“Greater Honor” Vance L. Toivonen
READING Corinthians 12:12-26 (27-31a)
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. (Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then deeds of power, then gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But strive for the greater gifts).
READING “Opening the Dream: Beyond the Limits of Otherness,” Rev. Canon Charles Gibbs (Part Four of Deepening the American Dream, Mark Nepo, ed.)
…humanity’s work (is) to create a place where even minority cultures can feel at home, can feel they belong, that their ways of being in the world and seeing the world are understood and respected. Because everybody is a minority somewhere. For this to happen, we all need to move gently away from the safe shore of our belonging into the deeper water of otherness. If we do this intentionally and together, with the Spirit of Wisdom guiding our way, we just might discover that our little boat has been joined by many other little boats that we recognize as different and yet the same. We might sail into a new future that we create together – a new American dream that grows in humility and consciousness, including all voices, until it is a dream of the earth, cherished by all. Until it is a waking dream in which we’ve built bridges and taken down walls…so that all of the earth community might be born to live.
SERMON
The Dalai Lama once said, “When in the company of others I shall always consider myself as the lowest of all, and from the depth of my heart hold them dear and supreme.” That’s the Dalai Lama…Buddhism’s version of Catholicism’s pope in once sense, I suppose, although there is no doubt about the divergence of that comparison. I make the comparison in order to suggest that Pope is to Catholicism as Dalai Lama is to Buddhism. The Dalai Lama is for hundreds of millions of Buddhists a great, great man, to be honored and adored. And he says, “When in the company of others I shall always consider myself as the lowest of all, and from the depth of my heart hold them dear and supreme.”
Jesus once said, “The somebodies will be nobodies and the nobodies will be somebodies.” He also said, “The mighty will be brought down. The lowly will be raised up.” We are dealing here with two great religious icons who seem intent upon turning the world upside down. Gandhi did this too. And so did Mohammed. As well as many of the great prophets of Israel. And if there ever was a time the world needed turning upside down, its now.
We know this is true. But where do we start? Where do we begin to flip our lives and our world over? Did you ever flip over a rock in the woods? On the one side is the rock, all gray or brown…perhaps with a little moss growing on it. We don’t see all of the creatures residing under that rock until we turn it over. Creepy crawlers of all different shapes and sizes live under that rock. And they are all important members of the ecosystem in which they, and we, reside. We don’t usually see them; in fact, we don’t usually want to see them. But we are inexorably bound together in an ecological web neither they, nor we can escape.
I’m sure we would have varied opinions about building a wall on the U.S./Mexican border. I won’t even ask for a show of hands. But whether we build a wall or not, whether for it or against it, we are no less connected to the folks on the other side of that border. Besides, borders are imaginary lines on land masses. When one sees the earth from space one cannot discern borders. One sees land and water. It is only our pre-existent bias that would cause us to see borders, lines, delineating markings of some sort. They’re not really there. They are taught. They are learned. They are whatever it is that separates us from one another; culture, language, race and ethnicity. And of course – economics.
I have always been fascinated by that part of Paul’s body metaphor that points directly to those parts of our bodies we must be sure to keep covered, the parts he calls the “less respectable” members. It is against the law to display these body parts in public. These are the parts to which we have religiously and socially tied shamefulness. Adam and Eve covered these parts when they were outed in the story about the garden and the tree and the serpent and the fruit. We are all honored and respected for clothing these body parts, and, of course, disrespected when we do not.
Paul also says that God gives greater honor to these so-called inferior members. I get lost in this metaphor if I try to figure it out literally. But as a metaphor we need only reflect upon those human beings we deem less honorable to discover the direction of Paul’s thinking. Jesus was condemned by religious folks for giving attention to people who were deemed less honorable, unclean fringe members of society. Who are those people for us? Who is it that we would not give the time of day? Who is it that we would cross the street to avoid? Who is it that we would rather not have in our community? Who is it that makes us feel uncomfortable? These are the ones to whom God gives the greater honor, according to Paul.
Rev. Canon Charles Gibbs, executive director of the United Religions Initiative (URI), invites us “to move gently away from the safe shore of our belonging into the deeper water of otherness.” Let’s wonder together this morning what that “otherness” might be for us. What “otherness” exists right here in our own community? What “otherness” could we invite into our presence, into our lives, not so much as individuals, but as a community. What “otherness” can we intentionally go out of our way to make contact with in Door County?
This cannot be merely a charitable effort. We must seek to sit together shoulder to shoulder and work together side by side; to not only touch the humanity of the other, but to be open to letting the other touch our own spirits. This “deeper water of otherness” must be for us a true connecting with a deep understanding that we are inexorably united in our common humanity. Like Paul says, the brokenness of the other is our brokenness, the joy of the other is our joy; and vice versa. Without this connective tissue between ourselves and the other we feel incomplete and restless. Something is not right. There’s something missing but we’re not sure what it is. It is, perhaps, the other we have been avoiding. Like I shared earlier in the story with the children, nobodies can become who bodies if we let them.
Our country is founded on a kind of arrogance. The native culture of North America was perceived by the other who came across the ocean as the other, as a roadblock to civilization. The native culture of North America remained, and still remains the other to white, Euro-centric Americans to this day. We have not bridged this gap. And yet we have several tribal peoples within a few hours drive of us geographically. How will we move into the deeper waters of otherness with native peoples? More and more those folks who are representative of cultures south of that imaginary border are residing right here in Door County. How will we move into the deeper waters of otherness with Latin-American peoples? From a purely economic point of view we are surrounded by the working poor, even in Door County. How will we move into the deeper waters of otherness with those who are at an economic disadvantage? Can we ever see ourselves on equal ground with any of these peoples? Can we create a culture where we actually live on such equal ground? Can we, like God, give honor to the “less respectable” members of society?
I like Rev. Gibbs’ comment that “everybody is a minority somewhere.” U.S. census projections are that whites will become a minority in this country by the year 2050. So we have a choice. We can continue to live in isolation from one another until we have to conform to this inevitable otherness, or we can find more and more ways to connect to one another now and to celebrate our common humanity now. We can leave all of the rocks neatly in place, or start turning them over one by one. We can continue our charitable attitudes, or learn to understand that this country does not need charity so much as it needs equity, justice, and solidarity. Our unity is in Christ, not in the color of our skin, or our cultural background. The more we understand and live this, the more we will discover, and share in, the greater honor God bestows upon every living creature.
I do not know what first step to take. I only ask that our conversation turn from self-concern to other concern, and that our priorities shift to accommodate the whole body of Christ. I believe this is the kind of growth that God is calling us to, a growth that is inclusive beyond our imagining, a growth that stretches us beyond our comfort zones, a growth that is risky, and a growth that cannot help but deepen our spiritual growth as people of God.
Somehow, when I saw the Door County Advocate celebrate the first born of the new year in Door County, I felt that it was more than just a picture in the paper. The face of Door County is changing right before our eyes. Do we see it? Honestly, I had already forgotten their names and faces, so I had to track down the information. Melanie and her brother Carlos Jr. were pictured in that January 6th issue of the Advocate together with their mother and father, Margarita and Carlos Torres. I would invite us, at the very least, to celebrate and honor this family in our thoughts and prayers. Where such prayer will lead, I do not know.
One thing I am no longer sure of as I recall that picture from the paper in my mind’s eye is this, is there really any such thing as a “less respectable member.?” Are such distinctions merely illusions, like geographic borders, and all of the –isms that we manufacture? Or are we all “less respectable members” to whom God has given greater honor?