Sometimes the scripture we hear on a Sunday morning ends up hitting a little closer to home that usual. Our world is fraught with division at the moment and the divide seems to be growing at an unstoppable rate. We know this scripture. We quote it offhandedly to remind folk of how important they are to our community of faith, how everyone has a role -big or small- in the life and work of Christ’s community. We giggle at the idea of “if there was no nose, how would the body smell?” But there is a deep, challenging piece of truth at the heart of what Paul is writing to the church in Corinth and that reverberates into our own time and place… in order to live into God’s call for us in the world we need to embrace the diversity inherent in our communities both secular and religious in order act as one.
Corinth was a bustling, multicultural city in ancient Greece. It was thriving and growing but it struggled, just like any quickly growing city. The newly created Corinthian church to which Paul was writing was a reflection of the city’s diversity. Within the community of faith was a variety of social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. As a church it started off strong but now is struggling to maintain cohesion and ministry. This amazing diversity was beginning to shift from strength to weakness as divisions within the community began to rise.
And the reason for the strongly written admonishment to the church: factions aligning themselves with different leaders – Paul, Apollos, Cephas or Christ; falsely created hierarchies of power based on spiritual gifts or roles in the church; economic inequalities with the wealthier members taking power and marginalizing the poor; among others. These are divisions that diminish the other, that tell a member of Christ’s body that they are less important, less valuable, less connected… not needed. And Paul despaired over this. For a people who followed a man who sought to break down divisions that pushed people out and to the side, they were doing a very bad job of living out his example.
There are divisions all over our world and church – Bombers/Riders, cilantro/no cilantro, paper plates/china, Voices United/More Voices, United/ Apostolic, liberal/conservative… this diversity in thinking and being help us shape our sense of identity as individuals. These differences in politics, loyalty, tastes, opinions set us apart from one another and quite honestly, as long as no one is getting hurt or excluded because of them, can make life quite interesting. But in the case of what Paul is dealing with, we are seeing more than just differences in thought, what we are witnessing through all of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians is division more serious than political lines and football teams. And Paul is having none of it. “The body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” Each member of the Corinthian church was uniquely made and gifted, and an important part of the whole.
This sense of interdependence and connection that Paul was writing about was as counter cultural then as it is now. So often we are told that it is the individual that matters, do what’s best for you and move one. But this kind of individualism, this exclusionary mindset is what drives division. In a community of faith, it is not “each to their own”, it is “we’re in this together.” Each of us, no matter where we find ourselves in life, from the highest paid CEO to the youngest child is vital to the body of Christ, to our community of faith, to our world.
Earlier this week, the prophetic voice of the Right Rev Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, broke out into the world and has called our attention yet again to the idea of unity as benefit for the whole. Her words might have offended and been written off by those who didn’t, will not hear her truth, but they tie right in with what Paul was trying so hard to explain to the Corinthians. Our unity does not erase our diversity but is enriched by them. The Church, the world needs the varied gifts and perspectives of others.
Hear these prophetic words of truth from the Right Rev Budde: “…unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us, in our communities and in the halls of power, to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree.” The foot does not say to the ear… I don’t like where you come from, we don’t need you anymore. The diversity of humanity brings richness and challenge… and it is not our place to cut off that difference, but to engage it.
She continues: “Is true unity among us even possible? And why should we care about it? Well, I hope that we care, because the culture of contempt that has become normalized in our country threatens to destroy us….”
Paul writes: “But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.” Community based on the idea that each of its members has value, worth and love equal to all the other members. It almost feels too good to be true as we watch the world spin sideways. But here again, I lean into the words of Bishop Edgar Budde who says: “What are the foundations of unity? Drawing from our sacred traditions and texts, let me suggest that there are at least three. The first foundation for unity is honouring the inherent dignity of every human being, which is, as all faiths represented here affirm, the birthright of all people as children of the One God.” Where there are differences we honour this inherent dignity by refusing to the mock, discount, or demonize the other, instead look to finding common ground, and if none is found then hold to our convictions without contempt for those who hold convictions of their own.
“A second foundation for unity is honesty in both private conversation and public discourse. If we aren’t willing to be honest, there is no use in praying for unity, because our actions work against the prayers themselves.”
“A third foundation for unity is humility, which we all need, because we are all fallible human beings. We make mistakes. We have our blind spots…and are perhaps the most dangerous to ourselves and others when we are persuaded, without a doubt, that we are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong.” Humility keeps us from labeling ourselves as the good people versus being the bad people and keeps us from perpetuating the “us and them” mindset.
I want you to let Bishop Edgar Budde’s words seep into your souls, let them roll around in your mind, let them dance around in your heart. Never ever will I ask you to all be the same in heart and mind – gah, that would be boring… Instead I ask that you take time to ponder what it means to be an interconnected, interdependent community and world where people are recognized as important and vital parts of the whole. I pray that we can hear and be inspired by Paul’s written word and Bishop Edgar Budde’s spoken word and rise to the calling offered by each. Do not lose heart, my siblings and friends in faith, each act of community, each word spoken in love, each hand reaching out to the other is an act of resistance, an act of community, a way of keeping the body together. May we celebrate our beautiful diversity as we care for one another with radical dignity, honesty, and humility, and as we work tirelessly for the flourishing of all.
Amen.
