Sunday, January 26, 2025
The Third Sunday after the Epiphany

We are all part of the body

The Rev. Mark Wilkinson, Rector
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Katy TX

Click here to watch the sermon

Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth always carries great power with me.  Paul is writing about what is wrong with the church in Corinth. In addressing their issues he reaches out across the centuries and is talking to the Christian Church today. We, as members of the modern church, are Corinth written in large letters across the face of the earth. I am just as guilty as the rest and find myself thoroughly convicted, at times, by Paul’s passage in regards to how I view and treat other parts of the body of Christ.

I am not alone in this thought of us being like Corinth. I saw a meme on the internet the other day. It was a picture of Paul with a pen in his hand and paper in front of him. It said, “To my brothers and sisters in the church in America, I don’t know what to say to you, what are you doing.” It was widely shared and the vast majority of the comments agreed with the sentiment. Unity was a problem for Corinth and it is a problem not only in our church, but in our country.

There has been a lot of talk as we change administrations about the need to unify the country. Unify the church. Yet this seems so hard to achieve. So what does Paul say to us about unity in the second half of chapter 12?

Paul’s image of the community being represented by a body was a standard metaphor in the Greek rhetorical world. Paul however stands the normal metaphor on its head if you will. The standard metaphor was loaded with hierarchical images. Some body parts were more important than others, like the head and the heart. Others were subservient or inferior to the more important parts of the bodies. Unity in this case means fall in line and let the leaders tell you what to do and then do it. In other words, I want to unity my group so everybody fall in line with me, my church, my tribe, my government, my whatever. There is no diversity in this unity, everything is lock step and if you don’t fall in line we don’t need or want you in our “body.”

Last week, Paul made clear that there are a variety of gifts of the Spirit, none are more important than others. Paul this week makes the point that no part of the body is more important than the other, that all parts are dependent upon the other. Eyes and ears are both needed for without one or the other the body is either blind or deaf. Without hands or feet, the body’s ability to do the work given to it is diminished. Paul speaks of the inferior parts, which are the internal organs, are what we clothe with great honor. This was a revolutionary look at what had been a standard metaphor. What was different for Paul is that we are united by the one Spirit, who gives each of us our gifts and therefore all equal. We are united in our diversity.

Paul would have shocked his audience by his statement that they are all of equal importance that unity in fact comes in diversity of gifts and roles in the group. In our case in the church.

Paul then goes on to enlarge this metaphor with the statement that not only are we are all equal, but that we in fact need each other. This is so very true of a church community. What is also true is that sometimes one part of the body causes us pain.

One thing that struck me as we looked at this passage Tuesday morning at Bible Study was how the body is interconnected. I’ve learned a lot about this as I work with a chiropractor and a good massage therapist for a pinched nerve and some other issues dating from an injury and many years in and directing marching bands. That type of thing does tend to be more common when you are approaching 70 at a high rate of speed.

But here is the connection. I first found out I had a pinched nerve because the massage therapist that was working with me could never get a knot out of my back by the shoulder blade. I also had a strange tingle in my right hand, the thumb and first two fingers. My massage therapist sent me to a chiropractor that she knew and when I told him what was going on he immediately knew that it was the nerve that comes out of you neck between C6 and 7. That nerve caused the muscle to retract and caused the tingle in my fingers. So a problem in my fingers and back was caused by a problem in my spine. Another time a cramp in my foot was being caused by a muscle issue in my hip.

At Bible study on Tuesday I mentioned how important your big toe is. I had a member long ago with severe diabetes and she had to have several toes, including her big toe amputated. It took her weeks and months of rehab to be able to walk again.  Your big toe is incredibly important to your balance. So the brain can’t say to the big toe, I don’t need you because your whole body really needs that digit or its mobility is restricted.

The critical piece and this goes back to the first half of the chapter when Paul is talking about our gifts, each part of the body needs to play their part for the whole body to be healthy. And we need all the different body parts working together for the good of the body but doing the job for which they are designed. This is the unity in diversity and I know in some circles talk of diversity is coming under fire, but we are stronger because of our differences.

We must be so careful that our actions always build up the body and do not cause the body harm. Unfortunately, this is not always easy for there are so many times that I run into a decision that will hurt someone regardless of the choice that I make or that we make as a parish or a church. This always comes back to the issue or prayer. When faced with these difficult decisions it is always best to step back, pray, and listen to what the Holy Spirit may have to say to us.

The other piece I want to pick up in this issue of gifts that build the body is the need to pray for discernment of those gifts and how those gifts can be used to build up the body. For when we use our gifts to build up the body of our parish we are truly living into our mission and vision. However, to really live into our mission and vision we need members of the body that express those gifts.

On the back of the pledge cards you were asked to put down your interests and yes gifts. Now I haven’t in the rush to get the annual meeting ready and the parochial report done along with the snowstorm to look at those, but I am going to spend some time looking at what you said your gifts and interests are. I will truly be interested in what I might find there.

I want to circle back though on the unity theme. I was talking with vestry members on Wednesday night at our January meeting of how we can handle the divisiveness in our world and we talked about much of what is in this sermon. And one person said, “You know, I have a hymn going through my head” I knew exactly which one she had in mind. “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity may one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love

That really is the essence of Paul’s message to the church in Corinth and is certainly a message we need in the church and the world today. What does Paul mean by love, well come back next week and find out.