YOU ARE NEEDED
- You have something to offer
- You are part of something special
On July 6th, 1916, a drawing of a white-bearded man wearing a blue jacket, a red bow tie, and an American top hat was printed in a magazine called “Leslie’s Weekly.” The man had a stern look on his wrinkled face and he was pointing his finger right towards the viewer. This image became so popular that it was made into a poster and over 4 million of them were printed in the next two years as America became involved with the 1st World War. This poster became so well-known, in fact, that it is still familiar to most people today. You know it as the “Uncle Sam” poster with the big bold caption: “I want YOU!” at the bottom of it. It was a simple message, but an effective one. It targeted all those young Americans who were capable of serving in the army and it urgently called them to sign up. It was an effort to show each young man in this country that the United States government wanted him personally, that his skills were valuable, that he was needed. And, of course, the country did want every man they could get. A lot of lives were lost during that war and a lot of soldiers were needed.
People oftentimes say, “It’s good to be needed.” And it is. When you are needed you feel important, you feel as if you are part of something special. You know that you have a specific job to do and people are counting on you to get it done. That’s the mindset the army was trying to tap into with its Uncle Sam poster, that’s what any charitable organization tries to convey, and that’s what almost any group in this country expresses if they want you to join them: you are needed! You aren’t just a number; you aren’t just another body; it wouldn’t be the same without you; you are wanted; you are needed!
You are needed. You are needed by a very special group of people. Not by the government or a charitable organization or an exclusive club, but by us. You are needed by your fellow Christians who share your same faith. You are part of something special. And you have something to offer those of us around you. Because the Lord himself says so. Listen to the reason why you are needed according to God’s words in 1 Corinthians: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
You are needed. You have something to offer to the body of Christ because God has given you specific talents and skills and blessings that are meant to work alongside of the talents and skills and blessings of others. We don’t have the same talents and skills and blessings, of course, but that’s exactly the point. Just as a puzzle cannot be constructed of puzzle pieces that are all of the same shape, just as a body could not function if it were all one body part, a Christian congregation cannot be composed of Christians with all the same gifts. We must take our different gifts and fit them together. We must work collectively, using our own special blessings from the Lord in conjunction with the blessings of others for the good of God’s kingdom.
Some of you may have the ability to stand up in front of the congregation and give a report or offer an encouragement or make an announcement; others of us do not. Some of you may have been given the gift of understanding Scripture well and then being able to apply it to your life and others; others of us do not. Some of you may have been blessed with a great amount of patience and love for those less fortunate than you; others of us aren’t moved to such a great degree as you are. Some of you have the skill to teach or lead or encourage or listen or give or serve; others of us have been blessed with different things that are just as important to the functioning of the body. But the whole body cannot be an ear. The whole body cannot be an eye. The whole body cannot be a pinky finger either, and it isn’t. Each member of the body of Christ has different but equally important roles to play. Each member of the body is needed.
And so don’t hold back what you have to offer. Don’t waste the talents and skills and blessings the Lord has given you to the detriment of your brothers and sisters. And don’t trick yourself into thinking that you have nothing to offer at all! “God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” That includes you. And that includes everyone sitting in this room. God has supplied you with the abilities to contribute to the work of his kingdom with the Christians that are around you. And everyone here is counting on you to use the gifts you’ve been given to the best of your abilities.
It’s just so easy to be lazy, though. And it’s so easy to be selfish. There are tasks we can do and time we can take and things we can give to further the work that God has given us to do, but we regularly put it off and we frequently ignore the need. We don’t feel like pitching in right now or we don’t want to put in the effort that it’s going to take or we just assume that it’ll get done by somebody else. And our abilities and our time and our gifts are left in the closet on the top shelf gathering dust. Laziness is harmful to the body of Christ. Laziness is not loving. If the right foot decides to take some time off and expects that the left foot will pick up the slack, there’s going to be a few problems. The body might be able to limp along, but certainly not effectively or efficiently.
