WEEK FIVE INTRODUCTION
TITLE: THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN                     
March 10 - March 16
In Acts 17:6, Paul and Silas are accused of “turn[ing] the world upside down.” Christianity was spreading like wildfire because these men of God, filled with the Holy Spirit and completely dedicated to the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom, could not be silenced. In Acts 17:19–26, Paul strategically headed for Mars Hill, which overlooked the city of Athens, the highest court in Greece, where civil, criminal, and religious matters were decided. It was the center of cultural and intellectual influence, the place where philosophy, religion, and law were openly discussed and debated. It was here that Paul presented the claims of Christ and the new religion he was promoting.

This new Christian faith, filled with grace and based on love, confronted and challenged the pagan, polytheistic, imperial model of emperor as god. The intimidating Roman way assumed that any citizen with power had the right to disdainfully exploit those who were socially inferior. Christianity in contrast valued the sanctity of every life regardless of class or citizenship. It respected and honored women, promoted equality for all—thus espousing human rights—cared for the poor, and built up those who were oppressed. It offered not only the promise of a heavenly, eternal life at death but the abiding presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit to fashion and transform believers in the present life. It offered hope for the suffering, and steadfast peace and joy that knew no boundaries for all who believed. 

Down through the corridors of time, this “radical” religion has been instrumental in making innovative contributions to Western civilization in every field and discipline. From advances in the university system that valued learning and education, to hospitals and the health care system, the legal system, as well as in the arts, philosophy, and the sciences, Christians have led the way. The British scholar T. S. Eliot, in Christianity & Culture, wrote, “It is against a background of Christianity that all of our thought has significance. An individual [Westerner] may not believe that the Christian faith is true, and yet what he says, and makes, and does will all spring out of his heritage of Christian culture and depend upon that culture for its meaning...I do not believe that culture of [the West] could survive the complete disappearance of the Christian faith. And I am convinced of that, not merely because I am a Christian myself, but as a student of social biology. If Christianity goes, the whole culture goes.” It seems that in our own time, Christians are once again being called upon to turn the world upside down.

Day 26 - Sunday, March 10
Title: THE GOSPEL OF EQUALITY: ALL ARE CRUCIAL TO THE HEALTH OF THE BODY
Scripture #1: Galatians 3:28-29 (NKJV)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Scripture #2: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (NKJV)
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Poetry & Poet: 
“Dignity”
by Too-qua-stee

And what, in fact, is dignity? In those
Who have it pure, it is the soul’s repose, 
The base of character—no mere reserve 
That springs from pride, or want of mental nerve.
The dignity that wealth, or station, breeds, 
Or in the breast on base emotion feeds, 
Is easy weighed, and easy to be sized—A crooked virtue, much to be 
despised.
True dignity is like a summer tree. 
Beneath whose shade both beast, and bird, and bee,
When by the heated skies oppressed, may come,
And feel, in its magnificence, at home; 
Or rather like a mountain which forgets
Itself in its own greatness, and so lets 
Vast armies fuss and fight upon its sides,
While high in clouds its peaceful summit hides,
And from the voiceless crest of glistening snow, 
Pours trickling fatness on the fields below;
Repellant force, that daunts obtrusive wrong,
And woos the timid steps of right along;
And hence a garb which magistrates prepare,
When called to judge, and really seem to wear. 
In framing character on whate’er plan, 
‘Tis always needed to complete the man, 
The job quite done, and Dignity without, 
Is like an apple pie, the fruit left out.

THE GOSPEL OF VALUE AND DIGNITY

The nurse attentively and gently arranged my sister’s pillows to make her more comfortable. Years before, she had survived a traumatic birth, which ultimately impaired her growth and development; my sister has never really been able to speak or move on her own. I grew up pushing her wheelchair and helping my parents feed her, fully aware of the many hospital stays that addressed the variety of concerns emerging from the profound disabilities her body carries. In this moment, I was captivated by the nurse’s attunement to the subtle cues of her non-verbal responses, guiding the nurse’s gentle, comforting movements. 

The dignity with which this nurse cared for my sister, the value extended through presence and attentiveness, was remarkable. “True dignity,” writes Too-qua-stee, “is like a summer tree. Beneath whose shade both beast, and bird, and bee… may come and feel, in its magnificence, at home.” What a gift, in the midst of a hospital stay, for my sister to receive such dignity, and for me to see such dignity so freely given.

In today’s passage, Paul addresses a Corinthian church rife with division: political and social dynamics, religious background, economic status, differing spiritual gifts, and varying understandings of the Gospel’s implications which caused a great deal of dissension in the Body of Christ. Excessive concern with one’s own status and standing within the church and Corinthian society undermined their ability to be attentive to each other, to rejoice with those rejoicing or suffer with those suffering. Their self-righteousness rendered them unable to view each other as persons for whom Christ died.  

Paul draws on an image of a unified body, commonly used in that time, to address these concerns. The one Spirit of God, says Paul, holds this Body of Christ together (12:13). But Paul takes the image of bodily unity a step further: the quality of this Body’s unity ought to be marked by a mutual care and concern for each other that mirrors the self-giving care and concern of God. God arranged the members as he pleased (12:18, NIV), God composed the body just as it is (12:24), and God appointed the gifts given for the whole Body to grow together (12:28). And, strikingly, “those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor” (12:23-24). Why? Because each of these members is one for whom Christ died.

Today’s Church is not unlike Corinth: rife with all manner of division that is more self-righteous than self-giving. In this season of Lent, I wonder how Paul might encourage us to be particularly attentive to each other, offering the “same care” of our God, the “same care” of my sister’s attentive nurse––a self-giving, others-oriented posture that bestows honor, dignity, and value on all members of Christ’s Body, because we are all ones for whom Christ died.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, in this Lenten season, grant us courage to offer that same attentive, self-giving care to each member of Christ’s Body, offering dignity, honor and value to each fellow believer as one for whom Christ died.
Amen.

Dr. Lisa Igram
Assistant Professor of Theology
Rosemead School of Psychology
Biola University

For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.