April 3, 2014

The Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26

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 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. 16 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. 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 honourable we clothe with greater honour, 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 honour 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 honoured, all rejoice together with it.

Questions for Reflection

A priest that served at my first church had a slightly off-color joke about this passage, but it makes a serious point, so I’m going to repeat it here.  If you are offended by profanity, you might want to skip the rest of today’s question.  The priest picked up on the idea of the “less honorable” parts of the body still being necessary and in fact being "honored" by being covered by more clothing.  He said, “The body of Christ needs an ass just as much as it needs any other part, so keep that in mind next time you get mad at your fellow church member (or priest)!”  Yes, it’s crude.  But think about it: don’t we all need each other even – maybe especially – when we disagree or when one of us is making an ass of ourselves?  It’s not when things are going well that we need to be reminded that we are all one body!  Have you ever learned from someone whom you originally thought was one of those “less honorable” parts of the body of Christ?  Have you ever come to realize that such a person is as much a beloved child of God as you are?  Or, have you ever come to realize (in hindsight) that you were acting like a “less honorable” part of the body – maybe due to stress or anger or sadness – and were glad your church family loved you anyway?

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