A sermon by Sean C. Capparuccia
Preached at Rose Hill Methodist (Global) 31 August 2025
I Corinthians 12:12-31; Numbers 4:31-33
It is an honor and a privilege to preach the Word of God anywhere, but it is an especial honor to preach it here. I am glad that Pastor Thurman trusted me enough to not lead Rose Hill astray with one sermon, and, maybe, it is also a sign that he trusts you, his flock, enough to not be led astray with one sermon. Either way, I trust I will not lead you astray but will encourage you all as we continue to move forward with the ministry entrusted by Christ to this church in Rose Hill.
Let us turn to Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians… chapter 12. Beginning with verse 12. The church at Corinth was a congregation dear to Paul’s heart. And they were beset with many problems that are common to people living in a pluralistic society and a culture without a Christian morality. And they were also beset by jealousies among one another as they learned to use the gifts of the Spirit given to them.
Listen then to the Word of God…
One Body, Many Parts
The first thing Paul says here is that the Church – the believers in Corinth, combined with the believers in all places and throughout all of history – is one body. And all members of the one Church are baptized by the “one Sprit.” He’s not talking about water baptism here, regardless of mode or time, which is ‘an outward observance’, but about the inward baptism which takes place, the regeneration of the soul of every believer in Christ, by the Holy Spirit. This is why we are in error to say so-and-so was baptized a Catholic, or a Methodist, or baptized a Presbyterian, and so on. You are baptized into Jesus Christ and grow up in a particular church. Christ is the Head and we are His body in this world, held together by the Holy Spirit who leads and directs the Church’s every movement. This, then, is why we adamantly declare, in the Nicene Creed, that we believe in the Church that is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, or founded upon the teaching of the Apostles. We are one body regardless of the denomination to which we choose to belong, so long as we are in keeping with apostolic teaching, or Orthodox. And let me say, no denomination is completely steadfast; throughout history many churches have gradually apostatized and slipped outside the realm of orthodoxy which is when true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ say, “That’s a bit too far for me, I will find another church.”
Back to our passage: I think the body parts part is easy enough to understand. We are all a part of the body as a whole – which part are you? And should any part feel less important because it seems to not have an “important” job? Is a foot any less important than a hand? Is an ear any less important than an eye? I suppose we’ve been asked at some point, “Would you rather be blind or deaf?” Well, the truthful answer is “Neither.” And as we all know, in those where some part is missing or lost, the other parts compensate. But even though some parts can be compensated for, it doesn’t mean that not all the parts are important.
Even the parts that “seem to be weaker,” as Paul says in verse 22, are indispensable. And in verse 23, even the parts that seem less honorable, or less presentable, the ones we cover up, do I need to elaborate? Even those parts are essential, to which I don’t think anyone would argue.
Even so, the parts work together, each with its intended purpose, for the good of the whole. And
“If one part should suffer, they suffer as one,
hurting together until the hurt is done;
If one part is honored they shine all together,
praising the Savior forever and ever…”[1]
to quote a song based on this passage.
Let me tell you, as a long-time sufferer of gout I can empathize with this very well. There are 360 joints in the human body but when one seemingly insignificant toe joint suffers with gout, the whole body suffers. In fact, when it’s really bad, it brings the entire body to a halt.
It is really quite surprising that in today’s day and time we don’t suffer with each other’s sufferings more than we do. If you think back to, say, the early church, when our brothers and sisters suffered terrible persecution, when a brother or a sister was caught and brought up on charges and set in the arena to be set upon by wild animals and torn to shreds being watched by hundreds in the sports arena, you can bet the whole church suffered along with them. They understood first and foremost the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for each one of them; that being brought from spiritual death to spiritual life was not simply done by the flip of switch in the heavenly realms. They also understood the sacrifice that each of them was making by being a Christian. And they understood the sacrifice that their captive friend, or friends, was making. Yet even in the midst of that ultimate sacrifice, there was an honor that was had by them all.
Perpetua
One such ancient Christian, Perpetua, wrote a memoir while she sat in prison awaiting her death sentence. It is a fascinating account of her trials. She was a new Christian, not brought up in the faith, but a 24-year-old girl who came to Christ and was soon afterwards grabbed off the streets in Carthage[2] by Roman police. At the end of her journal she wrote of a dream she had had the night before her death. She wrote, “Then I woke up realizing that I would be contending with the devil himself. I knew, however, that I would win.” What faith! And what a testimony to not only her church there in Carthage, but to the whole Church who glories in this young woman’s faith.
