Mid-week Message

Greetings,

“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” - 1 Corinthians 12:26

The Apostle Paul wrote those words to the church in Corinth. They were not working together and he was trying to help them see that they were one body in Christ. He wanted them to realize their connection to each other and the all-encompassing love of Christ: by neglecting some in the church, they were hurting the whole church.

Paul’s words are apt for us today in the midst of this Pandemic. I am thinking of the vaccine, of course. Here, where we have access to the vaccine, some people refuse to receive it, which hurts our whole society by jeopardizing our entire health care system. On a global scale we see the same concept. By denying access to the vaccine to some countries, the whole world is hurt by allowing the virus to continue to mutate unchecked. It is important to both receive the vaccines offered to us and also to advocate for doses to be freely shared worldwide. “If one member suffers, all suffer together.”

There have always been issues that affect us all, but the Pandemic has made our common humanity more poignant. Pandemic tragedy in one part of the world has a direct impact on our daily life, if not immediately, eventually. My hope and prayer is that we, as a species, will grow in our understanding that we are all made in the image of God. May we realize that we are in this together. May we truly work together, not only to benefit ourselves, but to help the whole world, as one body, recover from this Pandemic. That would be a cause for rejoicing.

Grace and peace,

Rev. Sarina