Every January it happens.  The advertisements for health clubs and weight loss clinics are everywhere!  They must assume that we are actually going to follow through on all of our New Year's resolutions!  Yet such ads touch a deeper desire:  for our bodies to be healthy and strong.   Do you have a picture in your mind of what a healthy body looks like? (Ask for ideas:  strong, not-overweight, vibrant, energetic, flexible, possibly younger than we are!).

Clearly, having a healthy body is about much more than appearance.  Any of us who have faced short or long-term health challenges know why we care so much about our health.  When our bodies aren't healthy, life is much more difficult.  Even something which would seem small - a sprained toe, or splinter in a finger, can significantly impact our functioning for a time.

This past year, the group that handles the medical coverage for Presbyterian pastors offered a monetary incentive for those of us middle-aged folks who submitted ourselves for a list of preventative services.  Clearly, from their perspective, preventative measures were cost effective.  It's cheaper to avoid a problem than to treat it.  It's a great step, I think, in viewing health care as more than the treatment of disease. 

I'm only sorry that they didn't find ways to more strongly encourage those things which we know contribute to health:  proper diet, exercise, stress reduction, balance between work and play, enough rest and meaningful relationships.  The truth is, most of us know what contributes to health, but few of us manage to sustain a truly healthy lifestyle.  The majority of us need the support of others to work in that direction. 

Our epistle lesson this morning speaks of body health, as well - the health of the body of Christ.  You may recall that the church at Corinth was having some difficulties.  OK, that's an understatement.  They could have been a poster child for "problem church."  Established in a community that had a big gap between the wealthy few and the vast poor majority, the church reflected the divisions so readily found within the city.

While we don't know exactly what was going on in the church, we do know that there was significant dissension in the ranks.  They were arguing about who was better, who knew more, whose gifts were more important - you name it. So Paul, who had founded this church, writes to them. Our reading this morning begins well into Paul's first letter.  Earlier in this chapter, he has reminded them that there are a variety of spiritual gifts, but that God is the giver of them all.

In our reading today, he turns to vivid, even humorous imagery to make his point.  He reminds them that while they all may possess different gifts, together they are one body - the body of Christ.  Just as with our bodies, the body of Christ has many parts.   We've got to work together, with each part doing what it was created to do. 

Could I have a volunteer please?  Thanks!  All right.  Now what I would like you to do is send your arm over there, while your feet go over there.  What?  There's a problem?  Hmmm.. OK.  Well, try this.  Close your eyes and hold this book up to your ear.  Would you read it for me?  That, says Paul, is how the church in Corinth was acting - attempting to have the body go in more than one direction at the same time, and forgetting that each part is created for a unique and special function.

Paul writes to remind them of who they were. In spite of their limitations, their arguments, their struggles, they are the body of Christ!  Notice that he doesn't say, "try and be the body of Christ."  He affirms that they already are!  

Paul then urges the body toward health.  You have probably seen those signs that are frequently hung over high school locker rooms:  there is no "I" in team.  Well, Paul isn't denying that there are individual parts - simply that they have got to work together.  He offers a picture of what the body of Christ looks like when it is healthy.

First of all, it's diverse.  It isn't a big jumble of noses.  No, there are arms and legs, and hearts, and ears, and big toes and pinky fingers and funny bones - and each part is valued.  Everyone who has been baptized is a part of Christ's body, and there is no part we can live without.  There are no "spare" parts that can be taken away, no tonsils or appendixes.  Every part of the body of Christ is critical to the health of the body as a whole.

It's also clear that each one of those parts plays an important role in the healthy functioning of the body.  We might hear the voice more than we hear the heart, but without the heart the voice can't speak.  Every part of the body is important.  Think of the choir. We are truly blessed with the presence and ability of our soprano soloist, Virginija Muliolis.  Yet, as talented as she is, she cannot sing four parts at once!  It takes the combined efforts of many to produce harmony.

In the body of Christ, this means that the many and varied spiritual and practical gifts that each of us possess are all important.  Whether singing in the choir, teaching our children or adults, giving generously, reaching out to those in need, praying for our leaders, sharpening pencils or greeting newcomers, every one of you here this morning, of whatever age, has a gift that is needed in the body of Christ.

What that means, of course, is that each one of us needs to figure out what those gifts are, and how they might be put to good use. What's clear is that just as the eye is not talented at smelling, in the same way, you and I will not function well trying to be someone that we're not.

How do we know what our gifts are and where they can be put to best use?  Pray about it.  Ask God to show you what you have to give that the body needs. Notice what grabs your attention.  It may be in an area familiar to you.  It may not. 

