Daily Worship

Having a sense of where and what we are…

Albert Bogle February 01, 2020 0 1
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1 Corinthians 12: 14-20 (NRSVA)

14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many members, yet one body.

This is our final reflection on being in touch with our senses we have been exploring in our theme ‘Making Sense Of It All’. In Corinthians 12 we are reminded that as believers we are called to sense the gifts and graces of others who also belong to Christ; and begin to see how as individuals we can work together as a whole unit. In this passage we are being taught the church is not a building or an institution or a monument. It is a living dynamic moving body of people. We are being called to lay aside our labels and our self importance and begin to sense the whole body of which we are a part. 

PRAYER:

Lord,
You have given us a new identity
You have called us to be members of your body
Your arms and legs
Your eyes and ears
Your voice, your presence in the world 

Forgive us when we 
Refuse to work alongside 
The rest of your body
When we focus on our narrow denominations
When we refuse to work with others
Those who take a different theological position 
Those who sing different songs
Those who lift hands in the air
Those who kneel
Those who dress up for worship 
Those who come as they are

Forgive us when 
We don’t recognise
The prophets 
The teachers
The evangelists
The pastors 
The administrators
The miracle workers
The healers

Give us new insights
To look far beyond our structures
So that we might recognise brothers and sisters
Members of our one body
Together working in the world
Prophets and healers
Visionaries and pastors
Living out the Gospel not in buildings or denominations
But in our daily discourse in the world

Amen.