“Power” is a tricky word. In everyday usage, it can mean “authority to control” or “ability to coerce,” on the one hand. On the other, the Gospel of the Crucified One clearly does not view such “power” as a gift of God. “Power” can also mean the energy, impulse, dynamism necessary to effect change through love. I pray that rather than concentrating on how to wield coercive, controlling power, believers will reconnect with the power of the Gospel to change lives, families, communities, and entire societies.
Monthly Archives: January 2025
There are many members, yet one body… 1 Corinthians 12:20
As bearers of God’s image, we belong to one another—our neighbor, our community, our earth, its inhabitants, all creation. At Sophia, as we learn together alongside each other, you will become a vital part of a body that transforms you and is transformed by you.
The Bible uses a number of metaphors and analogies to describe a community inhabited by God’s presence: a kingdom, a vine and its branches, a congregation (Hebrew: qahal; Greek: ekklesia), a group of disciples. Paul demonstrated a certain preference for the image of the body, the body of Christ.
This rich image speaks to many things. It reminds us that, while community, to be sure, involves a degree of unity, that unity is not uniformity and is certainly not conformity. Members in a true community remain distinct individuals, each respecting the other and the other’s contribution. Here, the musical concept of harmony complements Paul’s body metaphor nicely. The harmony that Sophia seeks involves multiple tones structured in chords, rather than a group of voices singing in unison.
Paul’s image reminds us that the life of a community involves many tasks and that, correspondingly, members of a community have many functions. A healthy community will include hands to hold and shape, eyes to see need, feet to go where there is need, hearts to feel compassion for the needy, and minds to understand the need. No function can claim priority, and every function is necessary.
The image of the body of Christ underscores the fact that each member of the body is precious to all the others. Hearts that circulate the blood that delivers nutrients throughout need lungs to oxygenate that blood. Muscles depend on that blood. Fingers may seem relatively less vital, but when they have been injured, the whole body knows the pain. At Sophia, every part cherishes every other part. Differences in function do not matter.
Paul’s body imagery also suggests that a healthy body grows and develops. Minds sharpen; muscles develop; bones lengthen and strengthen. Throughout life, hopefully, human beings gain in wisdom, understanding, and compassion. Sophia’s community prioritizes nurturing such growth, not just in knowledge, but also in mature personhood.
The Advent and Christmas seasons give us the opportunity to remember that, in keeping with Paul’s notion, as members of the body of Christ, followers of Jesus have the privilege and responsibility of incarnating, embodying Christ in the world. As bearers of God’s image, we belong to one another—our neighbor, our community, our earth, its inhabitants, all creation. At Sophia, as we learn together alongside each other, you will become a vital part of a body that transforms you and is transformed by you.
Love your neighbor as yourself… Leviticus 19:18
(with Dr. Melissa A. Jackson)
Sophia is a community of safety.
One of God’s promises to the ancient Israelites, during their time of exile, was that God would return them to their homeland and they would live there securely, in peace and without fear. This promise occurs throughout the prophetic books, and Ezekiel particularly offers several iterations of it. For example, Ezekiel 34:27 reads:
“The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil, and they shall know that I am the Lord when I break the bars of their yoke and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them.” (NRSV)
The word often translated into English as “safe” or “secure” (as above) derives from the Hebrew root word meaning “trust.” The relationship between “safety” and “trust” is an obvious one. We feel safe with those we trust. The negative is also true: we feel unsafe with those we do not trust.
A sense of safety is a basic creaturely need. It is a necessary condition for all creation’s thriving. It is part of a sense of wholeness, of well-being, of shalom.
Last week’s installment from the Sophia faculty on “freedom” highlighted Paul’s reference in Galatians 5 to Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus also quotes this same verse numerous times (see Matthew 19:19 and 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27).
The mutuality of a love that values one’s neighbor equally to oneself not only ties us together in the work of freedom, as discussed last week, but it also enables us to build trust that can bring us to a place, to a space of true safety, secure in the love of God and of one another. In this way, freedom and safety are close companions, each flourishing in the presence of the other. To love as God loves is to hold the well-being of our neighbor as closely as we hold our own. At Sophia, your well-being is closely held, as together we take up the charge to embody a community of welcome, of hospitality, of security, of peace.