“You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you’re still one body. It’s exactly the same with Christ. The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this.” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 26-27 from “The Message”
I read this passage today right after reading about the continued spread of COVID-19 and it made me think about us, the human race. Disease is and always has been a great equalizer. It cares nothing about social status, money, race, religion, ethnicity. It ignores walls and barriers. It goes wherever it wants regardless of our own posturing and puffery.
This passage from 1 Corinthians is a reminder that we are all part of one body, Christ’s body, His church. If we turn our backs to one part, a hand or a foot that is injured, the whole body is at risk. Such it is today with this dangerous disease.
When I was in Liberia fighting the Ebola epidemic, we could never ignore a case, not a single case because if we did, then we knew the disease would spread. We could never turn our backs to anyone in need. It was hard work, dangerous work but in the end, we defeated the enemy not through anger, but through love and sacrifice. If your neighbor is sick, find a way to bring them sustanance be it food, a phone call of encouragement, or dropping off a book for them to read. Yes, stay safe and pray but also love.
West Springfield United Methodist Church 