I. He Is for You 00:07
I love that song. I love that part, the amens. It’s like, “Amen. It’s finished. It is done. I agree. Amen.” Everything in that song: God is for you, he is for you. You sing that over and over again, and you think, “Oh, I’m going to write a song. I’m a brilliant musician. I’m coming up with these amazing lyrics.” And it’s like, “He is for you.” Okay, what next? “He is for you.” What next? “He is for you. Amen.” Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. I know I need to hear it about a thousand times a day: he is for you. Okay, the worship band is taking me off my thing, but hopefully it’s where he’s leading us.
So today we’re going to talk about connection. You may have seen a graphic; you may have seen some things up there. I would argue that we are seeing one of the most disconnected times, at least in living memory, where people are not only disconnected at a national level, not only disconnected at a state level or city level, but their families are torn apart in this culture, where dads are not with their kids, where women and men are not getting married and having kids, where the entire plan of God for the earth is being turned over, in the sense that we are being sold an idea that it’s all about you. It’s all about you. When God, from the very beginning, said it is not good for man to be alone (Gen 2.18).
II. Christ the King and Connection 01:21
And so when we celebrate this day, this great high feast in the church calendar, Christ the King Sunday, what do we read about? We read about how, when we meet the King, he will respond to us based on how we treat one another. It’s so deeply interwoven in God’s plan. When Jesus showed up, he didn’t build himself a castle. He didn’t lay out a plan for the betterment of society. In fact, instead he came and he said, “Whatever you do to the least of these, you’ve done to me” (Matt 25.40). That is the kingdom we serve. So when I say that Christ the King Sunday is all about connection, I mean not only vertically but, even more importantly, horizontally. That’s what Jesus emphasizes in the Gospel today: if you want that connection with me, you’ve got to love them.
So we’re going to talk about how God’s plan is that we would be his body on earth. He came into his kingdom at the Ascension. He is seated at the right hand of God, ruling and reigning. But he chose to use us, his ambassadors to a lost and dying world. And so when we talk about connection with one another, we’re talking about God’s plan to initiate his reign on earth. We’re talking about Christ the King made evident in us.
In fact, the entire New Testament, aside from the Gospels, is mainly Paul dealing with a bunch of people just like you, a bunch of church members trying to figure out how to live in a world where sometimes it doesn’t look like Christ is in charge. How do we live in a world where we know Christ is reigning, and yet he expects us to be his ambassadors to this world? That’s the question that Paul was answering and wrestling with, with the church.
III. Knit Together in Love 04:05
And so in Colossians 2, verses 1 and 2, he expresses that to these believers in Colossae:
1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Col 2.1–3
I’m going to talk about those words here. First of all, I want your hearts to be encouraged this morning. Christ is King. Everything that you could hope for can be found in him, in his kingdom. And not only that, as we just sang, he is for you. If God is for you, who can stand against you (Rom 8.31)? So be encouraged this morning.
But how are you going to be encouraged when you go out into a world that likes to beat us up a little bit, where there’s an enemy who seeks your destruction? Well: encouraged by being knit together in love. That’s how. I guarantee you that you could have the best theology in the world, you could say all the right things, but if you’re alone, you’re not going to make it. God made us to be connected to one another. God made us to fight this fight with one another, because there’s going to come a day when you mess up, when you fall down, or when you just can’t take it anymore. And where do you go? You run to your Father, and your brothers and your sisters, your mothers, your fathers.
I know in my life there are several moments where I didn’t know what to do. And yes, I went to God and I prayed to him. But do you know how God showed up? In my pastors, in my brothers, in the people in my life who love me, who are for me, whether I deserve it or not.
So when we talk about this, about being knit together in love, it sounds completely the opposite of the culture that we are in right now. Everything I see says that what people are doing is isolating themselves from one another. Connections are weaker than ever before. Many people say they have no close friends or relatives, that they have nobody that they talk to every week, that they touch base with, that they encounter outside of work. Some of them, with online working, don’t see anybody at all. They wave to their Amazon delivery driver. What a tragedy. The whole world is meant to be built on the connection between God and man, and man and one another.
And we’re building that in our church. We’re knitting each other together in love. God is doing that with us organically. I can just tell you this praise report: y’all are doing a great job. I love you guys. I love being with you. There is so much goodness happening at Saint Michael’s Church. It is a wonderful place to be. God has more for us, because not only are we to be encouraged, not only are we going to be knit together in love, but he actually wants us to reach the full assurance of understanding of the knowledge of God’s mystery.
