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.
As we come
to the end of this series of meditations for Epiphany, based on the Prayer of
Teresa of Avila, we see that we are individually and corporately the Body of
Christ in the world.
Our gifts
and talents are the hands and feet
that move the Kingdom on down the road. Our eyes, brightened by the Light of Christ, see and bring compassion
to the world. Wherever we our feet stand
is holy ground because we are aware of God in and around us each day, therefore
we can do God’s work of good. Our hands
bring blessing because we are empowered by God to be stewards of love and
grace.
How we live
out being Christ’s body to and in the world is different for each of us. It can
be tempting to think that someone else is doing a ‘better’ job than we are or
to decide that no one is ‘doing it right’ because they aren’t doing it ‘my’
way. Paul addresses that very thought pattern in I Corinthians 12. He says, “Now there are
varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services,
but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same
God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation
of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the
utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the
same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing
by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to
another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to
another the interpretation of tongues. All these are activated by one and the
same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.” (1 Cor. 12:4-11)
In a recent
Forward Movement daily meditation, the author stated, “I read [on Facebook] a
woman’s post…a wise person once told her that what you see depends on what you
are looking for.” If we look at one another through eyes that expect to
see good then we will find it. If we seek to find fault, we will certainly be
able to complain about this or that. It’s too easy to focus on the one trait
that irritates us and start to believe that trait is the whole person (whiny,
spoiled, beautiful, intelligent, beggar, politician) …the list could go on and
on. That’s not how God sees us, though. God says, “I have called you by name, you are mine.” God sees us as the
beautiful, perfect creation we are. 
As the Body
of Christ, we might just find it helpful to change what we look for when
looking at one another and the world. God sees us as Beloved-even those we
could categorize as ‘unlovable’. There’s the old saying “God don’t make no junk”.
Another way of putting the same sentiment is from Joyce Meyer, “Every time you
look in the mirror, remember God created you and that everything he creates is
beautiful and good.” The same could be said for the way we view others in our
sphere of influence. To paraphrase; “Every time you look at someone, remember
God created him/her in love. Everything God creates is beautiful and good.”
And
when it’s difficult to do that…remember that we are all sustained by One Pair of Hands (a song by Carroll
Roberson, recently posted to Facebook, attributed to Elvis Presley. He may have
sung it, too, I don’t actually know.) If you need a good old time Gospel song
pick me up, watch this and remember we are ALL not only the
Body of Christ to the world, but we are ALL loved and upheld by His hands.
One pair of hands formed the mountains,
One pair of hands formed the sea
And one pair of hands made the sun and the moon,
Every bird, every flower, every tree
One pair of hands formed the valleys,
The ocean, the rivers and the sand
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
One pair of hands healed the sick,
One pair of hands raised the dead
One pair of hands calmed the raging storm
And thousands of people were fed
One pair of hands said I love you
And those hands were nailed to a tree
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
Put your faith into one pair of hands
One pair of hands formed the sea
And one pair of hands made the sun and the moon,
Every bird, every flower, every tree
One pair of hands formed the valleys,
The ocean, the rivers and the sand
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
One pair of hands healed the sick,
One pair of hands raised the dead
One pair of hands calmed the raging storm
And thousands of people were fed
One pair of hands said I love you
And those hands were nailed to a tree
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
Put your faith into one pair of hands
