The Body of Christ

The Body of Christ
Epiphany 3C
January 27, 3013
I Corinthians 12:12-31
Prop: A bag filled with various types of shoes

Good morning, girls and boys!  I brought something with me to show you this morning.  Let me see now...(pull one shoe out of the bag, and converse something like this, tailoring your banter for the types of footwear you have in your bag).  Who can tell me what this is?  It's a shoe, that's right!  What kind of shoe?  It's a sneaker, right.  When would you wear a shoe like this one?  Most of the time, right?  You might wear it to school, or to the mall, or to a casual restaurant.  This is probably your every day shoe.

Let's see what else is in my bag here.  (Pull out a shoe very different in purpose from the first.)  Who can tell me what this is?  It's a roller skate!  When would you wear this shoe?  When you want to go roller skating, of course!  Would you wear this shoe to school or to the mall or out to dinner?  Probably not.  And would you wear the sneaker to roller skate?  It wouldn't work very well, would it.

Here's another shoe...it's a flip-flop.  These you wear at the beach or in warm weather.  You couldn't wear this flip-flop roller skating, either.  And you probably wouldn't wear it in the snow.  Your toes would get awfully cold!

And here we have a what?  A snow boot, that's right!

(You get the idea.  Go through 5-6 various types of shoes.  Emphasize that they each have a different purpose.  Finally, when you feel it's time to make the Big Point...)

So, each one of these shoes is different from the other.  Each shoe has its own purpose and is used for different things.  And yet they all have something in common...they are all shoes!  They all protect your feet while you're doing whatever you do, whether going to school or roller skating or walking to the beach (etc.).

Well, would you believe that the Church is like this bag of shoes?  Each person in the church has his or her own purpose.  We are each blessed with different gifts that we can use in God's work to help make the Church strong.  Some of us are wonderful singers, some are terrific leaders.  Some of us know when someone is feeling down and needs a hug or a word of encouragement.  Some of us are teachers, some of us are students, some of us make delicious cookies, some of us love to eat!  We have folks who are good at math and can keep track of the church spending.  Some like to clean and help keep the church spic and span.  Some of us can smile in a way that makes all the rest of us feel the light of God in our souls. 

God has made each one of us different, and yet we are all Christians.  We all believe in God and love Jesus.  We all are living as Jesus' disciples.

We are all different so that together we can build the body of Christ, because if we were all the same, there would be a lot of work that would never get done around here!  Wasn't God clever to create such a great system?

Let's Pray:

Dear God, We thank-you that we have shoes for our feet, and pray for those who do not.  We thank-you for making us the Body of Christ.  Help us to carry out our role to the best of our ability.  In the name of Jesus, the head of the Church, we pray, Amen.