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Lectionary
TRINITY 2: 1 – 7 JUNE 2008
THEME: ‘INTO ONE BODY WE
WERE ALL BAPTISED.’
READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 12: 12 – 20
Following his clear explanation on the diversity of
gifts by only One Spirit, St Paul tackles here the issue of
membership within the Body of Christ. By acknowledging that
‘the body is not one member but many’ (v.14), Paul draws the
attention of his readers to the necessity of appreciating the
enriching diversity of the members that make up the body. We
know that, by analogy, the Church is also called the Body of
Christ. Throughout the Church’s history to date, the
administration of the sacrament of Baptism has been one of the
doctrinal and theological controversies that has divided
churches. But if we listen carefully to Paul here in our Bible
reading, he invites us to focus more on the meaning of
baptism, rather than on the forms of baptism: ‘For by one
Spirit, we were all baptized into one body’ (v.13). It is by
baptism that we become members of the Body of Christ. By our
baptism we are put together, joined together, built together,
fitted together and held together into the Church, the Body of
Christ.
The amazing truth about Church membership is
that we are invited to belong, not just to believe. More
importantly, this invitation to belong is issued regardless of
our social, cultural, political or ethnic backgrounds. In St
Paul’s words, ‘whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free
– we have all been made to drink into one Spirit.’ Clearly,
through our membership within the Church, we are invited to
celebrate the socio-cultural diversity of our local
communities. It is a celebration that should take us into a
brotherhood and a sisterhood that go beyond ethnicity.
Today in Africa where millions of people are yet to
recover from traumatic experiences of unjustified
imprisonment, ethnic cleansing, civil wars and even genocide,
our churches are summoned to get rid of what we may call ‘mask
Christianity’ and to become living communities where Christ is
truly celebrated through one another’s presence. As Paul
nicely put it, ‘now God has set the members, each one of them,
in the body just as He pleased’ (v.18). Submitted by Dr
Valentin Dedji
PRAYER
Eternal God, keep your
Church in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, that
as we minister in the continent of Africa it would know your
peace and experience necessary growth; through our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK
1Corinthians 12: 21‐27; 1Corinthians 1: 9‐10; Psalm 133;
Ephesians 2: 19‐22; John 15: 1‐ 10
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