Sermonette: Joe's Kidney and Paul's Body

As of April, I am 15 months, and 26 months, removed from surgery on my right kidney. Long story short, the plumbing out of my kidney was kinked, and my right kidney was filling, but not draining. To have the issue resolved, I needed specialized robotic surgery at Mayo. Specialized surgery which failed the first time and had to be redone. God willing, in May, I’ll get another positive post-op.

It’s been a stressful journey, and I really hope I’m done learning about kidneys from the nation’s top nephrologists (kidney doctors), but it got me thinking the other day. See, I have two kidneys, and yet the failure and suffering of just one of them made my life very difficult. God gave us two kidneys and many people thrive with just one. However, despite having a fully functional left kidney, the suffering of my right kidney had a huge impact on my life. I struggled to rehydrate, my blood pressure got bad, and the pain was brutal. There were weeks where the only comfortable sleeping position was the fetal position. Meanwhile, my kidney itself was dying; drowning slowly in urine that it couldn’t pass. It seems like a bad design. If there is a backup, why should the body suffer with the loss of a redundant organ? Why would God design our bodies that way?

And yet, Paul calls the church a body. He says we’re all parts of a body. All designed to play a specific and necessary role in the body. He doesn’t call us a team, or a machine, or a military formation. He calls us a body. We can’t just “be there.” We can’t just stand by and watch. Believe me, I have an organ that has attempted to just get the nourishment of the body, without playing its part. It was painful. Both for me, and for my kidney. Body parts are designed to do something.

So, we need to ask ourselves two questions. Most of us, if we attend church, or a church-related ministry, we’re getting something, right? Just like my kidney was always absorbing nutrients and oxygen from my blood, even when it wasn’t working properly. Second question: what am I putting back in? And no; no one’s mere presence counts. Church is a body, not a daycare for adults. I like to think of it this way - if you suddenly won a trip to Disneyland that left tomorrow, would the leaders in your church need to find a way to cover your role? Even redundant organs like kidneys, eyes, or ears cause pain when they cease to function properly.

I think we can all say “yes” to the first question, but it’s the second one that many Christians struggle with. But that’s what we’re called, to be a part, play a part. No matter how small, or how unique. Because let’s be honest, when a body has parts that won’t function, it not only hurts the body, but hurts the part too.

P.S. Regarding my kidney; if in May my post-op is bad, one of the serious options is removing the kidney. Because oftentimes, the best thing you can do with a non-functional organ is cut it out…