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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion The Weakest Link March 19, 2009 |
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Frontline Devotion for Thursday, March 19, 2009 by Philip Meuschke
1 Corinthians 12: 12-26 12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. 14Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15If 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. 16And 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. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many members, yet one body. 21The 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.” 22On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and 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; 24whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, 25that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. 26If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. (NRSV)
Some of you might remember a TV show that aired several years ago called “The Weakest Link”. For those of you who have no clue about the show, let me give you a brief explanation. Each episode begins with a team of players, who are each asked general knowledge questions one after the other until time runs out on each round. The goal for each round is to correctly answer as many consecutive questions as possible.
For each correct answer a certain amount of money is put up for grabs, and that amount grows considerably for each answer in a chain of correct answers. Any of the players may choose to put the money earned in that chain of correct answers into the “bank” before their question is asked, thus starting a new chain. That money is safe and is collected in the “bank” over the course of the entire episode. However, if a player does not “bank” the collected money before their question is asked, and they then answer incorrectly, all that money disappears and the chain has to start all over again.
At the end of each round, the players vote for the player they wish to eliminate. The player who receives the most votes is given the title “The Weakest Link” and eliminated from the game. Then it’s on to the next round. This continues until two players remain who then face off to determine the winner. The winner receives all of the money in the “bank” at the end of the episode while the rest of the players walk away with nothing.
As you can see, that game show is all about the survival of the fittest. The weaker members of the group are humiliated and shunned. They might be a group of players, but they are each only looking out for themselves. Now, is that the way we should act in community as Christians?
Paul clearly states in this passage that the exact opposite is true. God has given each of us unique individual gifts that, together, work as one body. One member of the community is not more important than another, and each member of the community has a critical role to play. It is not our decision to make who gets to be a part of the community and who doesn’t. No one can banish another member from the community because they don’t get along or because the one thinks he/she has no need for the other. Nor can we deny anyone entrance into the community because we have the opinion that the strangers will not fit in. God alone chooses who gets to be a part of the body of Christ and who doesn’t.
We might all come from different backgrounds, but we all become one in the body of Christ. As Paul says, we could be “Jews or Greeks, slaves or free”, but once we join the community we need to help each other out. The rich should help the poor; those with plenty of food should help the hungry; the outcast should be welcomed; those needing care should receive it. In a society that focuses so much on the individual, we need to go out and spread our Christian love. We are taught by those around us to worry about and take care of ourselves first, yet we need to join together and take care of each other for the benefit of all, especially in these difficult times.
However, it does not stop there. Not only should we accept one another and help each other out, but we should all walk the journey of life together. We should live in harmony: rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn. This is a sentiment that Paul seems to emphasize again and again (see Romans 12, for example). Christ set an example for us, and he now calls us to live in harmony, to love our neighbors as ourselves, even to love our enemies. Let us follow God’s lead.
Prayer: Gracious God, you know it is often difficult for us to set aside our own desires and work towards a greater good: your will. Help us to live in harmony with those around us: give us the courage to accept others as they are, give us the strength to help those in need, and give us the patience to walk together with the whole of creation on the journey of life. We ask all this in your most holy name. Amen.
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