We Are One in the Spirit

We are One in the Spirit
I Corinthians 12:12-31a
A sermon preached on January 24, 2010

The Haiti Partners MCC ministry team had its most recent meeting on Tuesday, January 5. As we talked about this year's trip to Haiti – who was going, what they would be doing I was there again in my mind. I was driving through the streets of Port au Prince, heading out of the city and into the mountains through Petionville, enjoying the lush beauty of Harry and Carla's compound, feeding and playing with children at the orphanage, massaging feet at the home for the destitute and dying, listening to the speakers tell us of Haiti's culture, religions and history, walking up the mountain to visit Klago, the village where the literacy project we help support is underway, noticing signs of environmental degradation and hunger, being overwhelmed by the extreme poverty and suffering of the people, especially children, seeing the crowded streets and dilapidated homes in cite soleil, hearing the joyful laughter of people enjoying one another and of children playing, and witnessing the incredible spirit and determination, creativity and liveliness of the people. Sitting in a meeting in the basement of this building, the sights, sounds and smells of this incredibly alive and vibrant and at the same time desperately poor and marginalized country took me over and I was there in this place that somehow in one short week got under my skin like no other place ever has before.

A short week later I checked my email and received the devastating news of the earthquake. It was overwhelming and very frightening to think of what might have happened to the SPARE students, to Guy and all of the other people we are connected to through our Haiti Partners MCC ministry. I couldn't stop thinking about all the people we encountered everywhere we went – street vendors, school students, mothers and fathers and children going about their day. What happened to them? How would they make it through this disaster when they started out with so very little?

And then the images on the TV of the rubble strewn city, bodies lying everywhere on the streets, people wandering around in shock and grief, thousands lost and unaccounted for, the chaos, the smell, the uncertainty, the search for help that didn't seem to be there the mad scramble to secure some kind of shelter and some amount of food and water. How can this be happening? It seemed like things were finally looking up for Haiti after the hurricanes and the political instability and the centuries of devastation and exploitation at the hands of the world community and now this. How much more can these people stand?

As the days went by the stories continued to flow and the losses continued to mount – students crushed in their schools, doctors, nurses and patients killed in hospitals that collapsed, parents crushed in their homes or at their places of work, children orphaned and on and on. All of these lives lost in a natural disaster that any other place in the world would have been devastating for sure but in Haiti was absolutely catastrophic. There was no real reason for this disaster to be as devastating as it is and will continue to be except for greed, racism and neglect of some of the least among us. We are all – the entire global community – every one of us complicit in this disaster and we bear some amount of responsibility for it.

Our government's policies and practices toward Haiti have been abhorrent. From the initial period of isolation after Haitians declared their independence from their French colonizers, to our occupation of the country, to our acts to prop up the brutal and repressive regime of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier to our self-serving manipulation of Haiti's economy our government, a government of by and for the people has not dealt fairly or justly with Haiti and we have allowed these brutal, repressive, underhanded and self-serving policies and practices to go on and on. And this is only the tip of the iceberg as many other nations around the world have taken what they could get from Haiti and given only enough back to prevent major uprisings.

In the wake of this earthquake we must do better and we must demand that our government does better because like it or not our fate and the fate of the people of Haiti are tied to one another. We are one body on this amazing planet, woven together in a web of interconnectivity that impacts us all for better and for worse.

The Apostle Paul, using the metaphor of the one body with many members highlights our common unity and interdependence. Paul was thinking primarily of the community of the church and giving advice to the Corinthians at a time of conflict and strife but we can take his words and this metaphor and expand it to include our presence within the world wide body of all of humanity – many members one body, united in one Spirit, varied and diverse in form and function but all completely vital and necessary for the health and vitality of the body itself.
Americans cannot say to Haitians we have no need of you because God tells us through Paul that the members of the body that seem to be the weakest are indispensable and those that we think of as less honorable should be adorned with greater honor and treated with greater respect. Those with power and education and healthcare and sturdy homes and reliable incomes do not need to be honored. On the contrary we must give the greater honor to those who struggle in poverty and deprivation. We must think of their needs and their hopes and their dreams even more than we think of our own because they need those thoughts and the resources that make those thoughts into reality so much more than we do. This is God's great wisdom and reordering of our ways of thinking and acting, God's way of challenging us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and maybe in times of extreme need to love our neighbors even better than we love ourselves.

