SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Prayer of the Day: Lord God, source of every blessing, you showed forth your glory and led many to faith by the works of your Son, who brought gladness and salvation to his people. Transform us by the Spirit of his love, that we may find our life together in him, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
“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.” I Corinthians 12:4-7.
In the world at large, it has never been evident that there is such a thing as the common good. The notion has always lived uncomfortably in the American psyche next to our uncritical faith in self interest driven capitalism, whose philosophical father, Adam Smith famously observed:
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” Wealth of Nations, I:II, p.26,27.
Consequently, society is not governed by a common search for the greatest good for all people, but the quest of each individual seeking their own personal good without regard for others or society as a whole. Indeed former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher went so far as to question whether society even exists, asking rhetorically “….who is society? There is no such thing! There are individual men and women and there are families and no government can do anything except through people and people look to themselves first.” Isabel Paterson, journalist, author, political philosopher and a leading libertarian thinker brings this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, stating:
“There is no collective good. Strictly speaking, there is not even any common good. There are in the natural order conditions and materials through which the individual, by virtue of his receptive and creative faculties and volition, is capable of experiencing good.”[1]
Saint Paul makes unequivocally clear that, when it comes to the church, the Body of Christ, the opposite is true. Individual good, not the common good, is delusional. Just as it is ridiculous to suggest that a hand or a foot can live independently from the rest of the body, so it is equally implausible that any individual believer can thrive apart from full participation in the community of disciples. I Corinthians 12:14-20. With all due respect and contrary to the above mentioned authorities, community is real, there is a common good and reaching it requires the unique gifts, talents and perspectives of all its members.
Rev. Lester Peter, a seasoned pastor and prison chaplain who preached at my ordination service over four decades ago, gave me the following advice. “Peter, just remember that everybody you see in your congregation on Sunday morning is there because Jesus called them to be there. Each one of them is there because they have a gift, an insight, a talent that the church needs. Each one of them has something to teach you that you cannot learn from anyone else.” I would be less than honest if I were to deny that I have struggled with Lester’s and Saint Paul’s words at times. More than once I have looked at a member of one of my congregations and mused to myself how much easier my job would be without them and their antics. I suspect Paul felt the same way about some members of the Church at Corinth, a congregation with more problems than you could shake a stick at. Nevertheless, Paul can say to this sad puppy of a church, “Now you are the body of Christ.” I Corinthians 12:27. Not, “You should be the body of Christ,” or “If you ever manage to get your act together you might be the body of Christ,” but “You are the body of Christ.” So act like it!
Sometimes, the church gets it right. In the church of my childhood, I was blessed through the ministry of a teenager named Gary. Gary helped with our Sunday School and he was the only teenage boy I knew who showed any interest in kids my age. My church friends and I didn’t think much of Sunday School, a time just slightly more tolerable than the church service. But we lived for the fifteen minutes between the end of Sunday School and the start of the service during which Gary played tag, kick ball and hide and seek with us. He listened to our stories and laughed at our silly jokes. I don’t remember exactly when I learned Gary was what in those days we called “mentally retarded.” (Thankfully, this pejorative term has been removed from polite and civil discourse.) What I do know is that Gary showed to me the care and attention Jesus showed to children. He made me and my friends feel welcome and included. In our congregation, Gary was not a social problem to be solved or a drain on the rest of society. He was a gifted member of the body of Christ building up that body with bonds of friendship. We would not have been the community we were without him. Gary may well be one of the reasons I am still in the church.
Increasingly, we are living in a world that acknowledges no common good, a world in which the only good is my good, a winner takes all world where everyone else’s gain is my loss, a world in which “kitchen table issues” dominate (read my kitchen table), a world too small for people of the wrong race, the wrong accent, the wrong language, the wrong documentation or the wrong religion. In this world dominated by diffuse self interests, disciples of Jesus are called to be a community witnessing to a radically alternative way of being human. We are a community that asks not, “What is wrong with this person that doesn’t seem to fit in here?” but rather, “What is wrong with us that we cannot discern this person’s unique gifts to our community?”
Here is a well known poem by John Donne that serves as the antithesis to individualism, populism, xenophobia and all of the other hateful ideologies that deny the unity of the human family.
No Man is an Island
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Source: This poem is in the public domain. John Donne (1571-1631) was an English poet, scholar, soldier and secretary. Despite his great education and poetic talents, Donne lived in poverty for several years, relying heavily on wealthy friends. He spent much of the money he inherited from his family on womanizing and travel. In 1601, Donne secretly married Anne More, with whom he had twelve children. In 1615 he was ordained an Anglican deacon and then, reluctantly, a priest. Donne did not want to take holy orders but did so because the king ordered it. Under Royal Patronage, he was made Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Donne is considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His poetical works include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs and satires. He is also known for his sermons. You can read more about John Donne and sample more of his poetry at the Poetry Foundation website.
[1] Paterson, Isabel The God of the Machine, (c. 1943, Van Rees Press, New York, NY)
Peter's Outer Cape Portico 