IV. One Body, Many Members 07:57
What’s God’s mystery? Christ. It’s actually on the screen: “which is Christ.” So when we talk about being the ambassadors of Christ to the world, there’s a very real way that we actually get to be Jesus in the world: us, the church. We get to bring his presence with us, and all those lonely people get to encounter love through us. Now, I think there’s a lot of lonely people in here, or at least we have moments of loneliness. We’re being challenged and called today to greater connection. That’s what we’re talking about.
So what does it look like? Well, let me talk about this. Paul, in First Corinthians 12, beginning in verse 12, says:
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 1 Cor 12.12–13
So what does it look like to be knit together in love? It looks the same way as my fingers are knit together in my hand, the same way that my head is knit together on my body: a connection that brings life, that brings unity, that brings effectiveness. You know, if my arm’s not knit together, I’m not doing anything with it. It doesn’t work. It’s lifeless. Our bodies are a picture of the unity that we are called to represent, the unity of the body of Christ.
Now, “Jews or Greeks, slaves or free”: that is an amazing phrase in this passage that sometimes goes over our head. Like, “Yeah, we get it,” because, you know what, we’ve been living with it for two thousand years. But when Paul wrote that, it was a bomb that was planted in the minds of the world. Because there was no “Jews or Greeks, who cares?” There was a deep and abiding enmity between Jews, Greeks, slaves, free. And the idea that they’re all equal is only found in the goodness of Christ and his kingdom.
You know what that means for us today? It means Katie and Hannah aren’t more important than any of you. As wonderful as they are, singing like angels up here, they actually have the same worth as you. It doesn’t take them down a notch; it brings you right up with them. All of us are worthy. It means we find our worth not in being the pastor of Saint Michael’s. It means we find our worth not in being the most important server, the most important usher. I mean, Sam’s been an usher since the dinosaurs were here, but it doesn’t make him more important than us. Love that guy. But think about this: everyone here has equal value, is equally desired. God chose you.
V. If the Foot Should Say 10:35
Let’s continue with verse 14:
14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 1 Cor 12.14
And then Paul goes… You know, have you guys seen this in the world? They do this “/s,” which is when you want to say something sarcastic, but you know it’s not going to come across really well in text. This is where Paul gets a little bit “/s,” sarcastic. What does he say?
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 1 Cor 12.15–17
He’s not just making a benign point. He’s being a little humorous here: how dumb is it for the foot to pretend that because it’s not a hand, it’s not a part of the body? And then here he comes: if the body were an eye, that’s it, where would be the sense of hearing? He’s not just making these basic, kindergarten-level references. It’s meant to be funny. Like, who do you think you are? You think you’re the most important, or you think you’re the least important? Either way, you’re wrong.
What would you be if you were just an ear? Nothing. What would you be if you were just an eye? Nothing. You’d be incomplete. You’d be broken. What would we be if you weren’t here? We’d be missing something. Everyone here brings a member of the body of Christ. There would be no fingers if some of you guys left. There’d be no eyes, there’d be no ears, there’d be no feet. And what do those things do? They go out into the world, and they bring love, the kingdom of God, into the world. I want my feet to get out there. I want you here.
That’s what Paul’s talking about. They had this silly thing going on in their church (we would never do this) where some people thought they were more important than others, and some people felt left out: “I don’t really need to be there.” That would never happen here, I’m sure. But Paul is addressing this head-on and saying, if you think you don’t belong, or you don’t matter when you don’t show up, you’re wrong. You are wanted. You are needed.
VI. Self-Absorbed and Alone 13:51
In a world that has an epidemic of loneliness, we are standing, shouting from the rooftop: we want you here. We want you connected. We want you a part. We need you. You’re a part of us.
Now, there’s a couple of reasons why I think this is happening, these isolated, lonely people. One (I think I’m just going to come out and say it, and I hope nobody here gets offended; I’m talking to myself as much as anybody): I think some people are just self-absorbed, selfish and self-absorbed. Some people are just self-absorbed. Think about it. They don’t go out of their way to serve others. They don’t go out of their way to connect with others, because guess what? They’ve got their own plans. They’ve got their own things. They’ve got their own pleasures, their own work, their own stuff to do.
What a tragedy, because that’s who Christ was talking about in his Gospel today. He said to some people, “the goats.” Don’t be a goat. Not like Tom Brady; that’s a different type of GOAT. Don’t be a goat. Don’t be the person who, when you find somebody in need, in prison, in sickness, in hunger, in thirst, you’re too busy doing your own thing to see them. I love that passage where they say, “Christ, when did we see you sick or naked or alone? When did we see you in prison? When did we see you hungry?” That’s the point. They didn’t even see him. They didn’t even see him. Open your eyes. He’s all around us. What were we singing? Christ within us, the hope of glory (Col 1.27).