The point is, we’re all in this Church together. And this Church, this Church catholic, is a living organism; we are its individual parts. Now, I believe that the most important thing we do here, in this and in every local congregation, is to worship. We come together to pray, praise, sing, baptize, and break bread together in full communion with the universal Church. But there is another purpose for which we exist: and that is to serve. And the gifts of the Spirit mentioned are not given to exalt the receiver of those gifts but to edify the church and community in which we live and operate. Further, the gifts here expressed are in no wise complete. There are many gifts given by the Holy Spirit to serve His people in all ages of history. And further still, these gifts, though a couple may be supernatural in nature, the majority of them are most often in keeping with one’s natural skills and abilities[3]; abilities inherent to the recipient but cultivated by the Spirit of God to be honed and used for His service, and maybe even be used in a supernatural way in accordance with God’s perfect will.
Schlepping the Tent Peg
I would like now to take us into the Old Testament to show the characteristic parallels between the Old Testament and the New Testament. You know the story, well, I’m sure, but let me restate it for the sake of anyone who hasn’t heard.
The twelve tribes of Israel were released from slavery in Egypt and brought into the wilderness across the Red Sea. God gave Moses the Law from Mt. Sinai with which to govern the people. He gave specific laws as to how they should treat each other; things they should and shouldn’t do. They were to build a Tabernacle, the mobile Temple, if you will, while they were wandering in the desert for 40 years. God had very specific instructions for how to build this Tabernacle. Very specific. He gave very specific instructions as to how the people were to offer sacrifices to atone for their sins. Here, God set up the priesthood of Aaron and his descendants as well as the Levites whose job it was to take care of the Tabernacle, the house of God.
Among the sons of Levi were three sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Those in the family of Gershon were take care of the Tabernacle itself: the tent, curtains, coverings, things like that. The family of Kohath took care of the things inside the Tabernacle: the ark, the table, the lampstand, the holy things inside. And to the family of Merari was given the responsibility of the structure of the Tabernacle. Listen as I read from Numbers 4 beginning in 31. About the Merarites He says,
“This is their duty as they perform service at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases, as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, ropes, and all their equipment and everything related to their use. Assign to each man the specific things he is to carry.”
Each man has his job, down to the tent peg. Now you have to put yourself in this situation, I suppose, but imagine the time and place. By God’s instruction, a God we haven’t seen, by the way -it’s only the God that Moses says he talks to – by God’s instruction we have built this massive tent and fashioned and made all these beautiful gold-plated items to go into the tent to make sacrifices to God – the God we haven’t seen. He says it is our “service.” Now Aaron and his sons get to go into the Tabernacle and make the sacrifices. But our service is to carry the stuff whenever God tells us to move. (And they moved quite a bit over the 40 years.) Now imagine you’re a Kohathite and you get to carry the ark. Well, at least that’s something. But, no, you’re a Merarite and you get to carry a tent peg. A tent peg of all things. A maybe 5-pound piece of iron covered with gold. That’s your job. When the Tabernacle is taken down you go get your tent peg; when the Tabernacle is set up, you bring your tent peg. You get to know your tent peg very well over the years. You might even start talking to it on the long journeys, I don’t know. (Precious… you’re my Precious…) People soon enough identify you as the tent peg guy.
But I tell you what, after you journey 20 miles and that Tabernacle gets set up and they are missing a tent peg you better make sure it wasn’t your tent peg because guess who’s going to go walking 20 miles back to the old campsite to find it? And maybe at some point you’re thinking to yourself, “How important is a single stinking tent peg anyway?” You’ll know that when you set up the big tent and one corner is there flapping in the wind. It’s pretty important.
Evey Gift & Job is Important
Do you see what I’m getting at here? Every gift, every job, every service to our Lord and His Church is important. But here’s the greater thing: everything we do should be for the Lord and because of that, done joyfully. Paul tells us in Colossians 3:24, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Yes, some men may profit by our work, but ultimately, we are working for the Lord. Here the Apostle is talking about our work, our job, our vocation; the thing we do to make a living. A little later in the letter to the Corinthians Paul says, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (I Cor. 15:58). Here Paul is talking about our service to the Lord, our “calling;” the thing we do in and for Christ’s Church. The things we do to advance His Kingdom.
So, the Sprit administers gifts to every believer so that they can minister to others. We each one have a duty to perform, a service to render unto the Lord. I don’t think anyone begrudges their calling. When it’s a calling, it makes you happy. My son, son-in-law, and I are doing a Bible study and one evening the topic of calling came up. I can think of a lot of things I would hate to be doing, for sure. There are some callings that would not make me very happy and yet the people doing them are the happiest people you’ll ever meet. And yet, there are a lot of people who loathe to stand up and talk in front of people. I love preaching; there’s nothing much else that makes me happier. You see, God uses the talents and inclinations that He has given to us, and then helps us to better utilize them for His service and that is where His people, I think, are the happiest. I believe that when we are not being utilized, when our gifts are not being used, that we may become a bit wearied or disinterested in church. And this isn’t because we need someone looking at us or giving us praise, but because we, as Christians, have an inherent need to serve our Lord and His Church in some way.
