January 23, 2022
St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois
1 Corinthians 12:12-31; Luke 4:14-21[1]
Our bodies are amazing. We’re composed of 206 bones, 639
muscles, ligaments, arteries, veins, skin, and more. Every move we make takes
hundreds of different parts working together. Feet, hands, ears, eyes – each member
important, each needed for our functioning. We are both complex, and one, at
the same time.
We each have our role, our part to play. Denny shovels snow
and spreads salt to make our paths safe. Cindy and Sue place flowers and
displays in front of the church to show our welcome. Carolyne tracks our
finances and pays our bills. T.C. and Tetyana stir our hearts with music. Shirley
sets up the coffee and cleans up afterwards. And there are many more parts to
this body.
What makes us one, what brought us into unity as one body,
was our baptism. We approached the water, the font, the river, as an
individual. We came out of the water as part of something much more. We became
part of a new family, the family of Jesus, disciples of Christ, members of one
body, the Church.
As part of that family, we belong to one another. We pray
for one another. We bring food to each other. We break bread together. When one
of us is hurting, we all feel the pain. When one of us celebrates, we all feel
the joy. We may not be as large, as beautiful, or as capable as another body,
but we have our place, our history together, and we are a beloved member of the
family of God.
Part of keeping a body healthy is caring for it. It helps to
know that somebody out there knows you, knows what is going on with you, and
cares. It helps to know that somebody out there is praying for you. That is
what we have the church for, and that is part of the reason we are here
together today. We need care from one another, and we need to care for one
another. It is in that caring that we keep our whole body healthy.
We each have our role, the gifts and talents that we share
which contribute to the functioning of the whole. If we were all in the choir,
where would the congregation be? If we were all in the congregation, where
would the preacher be? Each of us matters, from the home-bound to the newborn,
the generous givers and those who receive our support. As one body, it is only
with all of our members and friends that we can be whole.
“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’” (1 Cor. 12:21). We
need each other, in order to be a healthy church, a healthy community, and even
a healthy democracy. We need women and men, because we think differently and
have different experiences. We need the hopes and prayers of people of color,
LGBT+ folk, people struggling to get by, as well as those of straight, white,
male, property-owners, because all of us are in this life together and none of
us knows the needs of everyone everywhere. We need the leadership and ideas of Republicans
and Democrats, holding one another accountable as we seek together to form a
more perfect union.
As a congregation that welcomes everyone, no matter where they
are on life’s journey, we won’t always agree on what to do or where to go. But
we will share the journey, suffering and rejoicing with one another, loving one
another, “striv[ing] to share our love of Christ and Christ’s message with our
community through our words and deeds, inviting all who search for God’s will
on earth to join us in worship.”[2]
Many of our relationships in life are functional or
transactional. They exist in order to work together, fulfill our needs, to
accomplish something. Those types of relationships are also temporary. The
church is different. Our relationship as part of this fellowship exists in
order to be an expression of the love of God. Love is not temporary, just as
family is not temporary. Love never ends. As part of this family, this body, we
share each other’s lives, the good and the bad. We know the love of God which
holds us together in a community of grace. We are the church, not a building,
but a body, bound together and empowered by the Holy Spirit who works in and
through all of us.
As Christians we are challenged to see all people as members
of one Body. All of us are members of the body, and we need one another in
order to live. As we go about our daily lives, let us strive to include others
in our community, to reach out to those who are different from us, and welcome
them as members of one human family, one body with many members. Amen.
[1] The
scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard
Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of
the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] From
the Mission Statement of St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois,
Constitution, Part 1, Section II.
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