The Vine: Jan. 27, 2025
“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing”
This is a weekly reflection on the previous week’s sermon text. Each week there will be a devotional related to the scripture for the week, along with questions for reflection/discussion, as well as prayer. Feel free to make this a part of your individual spiritual growth throughout the week or utilize in small group settings (growth groups, Sunday school, etc.)
“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. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 1If the foot were to 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. And if the ear were to 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. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 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.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.
Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”
I’m a big football fan. I enjoy watching high school, college, and NFL. It’s a day of mourning the day after the Super Bowl at our house as we realize it will be nearly seven more months until football season. Last Sunday I watched the Baltimore Ravens play the Buffalo Bills. Both teams had great seasons and either one could easily win the Super Bowl, but since they played each other, one team had to go home. The Bills narrowly defeated the Ravens. The tight end for the Ravens, Mark Andrews, made a couple of costly errors that contributed to the loss – a fumble and a dropped pass at the goal line for a two-point conversion that would have tied the game. As you can imagine, Ravens’ fans were not amused, and even though Andrews is a great player, he was heavily criticized and blamed for the loss.
I love what the Ravens’ quarterback, Lamar Jackson, said after the game. He reminded everyone that football is a team game and that teams win and lose together. Jackson then made the comment that he made a couple of costly mistakes himself and that the team and everyone else should support his teammate, Mark Andrews. That is a great teammate and illustrates what it means to be a part of something bigger than yourself.
In this portion of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth he said of the members of the church, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” It was Paul’s reminder to the church that every part of the body is important and that we need to support and love one another in a healthy manner. Sometimes that means crying with one another and other times laughing and celebrating. The point is we are present in love to the body of Christ.
Last week we discussed how God has assigned spiritual gifts to all of us, and this week we are reminded that our gifts are expected to be used to help the body function well. We need to simply show up willing to humbly serve and allow God to arrange the various parts as God chooses. Your gifts and your role in the body of Christ matter!
Prayer:
Loving God, we thank you for creating us to be in community, and particularly the Church. We realize that there is not one part of the body that is valued more or more important than any other, as you alone are the head of the Church. Thank you for the role we get to play in the body of Christ today. Help us to serve humbly. Amen.
Questions for Reflection:
Why do you think Paul used the metaphor of the body to describe the Church?
Why is diversity and unity so important in the body of Christ?
How do you view yourself and your spiritual gifts in the body of Christ?
When has someone suffered with you? Rejoiced with you? How were those experiences helpful to you in your journey?
What role does the Holy Spirit have in arranging the parts of the body of Christ?
PREVIOUS WEEKS
To view all previous devotions go to https://fumc-rr.org/the-vine