Deviled Eggs
(Second in the Church Casserole Supper Series)
I Corinthians 12.12-31
Third Sunday in Lent
Dr. Matthew M. Fry

As we continue to experience The Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, O God, so that we might be moved in this time to heights we cannot achieve on our own. Grant unto us now the ability to go beyond our limits, so that we might experience you more fully. In the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Last week was the first in the sermon series that we are doing during Lent that revolve around things you might find at a casserole supper. The decision to do this series was based on the hope that you would find it interesting, and would keep coming back for more, like you might go back to the serving table for seconds. Or, maybe I decided to do this because I love to eat. Either way, today we get to a staple of any Casserole supper, the deviled eggs. It’s not a casserole supper without them.

So, hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Listen for God’s Word for you today. I Corinthians 12.12-21.

12 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. 13 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.

14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would 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. 16 And if the ear would 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. 17 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? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21 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." 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 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; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The Grass Withers, The Flower Falls, but The Word of The Lord endures forever…Thanks be to God.

I’ve got a confession to make to you today. This is hard to admit, but, it, its time to come clean. I don’t like deviled eggs. I’m not sure that it is legal to be a pastor if you don’t like deviled eggs, since they are prevalent at every casserole supper, or reception, or special event. I’ve tried so hard to deny who I am, a person who doesn’t like deviled eggs. But I’ve decided that it was best to be honest with you, and with me, and just say it. So, I want you to know that from the beginning. I hope that you will understand, and that with some good hard work, we can get through this…together.

It feels so good to get that off my chest.

So why did I pick deviled eggs then as one of the sermons in the casserole supper? Because so many of you like them so much. Granted, I can’t even stand the smell of them. But there is something in that. There are a lot of things that I can’t stand when it comes to the way people practice their relationship with God. I don’t like people who impose their rules on other people, and say that their particular way of relating to God is the only way. I’m not too fond of when people become exclusive about who God can love and call to certain ministries and therefore try to box people out of God’s grace and call. I actually feel called to speak against some of those things as a pastor. And I really don’t like it when people are judgmental, he said, judging all of the things he disliked.

But I will say this. I am glad that Christianity is vast and varied. I find great joy in knowing that there are people who follow Christ in very different ways than I do. I know, I know, it seems like a complete contradiction. So be it. But, if everyone who were to follow Christ and to have a relationship with God had to do it just like me, well, the sheer numbers would plummet. And if I had to follow Christ and to have a relationship with God just like some other people, I’d be out. So, it is good that there are differences.

And the really great thing is that God is big enough to accept all kinds of followers. God doesn’t need us all to be the same. Perhaps variety is in itself pleasing to God. You know, not all of us humans look the same. We come in an array of shapes and sizes and colors. If God made a variety of humans on the surface, then maybe God made us different on the inside, especially in relation to how we are and act and relate to God.

I’ve come to believe that the larger Christian community, while oftentimes frustrating, is a gift to the church in its divergence. Which is not to say that I think we should all just let each other be. The great thing about real community, and the great thing about Christian community when it works well, is that accountability is encouraged, and that not only supporting each other but also challenging each other is required.

This is clearly intended by the simple fact that we as humans, and we who would, as Paul writes, drink of one Spirit in today’s terms, seek God and relationship with God, we are all so different. God arranged the members of the body, each one of them, as God chose, we read. So, the very fact that we are different is a design from our creator God.

Which brings me back to deviled eggs, those smelly concoctions that are the bane of my walk through the Casserole supper line. I’ll let you in on another secret. I actually enjoy seeing those slimy things, truth be told. They remind me that not everything will be to my liking, and that people whom I love, and people whom God loves even more, do not have to be just like me. That’s a good lesson for all of us.

Deviled eggs also tie us to the past and future. Deviled eggs have been part of Casserole supper lines for long before I ever came to exist on this earth, and they will be there long after I am gone. I love to hear people say things like, “This is my Gramma’s recipe.” There is something nice about the tradition of something, and I feel the goodness of the tradition even when I don’t like the tradition, or when the tradition is not mine. People who come to God from different traditions also have beauty in their journey with God, even if it isn’t our taste.

One more thing about deviled eggs. They remind me of home. Not that my mother ever made them. I went to my share of casserole suppers at church, and also a good deal of family picnics. Deviled eggs were a part of growing up in the church and around family. Something about them just screams family and home, and that is something that we do when we gather around the casserole supper.

So bring some deviled eggs to the next casserole supper, and make sure that I see them. And don’t be offended when I don’t have one on my plate. I’ll be happy for you that you like them. Amen.