Caring in the Body
I Corinthians 12:12-13 & 25-27
June 3, 2007
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
On Tuesday morning as I was driving to work, trying to deal with the multitude of emotions
that were swirling around in my heart after having spent 5 hours in the emergency room with
the Brauer family, standing with them as each of them learned of David's death, crying with
them as they began to take in its reality, I thought, I can't preach about being a peace with
justice church this Sunday, it just doesn't feel right. I chewed on this thought for a while, trying
to decide if I was just too raw to think rationally or if we really did need to change the focus of
the service this Sunday. So I called Jeff to get his thoughts. Having been with us at the hospital,
he too felt we needed to do something different. Then he went on to talk about telling Emma
and her reactions and I thought, "Oh my God the children! David was their Sunday School
Teacher! We have to do something to help the children and their parents deal with this loss!"
But what? What was appropriate? As I reached the office and struggled to answer this
question, I started getting phone calls and people dropping in just to talk -all of them deeply
saddened by the news of the accident and David's death, all of them wanting to do something
to support David's family and at the same time feeling the pain of their own loss of a friend, a
colleague, a part of our body. The more people I talked with the more convinced I was that we
had to somehow change the focus of the worship today. Yet, I also knew that even though
many of us were hurting in our own way and suffering with the family, there would be folks in
worship today, who barely knew David, if at all; folks who were personally untouched by his
death.
I Corinthians 12:12-13 & 25-27
June 3, 2007
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
On Tuesday morning as I was driving to work, trying to deal with the multitude of emotions
that were swirling around in my heart after having spent 5 hours in the emergency room with
the Brauer family, standing with them as each of them learned of David's death, crying with
them as they began to take in its reality, I thought, I can't preach about being a peace with
justice church this Sunday, it just doesn't feel right. I chewed on this thought for a while, trying
to decide if I was just too raw to think rationally or if we really did need to change the focus of
the service this Sunday. So I called Jeff to get his thoughts. Having been with us at the hospital,
he too felt we needed to do something different. Then he went on to talk about telling Emma
and her reactions and I thought, "Oh my God the children! David was their Sunday School
Teacher! We have to do something to help the children and their parents deal with this loss!"
But what? What was appropriate? As I reached the office and struggled to answer this
question, I started getting phone calls and people dropping in just to talk -all of them deeply
saddened by the news of the accident and David's death, all of them wanting to do something
to support David's family and at the same time feeling the pain of their own loss of a friend, a
colleague, a part of our body. The more people I talked with the more convinced I was that we
had to somehow change the focus of the worship today. Yet, I also knew that even though
many of us were hurting in our own way and suffering with the family, there would be folks in
worship today, who barely knew David, if at all; folks who were personally untouched by his
death.
As I sat quietly with all of these thoughts and feelings a verse from Paul's letter to the
Corinthians began to niggle it's way to the surface of my consciousness; "If one part of the
body suffers, the whole body suffers." As it did I began to realize that whether or not we knew
David or any of the Brauer clan because we are a body and because part of our body is
suffering, our whole body hurts.
As I continued to contemplate all of this I decided to turn to the Message translation to see
what it did with this verse. And, as so frequently happens, I found an added nuance that
seemed to touch my heart. "If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in
the healing." When our bodies are injured or become diseased, the resources and energy of
the body flow toward the area that needs healing. Sometimes it means we need lots more rest.
Sometimes it means we need special food to supply extra nutrients for the healing. Sometimes
it's medication we need; sometimes it's exercise, sometimes it's changes in our lifestyle.
Sometimes when the disease or injury causes us to lose a part of our body or its functioning,
other parts of our body need to develop new capabilities so that life eventually goes on and a
new normal is established. But all of this takes time and energy and caring in the body.
In a very real sense the same things are true for the body of Christ. This injury to our body
is huge and many of the losses it entails are obvious. David was a Sunday School teacher, the
adult coordinator for Children's Church and one of our Spiritual Life facilitators. Others in his
family have major responsibilities in the life of our congregation. Still others worked closely with
him in many different ways. We grieve our own loss of this quiet gentle man, whose smile and
good food touched our lives deeply and we grieve with his family. So how can we care in the
body of Christ, so that this body eventually finds healing?
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\06-03-07 -I Cor 12-12-13 & 25-27.doc Last printed 6/11/2007 1:34:00 PM - 2 -
First, we can create a safe space to feel what we feel, to express what needs to be
expressed. Whether its doubt or fear or feeling overwhelmed or sadness or anxiety or
frustration or anger at God or whatever emotion might surface. We need to be a community
that can honestly and lovingly embrace one another in the truth and the depth of our feelings.
We need to be a place where we don't need to put on masks and say everything is OK when it
is most certainly not OK. I think we do an OK job with this some of the time. But perhaps we
need to say "no matter who you are or how you are on your life's journey you're welcome
here." Bring your pain, your sadness, your fear and find love and compassion and
understanding. Bring all of who you are and find the heart of God reaching out for you in the
hands that welcome you and the hearts that hold you.
This safe space happens the more we can listen; listen, listen listen, even if it's the same
story over and over again. This safe space happens the more we can listen without trying to fix
or heal or change one another. What we so often fail to understand is that in our
compassionate, loving, nonjudgmental listening we are creating a pathway of prayer and
avenue for the Spirit to do whatever fixing or healing or changing needs to be done -in God's
own time and in God's own way.
