Morning Devotion for the Season of Eastertide
June 1, 2022
Invitatory
On this day the Lord has acted; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.
Alleluia. The Lord is risen indeed: Come let us adore him.
Reading: Ephesians 4:11-16
And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.
Meditation – Peter Vanderveen
When Paul spoke about the “body of Christ” to what or to whom was he referring? This isn’t an idle question. It’s the lynchpin for all that follows in Paul’s exposition of the promise of God.
The usual assumption is that “the body of Christ” refers to the church, whether as an institution or as a community of believers. Certainly the language of apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors can seem to be entirely specific to organized religion - a jargon of belonging that is rarely, if ever, used in other contexts. When it is understood in this way, however, “the body of Christ” can quickly become a divisive tool. Those who associate with the church may claim that they have attained a special status, apart from and above those who are still too deeply involved in the cunning and deceit that is so rampant outside the borders of belief. Belonging becomes self-congratulatory, marking the distinction of God’s favor for some over against others. And the church then defines itself chiefly in an exclusionary way, as people who know better and who, along with others of like conviction, re-order their world in such a way that they will receive the reward of the chosen few.
A consequence of this interpretation is that the church can be easily perceived as a kind of club, complete with its own distinctive and idiosyncratic rites and practices known only to privileged insiders. And these, being strange to outsiders, make them feel like strangers if they visit – for they are not part of the “the body of Christ” until they learn the secret codes of belief. This is a major obstacle to inviting others to come to worship: there’s an implicit suspicion that in some way they do not belong.
But what if “the body of Christ” refers, principally, not to the subset of the church or believers but to all who are, by their very nature, involved in the great drama of the cosmos. What if we could shake ourselves loose from the idea that this is essentially an exclusionary description and, instead, look on everyone as already a part of the body. There would, then, be no inside and outside, but rather the constant engagement of us all to choose truth instead of deceit and love instead of cunning. If Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, and the one through whom all things were created and all will be redeemed, then “the body of Christ” doesn’t refer to some small, parochial group but to the incomprehensibly vast work of all creatures within creation to find a way to cohere, where each can be a benefit to all. Read with this understanding, Paul’s vision is magisterial and majestic – something we’d hope would inspire everyone.
And wouldn’t we want, then, to invite everyone to share in this with us.
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.