“The Welcoming Church”
Now to my final point. I’ve been reading a book entitled “The Welcoming Church” by Thom Rainer. He’s written a number of books around the theme of being the Church. I was telling Pastor Thurman the other week that I would love for everyone at Rose Hill to read it. First of all, let me say that I believe our first duty as Christians is worship, bringing our service to God. What we do inside these walls is very important – what we bring to God. This is “loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.” But the second most important thing we do is like it – loving our neighbor as ourselves; going into the world and making disciples.
You may or may not know much about Lara and myself. I’ll tell you this, we haven’t joined a church in many many years. Part of the reason is because we have always, our entire marriage, worked in church and churches get tired of their music ministers just like they eventually get tired of their pastors, unless the denomination moves the pastors around so that this doesn’t happen. So, we felt like joining a church was pointless if we would just be leaving in a few years; why join? We’re there every Sunday anyway. We were at our last church for almost ten years. We never joined, mainly because of the social positions of the church. But when we came here, I believe by God’s providence, we both felt like we should join. We both felt in our hearts that here was a place we could not only work, but belong. And as I’ve told Pastor Thurman, this is the first church we’ve been in in a long time where I could feel good about inviting people. But I digress.
“The Welcoming Church.” This book is about what happens when that visitor comes through your front door. What do they see? What do they experience?
If they are a Christian or a Christian family looking for a church, will they find what they’re looking for?
If they are a new believer looking for a place to be discipled in the faith, will they find it?
If they are a non-believer looking for something more in life and the Spirit nudged them to go to church and they stumbled into this one, will they find that something more?
If they are an outcast nobody lost on the street on Sunday morning in Rose Hill and they came through those doors, would they find anything, would they meet anybody, who will help them find a better, if not an eternal, life?
Oh Church! It takes a lot more than a preacher, a deacon, a musician and an administrative assistant to make a House of God. This Tabernacle has a lot of parts that make it work. I’ve gotta tell you, if it wasn’t for Steve faithfully making coffee every Sunday morning I don’t think we would have joined this church. But I instantly knew this was home when the coffee was waiting for me our first morning. Everything is essential.
And there are so many more things that can be done, which is why I recommend this book. What are some things that we can do here at Rose Hill to further Christ’s Kingdom? Now I know some of you are thinking dollar signs right now; what would this or that program cost? I’m not talking about programs and dollar signs, I’m talking about tent pegs; I’m talking about gifts. A lot of church people are sitting back waiting for someone else to ask them to do something but I say, no, what is God asking you to do for Him? What has the Spirit gifted you to do? That thing that you love doing that you think the Church doesn’t need. Friends, the church doesn’t know what it needs until someone steps up and says, “This is what I can do.” I am convinced that this is what God wants for Rose Hill to grow. He doesn’t need a bunch of people out there coming in, He wants the people in here to raise their hand and say, “Here am I.”
We Are the Body
Church, we are the people of God; Christ’s body. The Church is not a club or a society or a weekly get-together or a guild. This isn’t the thing we do because we’ve got nothing better to do on Sunday morning. It is a living body that follows its Head, and feeds and grows and learns. We aren’t just a group of like-minded individuals who simply share an ideology or a politic but we are the elect from all walks of life who have this one thing in common:
we were lost but now we are found;
we were once slaves to sin but now we are slaves to Christ;
we were once hostile to God and His enemy, now we are co-heirs of His eternal Kingdom.
Again, the Church is an organism, Christ’s very body, living on through the ages. Individual cells live and die, sure, but the body lives on; many parts working together. What a fitting thought for Labor Day weekend as we remember the working men and women of our nation who make it all happen. But how much more important it is to be a laborer in God’s eternal Kingdom? So I ask, are you schlepping your tent peg? What are you ready to do?
Eternal and ever-loving God, we have come into this house, and gathered in Your name to worship You. We covet now Your presence with us now as we bring our sacrifice of praise to You. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Heavenly Father, we cease from our labors and come into Your house to find rest. Our hungering and thirsting souls come to find food and drink, Your very Word to us.
We come seeking communion with Jesus Christ, Your Son, to Whom we sing our praise and joyfully give our adoration.
We come seeking to re-align our spirits with the Holy Spirit, Your gift to us through Christ, Who helps us continue in our labors.
But we also come with the things of this life weighing heavy on our minds. Forgive us our sins, O Lord, and create a right spirit within us. Where we are wrong, show us our fault; where we are right, give us the grace to show our brother or sister their fault.
We come with concerns, that maybe to us seem so big, and we lay them before You now because nothing is too big for You. We pray especially for ……….
We also come with joys – rejoicing in what You have done and what benefits You have brought into our lives. We thank you especially for…..
Refresh our weariness now and make glad our hearts for Your glory, praying, as our Lord taught us to pray…. Our Father…..
Bene: Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not vain.
[1] “One Body, Many Parts” by Kingsfriend.
[2] Ancient city near modern day Tunis in Tunisia, N. Africa.
[3] Theology of Work Bible Commentary, 761.
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