others. And this will inevitably lead to the disintegration of the Body of Christ.
But there is a better way! We must lay hold of the truth that we are to incarnate in our lives what Jesus incarnated in his life! He is our model, our example.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:5-11)
Here is the example of what our attitude should be like. This is my favorite Christmas passage—it explains in beautiful poetic words what Christ Jesus did on
by becoming a human being.
Jesus, “being in very nature God,” that is, having always been God, “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” In other words, Jesus did not consider his glory as God, seated on his throne in heaven as something to selfishly seize for his own advantage. Rather, he “made himself nothing” by comparison, he took on the “nature of a servant,” he became one of us humans.
This is the ultimate example of humility. Here is God—GOD!—humbling himself to become one of us so that he could die for us on the cross!
Imagine that, like Jim Carrey in the movie Bruce Almighty, that you were God. You are omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient. All the universe was made by you and your pleasure. There is nobody higher, for everything and everyone else are merely creatures, created by you.
It’s hard to imagine that we would not begin to grasp at this, to seize it to our advantage. It’s hard to imagine that we would actually want empty ourselves of our divine rights for the sake of these creatures.
But that is exactly what God did.
That is what we celebrate at Christmas.
And because God did this, we are now empowered to be more than our limited human selfishness tells us we must be. We are called now to live out what we are:
We are the body of Christ! And as such, we humbly serve one another, looking after the interests of others.
As the church, we must break through and start living as the body of Christ! Share with each other your troubles and problems.
What is pressing in your life? What is causing you stress? How can the people in your group help you carry your burden?
Listen
carefully to what these verses are commanding us to do as the church, and,
please, decide in your heart to follow the Lord in being humble in serving
others.
“Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another.”
(Hebrews 10:24-25)
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
(Galatians 6:2 NIV) “Share each other’s troubles and problems, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”
(Galatians 6:2 NLT)
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