Paul wrote that the church is a body with many parts, and that "the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!'" (1 Corinthians 12:21). It is one of the most freeing ideas in the New Testament. It means nobody in a church is surplus, and nobody is the whole show.
These two stories about the body of Christ, retold in our own words, make the same point from opposite ends. In the first, a conductor notices the quietest instrument in the room. In the second, a decorated fighter pilot meets the unseen sailor who kept him alive. Each story ends with a takeaway for preaching or reflection.
Stories in this post:
- "Where's the Piccolo?": Sir Michael Costa's Rehearsal
- Who Packs Your Parachute? Charlie Plumb and the Unseen Sailor
"Where's the Piccolo?": Sir Michael Costa's Rehearsal
This anecdote is widely told about Costa, but we have not found a contemporary record of the rehearsal itself, so it is shared as a traditional story.
Sir Michael Costa was one of the most celebrated conductors of nineteenth-century England, famous for leading enormous orchestras and choirs at festivals where hundreds of voices and instruments performed together.
The story is told that during one such rehearsal, with a full orchestra and a great choir in full flow, the piccolo player quietly stopped playing. Perhaps he lost his place. Perhaps he simply decided his part did not matter much. And honestly, who would notice? The piccolo is a tiny instrument, and it was surrounded by brass, strings, timpani and a wall of singers.
Costa noticed. Suddenly he flung up his hands and brought the whole massive sound to a halt. "Stop! Stop!" he called out. "Where is the piccolo? What has happened to the piccolo?"
In a room full of noise, the one person whose job was to hear the whole piece could tell at once that something small and essential was missing.
Takeaway: Many people in churches feel like that piccolo: small, easily drowned out, sure that no one would notice if they stopped. But the Great Conductor hears every part. "God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be" (1 Corinthians 12:18). Your quiet contribution is part of the music he is making.
Source: Traditional story about Sir Michael Costa; author unknown.
Who Packs Your Parachute? Charlie Plumb and the Unseen Sailor
Charlie Plumb was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a jet fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. He flew from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. On his seventy-fifth combat mission, a surface-to-air missile destroyed his plane. Plumb ejected, parachuted down into enemy territory and was captured. He spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war. After his release, he became a speaker, telling audiences what that ordeal had taught him.
Years later, Plumb and his wife were eating in a restaurant when a man at another table came over. "You're Plumb!" he said. "You flew jet fighters in Vietnam off the Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"
Plumb was stunned. "How on earth do you know that?"
"I packed your parachute," the man said. Plumb caught his breath. The man shook his hand warmly and grinned. "I guess it worked!"
"It sure did," Plumb told him. "If your chute hadn't opened, I wouldn't be here today."
Plumb could not sleep that night. He kept picturing the man in a sailor's uniform: the white cap, the bib collar, the bell-bottom trousers. He wondered how many times they had passed each other on the ship. He wondered how often he had walked by without so much as a "Good morning," because he was a fighter pilot and the other man was just a sailor.
He thought about the hours that sailor must have spent at a long wooden table deep in the ship, carefully folding the silk and arranging the lines of each parachute. Every time, he held in his hands the life of someone he would probably never meet.
Ever since, Plumb has asked his audiences a simple question: Who is packing your parachute? All of us have people who quietly supply what we need to get through the day.
Takeaway: A healthy church depends on parachute packers as much as pilots. Some roles are visible, like preaching or leading worship. Others happen out of sight: setting up chairs, praying, cleaning, counting the offering, sitting with the sick. Paul says the parts of the body "that seem to be weaker are indispensable" (1 Corinthians 12:22). This week, find someone who packs your parachute and thank them.
Source: Story told by Charlie Plumb in his public talks.
Final thoughts
One story is about being noticed; the other is about noticing. Together, these stories about the body of Christ remind us that God's church is an orchestra where the piccolo matters and a ship where the parachute packer matters as much as the pilot.
Whose quiet work have you been overlooking, and who might be waiting for you to play your part?
More stories you may like:
- Stories About Church and Community
- Stories About Spiritual Gifts and Ministry
- Best Stories About Servanthood
These stories are retold in our own words for teaching and reflection. Sources are credited under each story.