One Body 
Writing to the the brand new church in Ephesus, Paul described the church as “the body” of Jesus. I’m not sure how he came up with this way of looking at the church. We don’t have a record of Jesus saying anything like this and it isn’t in the prophets. Where did it come from?
At that time, a human being was generally understood as a body enlivened by a spirit. The spirit was to meant to direct and elevate each human so it could be more than a body seeking immediate gratification.
With the descent of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus promised, every Christian had one and the same Spirit living within them, the Spirit of God. Perhaps Paul reasoned that since we had one spirit, therefore, we were one body. (Eph. 4.4) The body symbolizes our unity and interdependence. As many parts of one body, we depend on each other in order to function properly. And as one body, we can’t really escape our connection to one another, try though we might.
For Paul, our unity is more than a metaphor because we are preparing for a time when there will be no escape from God, because Jesus will “fill all in all.” (Eph. 1:23) We will be in the presence of God at every moment, united to God and united to one another. In that world, it isn’t clear what could be private or how we might avoid another person. This will require forgiving others and seeking forgiveness, sooner than later. And it is going to require profound and radical personal transformation. There will be literally no space for self-serving behaviour to exist.
Do we sometimes imagine that being a disciple of Jesus is our own private business? Paul urged the Ephesians to make every effort to reach good relationships because that what the world we hope to live in will be live. Jesus has “broken down the hostility that lies between us” and we will be one (Eph 2:14)
Yours, with Love, Pastor Joel
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