Based on 1 Corinthians 12:12-26
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 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 stop being part of the body. 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? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honourable we treat with special honour. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honour to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.
We are all part of the body of Christ and we are all mutually dependent upon each other. Our current circumstances continually draw our attention to this fact, by the way in which society operates. Our dependence, in the main, upon low income, often highly skilled workers. Most of our ‘essential workers’ fall into this category. Their work is often unseen, unglamorous and poorly paid. The very fabric of society would soon fragment without careers of all descriptions; refuge collectors, sewage workers and coffin bearers, to name but a few.
Our interdependency as Christians, has also become more apparent. Please know, as Paul would remind you in today’s reading, that you are all part of the body of Christ. You and you alone have a unique contribution to make in this time of pandemic.
If your gift is to set aside time to Pray on a daily basis, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If your gift is to really listen to the needs of others, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If your gift is to phone others up and offer words of encouragement, continue to do so the body of Christ.
If your gift is to write letters, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If your gift is to lead worship, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If you gift is to lead Bible Study groups, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If you gift is to encourage others, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If your gift is to give others items you have taken time to draw or make, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If your gift is to post online encouragement, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If your gift is to draw the attention of others to all these essential gifts, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
If your gift is to be honest about your struggles and vulnerability and so encourage others in their need, continue to do so as the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is made up of you all, without you we are incomplete.
A Prayer
Thank you God, for each other, for each person’s unique skills and gifts. May all who are struggling with feelings of loss of role and identity know their supreme worth and value in you and May they recognise their truly unique contribution. Teach us, we pray, to learn from our vulnerability and to do that which is hardest to do, to offer you our weaknesses and our struggles. Teach us, to ever affirm each other, as members of the Body of Christ. May we truly see the worth and value of all and know that we have so much to learn from those who often feel they have no voice.
Amen.