Here's an interesting twist.  While we often put people to work in areas where their abilities are apparent, the gifts that God has given to each one for the strengthening of the body, might not be as obvious.  Maybe the physician is gifted in nurturing children.  Maybe the bookkeeper is gifted in welcoming.  Maybe the homemaker is gifted in finance.  Maybe the business person is a wonderful chef.

Listen for God's voice as it speaks through the congregation.  Test it out.  Every one of you has a needed gift without which the body of Christ is not complete.  And each gift is as important as the next. 

The story has been told of a man who stopped to admire a huge cathedral.  A little girl who was sitting on the steps looked up and asked him, "So do you like it?" Surprised, he answered, "yes, its really very beautiful and impressive." "I'm glad you like it", the young girl replied, "because I helped build it."

The man smiled and said, "You are awfully small to have worked on the construction of such a large building.  Tell me, what did you do?" The little girl proudly announced, "My father is a bricklayer.  And everyday that he worked on this church, I brought him his lunch." (As quoted by Sandy Wylie, "Developing a Sense of We", Sermon Mall, January 2007).  Every gift counts, and should be valued and appreciated.

Paul's final measure of the health of the body is unity.  Please note that this is not unanimity.  Through baptism, we have become members of the one household of God.  We don't have a choice - we are in it together!  There are no individual parts.  We're one body.  It doesn't mean that we won't have different viewpoints or disagree at times.  But bottom line - we're connected.  We need each other. We can't simply cut out a part, and have the body remain whole and healthy.  Remember - there are no spare parts!

That unity is seen in a critical way:  the mutual care that we have for one another.  The body of Christ is healthy, when the various parts watch out for each other, when they support and encourage one another, when they laugh and cry together.

So how would you diagnose the health of the part of the body of Christ that is known as Church of the Western Reserve?  I think if we did some "preventative" assessments we would find a significant level of health.  While not as diverse as we might hope, neither are we all the same.  Why don't you stand up if you are under 10?  How about if you are over 70?  Please stand up if you live within 3 miles of the church.  Please stand if you live more than 5 miles away.  Please stand up if you've been a member more than 10 years.  Please stand up if you've worshipped here less than two years. There is some diversity to be celebrated.  That's a sign of health.

I would also say that many of you are putting your gifts to good use here.  Even with very busy lives, we have volunteers who serve as teachers, who reach out in mission, who host coffee hour, who provide transportation or meals, who serve on boards, who help with maintenance - along with a very long list of other areas.  My assessment, however, would suggest that like most congregations, there are a host of untapped gifts that would strengthen Christ's body here.  Have you put yours to good use?

I also believe that Church of the Western Reserve most often acknowledges the unity we have in Christ.  We certainly don't agree about everything.  We have lots of potent personalities that are strongly opinionated.  But when it comes right down to it, we choose to live together, to serve together, to live as the body of Christ in this place, reaching out in mission.

To strengthen our health, we need to support each other in the areas that are life-giving:  spiritual diet and exercise, placing worship as a top priority, strengthening our prayer life, becoming well-grounded in scripture, weighing everything we do against what we believe God is calling us to do.

Friends, you are the body of Christ,

The hands that unlock the doors

That wipe down the kitchen

That cut out the Sunday School crafts

You are the body of Christ

The feet that run across the narthex to the children's table, That arrive early to greet or turn on the sound system.

You are the body of Christ:  The voices that sing the anthem each Sunday, that phone to offer a meal, that make the reports of the committees in Session meetings. You are the body of Christ: the eyes that shine when a child is baptized, that weep when we lose a brother or sister in Christ, that watch for the children at church outings. You are the body of Christ: The hearts that swell when we sing and pray together, that beat a little faster at the sound of the doxology, that ache to reach out to the least of God's children.

If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

You are the body, one part of an even larger body, as individuals

As members of this congregation

You are the body

As part of the Christian community of the east side of Cleveland, as part of the Presbytery, the Synod, the General Assembly.

You are the body,

Not just in the Presbyterian Church in the USA But in the whole wide world.

You are the body,

Young or old,

Male or female

God has appointed each of us to a form of ministry.

Do all preach?

Are all elders?

Do all teach Sunday School?

Are all in the choir?

Do all visit the homebound?

Or hand out the bulletins, or write up the budget, or fix the plumbing, or take care of children, or move tables?

In Christ's death and resurrection

We are made one,

And each of us is given certain gifts.

We are called, whatever our gifts

To love and serve Christ

In all we do.  (Inspired by online colleague, Christina Berry, Faith Presbyterian Church, Silver Lake, MN)