So don’t be selfish. Be connected. Selfishness leads to aloneness. In Proverbs 18:1 it says, “A man who isolates himself pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment” (Prov 18.1). Don’t be selfish. Don’t isolate yourself. Stay connected.
VII. You Are Enough 15:09
Now, there’s another reason I think that people are alone, and it’s because they don’t think that they are good enough. They don’t think they are loved, and they don’t think that they are wanted. And I think that’s an epidemic in our culture. Are you a non-essential worker? To call back a few years, to the dark days of COVID: how many dehumanizing things have we been told by the media that talk about this idea that you are just a cog in the machine?
Netflix wants you to watch Netflix, not because they want you to be more connected to people. They want you to watch Netflix and isolate from everyone else, so that you will stay connected to them. Every company wants that. They want you to be connected to them. And let me just tell you: you’ve seen The Matrix, right? A lot of people know what we’re talking about. All those tubes that are going into the guy when he comes up, and he’s coming into the real world, and he’s sustained by all these tubes. You could just write “the mainstream media,” “Facebook,” “YouTube” on all those tubes. That’s how they want you to get everything you need. But how empty is it? They’re pumping you with chemicals that aren’t even what you need.
All you need is to connect with one another and with God, and change the world out of our connection. Out of our love for one another, the whole world will be changed. But you need to know that you are enough, because Christ died to make you enough. You’re not enough by yourself. Let me be clear, if I haven’t been clear enough so far: you’re enough by his grace, by being connected with the body. And God knows, he died that you would hear the message: you are loved. He died so that you would know that you are wanted. He paid the ultimate price for you.
Fight self-absorption and accept the love of God. That will take the form of connecting with one another. There’s no other way to fight self-absorption and to accept the love of God except to be worked in to the body of Christ. There’s not an alternate pathway where you go out and you find yourself somewhere in the world. No. You find yourself right here, with people who love you, who are called by God to join with you and to become the body of Christ.
VIII. God Arranged the Members 19:03
Okay, let’s keep reading here, verse 18:
18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 1 Cor 12.18–20
The church doesn’t exist without you. We can have a pretty building. We could even have Father Powell show up and do some work, and Bishop Kessler and myself, and it’s not church until you guys show up. It’s not church until we’re serving the people of Christ. When we gather together, we become the body of Christ together. And God arranged the members of the body. So wherever you’re at, he chose you to be. Now, he has more for you. He’ll invite you as far as you want to go. But he has made a way for you. He has a place for you here. Verse 21:
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. 1 Cor 12.21–24
Don’t ask me what “unpresentable parts” means, please. We’re good. He’s making a point here: even those things that you cover up, that’s a form of honoring them. What he’s trying to make the comparison to is that you who feel like the outcast, the outsider, the one who isn’t wanted or needed: God wants to show you even greater honor. Those people who seem to be weaker are actually shown the greater honor.
IX. A Miracle in Our Midst 20:08
Now, I want to tell a quick story at this point about these parts of the body, and kind of some of the ridiculousness there. My sister Madelyn and Charlotte were in an awful car accident on Friday night. Just awful. And by God’s grace, they are sitting here today in good health. Praise God! I mean, when I tell you this is a miracle today that we have in our midst, I mean that so seriously. Sorry. God is for you.
So let me say it this way. I’m not calling Madelyn and Charlotte the unpresentable parts. My point in bringing them up: they get in this awful car accident. We get the pictures. We’re like, “Holy cow.” My dad and mom were able to get there and see what was going on. They go to the hospital. They had a couple of concussions and a broken thumb. That was it.
But let me tell you this, and this is my big point. First of all, God is moving in our midst, and we need to take a moment to praise him when these things happen. How easy it would be to just go back to life and be like, “Wow, what a crazy thing. Honda makes really great cars. They’re probably fine because of the safety measures in the Honda.” It’s like, no, no, no. They’re fine because God himself cares about you, and he will show up in your life if you have eyes to see.
And let me talk about Madelyn’s thumb here. You may not think about how important your thumbs are as we’re talking about the members of the body. But I guarantee you, for the next couple of weeks, Madelyn’s going to be very aware of the importance of even the smallest members of her body, as she suffers in agony. Sorry, I had to throw that out there.
