“Christ has no body but yours,” says the first line. This brings to mind
the words of St. Paul “Now you are the body of
Christ and individually members of it” (I Corinthians 12:27). Very often the
term Body of Christ is used to refer to the Church as a whole and to individual
congregations. It is indeed that, and more. Paul says we are “individually members”, too. That is to
say, we are like cells making up the Whole.
Each
of us is important and necessary to make the Body complete. Earlier in I Corinthians 12,
(verse 14) Paul states, “Indeed, the Body does not consist of one member but of
many.” We each have a different, but integral function to play in the
completeness of the Body of Christ.
Paul continues with his analogy
in I Corinthians 12:15-21 by suggesting that it would be strange and terrible
if the hands, eyes, and feet started arguing with each other about who is most
important. I’m sure I don’t need to point out how destructive that is in real
life. In verse 24-26, Paul notes,
“God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor 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 honored, all rejoice together with it.”
If you have read Wind in the Door, part of Madeline L’Engle’s
Time Quartet, you’ll recall that it is the microscopic mitochondria which are
the core of Charles’ malaise. The tiny interior cell parts are so important
that their sickness makes the boy ill. It is only through the sacrifice of
others that he is made well (and evil averted).
This is the core of being a
healthy Body-all parts care for one another and no member takes precedence. The
hand understands that the tiny unseen cell in the big toe is just as important
as the hand himself. Conversely the little cell doesn’t consider herself less
just because she isn’t as visible as the hand. And, like in the book, the most minute
mitochondria inside it all must take responsibility and “deepen” in order for
all to be well.
What if we looked at others in
the world around us in the same way? What if we looked at the world with love
instead of competitively? What if we saw in the homeless man ranting on the
corner a bit of Christ, might it make our response different? If we knew that
the politician in power is no more important than the hungry child in Africa,
how might we live? What if we understood that, as Jesus told the disciples, “But you are
not to be like that. Instead, the greatest
among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who
serves.” (Luke
22:26)
The Body of Christ is more than
the Church. The bread and wine of Eucharist feed us the Holy food of the Body
of Christ which empowers us to live more fully as the Body of Christ in our
place in the world. We may never do a mission trip to Africa or Calcutta, but
we might be just the word of hope or smile of greeting a hurting neighbor or
stranger needs. The Body of Christ is each of us in the world, too. “Christ has
no body now but yours” say Teresa. What we do and how we act presents Christ to
the world. Awesome power and not to be taken lightly… Over the next few weeks,
we’ll explore how we can perhaps be hands and feet of Christ in the world in
2014.
Christ
has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
