3 March 2006

In discussing neighbors, Walter Brueggemann writes about three phrases from Paul and Deutero-Paul.

First...
"If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it" (1 Cor.12:26).
As you know, in 1 Cor. 12 Paul had just completed his eucharistic chapter 11 on then new covenant, and has considered the problem of pluralism under the rubric of "varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit" (12:4). He is on his way to the agape manifesto of chapter 13... And Paul has just written in 12:24-25,
But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body but the members may have the same care for one another.
Paul's subject is membership, all belonging to the same thing, being members of each other. But notice, it is not as though there is a body, and then you sign on as a member to an already existing body. No, "members of each other."

In this kind of talk, we are being drawn into the "other" so that among us, the "other" will now be a part of the body that is "us." We are each still other to one another because we are indeed still separate. But here we, though other, belong to the same thing...we are one. I can spot a danger here. As with any body, those outside the body can be viewed as a threatening "other." But for Paul, he is attempting to bring the variety of people within the embrace of the one Lord...under one baptism...into the one body. This will not be an easy task. It wasn't for the Corinthians and it is never easy for any of us even when we say "Jesus is Lord." For in the meantime, we still tend to view "them" as "other" even if we are told they are now one with us. In this first phrase and the one that comes right before it in 1 Corinthians, I took note of how the people in the community were told to "honor" one another even when there were among them the typical differences that appear among people in community. Already Paul is turning the community upside down as he encourages people to honor the inferior members. You could thus say that they are no longer inferior among us...for they are honored by their presence. In addition, to be able to have a people take on the suffering of others seems beyond expectation. Any yet, when we suffer for others, we are already taking the responsibility of honoring them very, very seriously. The "other" is not only one that I honor...I will suffer for the other.

Connection: This is no picnic when we are people who would rather leave the "other" up to others. It is only as we begin this prayerful life within one body that we find such wonder unfolding among us.

In many ways, O God, you bind us together and we so often refuse to be held together even as you bless us when we are together as your children. We ask that you continue to announce the vision of your Reign in Christ, Jesus, that we will begin to walk in the ways of the Christ and change the face of the other into the face of the beloved. Amen.