Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
June 14, 2020
1 Corinthians 12:14-18
14 Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 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. 16 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. 17 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? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.
It has been almost a decade since first reading the book, Turning to One Another, by author and activist Margaret Wheatley. In it she wrote a rather prophetic word that is still speaking clearly today. She said,
“Our twenty-first-century world is descending into aggression, fear, and separation. War, genocide, violence, slavery, pandemics, poverty, natural disasters – all these are commonplace in this new century, despite most people’s deep longing to live together in peace.”
The answer Margaret poses later in the book sounds simple... we need to “turn to one another” and realize that we need each other more than ever.
I often wonder, especially lately, if we realize this truth - that our world is not complete without each and every person in it? Together we make it whole.
These last few weeks, I have seen a great deal of hope in the midst of all the unrest. Conversations have begun, perspectives have changed, and education is happening. The stories are no longer just someone else’s history – they are ours in this moment.
And I am hopeful because I am seeing people turning to one another.
The Apostle Paul echoes this important truth that we need each other in his letter to the Corinthians which Beth just read. I want to read it again, this time, from The Message Version to give it a bit more relevance and impact.
14-18 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together.
If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so?
If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body?
If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell?
As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. (1 Corinthians 12:14-18 MSG)
But sadly, Paul’s vision was not the same vision of many in the world, in our country especially, and even in the Church. For that matter, it was a radical idea in Bible times – let’s be honest, there are many “amputations” throughout our scriptures and due to our scriptures – from the descendants of Ham cursing the entire Black race to Jesus being crucified by Jews indicating reason for a holocaust.
The reality is that throughout history, too many have thought that some “parts” of the body we could do without.
And it was more than them not being elegant, embellished, and beautiful, even though these were issues when it came to skin color, eye shape, hair types, clothing choices, and many other comparisons.
In reality, it came down to the fact that one set of people deemed another group unworthy, inferior, or simply less-than and thus “amputations” were accepted and never rarely questioned.
Entire people groups in our own country have been treated as less-than, inferior, unworthy, and removed from or moved outside the body and we have created systems to do just that.
From the natives on this land whom we forced ourselves upon and then displaced…
To the Africans we brought here to work enslaved for us…
To the Asian Americans we put into camps during World War II and more recently have blamed for Coronavirus…
To the LGBTQ people we have labeled, refused, and led to higher rates of suicide…
To the LatinX families separated in cages on our borders, currently.
And please note…this is only a surface list…our amputations are many.
It seems clear that the current condition in our country is an outcome of a moral and spiritual failure. And I believe that failure began with our willing complicity in “amputating” curtain people groups from among us.
Those words of Margaret Wheatly, “Turn to one another” rings a prophetic voice, once again. As people of faith we must admit we are not complete until every single groups matters and that deep longing to live together in peace becomes a reality.
Or what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exclaimed as “The Beloved Community.”
If you have read any major work by Martin Luther King Jr. you will have read about his belief in the “The Beloved Community.” Even though first coined by the philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce, King popularized the term and invested it with a deeper meaning which has captured the imagination of people of goodwill all over the world.
For Dr. King, The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal of a rapturous image of the Peaceable Kingdom where lions and lambs coexist in idyllic harmony - which we have to admit many Quakers hold dear while refusing to take little action toward.
Rather, The Beloved Community was for King a realistic, achievable goal that could be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence. As Quakers, it seems this should be a natural fit.
Dr. King’s Beloved Community has become something some Quakers and many other people of faith around the world have begun to embrace, promote, and strive to create. Yet many are still wrestling with what all it entails and the work it is going to take.
Just listen as I read the description of the Beloved Community.
The Beloved Community is a realistic vision of an achievable society, one in which problems and conflict exist, but are resolved peacefully and without bitterness.
In the Beloved Community, caring and compassion drive political policies that support the worldwide elimination of poverty and hunger and all forms of bigotry and violence.
