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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

October 13, 2023

Invitatory

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Reading - 1 Corinthians 12: 12-26

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. 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. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it."

Meditation - Winnie Smith

One of the things people seem to love about church is the community it provides. I have heard that here at the Redeemer, but also at every other parish to which I have been connected. People love feeling known and cared for by a group of people. Even better if they’re people who share some of the same beliefs. Better, still, if they’re people who pay attention when something in one’s life goes wrong, like an illness or a death. A church community is a wonderful thing.

Paul’s description of all Christ’s church - the universal assembly of Christians - encourages concord. It uses imagery of parts of the body making up a whole, which is a great illustration of what community can feel like. Reading this portion from Paul’s letter this week, I thought about the communal nature of worship. Being community through hardships and challenges is important. But being a community in and of worship is important, too. I have heard Peter make the comment several times, “you don’t know whose life you’re saving by being here [at church].” Worship is inherently a communal event. Liturgy (the form of our public worship of God) comes from the Greek word leitourgia. Often translated to “work of the people,” leitourgia might more accurately have its roots in public service or public duty. The focus of liturgy is on the people, and it is known to be shared work among the people. So when someone comes to worship at church, to take part in the liturgy, they are doing work for, of, and with other people. The verbal responses, the prayers, the presence of us all as we break bread and remember Jesus’s sacrifice: each of these things depends on the participation of the assembly, and they all help us recognize God in and among us. Hence Peter’s suggestion that one’s very presence can be life-changing - life-giving - to others. It allows our worship to happen, allows us to - as a collective body - be reminded each week of God’s incredible gift of life, grace, and mercy given freely to us all.

Try rereading Paul’s letter, but instead of different body parts, insert the names of different parishioners, or maybe the roles they occupy. If the choir member would say, ‘Because I am not a lector, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make him any less a part of the body. And if Suzanne would say, ‘because I am not on the Vestry, I do not belong to the church,’ that would not make her any less a part of the body.” The text still holds true! Each one of us, in whatever role we inhabit - be it a liturgical leader, the biggest pledger, or someone who comes to church once or twice a year - we all make up The Redeemer body and the church body, generally. So thank you for being here and being part of this community. You don’t know whose life you’re changing or saving.

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.