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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. 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. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to 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. And if the ear were to 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. 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? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 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.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 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; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 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. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (I Corinthians 12:12-31) Reflection From the time I was in first grade, until I earned my Gold Award, I was a Girl Scout. I learned all kinds of things in those years in scouts, and a lot of what I learned was about myself. We did a lot of introspection and learned about self-esteem, etc. One exercise I remember from my middle school days was called “forced choice”. I’ve seen many variations of it in the intervening years, most recently on social media. At the time, we were given a list with two columns, and we were supposed to choose one, and then discuss our choices. Beach or Mountains? Coke or Pepsi? Hot Dog or Hamburger? Then came Blind or Deaf? And that pair stopped me short. Eyes or Ears? How could I pick between two senses that I needed equally? How well can a body function without all its parts? This is the metaphor that Paul uses in this letter to the Corinthians. A church without all its diverse members can function no better than a body without all its parts. What Paul reminds us is that the church and the church family is supposed to be like a human body. Each part is supposed to work together for teaching, for encouragement, and for help. We are supposed to be so connected that we will rejoice together and hurt together. When one part or church member receives honor, the whole body and the whole church receives honor and joy. Just as your body works best when each part feels well, the church does best when we all contribute and work together too. And just like your whole body hurts when you have a bad headache or a bad toothache, the whole congregation feels bad when a member is missing or otherwise can’t be with us. The Covid pandemic continues to disrupt our private lives and our church lives and we're often missing (literally and figuratively) people who are close to us. Though we may come from different backgrounds and are different from one another, we are joined together through our baptism. Together we make one church like the parts of our body make one body. Like in my self-exploration Girl Scout activity “Forced Choice” we know that our bodies can’t function well if they are missing eyes or ears or any part, just like our church can’t function without all of us. -- Christine Conz Moll Prayer O Lord, help us to know the importance of our contribution to your church. Help us work together as one church as our parts work together as one body. Amen.
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