Today, we want to extend a beautiful, warm welcome to our entire church family, our friends, and our special guests. Family and Friends Day is not just another date on the calendar; it is a holy celebration of our spiritual unity and our shared concerns for one another before the Lord.
Our text this morning is 1 Corinthians 12:26. If you want to know the heart of this entire chapter, it’s wrapped up right here in this one verse. This single verse shows us exactly what God wants His church to be: not just to sit in the pews, but one active body of believers moving together, putting God’s LOVE on display to the world; showing what real, God-given unity looks like.
The Word reads plainly: “If one member suffers, everyone suffers with them; and if a member is honored, all rejoice with them.”
Before we dive into verse 26, let’s look at how the Apostle Paul spends quality time in the earlier verses explaining to the body of Christ just as our physical bodies have many members with different functions – the Liver with over 50 functions – (detoxification and metabolism regulations); the Heart (pumps blood with oxygen throughout the body); the Kidneys (filter blood/remove waste and regulate fluid balances in your body). All these parts of the body that I’ve just listed make up members of MY physical body.
This is the same principle that Christ applies to the church. It consists of a group of people with different spiritual gifts. Verse 26 explains how all these people with various gifts and talents should interact with each other by sharing their experiences and compassion rather than being competitive with each other.
Those of you that were a part of the Spiritual Gifts Seminar, saw in action the love the group showed each other as they announced their gift(s) after the lecture and Spiritual Gifts Assessment Test were conducted.
Participants that professed their desire to SERVE, GIVE, MERCY, HELP, etc. received praises from their ministry friends throughout the course. Absolutely no one was jealous if someone said, “I operate with the gift of teaching,” or “I operate with the gift of prophesy.” They smiled and rejoiced with each other.
As you read down the chapter, you quicky come to the understanding that Paul is issuing a stern warning against different parts of the body of Christ feeling superior or inferior about a gift that’s evident in their lives. When we break down verse 26, you will see a deep connection amongst the believers, whereby jealousy wasn’t able to gain a stronghold because the mutual feeling was, if one of our church members is honored, every member shares in the joy, and if one member suffers, every member feels affected.
For example: Look at the early Christian church in Jerusalem; turn to Acts 4:32-35 NLT, “All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.”
Here we see in 1 Corinthians 12:26 – Acts 4 in operation from a biblical viewpoint. When one member of the church suffers, every member feels the pain and is affected. What happened in Jerusalem? Christians faces intense poverty, persecution, and other believers stepped in to share the burden and at the end there was NO LACK!
Why? Because we look after each other because, we are our brother’s keeper, and because of that, we care for each other because we are emotionally and spiritually connected. We learned this from Genesis 4:3-8 concerning the two brothers – CAIN & ABLE. [God wants “ALL” believers to be intimately involved in each other’s lives – especially where ‘SIN’ is involved. More often than we care to acknowledge, we see the real struggles of men and women, who mean well, but don’t always succeed because of the power of sin, jealousy, and a hardened heart when human expectations aren’t met. That’s the call of the Gospel to come along side, as my brother’s keeper, because we “ALL” have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.]
Now, let’s concentrate on verse 26 and pull a few spiritual nuggets out to apply to our daily lives. Because of our physical and emotional connection to one another, the implication is, if one member is tempted or afflicted, all members should feel it; and if one member of the church is poor or in need, all church members should come to their aid; Scripture says, “We should bear one another’s burdens.”
Actually, this theme was front-and-center in the early church: we see this radical generosity, especially in Acts 2:42-47 NLT, “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.”
As powerful as these verses are, don’t feel as though you’ve done your Christian duty by stopping there. Remember Galatians 6:10 NLT says, “Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone – especially to those in the family of faith.”
This refers to showing kindness to EVERYONE: love and kindness must extend outside of the church. Your first commitment is to your brothers and sisters in the household of faith. Then, we must follow another ‘command’ that our Lord gave us in Matthew 25:42-45 NLT, “For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me. Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’ And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.”
Jesus said in Luke 19, “Occupy until I come.” For Christians, that means making our “acts of love” to one another equivalent to “acts of love” directly done for Christ. [In other words, if Jesus was here, this is what He would do.]
Remember the last part of verse 26? If another member of the church be honored with a special spiritual gift and is elevated in ministry because of this gift being used in the church, we should all rejoice for our brother/sister because we ALL benefit from his/her gift. We as members of the church are to encourage our brother/sister to use their gift to the glory of God.
I love how Lifeway Christian Resources puts Paul’s body metaphor here in Chapter 12 in a word picture that we all can understand: “There are several diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral palsy that attack the central nervous system and affect the body’s ability to communicate with itself. The brain knows what it wants to do but can’t make the body respond. The mouth knows what it wants to say but can’t make the tongue cooperate. Every step is a struggle because the body has lost its coordination. As a result, the body loses its capacity to function the way it’s supposed to.”
Conclusion: The Apostle Paul is calling us to a higher standard today. He wants us to make a ‘real’ lasting difference in this world – not just going through the motions or marking time. He wants us to live with divine ‘purpose’ in this world that’s bigger than life; He wants us to feel valuable and needed, and regardless of our differences and failures, he wants us to know that we’re accepted in the ‘BELOVED!’
Simply stated, God’s glorious grace has made us totally accepted and highly favored through Christ Jesus. God does all things for His own glory.
Romans 12:15-18 NLT, “Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”
It was reported that Dr. W. A. Criswell, the highly influential American Southern Baptist Pastor of 50 years at First Baptist Church of Dallas tells a beautiful story of a little girl who came home from school and said, “Mommy, my best friend came to school today and said her mother died.” The mother said to her little child, “Well what did you say to her, dear?” The child replied, “Oh I didn’t say anything, Mother. I just went over to her desk and sat beside her and cried with her.” This little child demonstrated the ‘Gift of Mercy.’
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we come before You with hearts full of gratitude for Your holy word. Thank You for reminding us today that we are not meant to walk this journey alone. You have called us out of isolation and into Your glorious family. You have built Your church on an unshakable foundation, and You have declared that we are truly better together.
Lord, let this message sink deep into our spirits. Forgive us for the times we have allowed pride, division, or past hurts to cause us to pull apart from one another. We know that the enemy wants nothing more than to scatter the sheep, but Your blueprint is unity. We pray that You would break down every wall of division in this house. Melt away the coldness of isolation, and knit our hearts together in your divine love.
Help us to see one another through the eyes of grace. Give us the strength to carry each other’s burdens, to celebrate each other’s victories, and to stand as one when the storms of life hit. Let this church be a beacon of light to a broken and lonely world, proving that when we are anchored in Christ, we cannot be shaken.
As we leave this place today, let Your presence go before us. Let Your Holy Spirit empower us to live out this truth every single day. We love You, we honor You, and we give You all the glory, the honor, and the praise.
In the mighty and matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and all God’s people said, Amen.