Every Joint

We have a classroom skeleton named Henry.

He has been a part of our classroom for eleven years, and it shows.

When my oldest child was nine, Henry lost a leg in an unfortunate incident with a toddler tantrum. I never could find it.

When we moved, Henry lost his eye sockets, and my practical child said, “Skeletons aren’t really supposed to have eyes, anyway.”

Somewhere around the time my youngest child began walking, Henry’s left arm fell off, was reattached backward, and has forever after looked a little droopy.

We keep Henry on the desk in the classroom despite his unfortunate mishaps because at least once a week, someone asks about the structure of the bones, and he is useful when it comes to that.

Henry came to my mind this morning at church. The sermon, which was dynamic and can be heard HERE, was about Rahab’s faith, the lie she told, and God’s power to deliver His people. The people, flawed, broken, and hungry, are nonetheless delivered by God to live by faith in His power.

Paul described this to the Ephesians: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

The joint of the body is where two parts meet together. Without a properly working joint, the work of the body is hindered.  

When we meet together at church, no matter how flawed or broken, the Lord works through His power to knit us together as a fully functioning unit for His glory. As we grow into His body, being built up by love, we are able to do all of the things God has called our church to do in our community. 

The people of my church are not perfect. (They aren’t at your church either.) However, when we work together, it is beautiful to see what the Lord accomplishes. Each week, we have a Family Worship time that is geared toward children. We often have a large crowd. Some members of the body drive the van to pick up families. Others prepare food for the meal we serve. Some teach the memory verse while others teach the Bible lesson. One half of the joint might sit at the back of the room for crowd control while another prays with a troubled child. 

Some members of the body who aren’t able to attend family worship in person still minister to the children and families by calling the dads, visiting the moms, or opening their homes for those who need a place to stay.

If one bone were to try to walk, it wouldn’t get very far, like my poor classroom skeleton, Henry. However, when we allow Jesus to join and hold us together, we can walk in love to accomplish all that He sets before us to do.