Annual Meeting Sunday - March 20
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Deborah Laforet
For the Sake of Love
Let us pray. May the words from my lips and the meditations of my heart be guided by the Spirit and be words of wisdom for this day. Amen.
Sixty million cells. Thirty-six million heartbeats a year. Three hundred billion red blood cells produced every day. Sixty thousand miles of blood vessels in each body.
The human body. A complex, miraculous system. That, Paul says, is the Christian community. And he wasn’t talking about just any body, he was talking about the body of Christ. A holy body. The holiest body. He told his community they were to be the “body” that Jesus would be if he was physically present.
“The body of Christ” almost sounds cliché. We may have heard that we are “the body of Christ” so often that we hardly pay attention to it. But think about the magnitude of what Paul is saying. Sit with the analogy. You are―we are―the body of Christ. Wow!
There are 100 billion neurons in the brain. There are 54 bones in your hands. Twenty-five million new cells are being produced every second. The body is constantly evolving, interconnected, designed for life.
For Christians the purpose of life is love. Jesus’ body is designed for love, so our body is designed for love.
Our church as the body of Christ, strives faithfully to join God’s loving mission, even during a year when we are prevented from gathering in one space. We may have missed our sacred space and grieved not being able to gather in person the way we would like to gather, but love is still very much alive.
In 2021, we indeed continued to be the body of Christ. Our committed Council continued to meet and make the important decisions that needed to be made. Phone calls kept us connected. We continued to work with partners like Kerr Street Mission, the Neighbour Care Network, Oakville Ready, and Halton Environmental Network.
We are joined with the wider body of Christ through our collective United Church of Canada, Mission & Service. Together, we have supported partners in pandemic relief efforts to help provide personal protective equipment, safe shelter, sanitation stations, public awareness communications, and food hampers. We have provided over 8,360 full vaccinations to those living in the global South and East and $500,000 in COVID-19 emergency funding. In addition, $240,000 was distributed to partners in our region alone so we can help close to home.
The pandemic has not diminished our mission. The central call to love as Jesus loves is the same as it has ever been. When we meet as committees or teams, or groups―whatever they may be―and as we meet today to reflect on the year past and on the year to come, we aren’t just ticking off agenda items. We are meeting for the sake of love.
When we are discussing the budget, our discussions are an expression of love. When we are caring for our building, setting up livestream, changing the church sign, or making videos for worship - that work is an expression of love. When we are recording minutes, balancing books, organizing rentals, and doing all the behind-the-scenes coordinating and organizing―we do that for love. When we are trying to figure out how best to comfort spirits and soothe hearts even while we feel dislocated ourselves―we are all about love.
Today, on this Annual Meeting Sunday, I’m not going to tell you anything new. I’m just going to remind you and me of who we are―the body of Christ.
What does that mean? Well…
Jesus reached out his hand and touched people who needed healing. He laid his hands on those who were sick and dying and extended forgiveness to sinners.
He ate with people no one else dared associate with.
With his voice, he told stories―parables that changed peoples’ hearts.
With his ears, he listened to the yearning of countless souls.
He got down on his knees to wash his disciples’ feet and brought children onto his knees to teach a lesson to them and to the adults about what’s important.
He sweated in the garden and bled from the thorns.
He stretched his arms on the cross.
And at the end of it all, he appeared to his disciples to show them that new life is possible.
He used his whole being for love.
Paul says, “You are the body of Christ.”
In all that we say and do, let us not forget: We are the body of Christ.
For the sake of love, in 2022 and beyond, may we continue to embody love.
May it be so. Amen.