Torn Ligaments

In this Sunday's reading from Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul compares the unity of the Church to the parts of a human body knitted together by ligaments. 

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said,‘When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive;   he gave gifts to his people.’(When it says, ‘He ascended’, what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.) The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knitted together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Every time that I have heard a sermon that drew from this passage (or from 1 Corinthians 12-30 in which Paul employs a similar argument) the primary focus has been on spiritual gifts. Now I know that a rector looking out on a congregation in which the 1/3 rule probably applies (1/3 of the people do 3/3's of the work), wants the do-nothings in the crowd to hear these words and to come up during coffee hour to volunteer to join the altar guild or some other worthy service.

Not once in all my years have I heard an Episcopal priest talk about Paul's warning,

"We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming."

 That probably strikes too close to home. The winds of doctrinal change have been tossing Episcopalians about for decades, and most of that wind has been blowing out of the mouths of bishops and priests, the very members who are supposed to be guardians of doctrine and protectors of the rest of us from being tossed to and fro resulting in torn ligaments and separated body parts left in pieces on the Anglican battlefield.

Those crafty and deceitful clergy are the ones responsible for tearing apart the ligaments of the body of the Church.

Thankfully there is a skilled surgeon available who can knit the torn ligaments and create a whole, functioning body.
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We just have to call on Him and allow Him to operate on us.

And Jesus is His name.