“You Belong”

Scripture – 1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. Gregory Knox Jones

Sunday, January 26, 2025

A colleague shares a story about her mother who taught fourth grade in a Texas public school. There was a little redheaded girl who had a slight build and was very shy. It was during a cold spell – not unlike what we’re having today – when this incident happened.

Every single day – even on the winter days – the little girl wore the same pair of pink stretch pants to school. Her pants were worn too thin, and full of holes. It was 30 degrees, and she was still wearing the same pair of pants she wore in warm weather. She hoped no one would notice.

However, it was impossible not to notice. The teacher noticed, as did some of the other students. Two boys in particular, boys dressed in nice coats with warm pants and shoes, took a lot of interest in what that little girl wore. They teased and teased – under their breath so the teacher could not hear – but loud enough so the girl and the other kids sitting around her could hear. After a few days of this teasing, it finally became too much, and the little girl began to cry. The teacher saw her tears from across the room and did not know the problem until she heard the little girl exclaim, “But I wash them every night.” Those words broke the teacher’s heart, and she quickly intervened, putting an end to the teasing.

Later that day, when everyone else went to another class, the teacher held the two boys back. She wanted to talk. She kept her righteous anger under control, even though bullying pushed her buttons. She had little patience for that kind of meanness. The boys knew that the teacher’s husband was a minister and occasionally they talked to her about their own churches. Since she knew they belonged to a church, she asked, “You boys, go to church, right?”

They said, “Yes.”
“Do you think this is how God wants you to act?”
“No,” they said.
“Do you really think your classmate wants to wear the same pair of pants to school every single day?”
“No.”

The boys then wrote a letter of apology to the girl. And after school, the teacher went to a store and purchased three new outfits, along with a coat, to replace those pink pants.¹

The Apostle Paul wrote, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

Today’s scripture reading may be one you have heard many times, and how perfect that it is the New Testament lectionary reading on the day of our Annual Meeting. I should also point out that it is a mere coincidence that on the day the Eagles are playing for the National Conference Championship that the liturgical color is green!

Paul presents an easy-to-grasp metaphor to describe the church. He says that a faith community is like a human body. The body is comprised of arms and legs, eyes and ears, hands and feet. Each part is different and carries out a different function, yet it is all connected as one and the various parts act in tune with each other. Similarly, a spiritual community is composed of people with different gifts and who perform different functions.

Paul was so sold on this notion of the church being similar to a human body, that he also used this same analogy when he wrote to congregations in Rome, Colossae, and Ephesus. He wanted that image to be emblazoned on their brains.

One of the beauties of Paul’s image is that a body has multiple parts that are all connected. A body cannot function if it is only comprised of one element. If a body is only eyes, it is a distortion. The eyes depend on the ears for hearing, on the legs for moving, and on the hands for working. The not too subtle point is that we need each other. Life is imbalanced in isolation.

Despite the fact that some are introverts and need time away from people, Homo sapiens cannot flourish in solitude. We need people-time because we have an internal desire to belong. If we are cut off from others, it not only wounds our psyche, over time it warps our character.

Priest and poet, John O’Donohue points out that “The pain of being rejected confirms the intensity of our longing to belong. In a soul-sense we cannot be fully ourselves without others. In order to be, we need to be with. There is something incomplete in purely individual existence. Being together with others completes something within us.”²

However, the church is not simply one more community organization where people can form friendships. It is also where we learn from the wisdom of Scripture what makes life beautiful and rewarding.

Our society has undergone a slow, but steady shift from supporting spiritual values to rivaling them. In our secular culture, acquiring overshadows giving, being entertained precludes searching for wisdom, seeking pleasure surpasses service to others, fluff dominates depth, boasting sidelines humility, and angling for power shouts down striving for the common good.

We would toss in the towel and admit that secularism has scored a convincing victory, except that we have tried its answers and found them empty. Human beings long for a purpose greater than simply earning a living. Having the most toys in the neighborhood does not quench our hunger for something more substantial. Arrogance alienates, humility attracts. The church reminds us what is right and true and good.

It is important to note that when Paul compares the members of a congregation to a human body, he makes it clear that each part is vital. No part of the body can say to another part: “I have no need of you.”

Paul insisted that each person in the body of Christ recognizes that they belong. You cannot say, “Because I am old and cannot do what I used to do, I no longer belong to the body.” You cannot say, “Because I am single, I do not belong.” You cannot say, “Because I am a person of color, I do not belong.” You cannot say, “Because I am not heterosexual, I do not belong.” You cannot say, “Because I am a conservative or a progressive or a moderate, I do not belong.” You cannot say, “Because I have little income, I do not belong.” You cannot say, “Because I struggle with mental illness, I do not belong.” Everyone here belongs to the body of Christ, because without you, this body cannot function the way that God intends.

To drive home his basic point that in the body of Christ, I need you and you need me, he writes that we are to “care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

Pastor and author Susan Sparks went snowmobiling with her husband. They went snowmobiling in Norway 750 miles above the Arctic Circle. At one point in their adventure, the guide asked everyone to cut their engines. It was only four in the afternoon, but they were surrounded by a darkness so absolute and unforgiving that they couldn’t even see the handlebars on their snowmobiles. It was frightening. After a moment, the guide said, “Welcome to the darkness that we live with 24 hours a day for two solid months in the winter.”

At another point in their expedition, the guide pointed out the lights of a tiny town on the fjord below. He explained that years ago when the farms were miles apart, people would keep a candle burning in the window during the dark winter months to show their neighbors that all was well. If someone fell ill or ran short of food or needed help in any way, the candle would be blown out to signal that the farm was in crisis and needed aid.

For this simple but powerful system to work, two things had to happen: the people in crisis had to be willing to ask for help, and the neighbors had to keep watch for each other’s lights. Asking for help is an act of power, not weakness, and giving help is our holy duty.³

That’s why our church has committees, teams, task forces, Elders, Deacons, Trustees, staff, choirs, Stephen Ministers, and more. They provide us with opportunities to feed, teach, serve, inspire, pray, visit, and support.

When you became a part of Westminster, you committed to a spiritual adventure with fellow travelers. Each of us belongs to this incredibly unique body of Christ and each of us is essential to its vitality.

NOTES

1. Shannon J. Kershner, “Here on Purpose,” January 24, 2016.
2. John O’Donohue, Eternal Echoes, (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002), p.258.
3. Susan Sparks, “When the Light Goes Out,” Day1.org, May 22, 2024.