Sometimes… a little story, like the ones I used to read to my children, can speak more wisdom than a thousand philosophical tomes. And so, I’d like to tell you a story…
There once was a town called Archy. It was a sweet little town full of good folk who had a bartering system. The barber cut the farmer’s hair and the farmer dropped off produce at the general store and the general store clerk also got her hair cut and ordered all the supplies for the town – which she distributed to everyone in the town and the little man who lived on the edge of town cleaned the whole town every day. It was a small town but everyone got what they needed. Until…a couple moved to town – Ms. Head and Mr Shoulders. Ms. Head said, “I’ve got the biggest head and so I should be in charge – and you should pay me double for all of my headwork.” Mr. Shoulders loudly agreed and then said… “And I have the strongest shoulders so I shall be your deputy – for the shoulders support the head… and so should we all. It was true that Ms Head DID have the biggest head and Mr. Shoulders did have amazingly large shoulders. And so the people agreed.
But instead of contributing to the tasks of the town, Mr. and Mrs Head and Shoulders simply made up rules. They changed the name of the town to HierArchy because they thought it sounded better… and they assigned seats in all of the public places, including the church, and took the best seats – the “hier” seats for themselves. Instead of asking people what they needed as the clerk had always done, they assigned rations to all the people in a “top down” manner, first the farmer, Mr. Armstead, and then the clerk, Ms. Hand and then finally, they told the little man, Mr. Toe, who cleaned the town and delivered flowers, that his job was really not important and so his ration was the smallest.
As you can imagine, the town of Hierarchy didn’t work so well anymore. Mr. Toe didn’t have time to clean the town because his ration wasn’t enough for his family and so he had to try to grow his own food instead of flowers. No one was picking up the garbage. The farmer didn’t come into town anymore because he couldn’t get what he needed and the barber started to see his business fail. They were in trouble.
But they were not unusual. In Paul’s day, the world was run in a very hierarchal manner in which competition, not cooperation was the norm. Caesar came first and everyone else got less. Like the town of “Hier-archy,” the rulers selfishly took the best for themselves – and the workers had to scrounge to make ends meet.
But when Paul writes to the Corinthians, he wants them to envision a different kind of world. Because Paul believed that both they and the world had changed. The identity of all who were baptized in Christ Jesus is no longer the same. The baptized have been given a new name, the name of Christ is marked on their forehead and on their chest. No longer were those who are baptized to see one person as higher or greater than another. Instead, everyone, those in leadership, those charged with security, everyone in the trades, all who cared for children and everyone who cleaned the town, who shoveled the walks, who did the jobs that no one else wanted to do —were all united as one in Christ Jesus. And not only were they united, but they are of equal value -regardless of what skills they had, where they were from, how much money or resources they had or who they were.
To illustrate this, Paul points to the human body as a metaphor for Christ’s body. In the human body, the eye belongs to the body just as much as does the ear and the hand and the foot. They are not the same - each one has a distinct and valuable role in providing for the wellbeing of the whole body – but they work together for the good of the whole. In the same way, the members of Christ’s body are to work together, each offering the gifts that God has given them, for the sake of the body of Christ.
I love this image. However, unlike the parts of the body in which the eyes and ears each has a specific function, God has given us, as Christ’s body, many talents and gifts to share in a variety of ways. For example, when I first became the solo pastor here, Don Schmidt came up to me one day to talk about some property concern. It may have been about a wall he thought needed painting or fixing. Don was an excellent painter. He made his case about what he wanted to do. I looked at him and said, “Great!” Don smiled but kept looking at me… as if he was waiting for something. Finally, I asked, “Is there something that you need?” He said, “Well… Pastor Bob usually had all sorts of ideas about the property, and we would have to debate a little bit about how we were going to get something done.” I said, “Ah yes, Bob had that gift too. But I don’t. So just let me know what it is that you want to do so that I can make sure we have the resources to do the job -- and so I can cheer you on! Pastor Bob and I share some gifts – and are very different in others.
Here at Faith-Lilac Way, I see people who are all a part of the body of Christ, filled with many and varied gifts and talents to share. Some sing, others knit or crochet prayer shawls, send cards, shovel the walks, give financially, clean the church, paint beautiful paintings or walls, serve on the council, pray for the children, record the service, bring meals to families and serve Christ in this place and outside our doors. I see many gifts offered up to God… and this is good and then I see the gifts of the people in the other Wildfire churches, in the Synod, the ELCA, the world council of churches…and the gifts of people in other denominations, like Greater St. John Missionary Baptist, and people of God all over the world.
God gave us, and ALL our brothers and sisters in Christ, many gifts to share. The problem comes when we, or someone else, like Ms. Head and Mr. Shoulders, try to rank the gifts or value one as greater than another. Is it better to be a preacher than a teacher? Is it better to be a doctor than a janitor? Those are the wrong questions. God gave all of the gifts and talents. Instead, the question needs to be, how can you use your gifts to give glory to God and to care for your brothers and sisters in Christ?
We, as humans, are very good at finding differences. We are very good at seeing which “one of these things is not like the other.” Paul writes that the old way of looking for differences doesn’t work anymore.
For we are all one in Christ – whether we are Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – Chinese or Americans, white or black, male or female, gay or straight, because we are all baptized into Christ, by the one Spirit, the Spirit of the living God. We are all one body AND God has blessed us with different gifts which are all needed. We are good at finding differences – but we aren’t so good at valuing differences. Too often, we seek uniformity instead of appreciating and giving thanks for the variety of people and gifts that are part of the body of Christ.
Paul reminds us that just as the human body needs all the parts of the body – the head cannot function without the lungs or the rest of the body – so too, the body of Christ is dependent upon all its parts. Likewise, just as the whole human body suffers when an eye is hurt or you get a headache or an ear or toothache, so Christ’s body suffers if one person suffers… or is cut off. Paul writes, “there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”
This is the message that we as Christians need to share with the world. We are one in Christ with ALL of our brothers and sisters in Christ and we are bound to one another by Christ’s flesh and blood. No longer are we simply individuals who are concerned simply with our own business. Instead, since we are bound to our neighbor by Christ, (even if we disagree with him or her), when our neighbor suffers – we all suffer.
This means that not only are we to pray for our neighbor but also remember that our actions affect our brother and sister in Christ who are next door and those who around the world. When the coronavirus mutates in Africa, China or Iowa or North Dakota, it will not be long before it is here… infecting you or the ones you love. This means we have a responsibility to care for them as well as ourselves and our own.
God has given you many gifts and talents. And God wants you to use them both to give glory to God and to love and care for all of God’s children, our brothers and sisters in Christ. For, despite all the differences that threaten to distract and divide us, we are One in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thanks be to God. Amen.
January 23, 2022 Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane