Cancer

Our young adult discipleship group has been memorizing one verse a month, and a few weeks ago, one of the leaders offered 1 Corinthians 12:26 to memorize.  About the body of Christ, the apostle Paul writes this, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it.”

The first part seems easy - I feel the suffering of those who suffer.  But Paul isn’t talking about mere pity, or even empathy.  He doesn’t say we “feel” suffering with our suffering brother or sister, he says we suffer.  Period.  Christ didn’t just “feel” for us, he suffered with us, for us.  Do I just feel sorry for people from afar?  Patting myself on the back for my sensitivity?  Would I actually be willing to suffer with them?  To make sacrifices for their sake?

The second part is even tougher for me.  Being prone to the sin of envy, I want to be the one honoured.  I grumble that this brother or sister is hardly deserving.  But as part of the body of Christ - doesn’t the honouring of one serve to glorify the whole?  Doesn’t Jesus ultimately receive the honour?  And isn’t he always deserving?  Haven’t I received undeserved honour through his blood that covers me?  Shouldn’t all of this cause me to rejoice?

Paul is all too aware of the human condition.  We want much more to be like cancer cells than a healthy cell in the body.  We hoard resources, feel entitled to more than our share.  We look down on cells around us.  We want to replicate ourselves.  Wouldn’t it be great if everyone was just like me?

No, no it wouldn’t.  What does cancer do to a body?  It chokes out functioning parts.  A once lively person now bed-ridden.  A joyful smile now in constant pain.  Death.  The cancer cell multiplies its way towards its own destruction.

We see this in the world - where one group tries to dominate over others, leading to chaos, destruction, death.  For people of earthly kingdoms, this makes sense.  Their worldview is based on survival of the fittest, gaining their own way to paradise, or competing for the favour of capricious gods.  But the Church?  We have God’s revelation of interconnectedness - each of us created in his image, part of his greater body.  Unique, important, valued; yet not self-sufficient, not the only thing that matters, not better than any other part.  We are the body of Christ himself, and as such, have our being in and are moved by the Spirit.  How should this shape the way we live?

Some questions to reflect on as you meditate on the verse yourself:

1. How am I with my suffering brothers and sisters - close to me and around the world?
2. How do I respond to the honouring of another brother or sister?
3. How do I honour others, even in times of disagreement?
4. How can we make sure we are thriving and cancer-free as the body of Christ?
   
   
   

Karen Schaffer is the pastor of faith formation at The Tapestry Richmond
Photo by Andrew Seaman