ROMANS 12:5 “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”. MEMBERS – YET ONE. I am not a free lance. That is not what God intended when he made the body. In its infancy there wasn’t a lot to see. A group of people waiting, praying and wondering what would happen next. But they were there with brothers and sisters who had heard the same word, “Tarry…until ye be endued with power from on high.” They did what their Lord had said. They weren’t leaving. They didn’t try to sneak away without others seeing; they were waiting just like a child waiting to be born. The parts were there ready to function openly, but until the Holy Spirit came who would make the body function right, they waited and prayed. 120 is not a small number to settle into the quietness of waiting. Did they get on each other’s nerves during those ten days or did they even then, begin to work in harmony and unison like a body? However, the days passed, they were all there with one accord when the Holy Spirit came and manifested Himself. The suddenness of it must’ve startled them but they were ready, the body though small, was together. Each one of them saw the fire, each one experienced the fire, each one of them was filled with the Holy Spirit, each one of them began to speak appropriately as the Spirit gave them utterance. The many were one – one body. And that body worked harmoniously and in power.
We are not able to function as a body alone. The body is much larger now but it is still one body. The number of members in the body has expanded, multiplied thousands of times, but we are still members one of another. I cannot be nor do what God intends unless I am where He has placed me, doing what He has gifted me, linked closely with the other members so that the body works right. The minister waits on his ministry; the teacher on his teaching; the exhorter on his exhortation; the giver keeping it simple; the ruler watching carefully; the caregiver with a happy face. When all work together in the body, it works right because that is the way it is when we are “in Christ.”
Then among us and all around us the word is out, “God showed up in fire.” And when He lit the fire in the body it came alive and still is alive and well: not perfect but well.
“O Father in heaven who sent the Son to be the Savior of the world: I thank You that the plans You laid before the foundation of the world, work, even though we hardly know what’s going on. When the Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and empower us, it really made things happen. Sometimes it seems like we are not doing a very effective job on our watch, but I take heart when I realize we are all one body in Christ. He is what makes this body live and work. It is His power alone without human expertise, but in human persons who are members one of another that makes this group of many be one. Thanks for allowing me to be a part of such a body. Amen.”