Speaking of time -it will take lots of it. We live in a culture that seems to think that life
should return to normal and we should be OK after a few weeks. It just ain't so. And we know it
in our hearts. We need to acknowledge it in our actions by continuing to reach out to those
most affected by a death not just for the first days and weeks following a death, but especially
throughout that first very difficult year.
We also need to help one another bear the load. We need to be attentive to things that
might be helpful and then do them. We often say -and I'm as guilty of it as anyone else- "let
me know if you need anything." One of the hardest things for someone who is grieving to do is
to figure out what they need and ask for it. We can use our gifts and act in our own way to care
for those who are hurting. We can also use our gifts to take over some of our bodily functions
so that this body of Christ can heal and continue to be.
Now, it should be obvious by this time that all of what I've said applies all of the time; for it
is true that some part of our body is dealing with some pain, some sadness, some grief, some
difficult situation all of the time. It is also blessedly true that other parts of the body will at
those moments be strong enough to reach out to care, to support, to nurture, to love. It is who
we already are. It's who we are becoming more and more each day. Our mission statement
proclaims that "we ... seek to embody and celebrate God's love by being a community that lives
Christ's compassion...." May it be so as we care for one another. Amen.
Corinthians began to niggle it's way to the surface of my consciousness; "If one part of the
body suffers, the whole body suffers." As it did I began to realize that whether or not we knew
David or any of the Brauer clan because we are a body and because part of our body is
suffering, our whole body hurts.
As I continued to contemplate all of this I decided to turn to the Message translation to see
what it did with this verse. And, as so frequently happens, I found an added nuance that
seemed to touch my heart. "If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in
the healing." When our bodies are injured or become diseased, the resources and energy of
the body flow toward the area that needs healing. Sometimes it means we need lots more rest.
Sometimes it means we need special food to supply extra nutrients for the healing. Sometimes
it's medication we need; sometimes it's exercise, sometimes it's changes in our lifestyle.
Sometimes when the disease or injury causes us to lose a part of our body or its functioning,
other parts of our body need to develop new capabilities so that life eventually goes on and a
new normal is established. But all of this takes time and energy and caring in the body.
In a very real sense the same things are true for the body of Christ. This injury to our body
is huge and many of the losses it entails are obvious. David was a Sunday School teacher, the
adult coordinator for Children's Church and one of our Spiritual Life facilitators. Others in his
family have major responsibilities in the life of our congregation. Still others worked closely with
him in many different ways. We grieve our own loss of this quiet gentle man, whose smile and
good food touched our lives deeply and we grieve with his family. So how can we care in the
body of Christ, so that this body eventually finds healing?
O:\Sermons\Sermons 2007\06-03-07 -I Cor 12-12-13 & 25-27.doc Last printed 6/11/2007 1:34:00 PM - 2 -
First, we can create a safe space to feel what we feel, to express what needs to be
expressed. Whether its doubt or fear or feeling overwhelmed or sadness or anxiety or
frustration or anger at God or whatever emotion might surface. We need to be a community
that can honestly and lovingly embrace one another in the truth and the depth of our feelings.
We need to be a place where we don't need to put on masks and say everything is OK when it
is most certainly not OK. I think we do an OK job with this some of the time. But perhaps we
need to say "no matter who you are or how you are on your life's journey you're welcome
here." Bring your pain, your sadness, your fear and find love and compassion and
understanding. Bring all of who you are and find the heart of God reaching out for you in the
hands that welcome you and the hearts that hold you.
This safe space happens the more we can listen; listen, listen listen, even if it's the same
story over and over again. This safe space happens the more we can listen without trying to fix
or heal or change one another. What we so often fail to understand is that in our
compassionate, loving, nonjudgmental listening we are creating a pathway of prayer and
avenue for the Spirit to do whatever fixing or healing or changing needs to be done -in God's
own time and in God's own way.
Speaking of time -it will take lots of it. We live in a culture that seems to think that life
should return to normal and we should be OK after a few weeks. It just ain't so. And we know it
in our hearts. We need to acknowledge it in our actions by continuing to reach out to those
most affected by a death not just for the first days and weeks following a death, but especially
throughout that first very difficult year.
We also need to help one another bear the load. We need to be attentive to things that
might be helpful and then do them. We often say -and I'm as guilty of it as anyone else- "let
me know if you need anything." One of the hardest things for someone who is grieving to do is
to figure out what they need and ask for it. We can use our gifts and act in our own way to care
for those who are hurting. We can also use our gifts to take over some of our bodily functions
so that this body of Christ can heal and continue to be.
Now, it should be obvious by this time that all of what I've said applies all of the time; for it
is true that some part of our body is dealing with some pain, some sadness, some grief, some
difficult situation all of the time. It is also blessedly true that other parts of the body will at
those moments be strong enough to reach out to care, to support, to nurture, to love. It is who
we already are. It's who we are becoming more and more each day. Our mission statement
proclaims that "we ... seek to embody and celebrate God's love by being a community that lives
Christ's compassion...." May it be so as we care for one another. Amen.
