Members of One Another

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. ~ Ephesians 4:25-32


We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. ~ JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Another one of Paul's pep talks.  On a first reading, I almost always feel downcast as to how far I fall from the mark here.  It's tempting to look through this list and think about what it is that is the hardest for me to do.  (for the record, probably "not letting the sun go down on my anger!")

Yet as I read it again, tucked neatly in the beginning of the passage is the reason Paul gives us for being tenderhearted and forgiving of one another.

We are members of one another.

Over and over the church is often referred to as the body of Christ.  Imagine a body at war with itself. When your legs refuse to bring the rest of you to where you need to be. Or your stomach is empty, not giving you the energy for live and work.  Or you haven't slept and your brain won't put together sentences clearly when you need to give a presentation. When cancer eats away at your cells leaving your body weak, but your mind is strong and agile and aware of ever bit of pain.

If then as the Body of Christ, we are members of one another, what happens when the members attack each other?  How does that effect the body?

The truth is that not all members of a group of people - even people in a community of faith - like each other. We might not like each others' politics. We might disagree on how to act during the pandemic: masks or no masks for example. We might disagree on how we worship. Or me might just find each other annoying!

But we are connected by a Holy Spirit that needs us to be in concert.  To treat each other with compassion and forgiveness.

And when we can't...when we try and try but just can't seem to do it, we have the other members of the body who are there to be tenderhearted and forgiving to us, empowering us through their love and forgiveness to do the same.

I like to think of membership this way rather than the way we have tended to come to see it.  The tendency is to say "I am a member of Grace" or "St. Matthew's," or "Holy Trinity," or "St. James," or even "the ELCA," which is the same way we'd say we are members of a club.  

Instead we are members of one another.  We are part of each other.  Together we act as God's hands and feet in the world as the Body of Christ.  Working together is hard.  Loving each other is hard.  But the life that comes from the love we bear each other makes the body work as it is meant to.

Forgiving God, you have set me free.  You have included me as your own.  Give me the power of your love to be tenderhearted to your other children so that I am ever mindful of building up the body of Christ.  Amen.

Thoughts for engagement:

- What is the hardest part for you in being a member of the Body of Christ?

- Who is it you are being called to love even if you might not like them?

- How is God calling Grace to live out our membership?