One Body, Sacred Presence

Last updated on: September 27, 2026 at 2:46 pm by Rob Giannamore

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One Body, Sacred Presence 2026-09-27T14:46:27-04:00 Rob Giannamore

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Miller’s Station UMC| 9/27/26| Anchor Verse: 1 Corinthians 12:12–27

This morning, we turn to 1 Corinthians 12 to ask what it means to belong— to be part of the one body of God’s creation. In this body of wholenss, we are all interconnected by God’s love. Paul reminds us that none of us stands alone. We are joined in the body of Christ, sustained by God’s presence, and woven into the life of all creation. Christian faith, then, calls us to recognize this sacred interdependence and to care for every person and every part of creation as indispensable to the whole.

Many Members, One Body

Unity is a theme in Christian thought and to be clear, unity is not conformity. Unity “means living in harmony with other people and with all of God’s creation. It means working for a common cause with those around the globe who know that when one person gains, all gain, and when one fails, all fail. We are crafting unity when we build communities. The spiritual practice of hospitality helps us learn to respect differences and celebrate diversity in the Creation. Unity is about affirming commonalities. This can be as simple as acknowledging how you are like another person. It can lead to actions demonstrating your solidarity with others. Without unity, there is little hope for compassion, justice, or peace.”

For Paul, the image of “the body as a communal reality is not unique to Paul (though Paul is the only writer in the New Testament to use it). Other writers in the Roman world (especially politicians and philosophers) used the same image. Most often, it was used to support the social hierarchy (whether of the family, or the city, or the empire as a whole). The point was that every body needs a head, and in society that was provided by the wealthy, the rulers, and the elite. Every body needs hands and feet to do the hard and dirty work, and that was provided in society by just about everyone else. Paul in his usual countercultural manner, while drawing on the same image, turns the point in a very different direction. The unity of the body does not, in fact, mean that the less honored members get abused and treated roughly; rather, all the parts belong to one another, and therefore the “weak” parts are treated with special care. The end result of the body metaphor in Paul’s hands is not the same old hierarchy, or even the inverse of that culturally-expected pattern of domination with new people placed on the top, but a deep unity of the whole body, with each part cared for by the others.”

We are all interconnected with each other and the world around us. Our differences are not obstacles to belonging, they are gifts that make the body whole. Our interconnectedness makes our identity both personal and community and each person and each feature of God’s creation whether it be the changing leaves, the budding flowers or deer that walks in our backyard matters. In our hyper independent American context, independence is not spiritual maturity, recognizing our unity with all God’s creation and our membership within the body of Christ is.

All Life Held in God

I want to introduce another fancy church word: panentheism –a word that names the belief that all creation exists within God and is sustained by God, even as God remains greater than all creation. This understanding can reshape how we see—and how we treat—one another and the world around us. So I want you to pause for a moment and just imagine what happens when we begin to believe that—not only with our minds, but with our lives. We start seeing our neighbors differently. We start seeing the earth differently. We start recognizing that everywhere we turn, we are standing in the sustaining presence of God.

When we use this lens to see creation, community and daily life as held within God’s presence, we begin to recognize the sacredness of each moment and for me specifically, my smallness in it all. With this lens, every moment becomes holy ground. And standing on that holy ground reminds us just how small we are—and just how great God is. God is not watching the body’s joy and pain from a distance. God is present in every celebration, every wound, every tear, and every act of healing. So if all life is held in God, then contempt for another person is not a private attitude; it is a wound in the body we share and a denial of the love to which God has called us.

And church, this truth confronts the attitude of superiority embedded in much of white Western Christianity—the claim that humanity stands above the rest of creation, or that one race, one culture, or one religious tradition makes some lives more worthy than others. Friends, if every life is held in God, then no life is disposable, no neighbor is beneath our care, and no part of creation is ours to abuse. So let the question reach beyond this sanctuary and follow us into the week: How should we speak, serve, vote, consume, forgive, and love if we truly believed that every life is surrounded and sustained by God?

A Celtic Christian Vision of Sacred Connection

I am a child of the 80’s and came of age in the 90’s and like a lot of 90’s folks, I was enamored by all the Celtic music that popped up during that time. My wife and I had several Celtic Christmas albums that made their rounds every year. It would not be until I found my way into preaching school that I would come to really appreciate the Celtic heritage and specifically Celtic Christianity. Deeply influenced by the native traditions in the area and largely separated from the world, the Celtic Christian tradition often emphasizes God’s presence in creation, ordinary work, hospitality, pilgrimage, and community. This spirituality resists dividing life into “sacred” and “secular”; every place can become a place of encounter with God. Its imagery of circles, seasons, land, and journey can help the congregation imagine faith as a web of sacred relationships.

One of the most well known and loved Celtic symbol is the woven Celtic known. This knot is know by it’s distinct strands which, when you look closely at it, no strand exists by itself; each contributes to a larger, continuous pattern. Friends, this is the interconnectedness that Paul is is alluding to today. None of us, none of creation exists by itself. Much of my time in the outdoors has demonstrated how many of the creatures, humans included have contributed to the building of the space I inhabit for a day or for a week.

When One Member Suffers

I want to return to our central passage today. In today’s reading, Paul teaches us that no member of the body is dispensable. The eye cannot dismiss the hand, and the head cannot dismiss the feet. We can take away from this that when one member suffers, we all suffer. We all need one another. Paul points out that the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” and the head cannot say the same to the feet. In Christ’s body, no one is self-sufficient, and no one is unnecessary. To further strengthen this, Paul shows how the overlooked in his ancient world and our modern word are indispensable. Paul tells us that the members who appear weaker are not disposable; they are indispensable. The church is called not merely to include those the world overlooks, but to honor them with particular care. We can also take away the idea that suffering and joy can be shared experiences. Paul points out that in the body of Christ, another person’s suffering is never merely “their problem.” When one member suffers, we all suffer; when one member is honored, we all rejoice. Our belonging becomes visible through compassion, presence, and action.

Friends, I challenge you to take this away – this week, notice one person others may overlook. Listen closely to one burden. Then offer one concrete act of care. We do not merely speak about being one body—we practice it whenever we refuse to let another member suffer alone.

Conclusion: Become What You Are

We must become what we are. We are already the body of Christ, we are members of all of God’s creation. Reflecting again on Paul’s words today, Paul does not tell the us to try to become the body of Christ; he declares, “You are the body of Christ.” Our calling, then, is to live faithfully into the identity God has already given us—to honor our differences, bear one another’s suffering, rejoice in one another’s joy, and recognize God’s presence in every relationship. We belong to Christ, and because we belong to Christ, we belong to one another. No member is unnecessary, no life is disposable, and no act of faithful care is ever too small. Amen

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