The Beloved Community is a state of heart and mind a spirit of hope and goodwill that transcends all boundaries and barriers and embraces all creation.
At its core, the Beloved Community is an engine of reconciliation. This way of living seems a long way from the kind of world we have now, but I do believe it is a goal that can be accomplished through courage and determination and through education and training, if enough people are willing to make the necessary commitment.
Now, if you carefully note, The Beloved Community is about living out our Quaker S.P.I.C.E.S. in real-time. This community is where simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship come together to make the world a better place.
It was Quaker Bayard Rustin who taught Dr. King to value nonviolence and positive peace (not passive peace) and helped instill in him that even though conflict is an inevitable part of the human experience, conflict could be resolved peacefully and adversaries could be reconciled through a mutual, determined commitment to nonviolence.
No conflict, he believed, need erupt in violence. And all conflicts in The Beloved Community should end with reconciliation of adversaries cooperating together in a spirit of friendship and goodwill.
Currently, I am sure some of you who are watching, are thinking, this is a far reach…but I must ask, “Is it really?”
The difficult place we must begin is with ourselves. As King pointed out, this is a way of living – which is going to take you and me doing some soul searching and admitting where we have amputated people, cultures, races, family from our own lives. And then asking why?
I have had to painfully reflect on those in my past and even those currently whom I still find myself deeming unworthy and inferior – those I am willing to ignore just because it is too difficult to try and understand. A LatinX friend of mine recently posted on Facebook something that really hit me,
White privilege is being able to turn off the news because everything is too chaotic and controversial and these issues don’t really affect you.
Yep, I am guilty.
It also means we have to turn to one another and have the difficult conversation of how we can make a change together.
Sue, Sam and I had one of these conversations with our neighbor the other day. For about an hour, our neighbor, a woman of color in her 60’s shared her experience of the pain of racism in our country. Our conversation quickly turned into a listening session as she told us of her story and gave us an education.
This is also exactly why we are promoting a combined effort between our living or historic peace churches. Together, we are able to commit in a more unified way to nonviolence and have a greater voice for what King outlined - peacefully reconciling, cooperating, and ending the violence we see in our world.
But let’s be honest, these are just first steps.
Several years ago, a friend I was staying with for a conference at his church shared with me how Quaker principles and values had been instrumental in developing his church’s direction. In his explanation he shared with me his churches commitments that grew out utilizing Quaker principles. He said, at his church they are committed to 6 foundational areas:
1. Roots
2. Journey
3. Wholeness
4. Community
5. Serving
6. Celebration
But he wasn’t done. He then gave each of the six commitments directions.
Roots (Looking Backward)
Journey (Looking Forward)
Wholeness (Looking Inward)
Community (Looking Withward)
Serving (Looking Outward)
Celebration (Looking Upward)
Not only are these 6 foundations excellent for developing a ministry’s purpose, I think they are integral to developing the Beloved Community. Obviously, I do not have the time to unpack my thoughts on each of these foundations right now, but, I share them as a way to proceed with our processing during this difficult time.
To help us begin this process, I have created some queries to ponder in the coming days based on these 6 foundations.
What historic roots (whether in my country, my church, my family, my community) are important to re-examine, be educated on, and teach to help benefit the development of the Beloved Community?
What journey do I need to take (and who must I ask along on the journey) to form a better expression of the Beloved Community? In moving forward what might I have to leave behind or what might I have to take along? Where might I need to get out of my box?
When looking inward, where am I not whole? What or who am I missing? What would make me a more healthy and vibrant expression of the Beloved Community?
Is community being developed in my life and ministry and am I becoming a faithful presence to the communities in which I participate, currently?
Who am I really serving? How much of my serving is self-serving? In looking outside myself and our meeting, who truly needs to be served?
How am I celebrating and finding joy with others? Am I able to see the reasons for giving thanks, remembering, and appreciating all people and their stories?
Let us now take some time to ponder these queries and how we will engage important conversations this week.