1 Corinthians 12:12-21 New Living Translation (NLT)
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
1 Peter 4:10-11 New Living Translation (NLT)
10 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
I love soup. I love to eat it and I love to cook it.
One of my favorites is what my daughter calls “Cabinet Soup”. All the ingredients come out of the cabinet or freezer or refrigerator or pantry. There’s no recipe, no planning ahead and shopping. I just open up a cabinet door and see what’s there.
Sometimes I’ve got the bones from a roast chicken, sometimes it’s a hambone or a bunch of vegetables, fishbones and shrimp shells—all these things make the broth, the beginning of the soup.
Once I choose the base, I’ll go foraging in the cabinets and freezer and fridge. I’ll gather a huge pile of stuff on the counter and then get it all in the pot. I like to set the heat at a low simmer so it can cook all day.
I recently made a pot of Asian Chicken Cabinet Soup. While I was standing over it, stirring gently, I realized that’s what the verses from Corinthians are talking about—how the church is a body, each of us an important part. We’ve all heard the verses many times, so often, in fact that we can find ourselves not really listening. There’s a feeling of “Yes, yes, we’ve heard this before; can we move on?”
But those familiar verses were the ones God brought to me as I stirred my soup. And as God so often does, God used the soup to draw me deeper.
I thought about my pile of soup stuff—chicken bones, onions, celery, thyme leaves, lemons, garlic, fresh ginger root, sesame oil and rice vinegar, udon noodles, salt and pepper and seasonings and green onions for topping…and I realized that each piece is important and has a part to play in the soup.
Paul uses the analogy of a human body – hands, feet, eyes, ears – each part needed and valued; and in my cabinet soup, it’s the same. It can’t be made up of only one ingredient. Even tomato soup has spices and cream and broth and tomatoes—a bowl of pureed tomatoes isn’t soup after all.
Each ingredient in the soup has a different gift to bring to the pot. No ingredient can be left out. Without the ginger, there would be no spiciness. If I forgot the lemon or the rice vinegar, the broth would seem bland. No ingredient can be left out—the final result—the SOUP—depends on ALL the ingredients coming together and blending together and working together.
Each of us has a different gift given to us by God. As we come together as the church, we have the responsibility to use our gift in service to others. Remembering that we can only be effective for God when we work together like the ingredients in the soup pot.
Something to think about: What gift has God given me to use for service in the Body of Christ? Is there a place that my unique ability is needed in the church that I’ve overlooked?
A Prayer: Amazing God, forgive me for the times I’ve not used my gifts to serve others. Open my eyes to the places you would have me add my unique flavor to the soup. Give me the strength and energy to do all you ask of me, so that everything I do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
The View from Mt. Hope 