Behold the Body of Christ

"Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Matthew 22:37-39

Jesus summarized the entire bible in two statements, "Love God and love others." When we look at it, it appears that Jesus is giving us two commands to follow but they are really one in the same. When we love God, we love others.

Jesus is teaching us that people, and caring for them, is more important than anything else we do. In fact, showing kindness and caring for others is an act of worship.

I heard a true story about a man who was a great admirer of Mother Teresa and her work. While visiting her country, the man had high hopes of meeting her. Time after time, he would visit the places where she often went to minister to the people, but he never saw her.

On his last day of his trip, while worshiping in the local church, the man, to his amazement, found himself in the presence of Mother Teresa who was attending services as well. He could hardly believe it! The man excitedly began pointing and whispering about Mother Teresa to those around him. Quietly, Mother Teresa stepped out of her pew and escorted the man outside into the poverty stricken streets.

Without saying a word, she led the man to an alley where the walls were lined with old boxes, junk and smelly trash. She told the man to push aside the rubble. Obeying her command, he began to remove the pieces of garbage one at a time. Lying under the rubbish, and to his surprise, was a naked, frail, old man.

He stood there speechless. Then, he heard Mother Teresa say to him the four most powerful words he had ever heard..."Behold the body of Christ."

In one short sentence, Mother Teresa echoed the words of Christ spoken long ago, and yet, still relevant today. "For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" (Matthew 25: 35-40) During the remaining journey left in Lent, I leave us with these points of reflection:

Loving others is how we love and worship our God, who is the author, creator, and meaning of true worship. It is in God's love that we discover our true security and our true hope and our true worth-whileness and our true rescue from the fear of death. The more we trust in God to make our life worthwhile, the more effective our deeds are in the long run, for they come out of our true self -- our true center where God is nurturing and God is healing and God is empowering us to be men and women for others.

We need to push back the rubble in our life today and see who needs to be loved, cared for, or encouraged. Then take advantage of the moment. The next time we see a person in need, don't shrug it off. Instead, "Behold the body of Christ." This Easter season gives us the opportunity to look upon Jesus crucified on the cross and His glorious resurrection three days later. This Good Friday we will experience His death and then on Resurrection Sunday we will celebrate His life. Take care and Peace be with you all.

(part of this message was adapted from Micca Campbell’s, "Behold the Body of Christ", Director of Outreach for Proverbs 31 Ministries)

Best wishes, your friend and pastor,
Pastor Samuel K King-Kabu.
Pastor@st-ansgars-montreal.ca

Beethoven's Hair

Beethoven's Hair was the subject of a TV documentary, "Opening Night" on February 24 on CBC. A teenage student of Ludwig Beethoven who visited him during his final illness and again upon his death, cut a lock of Beethoven's hair to remember his beloved teacher. The lock of hair was placed carefully in a sealed frame with bowed glass, and was passed by the student (now an older man by the name of Franz Hiller) to his son many years later. This son died just before WW2, when the Jewish citizens of Germany were in increasing peril. The next generation, 2 grandsons of Franz, one of whom emigrated to Switzerland and subsequently committed suicide. The other, an actor, successfully changed his identity, and survived WW2 as a French actor.

But somehow this lock of hair made its way to the Danish fishing village of Gilleleje. It was in the possession of the family of a Danish doctor. It is speculated that the doctor received the lock of Beethoven's hair as payment for treatment. It may be that someone of Hiller's family made their way to Denmark during the war, where Jews were treated better. And in 1943, on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Danish Jews were warned to leave the country immediately, as the Nazis were planning on rounding them up and shipping them to Concentration Camps south of the border.

The Danish Jews were helped to Danish fishing villages along the coast facing Sweden, and from there they were brought across by the fishermen at great peril to themselves. About 80 Jews were hidden in the attic of a church in Gilleleje one night, but were discovered by the Nazis and shipped off to concentration camps. It is thought that one of the Jews in the attic had given the lock of hair to the Danish doctor who had tended them on their arrival.

The doctor had kept the locket a secret from his family. But after his death, his widow had displayed the locket on the wall of their home, but it was not talked about. When his widow was old and suffered from Alzheimer's, his daughter was unable to find out if this was an authentic lock of hair. The lock was put up for auction with Sotheby's in Copenhagen and bought by two American Beethoven afficionados in Arizona. The lock of hair has now been tested and revealed the cause of Beethoven's death: lead poisoning.

Subsequent to the publicity about the cause of death of Beethoven, a man in Australia read about it. A test of his hair revealed that he also had lead poisoning. He had suffered many of the same ailments as Beethoven did in his lifetime: creeping deafness, moments of insanity, horrible stomach pains, etc. It is incredible to think that over 170 years after Beethoven's death, that the riddle had been solved, and in so doing it helped someone else. A lock of Beethoven's hair has travelled through time.

Web Page prepared by:
Roger Kenner & Jette Blair.
Content-New Topics Last Updated: 2005/11/09
St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church - Montreal