I recently watched an interview of Marlon Fitzgerald Hall in which he says that he waits not for Jesus but for the people he came to serve. That made me think of the advent season and it brought me back to when my wife and I were waiting for our son to be born. We didn’t know when it would be, we didn’t know how the delivery would be let alone, what he would really look like… The excitement and expectation made me anxious. I wanted him to come as soon as possible, in the best way possible, and as painlessly as it could possibly be. Marlon gets it right. When Advent comes in the calendar, I don’t wait for an unknown saviour who I cannot relate to yet but rather, the good, loving friend who loves me so much that he died for me and challenges me to do the same for others.
That’s the expectation I can experience. My expectation is that which leads me to an excited action into helping others, into bringing Jesus to others; that he was born and will come again. In this reality I want to live in constant advental mood. My expectation should move me to the action of reaching others for the sake of his love for us through the sure hope that he will come again and that would most likely leave me in a position of full intimacy with the one who was, is and is to come.
“Remember, Advent is always – until the end of days” Richard Rohr on PREPARING FOR CHRISTMAS.
” Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot would 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 would 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. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; 24 whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25 that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another.” 1 Corinthians 12:14-25(taken from the NRS with Apocrypha version)
Prior to this part, St. Paul explains to the church of Corinth that the gospel is supposed to reach Gentiles, that is pagans as well as the Jews albeit not in the same order( Jews first, then Gentiles). However, when reading this part above, it always reminds me of my role in Jesus’ church, in Jesus’ body. Yes, we are all the body of Christ but each part has a function, doesn’t it?
In any good classic fairy tale, each character has a specific role in the plot, a function. Such is the importance of their roles that Russian professor Vladimir Propp came up with a list of functions within Russian folktales proving the relevance of each role. The list has 31 functions out of which it had to be followed in that specific order, or so it seemed. Like tales, we too have some functions. Our roles are designed for a purpose, so when I read 1 Corinthians 14 onward, I cannot but think the role that we all have in the body of Christ.
“It’s like the body”, Paul says, “one can not expect the eye to be the whole because it is not the body but part of it; nor can we expect the ear to consider itself the whole body.” Yet all of our organs form the body, however different they may be.
Of course, my purpose is not more important than yours. Paul says in verse 22 that the weaker is indispensable. Back in 1993, I was given a book on bees for a school project. I learned then that there was a queen bee, a drone and a worker bee. I couldn’t quite get what was the point of a worker. I mean, they get all the hard work and all for the service of the queen really. So I asked my father, “Dad, why do workers exist, I mean, why are they not queens?” My father’s answer was, “Well, that’s what they do, they work. That’s what they’re there for.” If I had to choose, I would probably pick the drone but the truth is, our roles are given in accordance to our abilities. God gives us gifts so that we can be part of his plans and our gifts are indispensable, however poor, low, or useless they may seem. You may not be the brain but you may be the eyes, or mouth, or even the pinky nail. The freedom comes in our choice to accept our role no matter how irrelevant it may seem to us. What is my role in the body of Christ? What is your role in the body of Christ?
As I said before, prior to the former passage, St. Paul says that in the Spirit “we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (verse 13) For Paul, there were Gentiles and Jews, freemen vs. slaves which in our days would be like Catholics and Protestants, clergy and lay people. I think these big names of our society are equal to gentiles and Jews, or free person and slave. At the same time, it is alright if you are not a pastor or an elder, a bishop or a deacon; you can still execute a role within the body of Christ. God longs for your part in his body. He wants us to use our gifts in its full whatever that may be look like. As Christians we ought to forget surnames (like Catholic, or Anglican, or Methodist…) or job positions (elder, pastor, priest, missionary) and really take up the responsibility of what we are called to do as the body of Christ. It is time for us to let the glory of Jesus’ body to boldly glow through us.
To achieve that, perhaps we need to ask ourselves the question I raised before; what’s our role in the body of Christ: Where am I needed? Where and how can I give out my God-given gift? Where can the Holy Spirit use me? How can I show a gospel of life and freedom? In my mind I simply want to be a worker but in my heart I tend to act like the “king” bee. What kind of bee are you? And why or why not are you happy with the role you have been given? I don’t care what denomination you are or how “Christian” is your lineage. I want you to be part of Jesus’ body and find enjoyment in it.
My prayer for you today is that you find your role in his plans and enjoy being part of the body of Christ.
thelittlehouseontherock 