But the deeper lesson is, think about this: what if they weren’t here this morning? The members of God’s body, of Christ’s body, matter. Open your eyes. It’s not nothing that we’re here together today, in the presence of almighty God, with love for one another, with community, with connection. I am beyond blessed to be here. From the moment we walked in and heard the first song, I just felt this joy over being with you here today, the members of the body of Christ, one with another, not a single one of you less important in the eyes of God and in his church. I’m happy you’re here.
Either way, Madelyn’s a great storyteller, so if you want to hear the story, she tells it best. They were listening to this song as they were driving, from The Prince of Egypt: “There can be miracles when you believe.” That’s what they were listening to as this whole thing went down. It’s just incredible. God is so good.
But the part in this passage that I really want to highlight with this story is this idea that the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you.” How often do we look at each other and in our hearts we say, “I have no need of you”? We treat people like we have no need of them. That’s absurd. I need you. I could say that about everyone in this room: I need you. We need one another. Continuing, it says:
24 But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 1 Cor 12.24–25
Don’t be divided. I need you. What a silly idea. I mean, you could just imagine the guy who’s hitting his head, like the hand’s angry at the head. Or you’re kicking the side of a wall because you don’t like the foot. Why would we fight? Why would we be divided? Now, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Prov 27.17). Yes, conflict happens in the church, because when you let God into it, it can make us who we’re called to be. We call out the best in each other. We rub off the worst. But don’t be divided. You can do that in unison.
X. Suffer Together, Rejoice Together 25:19
Okay, last verse here, 26:
26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 1 Cor 12.26
You know what this means? This one’s a hard one. This one I struggle with on occasion. When somebody who has a penchant for drinking too much on the weekends shows up with a hangover on Monday morning, we don’t get to celebrate the fact that they’re getting their just deserts. We don’t get to celebrate the suffering of others, no matter how justified we make ourselves feel. That’s just one example. But man, how often do we find reasons to be happy that somebody else is suffering, or to just not see it?
It says when one member suffers, all suffer. In order for you to feel the suffering of another person, you have to see them. I don’t just mean with your eyes. I mean you have to stop and see them, in that way that the Bible has, where it uses these words with such a deeper, richer meaning. Seeing somebody. Or another way this could happen: your car just got totaled in a car accident, then somebody comes in complaining about a flat tire. “What do they know about suffering? I am the victim here.” Don’t do that. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry you have a flat tire.” See them. We don’t get to compare suffering. We share it.
It’s so clear in certain moments, but we forget it all the other times. At funerals there’s this beautiful moment. I’ve been to so many funerals in this church where I have just felt the love of God, because we shared our suffering. It’s how it’s meant to be. We come together, we weep together, we connect. Alone, it could have taken us out. But connected, God is able to move in miraculous ways.
So let me get to the fun side. When one rejoices, we all rejoice. When you love one another, when your hearts are knit together, when you start to understand the mystery of Christ in our midst, then you can celebrate one another. Well, how awful is our culture at this? “Anybody’s gain is our loss.” That’s what our culture wants us to believe. And we can fight in the gladiator pit of capitalism and zero-sum games and all this stuff. I mean, it’s like, holy cow. God is a God of abundance. There is no zero sum. There’s only infinite goodness. So your promotion is a promotion for the kingdom. Your new car is a new car for the kingdom. Your new anything: it’s for the kingdom. We all get to celebrate. How silly we are to be jealous of one another. We’re all in the family together, and God has no end of gifts for those who believe.
All of this is to call us to the next level of what God’s doing at Saint Michael’s. Because what God’s doing at Saint Michael’s is he’s making us a people who can welcome more people. Our pews are not full enough. There are people out there who need to be in here. And if we aren’t the body of Christ with one another, if we’re just squabbling factions of jealous anger and division, let’s keep them away. They get plenty of that at work and in other places in this culture. I want them to come here because they see how we love one another. That’s what Christ said: how will they know you’re my disciples? Because you love one another (John 13.35).
And thank God we’re at Saint Michael’s, where you guys are doing an awesome job of it. But there’s so much more. So much more. We could love each other even more. We can grow even more. We can bring people in, and we could see the kingdom come in this place, and we can spread the body of Christ throughout all of San Clemente, and, as Father Powell was saying at our men’s meeting, all of Southern Orange County. Why not? Millions of people need to know the love of God. It never ends. We serve a kingdom that never ends.
Okay, I’m going to stop, because I’ve been going for a while. But I just want to leave you with this. If you feel alone, if you feel disconnected, if you feel the call today on your heart to press in, listen to that call. You are loved. You are enough. You are wanted here. I need you. Amen.