Of course, we also step on one another’s toes sometimes too. We as an ear try to do the work of an eye. Or we as an eye try to do the work of a nose. And we attempt to do the job of other members of the body because we don’t think they are doing it right. Sometimes we have difficulty realizing what our talents are (and what the talents of others are) and then staying within the bounds of the duties the Lord has given us to do. It’s selfishness, really: not allowing the other parts of the body to function as they ought. Instead of working with them we end up trying to work for them. Selfishness is just as damaging to the body of Christ as laziness is. It is not loving at all. And each one of us tends to be guilty of both laziness and selfishness at times. It depends on the day! It depends on our mood! It’s hard to find that healthy balance between doing everything you can do and not trying to do more than what you should do for the sake of others.
It’s not easy to work together. And I don’t have to tell you that - you know that from experience! It’s not always easy to fit your gifts together with the gifts of others for a common goal. Because when we do have to interact with our fellow Christians for the work of God’s kingdom, instead of trying to understand and adapt, instead of attempting to be flexible, we would rather have that person change their ways to fit better with what we want to do or to step up and do some things that we think they should be involved with or to respect our boundaries that we have set or to back off all together. We would like the other body parts to be more accommodating for our sake so that we don’t have to strain ourselves beyond the regular movements we have gotten used to limiting ourselves to over the years.
My dear fellow members of the body of Christ, you are part of something special. You are part of a congregation of people that has a stronger bond than any other group in this world. We have been united by the Holy Spirit himself through faith in Christ. “We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free [and might I add: men or women, working or retired, children or adults] and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” The Holy Spirit chose you. Not because of your outstanding credentials or your promising potential, but because he wanted you to be one of his own. He worked in your heart at your baptism to either bring you to faith for the first time or to strengthen the faith he had already given you, and he continues to convince your heart through the written and spoken Word of God so that you are a firm believer in your Lord and Savior who died for you on the cross. You are a member of the holy Christian Church - all believers of all times - and so you are also a member of Christ’s body. You didn’t apply for the position. You didn’t ask him to take you in. You didn’t qualify for this honor any way. You were picked by the grace of God alone. You are now part of something special. And so are all of these Christians who are sitting next to you this morning.
Of course, the body of Christ isn’t always an 18 year old body that is energetic and vibrant and without pain. Sometimes the body of Christ feels a lot older because the members of that body do not function like they used to. But the Lord knew before he picked you that you wouldn’t always function as a member of his body like you are meant to as a Christian. He knew you would be lazy at times and selfish most of the time. But he chose you nevertheless. Because before you were born he forgave you. He gave up his body to death so that you could be a member of his body. And he made sure that he physically rose from the dead so that you’re body will be physically raised on the Last Day as well to be reunited with your soul in heaven. You are not a perfect member of the body of Christ. You have scars and weaknesses and joint pains and sometimes just a simple lack of motivation - as do I - but we are still important members of the body of Christ. We are part of something special because that’s the way the Lord wanted it to be.
As part of this special body of Christ, keep looking for ways in which you can help the other members for the good of the body. The opportunities available for you to serve and the role you are going to play are going to vary depending on the congregation you are involved with and the talents and abilities and the gifts of the other Christians around you. But right now, you are involved with this specific group of Christians at this specific time in this specific location. The Lord has given you ways that you can serve. The Lord has given you people that you can help. The Lord has supplied you with other members of this body of Christ that you can work together to spread the gospel of Jesus to the world. Do not be afraid to stretch yourself in ways you haven’t before. Do not hesitate to bend and twist to make the job of others easier. Do not stop being patient with those other members as they work to do things for the Lord. And do not stop pouring out your talents and blessings for the good of the gospel because these are ways you can thank your God for making you part of something special. You are needed. There is no doubt about it. You are needed by us. You are needed right now. We are counting on you to function as a loving and caring member of the body of Christ just as you can and should count on all of us.
Amen.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” - Eph. 1:3
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