0526 CARING FOR THE WEAKEST

CARING FOR THE WEAKEST

 

Do you ever find yourself rooting for the underdog? Do you know any good stories where the person who defies the odds ends up winning in the end? Is it because what others had regarded as a weakness turned out to be a strength when the character used that weaker power wisely?

 

Likewise, most of us tend to have a special reaction to a tragic event when it involves young children, as opposed to a public venue for the general public. In recent years, our society has learned to think more compassionately about those who used to be called crippled or lame or retarded. Now we say that they have special needs, or that they are paraplegic, or have developmental delays. A generation ago, some demographic groups were singled out for ridicule, and people laughed about them (blondes, Pollacks, drunkards, etc.). Today, such jokes come across as insensitive and mean, rather than funny. But they were always mean.

 

Why do I bring up all of this? Because this is how the church should be acting all the time. Watching out for the very young and the very old, giving to the poor and the sick among us. Caring for widows and orphans, and in general letting women and children go first. We show love when the protect and defend the most vulnerable among us. These are the points that Paul brings up with the Corinthians. 

 

But the way that Paul introduces compassion in the church may be confusing to you, as it was to me. Then I read 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and I experienced a new way of viewing what Paul says.

 

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

 

A body needs different parts in order to function as a body. Eyes and ears and mouth and nose, head and shoulders, knees and toes (knees and toes). You might think that the toes are unimportant, but if you try to squat and get back up again without losing your balance, you’ll see how essential toes are.

 

It’s like that with a family, too, isn’t it? Each person finds and fills a certain niche that keeps the family running right. Someone keeps everyone laughing. Someone is the organized one, or the dreamer, or the decision maker. Someone earns the money, and someone fixes the toaster. Someone takes care of the pet, and someone makes the appointments with the doctor. All of these things need to be done, but no one person has all those gifts. What is your role in your family? What do you think? Would the other family members agree with you?

 

All of us live in Christ together

None of us alone is complete

Each of us brings a gift to the others

Each of us carries a piece

All of us need all of us

The best of us needs the rest of us

No, none of us has it all together

But together we have all we need

 

Now let me comment briefly on what Paul says about the functions of the church as a body:

 

“On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. 

 

Many churches have children’s ministry or outreach programs for addicts, food pantries for the poor and sign language for the hearing impaired. These are right priorities for a church, because those who are young and those who are overwhelmed do not have equal access, and those who are hungry and sick are not ready to find deeper fulfillment in nurturing their souls when there is a physical need in the way.

 

And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. 

 

This is the part that touches me the most, if I can find a way to describe it. We have parts of our bodies that we cover up, because they are not “presentable.” To be sure, some parts would be distracting to others, or embarrassing to us, and so we treat them with “modesty.” So who in the church body do we need to serve by treating them with special modesty? Those who can’t sing in tune, we don’t put them on the stage to be embarrassed and make others feel awkward. People who don’t have the gift of teaching we don’t dump an assignment to prepare and preach a whole sermon. But if they have a good testimony or if we give them some coaching and a microphone and keep someone standing right by them while they speak, then we are helping that person to succeed rather than exposing their weakness. Do you see how we protect our weakest members by treating them with special modesty?

 

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor 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 honored, every part rejoices with it. 

 

And so we prayerfully, carefully match gifts with responsibilities, and we protect someone from being humiliated when we protect them. These are decisions of love, not of punishment or limitation. And Paul is about to talk about love in teh next chapter.

 

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

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