I'm Just a Foot: Sermon 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Dear God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and feet and work through them; take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire for you. Amen

We have become almost obsessed with our bodies and body image in this country. All you need to do is turn on the television and you will be bombarded with all kinds of products that will make you thin, younger looking, tan, have clear skin, shiny white teeth, and smell like anybody or anything you want to. The beauty industry is a billion dollar a year business and today it’s not just about hair dye or make up. I’m not saying that trying to better ourselves, especially when it comes to our health, is necessarily a bad thing. However, some people take it to the extreme; they want to change everything about their God created bodies and make them into something else. I According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, over 3 million Americans have Botox injections in 2005, over 400,000 Americans had liposuction on various parts of their bodies, and over 300,000 women had breast augmentation surgery. This is not taking into consideration the millions of us try new diets and exercise programs each year, another billion dollar industry. have always thought that if people thought about their spiritual selves half as much as they do about their physical selves the world would be a much better, happier, and more just place to live.

Paul takes this section that we read today from his letter to the Corinthian Church and uses the metaphor of the human body to explain the unity of the Church universal, or the Body of Christ. Paul is attempting to bring together the church in Corinth, to unify the people. Let’s, for a moment, get a little background on the geographical and social context within 1 Cor. Ancient Corinth was situated on an isthmus in the Greek peninsula. Because it was on such a thin piece of land between two important bodies of water and because going around the peninsula was both time consuming and dangerous Corinth became and important place for sailors, traders, and merchants. Ships would come into the harbor on one side and during the time of Paul they would unload the ships, place them on rollers and roll them across the isthmus to the other body of water and off they would go. The process would take a few weeks to complete. In the down time, sailors would do what they have become notorious for doing when they come to port and so Corinth was a hotbed for prostitution and other vices. It also meant that Corinth was one of the most diverse cities in the ancient world, people of all backgrounds and cultures would come into town.

The Church of Corinth reflected the diversity of the city. There were Jews and gentiles from all over coming and hearing the gospel of Christ and we all know that some of these groups did not like one another. Along with cultural differences, there were social and class differences, slaves and servants were baptized into the church along with the wealthy. Paul had a challenge to say the least. How does a leader attempt to unite such diversity and not only diversity, but groups of people who truly hated one another?

He tells them that through their baptism they have become new beings with new identities. ^“For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” He repeats the sentiment in Galatians 3:28 “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” We are made into one unit through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The old way of labeling ourselves are not longer useful. We are no longer white, black, Latino, Asian, Republicans, Democrats, old, or young but we are all united as followers of Jesus Christ and that is the only label that matters anymore. All of us are filled with the One Spirit from the One true God. The same Spirit that jumpstarted the Church that Pentecost morning continues to move the Body of Christ.

Paul goes on the use the metaphor of the human body to describe how the Church works or rather how it should work. The human body is a creation, a work of art, a machine whose complexities are beyond anything we can comprehend. There are hundreds of parts on the human body and each one plays an indispensable role to keep us alive and moving. There are millions of members or parts in then Body of Christ and each one has a role to play and each role is indispensable in the growth and action of the Church. Just like in the body there are some parts that are more glamorous than others. We spend a lot of money and time on our hair and ladies spent time “putting on their face”. We pay a lot of attention to our hands and faces. We see them all the time. But what about our feet? How many times a day do you think about your feet? If you are like me, maybe twice, when you put your socks on and then when you take them off again and then the only other time you would think about your feet is if they hurt. Feet are not the most attractive part of our bodies. They kind of just stick out there, some feet are big, some are wide, and sometimes they get stinky, dirty, cracked and dry.

Do you feel like a foot in the body of Christ? You might feel like your work, your efforts go unnoticed or unrecognized by the rest. You might feel neglected, trampled on, and unappreciated. You do the job that no one else wants to do and you do it without complaint or expectations of glory or recognition. Sometimes, just sometimes, you want to just quit, give up, tell the rest of the body “I have been working all these years and nobody notices. I don’t want a parade or a special dinner, but a pat on the back for my dedication wouldn’t be too much to ask. I am not a hand, I don’t get any attention unless I don’t do my job correctly or I forget something and then all I get is fussed at. I don’t want to be part of the body anymore; I’m done, retired, through.” We have all felt like that from time to time, we’ve all wanted to just give up. Think about this for a moment, where would we be without our feet. Have you ever thought about how often we use our feet, to stand, walk, run, kick, our feet pad our bodies from the impact of walking that serve as our very foundation. We need our feet and the Body of Christ needs its feet as well. You are essential to the Body of Christ. The same can be said for all the parts in the Body of Christ, each part, each job is crucial to the development and growth of the Church. We use each gift that has been given to us to do God’s will and God’s work in the world. The point that Paul is trying to make, I think, is that we all have to do our jobs and work together as a unified entity, as a complete unit, united for a single purpose. That is the only way that the Church will not only survive, but thrive.

Have your ever heard the saying “If momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy”? This means that if the mom or wife figure in the household is unhappy then her unhappiness is felt throughout the house and impacts the lives of all the members of the house. The family unit suffers because a part of that unit suffers. The same is true for the Church. If one person within the Church is hurting then the whole Church hurts with them. “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it…” Martin Luther King had a famous quote that sums up this notion I think, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Where ever a member of the Body of Christ suffers, where ever a child dies from hunger, or a family huddles in a cardboard box in the dead of winter, we all suffer with them. The Body does not function as it should unless all its parts or members are in good condition working together. We are unified and as a unit when one part suffers it is felt by the rest of the Body. But there is a flip side to that coin. As we strive and struggle together and when one part is honored then we are share in that honor. We work in the Church not for individual recognition or success, but for the betterment and success of the community. We are one, united together, we rise and fall together.

Each one of us has a job to do and each of these jobs are indispensable to the Body of Christ and God is so good that he equips us with spiritual gifts to do those jobs. We are equipped for the kingdom and whether we are feet or hands or lungs or knees, or whatever each of us plays a vital role within the Body of Christ. We are united as one and we work for one purpose. All of God’s creation is unified under a single purpose. Do you want to know what that purpose is? Well just like your favorite TV show, you’ll have to come back next, same Bat time same Bat channel to find out.

Let us pray…

Grant, O Lord,

that what has been said with our lips we may believe in our hearts,

and that what we believe in our hearts we may practice in our lives;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.