“A More Excellent Way”
1 Corinthians 12:12-31 & Luke 4:14-21~ Rev. Gabrielle Suedfeld~ Northwood UC January 23, 2022
There is an old Roman folk tale, which was probably familiar to Paul, about the revolt of the body against the stomach. The members of the body decided that they had to work too hard, while the stomach lived in luxury. So, they did what any sensible United Church congregation would do today: they formed a committee to address the problem. The eyes agreed not to look at food, and the hands said that if the eyes slipped up, they would not bring the food to the mouth. The mouth agreed to keep shut, and if this failed, the tongue would not taste, the teeth would not chew, and as a last precaution, the throat would not swallow. The stomach was under a boycott. This may well be the world’s first diet plan, but I don’t recommend it. The outcome was that the whole body started to weaken. A good lesson for all of us.
Paul uses the images in this story to lure his readers into a discussion of cooperation among the members of the fledgling community in Corinth. Apparently, after Paul had set up the congregation and gone off to do other work for the Lord, there were problems in leadership, behaviour and religious observance. They didn’t have The United Church Manual to confuse them, they had to invent problems all on their own. They seem to have written a number of letters to Paul, asking for advice and spiritual guidance, and he answered them. We don’t have the questions from the Corinthians, we only have a bunch of short, very profound theological musings from Paul, now all jumbled together in two letters.
We need to remember that in the ancient world, communication was very different. No phones, fax, email, text messages. Just vellum, papyrus and homemade ink. It took a long time for a letter to arrive, if it even reached its destination. Writing materials were expensive, letters would be copied by hand to send to other communities, and if there was a blank space left at the end of the writing material, someone might add a few words of personal opinion, or part of another letter, to fill up the space so that nothing was wasted. What we may have in the Corinthian correspondence is a combination of notes, repeats of Paul’s writings, and additions by scribes - “I just know Paul would have included this if he had thought of it at the time”. Bits and pieces of letters might have gotten torn off, and we will never know what’s missing, because we haven’t got it.
And yet, among the confusion, Paul manages to leave us a legacy of wisdom that still applies to our own situation and time. These two letters are worth keeping and reading, over and over. They are so pertinent even today, that they may astonish us. I have used them in Bible studies, and the reaction is often “wow! This is us!” Today’s passage is the middle of three that appear in the lectionary on three succeeding weeks, and it’s worth your time to read chapters 12 and 13 of the first letter to see how they connect. Paul wrestles with the problem of how we can honour differences, celebrate our common characteristics and be, at the same time, one and many. Yes, it’s a little like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy all at once.
In last week’s reading, Paul talked about the varieties of spiritual gifts that are found in every congregation. He is lead to the conclusion that all are needed, all are bound together by the same Spirit. Today’s passage brings us from the spiritual to the physical, and completes his message that we must accept diversity and form an interdependent organism, whether it is our personal body, our family, our church, our world, or the entire universe of God’s creation. Now, we are well acquainted with our bodies, it’s something we know about. There are many parts, with complementary functions. We care for them; they can be a source or pride or embarrassment, of celebration or frustration.
Because Paul loves to make lists, he takes delight in roaming around our physical forms, and reminding his readers that we need to make use of, and respect, every part of ourselves. Of course, he’s using this as an illustration for what is going on in the church at Corinth. There is fighting among the Corinthians, for power, position, who will do what, who will clean up, who will preach, teach, prophesy; who’s better, richer, more deserving, right or wrong, in or out. Nothing has changed, we are still the same today. And while we may chuckle at the design of his argument, we must also take it very seriously. We need to ask ourselves: “what part am I, what part do I want to be, what part do I need to be, of this church, this family of God?” Am I the hands, doing what is needed? Am I the feet, going where I can do good? Am I the voice, proclaiming God’s truth or singing in praise? Am I the eyes, seeing where there is a problem? Am I the ears, listening with compassion and understanding? Am I the heart, offering love?
