WHEN ONE MEMBER HURTS
1 Corinthians 12:12, 24-26
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
24... God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
It had been a great hunt. The guys were having a lot of fun and success had been pretty good. Just after dark my brother and I were picking up hunters and bringing them back to camp. When we stopped in a long valley to pick up Jack, we noticed that he didn't look good. He said that he had taken a nice mule deer buck, just before dark and, even though his Dr had told him to not put any extra stress on his heart, he had pulled it down to the road on his own.
By the time we got to camp Jack color had turned a little blue/gray. We called 911 from the camp and watched him closely. The local coal mine had picked up our emergency call and sent out their first responders. Being an hour from the nearest hospital, that willingness to step in saved Jack's life.
We later learned that Jack had a major heart attack and the move saved his life. Over the next 2 weeks one of his friends that was hunting with him stayed near the hospital with Jack. When Jack was ready to come him to Michigan another hunter in camp, sent his own plane out to Colorado to bring Jack and his friend home. It was a team effort.
In 1 Corinthians 12 the apostle Paul uses the example of the physical body to explain the Christian family /body. In verse 26 he says, "If one member suffers, all suffer together". That was certainly true of Jack's situation in the Colorado Mountains. The friends of Jack that knew the situation come together to make sure he was taken care of.
This is what Paul is talking about in this passage. In the Christian family we absolutely must be doing this same thing. When one member is struggling or suffering we must come along side of them and help them get through. Sometimes this is physical needs, but more often it is emotional or spiritual needs.
There are Christians all over the world that suffer daily for their faith. It would be impossible for many of us to fly to their side to serve and comfort them.... But we have tools to help and share in their suffering. Even the poorest of us have the ability to help. Dedicating ourselves to prayer for these brothers and sisters is a good start. Going before the Lord regularly, on their behalf can change things for them. We can also help with other needs as well.
You don't have to look to the other side of the globe to find suffering. There are those in our own churches and communities that need our love, our compassion and yes... at times even our efforts, time and money. The single mother, the older couple, the hurt high schooler or the couple with marital struggles sitting in the pew alongside of us could be raised up by a little love. So often our Christian family looks the other way and thinks, "they put themselves in that situation, they'll have to get out of it".... When God is telling us, "Lift them out of it".
Jack made it home and lived several more years, before passing away as an old made. If it hadn't been for all those that worked together on his behalf, he would have died there on the mountain.
There are those around us that may never heal without my help or your help. If we don't step up and suffer with those that are suffering, we are missing out on blessings ourselves and certainly missing out on blessing others.
When one member of the body hurts it truly causes pain to the rest of the body. If we're not willing to help those parts that are hurt, the body will never function as Christ intended.
"Suffer with the suffering"
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