Last week we heard of the many varieties of gifts that all come from the same Spirit. This week, Paul tells us of all the different parts which make up the whole body of Christ. Each part has a role to play that is uniquely its own and cannot do what another is meant to do.

We generally interpret things through our own experience, and when I read this very familiar passage again this past week, I thought of my former life. Before I left work to return to school to study theology, I spent many years working in Family Medicine offices and the phrase, "It’s time for an RGA" came to mind. RGA is an OHIP billing term. It means Repeat General Assessment or, as we non-medical people might say, an Annual Physical.

Paul’s letter can serve to remind us that a regular check on our spiritual health is as important as our yearly physical.

The Mission Statement of this pastoral charge is as good a place as any to begin our check-up. It says we are to be:

If that is to be our measurement of a healthy congregation, then how are we doing? Do we need more exercise in order to stretch and strengthen those parts of the body we haven’t been using much lately? Do we need to trim a little fat off? Are we in need of resuscitation or would God give us a clean bill of health?

Let’s see……………..

"The heart". This congregation has a strong and tender heart. How do I know that? Because I hear about the phone calls and the visits. I listen to the compassionate and caring voices as you minister to each other and to those among us in need of support and comfort. When I visit someone, I quite often hear that someone from the congregation has already been there or has called.

The generous outpouring of gifts and food at Christmastime to help those in our community in need of assistance is another manifestation of the loving and strong heart of this faith community.

We heard at our Presbytery meeting this week that nationally, we fell short of our M&S goal by about 15%, yet both congregations in this charge exceeded their M&S goal.

So I think "heart wise" we’re doling well. But we must not waver in our caring because if we are to survive and thrive, our heart must remain strong. So…continued regular exercise of the heart is necessary.

"The mind". That’s a harder thing to examine. Those of us who have been struggling on Tuesday morning for the past two months trying to gain some understanding of the Book of Revelation could certainly say our minds have been stretched and exercised!

I think a good measure of the health of the mind is found in our actions – in how all the other parts of the body work. If we are thinking like Christians and determined to live as such, we will do the tangible and the intangible things that attest to the health of the mind – a mind focused on living a Christ-like life.

Next come "the eyes". Eyes, of course, are for seeing. We look for the right path and our eyes guide us. Are they doing a good job or is it time for bifocals? What do we see with these Christian eyes? And how do we respond to what we see?

We see poverty and we give to Rural Visions.

We see our sisters and brothers suffering and in pain and we pray for them.

We see our community and offer gifts to enrich it. Our gifts of music – the hymn sings at Bentley, the Christmas Concert, and the weekly inspiration of beautiful music in worship.

We see the children and we welcome them into our midst – providing a place for them to learn and grow in their Christian faith – but few come.

Now, this is a place where we could use a good dose of tonic. Each community in this charge has a school, but where are the children on Sunday mornings? There is something we are not doing, or not doing well, because the children are not here among us. It’s time we put our minds to work, to determine what we can do for our children and young people.

The United Church of Canada is something special and unique – a place where there is not only room for diversity, but where it is welcomed. It’s a church where everyone has a place and all are treated as equals. We need to find a better way to communicate who we are to the next generation. That is one of our challenges, a challenge that must be met if we are to be a healthy faith community, a strong part of the body of Christ.

How about our hands? The hands of this faith community get plenty of exercise. They are found baking, making sandwiches, decorating the sanctuary, cleaning, writing notes of comfort, folded in prayer, carrying groceries for the Food Bank, resting on someone’s shoulder to offer comfort, or gently holding the hand of another who needs to know he or she is not alone. We have very busy hands!

But I have learned in the past couple of months that the hand functions best, and gets more done, when it does not work alone. Two hands are definitely better than one and many hands are even better. Are there ways that the hands of these two congregations can work together more often so that both are strengthened and yet maintain their individual identity? That might be good work for our hands.

Finally, we come to the "feet". Feet are important. They take us where we’re going. They follow the path laid out before us. They hold us up. How are our feet? Have they placed us on solid ground? Do we stand firm in our faith or do we sometimes stumble? We need to constantly pay attention to where we stand, to follow where we are led, and not strike out on our own down the wrong path.

So….what’s the verdict? Did we pass our physical?

If our heart is strong and if we keep our mind clear and focused on living a Christian life and being a Christian community and presence in our little villages, if we see the needs and respond appropriately, if we reach out to others and to each other, and if we stand strong in our commitment to God, the church and this community, we will in all likelihood live a long, healthy, and productive life as a faith community. But to build on the many healthy parts of this pastoral charge, we need to keep exercising and stretching, challenging and growing all the parts of the body of Christ that comprise the Harrowsmith-Verona pastoral charge.

But we are also part of a larger body. We are part of a church that serves God and God’s people in communities all across this country. And, on this last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we are reminded that we are also a part of a worldwide community of faith – the body of Christ in our world.

We are privileged to live in this country and with that privilege comes an obligation to help others beyond Canada – people whose economic and political circumstances make daily life a challenge.

This morning we are launching the Beads of Hope Petition Campaign. The aim of this campaign is to collect signatures on a petition that will be sent to our Canadian government reminding them of their international responsibilities in the fight to control the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS in the world. You will hear more about this petition in a few minutes. It’s important that we join the other congregations and pastoral charges of our national church in this important work. The health and well-being of our world is at stake and we must do our part.

Ours are the voices that can speak out.

Ours are the hands whose signatures are needed.

Our prayers are necessary to support this important project, those who have undertaken it and the many innocent victims of this terrible disease.

If we are truly to be a part of the Body of Christ in the world, we must meet the challenges before us, both here in our local community and in our global community. One way to do this is to support the Beads of Hope Campaign and the Petition.

Together, using all the different parts of the body of Christ we can accomplish much. TOGETHER

The story is told of a ground-breaking service the people in Sarasota, Florida, had when they began work on the First Brethren Church in 1957.

Instead of the silver spade routine with one dignitary turning the first sod, they brought along an old plough, the kind our forbears used to break the first sod on the prairies. First they hitched the minister to the plough. Of course, it didn’t budge. Not an inch. Then they hitched the church secretary, the music director and the custodian to the plough. They couldn’t move it either.

So they tied a long rope to the plough and added the whole church board. Still the plough wouldn’t budge.

"All right", somebody yelled. "Everybody grab hold and pull."

And so the whole congregation – women, men, and children – everybody – pulled on that rope. And the plough sliced through the ground to start the new church.

That’s what we have to do – not just as part of this congregation, but as part of the whole United Church of Canada and part of the worldwide Christian church.

Let’s pull that plough together, turning over the soil, to grow a world of peace and justice together.

Amen