We Are All One Body

Three views of the unity of people of faith are given to us this week. In Nehemiah all those who have returned to Jerusalem from exile are standing in the rebuilt city as Ezra reads the book of the law to them. It’s a book they no longer understand, so a group of translators with unpronounceable names interpret as Ezra reads. The law they hear is one of promise but also judgment, and they weep.

In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul compares the church, the Body of Christ, to a human body. Just as no part of a human can go it on its own, or ignore the other parts, so the Body of Christ is made up of interdependent members. The Corinthians were a notoriously fractious group, and Paul is anxious to convince them that they really need one another. Immediately after Sunday’s passage comes the wonderful paean to love in chapter 13, which we’ll get to hear next week.

Finally, Jesus returns to his home and is invited to speak at the synagogue on the Sabbath. This won’t turn out too well, as we’ll also see next week, but for now everything is going smoothly. “Hometown Boy Makes Good,” the Nazareth Hawk Eye editor might be thinking.

Three views of people of faith, all of which interlock with one another. Unity is the common denominator in Nehemiah. All the people gathered together in the square. The ears of all the people were attentive as Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people. They all stood up, they all said “amen, amen,” they all wept. The writer is stressing the corporate character of what went on. Is this hyperbole? Perhaps – although if you’ve seen images of Middle Eastern men bowing in unison in mosques, it may not be far from the mark.

Even in unity there is diversity, however, and where people are different, some will inevitably think that they are better and more indispensable than others. That’s the battle Paul was fighting in Corinth. By using the human body as a metaphor, he created an easily understood appeal for interdependence. In The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks writes about a neurological condition where parts of the body are no longer recognized as “self.” One man kept falling out of bed because he tried to throw his “alien” leg on the floor. I’m really glad that I’m not at a church that works that way!

The most wonderful verse in this week’s Gospel is, “The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on [Jesus].” That completes the view of people of Christian faith: eyes fixed on Jesus. With eyes fixed on Jesus, we truly see the Body of Christ. We see the Scripture being fulfilled in our hearing. We see how God has appointed apostles, prophets, teachers in the church, gifts of healing, forms of leadership, forms of assistance, and the like. We see each part of the church as self rather than aliens. We don’t all bow in unison – at least not Episcopalians! – yet the union and unity we share in Christ remains. In this month of parish annual meetings, that is something to celebrate.

Third Sunday after Epiphany: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21.