We Are One Body

I usually focus on the gospel.

Some preachers are adept at weaving ideas from the other lessons into their sermon on the gospel.

I tend to take a more simplistic approach.

I try to stick to just the gospel and relate it to our context.

But today, I thought we would focus on the second lesson because I believe it has something to tell us about the times we are living in.

 On the surface, Paul’s words are pretty simple.

“Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.”

“Don’t conform yourselves to this age.”

“Be transformed by the renewal of your minds.”

“All of us, in union with Christ, form one body.”

 Then, he shifts and talks about gifts: prophecy, ministry, teaching, preaching, charity, leadership, and helping.

It sounds like Paul is giving us a little spiritual direction—telling us how we can be a better Christian.

How to find our spiritual gifts.

And a reminder to use those gifts.

 It’s helpful, at this point, to take a step back and talk a little about Paul.

There are thirteen books of the Bible that are attributed to the Apostle Paul.

There is almost universal agreement amongst theologians and biblical scholars that they weren’t all written by one man.

In Bible Study, we read a book called “The First Paul”.

In it, the authors describe that there are three versions of Paul, which they describe as the “radical” Paul, the “reactionary” Paul, and the “conservative” Paul.

The “radical” Paul is the authentic Paul—the guy who persecuted Jesus followers as a Pharisee but, after experiencing the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he became an Apostle and traveled extensively preaching and starting Christian communities.

Seven of the thirteen books attributed to Paul are considered “undisputed” letters of Paul.

The others were likely written by students or followers of Paul.

Romans, the book that today’s second lesson comes from, is undisputed, written by the Apostle Paul—the “radical” Paul.

 What Paul is expressing in today’s lesson is something radical by the standards of his time.

In first-century Judea, communities were insular.

Religious and ethnic groups kept to themselves.

But Paul talks about what it means for a community of people—people who are different from one another, people who do not share the same background or social position—to become the body of Christ.

And that changes the way we are supposed to think about issues of justice.

Because being the Body of Christ removes boundaries and celebrates the differences that used to divide people.

 Being a Christian is about becoming a different kind of community.

Paul said, “Don’t conform yourselves to this age.”

He didn’t say, “Isolate yourselves from the world.”

He says, “Do not be conformed.”

In other words: don’t let the world change you to reflect its image—its values.

That’s important to us because we live in a world that tells us some people are better than others.

We live in a world where being white and male is an advantage.

We live in a world where people are separated into citizens and foreigners, insiders and outsiders, people who belong and people who don’t.

A world that tells trans people that their identities are false.

A world that tells us that only certain people are worthy of our care.

A world that separates our neighbors into “one of us” or “one of them.”

 Paul said, “Don’t conform yourselves to this age.”

“Be transformed by the renewal of your minds.”

That means learning to see differently.

Instead of seeing an immigrant as an undocumented person, we are called to see a neighbor.

Instead of seeing a refugee as a problem, we are called to see a human being seeking safety.

Instead of seeing a Muslim as a threat, we are called to see a beloved child of God.

Instead of seeing a transgender person as an aberration, we are called to see a person created in the divine image of God.

The renewal of our minds means that we stop allowing the categories of this age to determine whose humanity we recognize.

 Justice begins with seeing.

Before we can change systems that oppress people, we have to learn to see our siblings as the miracles of creation that they are.

We have to see their faces.

We have to hear their stories.

We have to learn their names.

And we have to recognize the divine image of God in them.

 Paul goes on to say, “All of us, in union with Christ, form one body.”

He doesn’t say we are all alike.

Paul does not imagine Christian unity as sameness.

We are different races, genders, and sexualities.

We honor different cultures and traditions.

We speak different languages.

This body has many members, held together by love—that unconditional agape-kind of love that is only possible through God.

 The Body of Christ cannot be healthy when any part of it is seen as expendable.

The Body of Christ cannot thrive is any part of it lives in fear.

We cannot claim to be whole if any one of us is denied dignity, safety, opportunity, or belonging.

Because, if any part of the body suffers, the whole does as well.

The Body of Christ is not simply a metaphor; it is our theology.

When racism harms Black and Brown communities, the body of Christ suffers.

When immigrants live in fear of separation from their families, the body of Christ suffers.

When LGBTQ+ people are targeted, excluded, or told that they are somehow less loved by God, the body of Christ suffers.

 Justice is not charity.

It is not those with power deciding to share a few crumbs with those who do not.

Justice means recognizing that the marginalized and oppressed are indispensable members of the body.

That means we have to stop seeing people of color as someone we must advocate for and start seeing them as someone who can contribute to our understanding of prejudice and equity.

We have to stop seeing the immigrant as someone that we are supposed to help and start seeing them as someone who has something to teach us.

We have to stop seeing our trans siblings as someone we simply need to welcome and start seeing them for the many gifts they bring.

 Paul starts out by saying, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.”

We are called to embody this community that we call the Body of Christ.

Our actions have meaning.

So does our inaction.

In the confession, we ask forgiveness for “what we have done and what we have left undone”.

Whether we challenge racism when it appears in our institutions matters.

Whether we defend immigrant families when they are threatened matters.

Whether we create safe spaces where trans people can live openly and safely matters.

 We cannot offer up our bodies in worship on Sunday and then surrender them to the injustices of a broken world the rest of the week.

Our life as Christians is supposed to be embodied.

We worship with our bodies.

We serve with our bodies.

We sit beside people who are afraid.

We share our tables.

We use our voices.

We vote.

We organize.

We challenge systems that treat some people as more worthy than others.

All of that can be our living sacrifice to God—our worship of the Light of the World, who appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus.

 Worship doesn’t end after the postlude.

If we do it right, our worship continues all week long.

Worship happens when we refuse to accept structural racism.

Worship happens when we stand with our immigrant neighbors.

Worship happens when we tell our trans siblings, “You are loved.

You belong here.

You are a magnificent creation of God.”

Worship happens whenever we choose our Christian values over the worldly values of domination, exclusion, fear, and hatred.

 If we carry nothing else away from today’s lessons, I pray that you will remember this:

Paul tells us is that the Body of Christ is not unified by eliminating its differences.

It becomes one by learning to love and appreciate its diversity.

This congregation has done tremendous work to be welcoming and affirming to all people.

But there is always more work to do.

Remember that the Kin-dom, although near, is not yet.

So let us continue to do the work to become the one body with many members that Paul describes.

A church where black and brown lives are not only defended but also celebrated.

A church where immigrants are not only welcomed but also recognized as possessing gifts.

A church where trans people are not only tolerated but also fully embraced as beloved children of God.

A church where nobody has to wonder whether they belong—because everyone does.

A church where we see our diversity as a blessing from the magnificent creativity of God.

 We are one body, my friends.

When the world tells us to exclude, I pray that we remember that.

We are one body.

When the world tells us that this group belongs but that one doesn’t, I pray that we remember—we are one body.

When the world tells us that our differences should divide us, may the Holy Spirit transform us through the renewal of our minds—all of us, in union with Christ, form one body.

Many members.

Many identities.

Many stories.

Many gifts.

One beloved family.

 So let us refuse to conform ourselves to this age.

An age that condones racism, classism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and transphobia.

An age that encourages fear and hatred.

Open yourself to the work of the Holy Spirit so that she may transform us through a renewal of our minds.

Recognize the gifts in each member of this body.

And together, let us become a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

Let us be people who shout from the rooftops that every human being is created in the divine image of God.

That every neighbor is worthy of respect and dignity.

And that each of us is a recipient of God’s unconditional love.

 May this meditation on God’s word keep our hearts and mind on Christ Jesus. Amen.