Re-membering the Body
Rev. Paddy Cavanaugh, Epiphany 3, Year C, 1/26/25
Readings: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 (The gift of the Law), 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a (One body, many parts), Luke 4:14-21 (Proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor)
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, amen.
Friends, I can’t tell you how good it is to be back with you today, and if you are visiting or new, then welcome. In case you have forgotten, my name is Paddy Cavanaugh, the associate rector at St. George’s, and for the past three months I have been on paternity leave with my wife Winnie, who gave birth to our first daughter, Mary Winston, in October. Since then I have been wrapped in a blanket of wonder, love, and praise, at the miracle which new life promises.
I believe this new arrival of joy is timely because I realize that I am rejoining you at a very precarious time in our national life. There is anxiety in the system. And if I’ve learned anything about anxiety, it’s that it does nothing beneficial for our physical, mental, or spiritual wellbeing. It does not help us to change circumstances for the better. So let’s try, as best as we can, to let go of whatever is troubling us this morning, and just set it right there before the altar and let God handle it.
Now. Let me tell you, there’s little else in this world than the arrival of a brand new human being to remind us of our human obligation to one another. For each of our bodies are given life by the bodies of our parents which, were in turn given life from the God of all creation. And at heaven’s gates we will all be recognized as nothing less, and nothing more than God’s children. Neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, Republican nor Democrat, nor anything else in this world, other than what we truly are – which is beloved children of God.
And more than that, we as Christians, have been made members of the one body of Jesus Christ our Lord, who was crucified, died, and risen for the salvation of this world. And as members of Christ’s body, St. Paul eloquently reminds us that “if one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” (1 Cor. 12:26). This means that we are to love and care for one another and each other’s children, as if they were our own. Both the neighbor we love and the neighbor we struggle to love. For if we are not praying for the salvation of our enemies, whomever we believe them to be, then we are not praying for our own salvation, and we become trapped in a bitter cycle of enmity against our own body.
This is the difficult vocation to which we have been called. And in the coming years we will call on God’s strength and the love of one another to live it out. And remember that you do not have to bear the burdens of this world on your own. You have everyone down here and up there to bear them with you.
And so, Rev. Shearon and I decided that we wanted to read to you the pastoral letter sent by our Bishop, Mark Stevenson, this week, to remind us of the support and unity we have in Christ’s body. Bishop Stevenson says:
My Dear Siblings in Christ in the Diocese of Virginia:
I sit at my desk at the end of a momentous day; a day in which The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was remembered and celebrated across this nation and around the world, and a day in which this nation once again transferred authority from one democratically elected president to another.
Like many of you, I have watched and listened to speech after speech today, and public prayer after public prayer. I have been listening not just with the ears of an American citizen, but also with those of a disciple of Jesus, the Son of God. And while I am thankful for the safe and clear practices of democracy, I must say that I am troubled by much of what I heard in respect to how I am called to live as a follower of the One who defined power as love for others, and love as sacrifice of self-interest.
As Bishop and chief pastor of the Diocese of Virginia, I feel led to be direct about a couple of things in the days before us: First, every human being will be respected in our churches, regardless of race, creed, gender expression, nationality, or in any other category or classification of humanity. Every human being will be respected from our pulpits, in our pews, and through our ministries. Rhetoric in the public square that dehumanizes any person or group of people, or is designed to strike fear in people’s hearts, is contrary to the gospel and is to be called out as such.
Further, we are to remember that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were themselves refugees, fleeing for their lives for a season. And, as Jesus points out without equivocation in Matthew 25, how we treat the stranger and those in need has a direct bearing on our relationship with God in heaven. Given these things, we must provide safety to the fearful and stand boldly against tyranny of speech or action.
And, I must say that the use of Christian language, or of any scriptural language, to advance a case that God values one nation in this day and time more than another is contrary to the gospel. For God so loved the world, not one people, that he sent Jesus to bring salvation.
My friends, Jesus is Lord – no one else. The Holy Spirit is the source of wisdom and comfort – not any political affiliation. Our Father in heaven is love and life – not any earthly ruler. We are the beloved of this God. All of us. And while none of us is worthy of that love, my prayer is that we do our best to honor it by our very lives.
Love Jesus. Embody justice. Be disciples. For we are the Diocese of Virginia.
Yours in Christ,
Bishop Stevenson
Friends, we are one body, one body in Christ. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. Amen.