Father, it is one of those evenings that I must call on You to help bring my thoughts together. Enable my words to accomplish what You need them to. Use me as You will. Amen.
1 Corinthians 12:12-31 (<<click here to read the passage)
One of the best jobs of my entire life was when I was a children’s pastor before the turn of the century (now that sounds weird!) But from 1995-2000, that was what I did. I was responsible for approximately 100 children from birth through 6th Grade. Karen was my sidekick, and we did all kinds of wonderful things.
One program we instigated was called Ready, Set, Go! We would set up an outing to a local establishment and tie in a lesson and thematic snack to back it up! One that comes to mind was a trip to the local cat shelter. They got to play with the cats, and then we talked about how we are adopted into God’s family like the cats would hopefully be into people’s families. Our snack was crazy that night, but the kids ate it up – literally! We made “kitty litter” – crushed Honey Nut Cheerios, Tootsie Rolls dipped in marshmallow cream, and then rolled in some of the dust from the Cheerios. Yes, it was gross, but what do you expect? I worked with kids!
Another time, we visited a pizza shop, and we used today’s passage. The Apostle Paul stated,
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. v12 NLT
To make the connection with our kids, we tweaked the passage a bit and spoke of a “pizza” with many parts. I have no idea where I would find the lesson we used, but leave it to say that we talked about pepperoni and mushrooms and cheese, amongst other ingredients. All together, they all make a great pizza! It helped them connect with what God was saying through Paul.
As adults, it fails to some degree in that we know that many enjoy just a plain cheese pizza, though even that has multiple components – usually several types of cheese, tomato sauce, and, of course, the ingredients to make the crust.
With the multiplicity of gifts, the Church is a wonderful melting pot of many personalities and mindsets – a conglomeration of people from all walks of life and backgrounds making up the Body of Christ. We are so much better together than apart. What makes our combination even better is that working this way makes us even better at reaching out to the world. One ingredient all alone isn’t very enticing, but put us all together and – look out world! – have we got something for you!?
Lord Jesus, first of all, thank You for bringing these thoughts to mind – it is because of You that this is what it is! Then, most importantly, help us cherish our differences as we all contribute our unique ingredients to the whole. May we love and accept each part as we rejoice in our diversity and the tremendous impact we can expect from exposing the world to what true Christianity can be. Amen!
Dec 10th, 2023, Sun, 7:37 pm
