Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:
1 Corinthians 12:21-26 (NIV)
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
In 1998 Deion Sanders was one of the best football players in the NFL, but he suffered a debilitating injury called turf toe. His toe?! Huh? How could an injury to something so small ruin an elite athlete’s ability to perform?! When something that seems insignificant and we usually never think about is in pain and not functioning properly it can throw everything else off. As Paul says, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it”. Why do we have a prayer list in our weekly bulletin? So, we can “suffer” in prayer as a body. Why do we list birthdays and anniversaries in our newsletter? So, we can celebrate as a body. We are in this together because of the love of Christ. He unites us and gives us life together.