“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12:27
Last Sunday during Communion, I watched the plate of little crackers being passed down my row. I took note of how the well-dressed people in the pew ever so carefully lift their ‘pinkie’ and aim for a cracker piece so as to not touch the others. My friend sitting next to me reached in to get crackers for us both. At the appropriate time, she lifted my piece to my mouth, and afterward, the other piece to hers. The fact is I just can’t take Communion by myself. I’m forced to depend on another Christian friend to handle my bread for me. The wine, too.
I used to feel embarrassed that I couldn’t so much as pick up a cracker, but that’s changed. I’ve learned to look at my situation differently. Asking for help makes me feel connected. Interdependent. One with others. It’s a happy symbol of how closely I must live my life with fellow believers. I can’t live my life alone and isolated. In fact, I couldn’t even survive. Here’s the point: Communion celebrates this sort of unity in the body. It’s something we have to learn and relearn every day of our lives as we humbly lean hard on others for help. You and I desperately need Jesus Christ. And you and I desperately need His people.
You may not have any physical disabilities. But it would be a sad mistake to imagine you can live isolated and independent from fellow believers. Since we are one body in Christ, the hand needs the eye, the ear needs the feet, and the brain needs the heart. You have deep needs, and you are deeply needed. Remember that next time you lift the Communion bread to your lips.
Lord, help me celebrate my need of others in the body of Christ, rather than being ashamed. And give me grace to make my brothers and sisters feel welcome and at ease enough in my presence to ask help of me.
