The Daily GuideThe Devotion grow. pray. study. from The Resurrection United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 18 September 2015 - "The (earthly) 'communion of saints'”
Daily Scripture: Acts 4:32 All the many believers were one in heart and soul, and no one claimed any of his possessions for himself, but everyone shared everything he had. 33 With great power the emissaries continued testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua, and they were all held in high regard. 34 No one among them was poor, since those who owned lands or houses sold them and turned over the proceeds 35 to the emissaries to distribute to each according to his need. 36 Thus Yosef, whom the emissaries called Bar-Nabba (which means “the Exhorter”), a Levi and a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field which belonged to him and brought the money to the emissaries.1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one but has many parts; and all the parts of the body, though many, constitute one body; so it is with the Messiah. 13 For it was by one Spirit that we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 For indeed the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot says, “I’m not a hand, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I’m not an eye, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If it were all hearing, how could it smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged each of the parts in the body exactly as he wanted them. 26 Thus if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; and if one part is honored, all the parts share its happiness.
27 Now you together constitute the body of the Messiah, and individually you are parts of it. Reflection Questions:
Ginger Rothhaas is a seminary student at Saint Paul School of Theology and is serving in Congregational Care at the Church of the Resurrection.
The first time I did a yoga class, the teacher closed with “Namaste” and the students repeated it with hands in a prayer position and a slight bow to the teacher. I assumed this meant, ‘thank you’ or ‘good-bye’ or ‘wow, that was a great class!’
The next time I attended the class, it was a different teacher and she closed with these words, “Namaste, the Divine in me recognizes the Divine in you.” The students repeated, “Namaste” and bowed toward her. And I sat there thinking about those words… “The Divine in me recognizes the Divine in you”…is that what Namaste means?!?!?
I asked the teacher to explain it to me. And, in beautiful spiritual language, she described how we are all made from God, are all Divine bodies, at our core we are exactly the same, and our hearts are all the heart of God. In her opinion, the answer to peace, which is the goal of a yoga practice, is that we simply honor that we are Divine, and recognize that in one another.
In today’s reading, Paul could have said, “Hey Corinthians, take care of each other,” and left it at that. But instead, he uses this beautiful illustration of the human body to teach us what that looks like. When our body has an injury, everything is affected and our energy suffers. If we take care of the part that is injured, our entire body feels better and our energy is restored.
Extrapolate that bodily experience, which we all understand, to the idea that we are all one Divine body. We are each uniquely serving God (like eyes, ears, noses, livers, lungs serve our own body), but at the heart level, we are all made from the same substance. Thus, when one is hurting, the whole feels it.
Imagine if we walked around today, seeing ourselves as Divine creatures and also, every person we encounter, as a Divine creature? What if we felt pain for one another like we notice pain in our own bodies? What if we viewed each other as part of a whole, as God’s body, as if we are made of the same substance? What would it take to do that? What would happen if we did?
Keep this body image in your mind as you go through the day. We are all connected with a shared heart of God. Namaste and Amen
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
____________________________
Daily Scripture: Acts 4:32 All the many believers were one in heart and soul, and no one claimed any of his possessions for himself, but everyone shared everything he had. 33 With great power the emissaries continued testifying to the resurrection of the Lord Yeshua, and they were all held in high regard. 34 No one among them was poor, since those who owned lands or houses sold them and turned over the proceeds 35 to the emissaries to distribute to each according to his need. 36 Thus Yosef, whom the emissaries called Bar-Nabba (which means “the Exhorter”), a Levi and a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field which belonged to him and brought the money to the emissaries.1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one but has many parts; and all the parts of the body, though many, constitute one body; so it is with the Messiah. 13 For it was by one Spirit that we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 For indeed the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot says, “I’m not a hand, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I’m not an eye, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If it were all hearing, how could it smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged each of the parts in the body exactly as he wanted them. 26 Thus if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; and if one part is honored, all the parts share its happiness.
27 Now you together constitute the body of the Messiah, and individually you are parts of it. Reflection Questions:
Acts 4 reported that the early Christians shared assets. This was not out of a secular socialist ideology, but was an expression of shared love and caring. 1 Corinthians 12 was the first place where the Bible talked at length about the church as “the body of Christ.” Paul’s image was evocative—if you’ve ever had a cut finger, an aching tooth or a bad back, you know that in our physical body it’s a fact that “if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it” (verse 26). Paul said that is how it is—how it needs to be—in the body of Christ.
- Acts says these Christians were “one in heart and mind.” But as we read more of their story, we realize that those words do not mean they always agreed! What do you think Luke was trying to convey through the phrase? How much spiritual power could be set loose if, at Resurrection and beyond, Christians again became of “one heart”? How might we work with God toward that end?
- “If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all the parts celebrate with it,” Paul wrote. In living as “parts of each other,” which do you find easier—to suffer with someone else who is suffering, or to celebrate when someone else gets the glory? What inner fears or messages make the other part harder for you? How can you open yourself to God’s power to make both parts of Paul’s picture a reality in your life?
Today’s Prayer:
Lord Jesus, many times my culture urges me to hold myself aloof from others, to “look out for number one.” Teach me more each day about how to live with your people as “parts of each other.” Amen.
Insights from Ginger Rothhaas Ginger Rothhaas is a seminary student at Saint Paul School of Theology and is serving in Congregational Care at the Church of the Resurrection.
The first time I did a yoga class, the teacher closed with “Namaste” and the students repeated it with hands in a prayer position and a slight bow to the teacher. I assumed this meant, ‘thank you’ or ‘good-bye’ or ‘wow, that was a great class!’
The next time I attended the class, it was a different teacher and she closed with these words, “Namaste, the Divine in me recognizes the Divine in you.” The students repeated, “Namaste” and bowed toward her. And I sat there thinking about those words… “The Divine in me recognizes the Divine in you”…is that what Namaste means?!?!?
I asked the teacher to explain it to me. And, in beautiful spiritual language, she described how we are all made from God, are all Divine bodies, at our core we are exactly the same, and our hearts are all the heart of God. In her opinion, the answer to peace, which is the goal of a yoga practice, is that we simply honor that we are Divine, and recognize that in one another.
In today’s reading, Paul could have said, “Hey Corinthians, take care of each other,” and left it at that. But instead, he uses this beautiful illustration of the human body to teach us what that looks like. When our body has an injury, everything is affected and our energy suffers. If we take care of the part that is injured, our entire body feels better and our energy is restored.
Extrapolate that bodily experience, which we all understand, to the idea that we are all one Divine body. We are each uniquely serving God (like eyes, ears, noses, livers, lungs serve our own body), but at the heart level, we are all made from the same substance. Thus, when one is hurting, the whole feels it.
Imagine if we walked around today, seeing ourselves as Divine creatures and also, every person we encounter, as a Divine creature? What if we felt pain for one another like we notice pain in our own bodies? What if we viewed each other as part of a whole, as God’s body, as if we are made of the same substance? What would it take to do that? What would happen if we did?
Keep this body image in your mind as you go through the day. We are all connected with a shared heart of God. Namaste and Amen
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
____________________________
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