1 Corinthians 12:12-31
In my Grand Forks family we coordinate our calendars by birthdays. We try to get together to celebrate each person’s birthday, and at that party we plan…when is the next birthday? How long until we can have a party again? Will we see each other in between?
In the church our calendar is strung like lights along the string of Holy Days. There are the big ones: Advent/Christmas/Epiphany, Lent/Easter, Pentecost. And enough little ones between to keep us moving along: Baptism of Christ, Transfiguration, Trinity, Reign of Christ. January is a “between time” after Christmas and before Lent. In our frozen part of the world, it feels like “in between” as we all hunker down in warm places and minimize the times we have to venture out. Add Covid to the mix and more and more of us are isolating at home and maybe feeling lonely.
It's a gift that this year the cold between is filled with the scripture from 1 Corinthians that tells us we all matter and we’re all connected to each other. Nell and Neil have done a great job of helping us step into these scriptures and hear their messages with new ears. Today we take one more step and remember how interconnected we all are.
Paul uses the image of the human body to talk about community. The body has many parts, just like any group of people – a family, a workplace, a school, a church. It takes ears and eyes and noses and hands to make everything work well. It takes cheeks for kissing and other cheeks for sitting. Paul reminds us that each one is essential, even if some are better known or more visible. Some of us have parts missing (spleen, gall bladder, appendix, thyroid). When something is missing, the rest of the body has to compensate for that. When some skill is missing in a community, we all have to compensate.
In our little church we’ve learned not to try to fit the parts into some ideal called “church.” We don’t have enough parts to do everything that much larger churches do. Instead we fit “church” into the pieces we have. We build what we do on the skills and the interests of the folks who are here. We have cooks, so we cook. We have sewers and crafters, so we crochet blankets and make quilts. We have musicians, so we enjoy their music. We have handy-folk, so we do some of our repair work. We don’t have many kids on Sundays, so we have kids programs on Wednesdays when they can come. What we don’t have, we do without. That doesn’t make us less of a church than those who have more people. It makes us the just-right church for this group of people.
When new opportunities come our way, we ask: can we do that? Do we want to do that? If the answer is yes, we take it on. We’re now expert food-box-fillers. If the answer is no, we leave it for someone else. Right now we don’t have a youth group or a men’s or women’s group. I hope we don’t feel bad about that. It’s just not our time for it.
Our scripture asks us to value every single part of what’s here. I hope you experience that value we hold for you. Each and every person is a blessing, regardless of age – young or old, or the time you have to give, or the number of times you sign the clipboard.
Just being you makes us better.
Thank you for who you are.
Because we are such nice folks, it’s pretty easy for us to appreciate our church family. I suspect Paul would challenge us to expand our circle a bit. In our wider community or even our country or our world, I don’t have much trouble valuing nice folks who do nice things. But if it’s true that we’re all interconnected, then our community also depends on those who push our buttons or make life harder. That’s more difficult for me to get my head around.
Paul is talking about how each part builds up community, but what about those parts which seem to break community? How do we think about them?
This week I’m pretty irritated by those who voted against voting rights in the Senate. That’s an issue I care about. You probably have a list of things you wish our representatives or other parts of government would do something about. The price of prescription drugs, child tax credit, inflation…you can fill in what matters to you. How do we value those who keep what we want to do from happening? First, we value them for who they are and not for what they do. They are important because they exist. They are children of God and God loves them. Second, they can inspire us to work harder and louder in support of those things we think would help everyone.
In our town there’s a controversy about UND’s new policy of inclusion. They say everyone will be respected and those who want new names or pronouns to celebrate a new identity will get them. The Catholic church in our area is encouraging students to boycott UND. Our council is going to write a letter on our behalf to thank UND for stepping up to this plate and making their community more just and respectful. The noise about this issue gives us the change to clarify what we value and to do something about it.
In our world we’re watching as Russia threatens Ukraine. We all hope there won’t be a war over that border. The soldiers on all sides hope the same. The situation gives us a change to support our leaders who are working for peace. And it gives us a chance to reflect on places where our own country might be supporting aggression: Yemen, Syria, our own borders. Those who cause trouble give us the opportunity to act is ways to control aggression and work for peace.
We could list more examples of situations or people who seem wrong to us. We believe we are called to do something about those situations. To stand up for peace and justice. To encourage the systems we live within to be more equitable and to support opportunities for everyone. We start by valuing ALL the people involved. By realizing that we are all part of one whole – not them vs us but all of us together. When we value even the difficult parts as beloved and necessary, then we can engage in respectful dialogue. We can talk to one another about what matters to us. Maybe we can reach a new consensus.
Even if we need to say no, to impose consequences for bad behavior or make certain actions illegal, we still need to approach that with love and respect. The banner Victoria made for us says “Hate has no home here.” That’s true when we are working to overcome the hate expressed by others. It’s also true when we think of our own attitude toward those we see as causing harm. We may well need to stand up to injustice and prevent damage to others. But we do it with love. We do it recognizing that we are always connected to each person. We do it in a way that heals community and mends the brokenness for everyone.