Have the Field; Have the Treasure
1 Corinthians 12: 12-19 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the 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 placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Maybe you’ve already bought the field, and now you need to get the treasure in it. Maybe you’re good at coming to church and reading your bible, but you’re missing the treasure – Jesus. Church and bible study are all well and good (and I do mean good), but it these things become routines or check boxes on a list of required duties, then we can so easily miss the treasure for the field! We risk forgetting where the treasure is and losing it again underneath the earth.
Or maybe you’re good with the treasure, but you need to buy the field! In our passage for today, Paul uses the metaphor of a body to describe the church. He says that we are all members of the body of Christ. In essence, Paul implies that Jesus is actually made manifest in the unity and shared life of the church. So while being a good church person does not equate to closeness with Jesus, it would actually be difficult to see the fullness of Jesus without participating in his body.
Where are you this morning? Do you have the field? Do you have the treasure?