Just as Jesus tells us what to do, according to his clearly stated mission, Paul explains how to do it — by working as the Body of Christ.
Paul’s legendary metaphor of the body would have sounded familiar to his Corinthian audience and more.
We find the use of the body as metaphor in classical texts, but certainly not in the way Paul has used it.
The old metaphor of the hierarchical body was used to signify who were the brains of the operation – the elite, the military and political leaders of the day. The workers and slaves were expected to yield to a life of subservience and be grateful for the patronage, condescension, protection, and guidance of their “superiors.”
The congregation who heard Paul or read this section of his letter had to have been astonished! For Paul has completely repurposed this particular metaphor to create a community of egalitarianism. He has stripped out the old order of hierarchy and subordination and implants it with justice and respect for all, even the “least of these.”
Were it not for COVID, I wanted to give this part of the sermon while walking around the perimeter of the congregation to underscore the presence of the Body of Christ.
Paul’s metaphor of the Body of Christ
Paul’s use of the Body of Christ is irresistible to me. This chapter is a particular favorite of mine because Paul’s poetry is as eloquent as the message itself is dynamic. And, of course he loves to ask questions in his writing so that he alone can answer them. “For if the body were all eye, where would the hearing be?” We all have a part to play.
Paul seems to be poking a bit of fun at the Corinthians because they had gotten off kilter with the plumb line, their understanding of mission and behavior. They favored those who speak in tongues, thinking they are more filled with the Holy Spirit, and thought they were to be honored above all.
But, Paul is having none of it, and by use of a fantastical example, he eloquently points out how our mission must come forth as an effort of the whole, as a body functions, one that is intentionally and wonderfully designed by our Creator and vivified by the same Holy Spirit in Jesus. Otherwise, when we become so imbalanced, so far off the plumb line, we would become grotesque, as a giant eye.
Working as the Body of Christ, we must have a radical interdependence of diverse gifts and roles, bound by the Spirit.
How does the Spirit bind us together?
We come to the waters of baptism as individuals, independent and relatively self-contained.
And when we come out of the waters we are irreversibly changed. We “are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and marked as Christ’s own forever.”
We are no longer solitary.
Now our identity will always be tied to the Christian community through the power of the Holy Spirit as living members of our Savior Jesus Christ. Our new mutually shared union with Christ creates so strong an organic bond that we even share our suffering and joy. For there is One Lord, One Spirit, and one Baptism that binds us together with unique gifts for the common good.
So, cut Jesus’ mission out of your worship bulletin, or better yet, write it out long hand as a signature symbolizing your assent. Stick it on your fridge or somewhere where you’ll see it.
Discern your personal gifts, so that your individuality remains recognizable with the Body of Christ.
Find your plumb line sisters and brothers in Christ!
Continue discerning your shared gifts as the Body of Christ.
Strategize, and then act in the power of the Holy Spirit!
Holy People of God, let us turn the world upside down!
