“The Church is Naturally Organic!

”
3rd Sunday after Epiphany – January 23rd and 24th, 2010
1 Corinthians 12:12-21, 26-27

How many of you are into organic foods? Just about every grocery store in town now has a portion of their
layout devoted to “organic” foods. What does it mean that something is organic anyway? Does is mean that it took
longer to produce, or that its production was more hands on, or that it’s the best and most healthy food available in
the world? It must be, considering many organic products are sometimes twice as much in cost as the “regular”
processed food in the other aisles.
For someone who never really has never consciously purchased an organic food item, I never really knew
what the word “organic” meant. So, I looked at one of my standby websites, dictionary.com, and lo and behold,
there was my answer in definition #11. A food that is organic is one that is grown with fertilizers or pesticides that
are of animal or vegetable origin rather than manufactured chemicals. So, apparently, because the fertilizers usedare
naturally produced rather than chemically manipulated, “organic” foods are better for you, better for the
environment, and that’s why they cost so much more in the grocery store.
Why talk about “organic” things? Well, Gregory Lockwood, the author of the 1 Corinthians Concordia
Commentary, described the Corinthian congregation as having, “a deep organic unity in Christ Jesus.” Obviously,
he wasn’t referring to fertilizers or pesticides. So, back I went to dictionary.com, and lo and behold, definition #7,
“something that is characterized by a systematic arrangement of parts organized into one unified whole.” Organic – well
said! What an excellent term to describe the Holy Christian Church, because the Church by that definition is
naturally organic, a group of organs or parts that are all arranged in perfect harmony into one unified whole, the
body of Christ.
The Spirit leads us to grasp that truth today as we continue our study of 1 Corinthians this Epiphany season.
Grasp by faith and rejoice in the truth that the Church, the body of Christ is naturally organic, 1) because each
organ is Spiritually connected to the body, 2) each organ is perfectly arranged in the body, and 3) each organ is
vitally important to the body.

I. Each organ is Spiritually connected to the body

This section of 1 Corinthians is a part of a greater discourse on spiritual gifts. Paul had already spent 11
verses laying out his foundation for attacking the division and disunity among the Corinthians, which goes a little
something like this: Understand, Corinthians that even though each one of you has different spiritual gifts, you all
possess the greatest gift, the gift of faith, which was given to you as a gift by God the Holy Spirit, a gift which unites
you in faith and calling. And that same Spirit who unified you by faith has given to each one of you various
auxiliary gifts with which you may serve your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by sharing his salvation with others,
using the various gifts you have.
Yet, Paul knew that there was still resentment, jealousy, and elitism among the members. Some with the
“greater” gifts were claiming that those with the “lesser” gifts were not actually important members of the Church,
and maybe not even members at all, because they didn’t have the spiritual gifts of speaking in tongues or healing.
So, Paul addresses that point next by answering a question, “How do I know that I am a member of Christ’s body?”
Here’s his response: “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. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave
or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
Notice what Paul does cite and what he doesn’t cite as reasons to be sure that we are Christians and
members of Christ’s body. He does not cite the various gifts that the body parts have. He does not cite how many
times people have been to worship or how much money they give to the church or how many elderly people they
help across the street or how much time they spent doing charity work. In fact he doesn’t cite any contribution of
man as reason for being sure that we have been incorporated into the body of Christ.
He says: “We were baptized...we were all given one Spirit to drink.” The action is completely passive. It is
not the work of man, the decision of man, even the asking of man that causes us to be part of the body of Christ. If
it were, we would always be wondering, “Have I done enough, have I asked persistently enough, have I proven
myself worthy enough to be a part of this living organism that is the Holy Christian Church?” And the answer
would always be in doubt, in fact, a complete and utter, “NO! You haven’t proven yourself worthy. You haven’t
been faithful enough. You’re not worthy under any circumstances to be connected to the perfect Savior Jesus.”
It must be the work of the Holy Spirit alone! That’s the reason we can be confident that we are in the body
of Christ. The Holy Spirit works through water and Word in baptism, through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and has
connected us to Christ’s body, making us a part of this living organism that is the Holy Christian Church, with
Jesus Christ as the head. It is the Holy Spirit who causes us to drink the living water of the gospel so that our
dependence for everlasting life is not improperly placed on ourselves, but solely and completely placed upon the
merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, whose blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, flows to all the
members of the body, giving us life and vitality, as well as a deep organic unity in Christ that supersedes our
differences.

