“A Sum Greater Than Its Parts”           2014

1 Corinthians 3:16-23   Ephesians 3:14-19

 

1 Corinthians 3:16-23

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If you think that you are wise in this age, you should become fools so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

 

Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

During high school, the men of our church put together a team

   to play in our local church softball league.

                            One of the guys agreed to be our coach and manager,

                                    and tried to get us organized into a team.

            We practiced together a couple of times

                        and then decided which positions we’d each play …

                                                                        … and we were ready for the season.

 

We played hard, but didn’t win any of our games that first year.

                The other teams seemed to have bigger and better players

                        and they took things a lot more seriously that we did;

            but we had fun playing and getting to know each other,

               and didn’t worry about ending the season in last place.

 

The next summer we played in that same church league again,

            and actually managed to win a couple of our games…

                        … well, we beat the Methodist once,

                                       and the Episcopalians forfeited when they didn’t                                                have enough players show up to field a team…

… and we were pretty sure  our team was improving.

 

The next year, Bob Humphreys,

            a former professional baseball player had joined the church

                        and was asked to coach and play on our softball team.

 

That year, when my friends and I got home from college,

                even before the season began,

                        he had us get together several times for practice,

                             and then asked us if we really wanted to win.

 

After we all agreed and said yes, he began making a few changes.

            Based on our skills, speed and other abilities,          

                        he moved some us, and had us play other positions,

                                    and then spent quite a bit of time

                                                teaching us how to play those positions well,

                                    and explained how each position

                                        contributed to the team’s winning strategy.

          He was also real big on how each team member was responsible

                   to support and encourage each of the other team members,

                       and not focus on anyone else’s mistakes or errors.

 

The whole atmosphere & attitude of the team changed dramatically.

            Having someone who had played in the World Series on our team,

                        and playing shortstop   definitely improved our infield,

                                    and we started winning games,   almost all of them.

 

Our team standing moved from last place to first place,

            and over the next couple of years we got used to winning,

                        and became the hot team of the league.

But then Bob was offered a job

            coaching baseball at a large university, and moved away.

 

My teammates and I

            expected that without him, our team would stink again,

                        but actually, we continued to win our games.

 

**  As it turns out, we didn’t need a superstar to win,

             we just needed to play well together as a team,

                     with each player doing their best in their position,

                             and trying to improve and play better ball…

 

          … for together

                   we were better than our combined individual talents,

                             -- as a team, the sum was greater than its parts.

 

No one player could win the game on their own,

            but we all had unique and needed   skills and abilities,

                        that functioned best by cooperating with each other …

          … as a team bringing out the best in all the players,

                   showed that when we focused on working together,

*                           victory and other significant things can happen…

 

**  … and I’m pretty sure that

              churches and church members are also something like that,

                              --   or at least that’s how God intends for us to be.

 

In the letter to the Christians of Ephesus,

            Paul is writing about the incredible power of the Gospel,

                        urging them not to falter in their faith, by telling them                            about his hopes and prayers for them…

 

          … for if they realized the astonishing depth of God’s love,

                                and that would bless, drive and inspire

                                  every aspect and detail of their lives.

 

As Paul contemplates God’s gracious love and abundant blessings,

            his prayer flows with grace   

                        in a powerful crescendo of hope, and cascade of joy,

vs. 16~19

            I pray that, according to the riches of his glory,

                        may he grant that you be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit,

                        that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love,

                        that you may have the power to comprehend, … and know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

**                                            so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

 

“filled with all the fullness of God”

            This passage is about two specific, yet related blessings.

First,

            this refers to the Holy Spirit in-dwelling every believer.

                        God is present in every one of us,

                                      but the gift gets even better!

 

  In the Greek, the pronoun, “you” is plural --- meaning that,

     this indwelling by the Spirit is not just an individual thing,

                     but when believers are gathered

                             something incredibly powerful & wonderful happens…

 

… just as Jesus promised in Matthew 18:20

      For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.

           

When we gather as the people of God, the Church of Jesus Christ,

                more than just a group of members,

                   we become something wonderfully more,

            the dwelling place of the Lord, filled with all the fullness of God…

 

  … just as in Exodus,

            it describes the fullness of God   filling the tabernacle,

                 and later,

                        the fullness of God   filling the temple Solomon built.

 

In the Corinthians passage we read, all the pronouns, “you”

      are also plural, emphasizing the communal nature of our faith…

… as Paul writes, vs. 16

            ”Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? … For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.“

 

This doesn’t mean

     that individual Christians are little temples of God,

              but that  together, we become a container of God’s presence.

 

Paul’s message is that when we gather as Christians,

          something special happens among us,

                            that combined, we become God’s temple …

                             … a place, a body of God’s presence and grace.

           

The point is,

            the Church is not a building, the Church is the people of God.

Together, we are the temple, the dwelling place of God,

          the place where Christians are made, nurtured and grown,

                   called and equipped to love, worship and serve the Lord.

 

So we don’t really go to church, but by faith we become the Church;

              as by grace and the transforming presence of God

               we become something far greater than just our own selves.

 

In Corinth, the issue was about divisions and disunity.

            In this section, some were focusing on particular teachers,

                        on their favorite Christian superstars …

… and Paul’s point

            was the same as my church softball team learned…

 

… it’s not about the ability of a superstar,

          but each team member doing their best in their position,

                   trying to grow and play better ball together as a team…

          … supporting and encouraging each other

                   rather than attacking the mistakes and errors of others.

 

All through the New Testament there are passages

            about the Church as a faith community of believers

                        called and equipped by God through the Holy Spirit …

  … to do something for God’s Kingdom  where the Lord has placed us.

 

*  In welcoming a new member and baptizing these children today,

            we have made some vows and promises before God and each other…

                          … not to be pampered passengers on a cruise ship,

                                but faithful and useful working members of the crew.

 

Membership is a statement about our values and priorities,

           accountability, for others to helps us in our walk of faith.

 

Membership is a commitment to discover and develop our gifts,

    and to deepen our faith  through our fellowship and service,

                            to make a positive difference in this world

                                    and be a part of God changing and healing lives…

           

… so let us this day,

            consider the quality of the commitments we have made;

                        am I faithfully fulfilling God’s gracious call?,

                                         and my  responsibilities as a member

                                                of Christ’s Church universal,

                                                    and this local body of believers? …

… as we read in Hebrews 10:23-25

            Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.

 

God only knows

          the difference that together   our faithfulness to the Lord,

                   to God’s grace, love and call     might possibly makeà

                          in our homes, this church, our community and the KOG…

  …  what God might accomplish through us,  playing well together.