Paul’s intent is that we realize that every body, every family, every church, every part of our world, needs all these things and more. He also recognizes that our variety of gifts can lead to divisions among us. But what would we be if we were all the same? Paul calls for the church to be something better, something richer, something that is perhaps new and exciting, challenging and risky, scary and joyful, all at the same time. He calls for a celebration of diversity, and demands that we recognize each person as special and valuable to the community. He reminds us that we need to have equal respect for each member of this sacred body, and in today’s world, we sometimes have to struggle to remember that. Rich and poor, male, female, transgender, gay and straight, people of different heritage and national origin, citizens and immigrants, the homeless, the addicts, people with physical and mental challenges, all have a place in God’s great plan. The health of the body means that those in need, those who are different from the majority, must be treated with special care and given equal respect. That is a vision of the Kingdom, that is what strengthens us, unifies us so that we can do the important work that God has set out for us.
But in our world today, it seems as though many are going off in their own direction, not making any attempt to be part of the whole. There is so much division and dissention that we are like an orchestra where each person wants to play a different tune, and there are constant arguments. Think of what it would be like if all the members of a musical group started to play a different song. I wouldn’t buy a ticket to that concert! And what if they began to fight, using their instruments? If the violin player hit someone over the head with their instrument, not only would that person have a headache, but the violin would be ruined forever. No one wins in a situation like that. We have hard working people trying to bring the world back to a state of health, and others are pushing against their efforts, out of fear, greed, or even an attempt to exercise personal freedom of choice. We have turned a serious pandemic into a competition for which province is doing a better job, which country can produce the best vaccine, and which group of people should get the most. We waste a lot of time playing the blame game – “whose fault is it?” - instead of working together to find a solution.
We all want to win – but everyone will lose something if we continue to separate ourselves from the whole. In so many areas of life, we have turned to political gain or military might instead of justice and concern for the whole of humanity and indeed of creation itself. We seem to be concentrating on power and control, instead of cooperation. The body is starving, the music is being silenced. On Friday, as I watched the news, I thought to myself: “I don’t want to live in this world!” A world in which there are places always on the brink of war, where children shoot other children, where we sometimes seem to be going backwards in women’s rights, where democracy is frayed at the edges. It is a world that seems to be increasingly polarized, where walls instead of bridges are being built, and yet - there is God - calling us to take a leap of faith and share our gifts and our love. We’re all in this together, and we are stronger because of it.
Last Tuesday began the yearly celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and as we come to the end of this time of study ad contemplation, let’s expand the concept - just this once - to a time of prayer for world unity, for celebrating God’s gifts of diversity not only in faith, but in physical abilities, in social and economic status; offering and sharing our very best so that we can respect and encourage all life and hold it as sacred. Every time we read a passage, or hear it, or study it, we review the ways in which it touched us before, and when you hear something over and over, new ideas come to the surface. That’s what makes Scripture a living word. It changes and grows as we do.
This week, maybe you would also like to reflect on how this passage opens up “the more excellent way” for you. Read it over a few times, and see what new approaches you find. Last time I preached here, I remembered a great leader who spent his life working for peace – Bishop Desmond Tutu. Yesterday, the world learned of the death of another leader – Thich Nhat Thanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, who protested the civil war in Vietnam in the 1960s and worked for peace. He went on to write and inspire people of all faiths to consider the principle of mindfulness,- being in the moment in a state of peace -, to see suffering as a way to grow in understanding, to celebrate what we have right now as a gift.
Two of the little sayings that I like are: Because of your smile you make life more beautiful; Walk as though you are kissing the earth with your feet; But the one that is especially relevant today is: The roots of a lasting relationship are: Mindfulness, Deep listening, Loving speech, And a strong community to support you.
Didn’t we just hear Paul saying much the same thing? We know that we have to work together, we know that we are equal in God’s sight, we know that we need to be accepting of others who are different. There is a power in Paul’s letter, and in the corresponding message in the words of a contemporary Buddhist monk that could change how you fit into life. There are unrecognized, unused gifts in all of us that can lead us to compassion in suffering, and joy in healing. May we practice the wisdom of the ages as we go forward into a more excellent way.
Amen.