When any member of the body suffers, Paul tells us, we all suffer. Haven't we all been suffering for and with the people of Haiti over the past two weeks? Haven't we also cried for the ugliness, the pain, the grief, the loss, the overwhelming horror of it all? Haven't we had our hearts broken as story after story of loss broke over us and as image after image of suffering assaulted our senses?

At the same time, Paul reminds us that if one member is honored, all rejoice together and haven't we rejoiced with great thanksgiving to notice the incredible response of the world community to this disaster. In the midst of the chaos and the confusion, the snail's pace with which aid began to reach the people, there is gratitude for the generosity of so many who have already given so much and who will hopefully continue to give as the need will be great for years to come. And aren't we also grateful that so many of the SPARE students and their families survived this disaster even as we grieve the death of Ludmilla Fleurival?

Gratitude, generosity and rejoicing are also being expressed in Haiti. Over the past two weeks I've read first hand accounts from our Global Ministries Missionaries in Haiti who tell of the incredible generosity being extended to them and that they are witnessing being extended everywhere they go. Those who have something to give, even if it is just their presence at the time of death, are giving it freely and joyfully. Those with homes are offering shelter to the homeless, those with food are feeding the hungry, those with water are offering relief to the thirsty, those with strength continue to comb through the rubble in hopes of uncovering survivors.

Don't pay too much attention to the images of violence you see. Don't get sucked in to thinking that the streets are filled with looters and thugs. Certainly, these elements exist but the overwhelming majority of the people of Haiti are peacefully and with great love and generosity doing what they can to help one another survive and to begin thinking again about life after the earthquake. And don’t listen to those who would tell you that Haiti’s failure as a nation is rooted in its traditional religion and its culture. Don’t listen to people who say that Haitians only live for today and don’t plan for or think about the future. Those people are wrong, they are repeating centuries of propaganda meant to justify the world’s raping and pillaging of Haiti and her resources. The hard work, resourcefulness and creativity of the people of Haiti was one of the most humbling aspects of my trip. These people have great dreams and visions for the future and great hopes for their nation and for themselves. But the odds are stacked against them in so many ways. The idea that Haitians are lazy, that they do not want to work or be successful is our idea, not theirs. It is our lie, not their truth.

We must remember and never forget that we are one body, we are united in our diversity. Every member is needed. Every part is valuable and necessary for the whole to function and even if the work of that part doesn't look like the work we do, we do not have the right to denigrate or cast suspicion on that work.

One of the greatest signs of hope for me since the earthquake has been the response of this community. Through our prayers, last Sunday’s impromptu bake sale inspired by a middle schooler and her friends, our response of cash gifts, our concern, our tears, our interest in what is happening on the ground in Haiti we are connected to Haiti. We have love and compassion for our partners in Haiti and for all people there who are suffering. We stand together with them in this time of their great need and we will continue to stand with them as partners, advocates and friends. This is a long journey and we must remain focused and not lose interest when the immediate crisis subsides from the news headlines because the need will be great for months and years to come.

In addition, it is inevitable that more injustices will be perpetrated as relief workers, soldiers, UN Peace Keepers and Government leaders carry out the relief efforts and then turn their minds and hearts to rebuilding. We live in an imperfect world. We function in an imperfect system. We must keep our finger on the pulse of what is happening so that we can respond when needed with letters and phone calls and other actions calling our government to be different now than it was before in relation to Haiti. Let us not continue repeating the same mistakes. Let us remember it will only change if we are engaged and involved and refuse to allow injustices in our name.

We need Haiti and Haiti needs us. We are one body and individually members of it. Each individual member's function is important to the health and well being of the body. Let us vow to remember and never forget and to stand in partnership and solidarity with one another and with Haiti as together we dream God's dream and individually each do our part to bring it to fruition in small but beautiful ways. Amen.