Epiphany 3C’25 “Homesick for Community”
26 January 2025
(Micah 6.8); I Cor.12.12-31a
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
North Little Rock, Arkansas
The Rev. Carey Stone <+>

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love mercy(kindness), and to walk humbly with your God?”
– Micah 6.8

I shall never forget the great compassion and wisdom I once received from a psychiatric nurse in the facility where I once worked as a professional counselor. At the time I was working on an adolescent treatment unit where teens were struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, depression, anxiety, and not least, troubled relationships among their families. Late one night while I was finishing up my clinical notes from group sessions with the family members of our patients, a nurse came up from behind me, put her arms around my neck, and spoke softly into my ear, “Carey I’m just afraid you’re not ever going to get married!” She explained, “You are only exposed to the 20% of the population that have severely dysfunctional families and marriages! There is whole other 80% out there who are actually happily married, who love their children and their family life is truly a blessing.” This was a real gift, to be reminded that I am one person, in a particular place, surrounded by a particular group of people, and because of this my perspective could be skewed and my perception of reality incomplete. The nurse’s perspective reminded me that although what I was experiencing with this population was really true, it wasn’t the whole truth. We need each other, we need our differences!

Today, as a priest whenever I am working with a couple in pre-marriage counseling, I try to impart this same wisdom into what it takes to have a successful marriage. I have the couple stand up in my office with their backs to each other. Then I ask each one to describe what they see. They both agree they are in a room but practically everything else they described was different. One saw a door, where the other only saw a window. I then ask them, “is one of you wrong?” As they look at the whole room, they realize that neither of them was wrong they each gave a perfect 180-degree description of the room. The point is that a couple need each other to be able to see the full 360 degrees. As each member of the couple practice listening, they both learn from each other.

In St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he writes to a church in conflict, with multiple factions, who aren’t listening to each other, or seeing from the other’s perspective. In chapter 12 he reminds them and us that we are all one and how much we need each other. and the unity found in diversity with each member having different gifts. Some of the gifts mentioned: words of knowledge, words of wisdom, gifts of faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, gifts of various languages, and of their interpretation, apostolic gifts, prophetic gifts, teaching gifts, servant leadership, and so on. He follows up with the great chapter on love chap 13 where love is the foundation of the body of Christ and of all of the manifestation of gifts.

St. Paul writes, “Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body…But as it is God arranged the members of the body, each one of them as he chose…” The individual parts are needed in order for the body to be whole. Our individual gifts/ parts cannot function all alone.

I can tell you that prior to my honeymoon I never thought much about my little toe. It didn’t seem to make much of difference, until I broke it that is! We were in the Caribbean islands of the Turks and Caicos Islands lounging on our beach chairs when my ‘new wife’ asked me to go and get her a drink, I the zealous new husband quickly jumped up to go and as I did, I caught my right -little toe -on the edge of the beach chair. When I did, I heard that unforgettable sound of a bone snapping! After hobbling around for the rest of my honeymoon in no small amount of pain, I learned the great value of this small bone! Who knew how necessary it was until it wasn’t able to function.

So, as we think of the body of Christ how easy it is to err in one of two ways: first, we minimize our gifts and that part of the body we bring, “Oh they don’t really need me, besides there are probably some other folks who are better at, or are able to give more,” etc. A second way is that we minimize the gifts of others while overinflating the importance of our gifts, and running roughshod over others.

We cannot live the Christian life by ourselves. By the very structure of the church, through its sacraments we are taught that we cannot perform any of them by ourselves. None of us can baptize ourselves, take communion by ourselves (not even a deacon, priest, or bishop), marry ourselves, confirm ourselves, heal ourselves, or ordain ourselves – it takes the body of believers. This wonderful community of the body of Christ has a place at the table for each and every one of us.

There are folks who for whatever reason have become inactive in the church during the pandemic and haven’t returned. My friends, you cannot live the life of faith alone, you cannot fully exercise your gifts without there being recipients, your brothers and sisters, and those whom the church welcomes and serves.
One of the possible causes for that melancholy feeling that won’t go away might just be that you’re homesick for the people of God gathered in worship and service, to put all of your gifts to use for the glory of God, and the greater good.

Today on this occasion of our annual meeting we rejoice and give thanks for the many gifts and blessings that have come our way at St. Luke’s and we invite you to become an activated member of the body of Christ in 2025.

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love mercy(kindness), and to walk humbly with your God?”
– Micah 6.8