II. Each organ is perfectly arranged in the body

Each organ is connected by the work of the Holy Spirit to the body so that each part is a personal recipient
of the blessings of the body. Paul continues his description of the organic body of Christ with a reaffirmation that
each part is perfectly arranged into the body by its creator. “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.”
Paul’s analogy of the body is a favorite of his because it gives to the recipient a clear picture of the necessary
diversity of the members of the Church. Think about the human body and how necessary each part is. The foot,
for example: not very pretty to look at. It trudges around in the dirt and mud. It often has a certain unpleasant
odor associated with it. But where would you be without your feet? Crippled. Unable to stand! Your body would
have absolutely no stability whatsoever. Therefore what seems to be such a lowly body part, certainly not all that
beautiful is in fact utterly indispensable.
That’s exactly the point that Paul makes: “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.”
 In other words, not one member of Christ’s body, no matter how humble, is without purpose, and is
necessary to the body’s work as a collective. Think of the Holy Christian Church in terms of a choir. Each
individual voice is beautiful in their own right. But when a voice is assigned a part in a piece of music, the entire
choir depends on each individual voice to do their part. Otherwise, the piece of music that would be beautiful ends
up sounding disastrous. The conductor is the one assigns the parts and the choir collectively and individually
simply sings their part. Each voice compliments and supplements the others by simply singing the part assigned to
them. And the result when each does what they are assigned – beautiful harmony.
So it is with the body of Christ. God the Holy Spirit has made you a part of the Holy Christian Church.
And each member plays an important role in the ministry of the Church. No, not all parts are the same. But God
didn’t intend for all parts to be the same. We are all differently gifted for a reason, having been assigned by God a
variety of gifts so that we compliment and supplement each other in the collective work of the body. Our
responsibility – not to define what role we have, but rather, to accept the part the divine conductor has given us.
And no matter how humble or glorious, no matter how prominent or seemingly insignificant, the activity of those
parts always will give due honor and glory to their head, the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the ultimate purpose – to
give glory to the Savior Jesus, whose sacrifice on the cross has provided forgiveness of sins for all people, and whose
Word delivers salvation to all who believe.

III. Every organ is vitally important in the body

Paul adds just one more brief thought to our meditation today, that, yes every part is different, and at the
same time, each one is vitally important to the body. Paul explains why: “...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.”
Just think about how your own body works. When you stub your toe, your entire body limps. When your
stomach hurts, your whole body feels sickly. When you have a headache, your whole body is affected. When one
part of the body, whether prominent or not, is hurting, your whole body is affected in a negative way. On the other
hand, when all parts of the body are healthy, they are able to work together all the more diligently.
The body of Christ is the same way. In Corinth, the lesser prominent members of the congregation were
hurting as a result of the ones who had greater prominence in the congregation. And where there was strife, where
there was discord, when the body parts were not all working together, the body suffered as a whole, their ministry
suffered and they truly lost their zeal for gospel ministry.
Every organ of Christ’s body and indeed of this congregation is vitally important to the body as a whole. It
doesn’t matter how prominent a person is outwardly, because the goal isn’t our personal glorification. Our purpose
as a congregation is always the glorification of Jesus Christ through the extension of his life-giving Word. Our
purpose is to carry out the loving purposes of our Savior, who “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge
of the truth.” That’s our work! That’s our purpose together, and you, as an individual member are a part, a vital
part of it all.
The Church is “organic,” a systematic arrangement of parts organized into a unified whole. What a
beautiful way to describe Christ’s body. Rejoice in the fact that God has connected you to his body by the gospel,
and that, in his wisdom, he has gifted us all differently, so that, like a choir, our diverse parts can compliment and
supplement each other for the harmonious building up of Christ’s body – the Church. Amen.