We are all part of the body and we are all valued and needed.
In townships whenever there is a funeral, a red flag is posted by the gate to notify the people on the passing on of their beloved, and whenever there is a wedding a white flag is flown on the gate and all people within the area will come to either comfort or support. Men will be chopping firewood or digging the grave whilst women will be cooking and singing, whilst the elderly sit on their mats sipping coffee, strengthening the bereaved or blessing those who are to get married. All people have a role to play, they are so important such that no one feels left out.The text for today emphasizes the idea that the church is made up of many parts as the human body which is comprised of many parts. When a part is missing, the body has to work hard to try and compensate for the missing part. Paul emphasizes the idea that all parts of the body are valued and needed because they make the body complete and healthy.
In the book of Ephesians 4:3-4 there is a call to "keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit-just as you were called to one hope..." Yet here we read how Paul reminds the church of Corinth that the foot cannot say "I'm not an eye so I do not belong to the body." This is a problem in the church today because many people have been neglected in the church because they do not belong to a certain race or tribe, class or they don't have critical skills that are spectacular like others.
However, today we are encouraged to remember that as God arranged all parts of the body and so has he arranged for us to have these differences. The reasons for those differences are not clear but what must make us value and need each other is the fact that as the body has many parts, those parts are valued, so must we value each other. As the parts make the body complete, so our differences complete us, because in our differences God makes the church complete and enables us to fulfill our mission.
| Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (1Corinthians12:14-20) |
[I am Pascal Sibanda, father to Musa, husband to Sandisiwe and a minister at Ntabazinduna UPCSA under the care and guidance of the Presbytery of Zimbabwe.]
