Well, here it is – my first summer sermon that was suggested by
a one of you all! The suggestion was to
talk about how our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and keeping them
holy. I think that for most folks, we've
heard this verse mostly in the context of sexual behaviors...or rather, misbehaviors. I thought that for this sermon I’d try and go
a little deeper into the idea that our human, fleshly bodies have become
temples of God, because we have the Holy Spirit of God’s very self living in us
when we follow Christ. God abides in
us. Jesus said that when we place our
trust in his words and his work, God takes up living in us. We become the place of God’s presence; well,
each of us is A place
of God’s presence. And when even a
couple or three of us believers are together, Christ is in our midst – we
become the body of Christ now in the world. That’s really quite an amazing thought –and quite a sobering
thought – God is right here where I live.
That’s really quite a humbling thought --- am I worthy to bear God in this body? And that’s really quite a challenging
thought --- I will live now in
recognition that God is present, and that I have a temple for a body.
Not a building...
It’s a kind of weird thought to imagine ourselves as temples of
God, isn't it? Individually or
corporately. We think of the Temple as
that building in Jerusalem in the OT, or the 2nd Temple in Jesus’
time. The Temple was the considered the
place of God’s presence, and all the main religious festivals took place
there. For example, we may remember the story of
Jesus at his Bar Mitzvah age going with his family to Jerusalem and
surprisingly impressing the priests there with his wisdom and knowledge. We may also remember the text from Pentecost, just a few weeks ago, when dispersed Jews of many
nations were gathered back at Jerusalem for that feast, when the disciples were able to preach in
all their languages and jump start the church.
We may remember that prophecy Jesus made that “destroy this temple and in three days it will be raised back up,” which his disciples later realized was referring to his own body. So Jesus really was the first one to refer to his body as a temple – then Paul and others continued it to us believers. We might remember that the glory of God, the presence of God, traveled with the first nomadic worshipers, the early Jewish people. God’s presence, in the Ark of the Covenant, could move where the people went. And instead of a building they had a tent, called the Tabernacle – so that could move, too. If we read the prophets, it wasn't God’s favorite thing to have a Temple built – one place, solid, unable to move around, so people had to come to it instead of the symbol of God’s presence coming to them. It’s interesting that in the birth of Jesus, the dwelling place of God came among us human folks, and able to move around again. And with the Spirit coming on the Day of Pentecost, God’s presence is now uniquely everywhere with us, and always with us.
We may remember that prophecy Jesus made that “destroy this temple and in three days it will be raised back up,” which his disciples later realized was referring to his own body. So Jesus really was the first one to refer to his body as a temple – then Paul and others continued it to us believers. We might remember that the glory of God, the presence of God, traveled with the first nomadic worshipers, the early Jewish people. God’s presence, in the Ark of the Covenant, could move where the people went. And instead of a building they had a tent, called the Tabernacle – so that could move, too. If we read the prophets, it wasn't God’s favorite thing to have a Temple built – one place, solid, unable to move around, so people had to come to it instead of the symbol of God’s presence coming to them. It’s interesting that in the birth of Jesus, the dwelling place of God came among us human folks, and able to move around again. And with the Spirit coming on the Day of Pentecost, God’s presence is now uniquely everywhere with us, and always with us.
It was God who made us in bodies!
The idea that our bodies are the temple of God from the Scriptures,
as I inferred earlier, has usually been used to try and shame us about our
creation as bodies. While worshiping
God who created us purposefully and in God’s own image and who called our
creation “good,” some among the early church got sidetracked by the Greek
notion of how the earthly and bodily part of being human is bad, and the spiritual part of being human is higher
and good. If you remember the movie The
DaVinci Code, there’s that scene where the albino monk is beating his back
with a whip, and also wears that chain think around his thigh – all traditional
ways to “mortify the flesh” through enduring bodily pain. It sounds weird today – yet it was still around recently– I know a former nun who was taught similar practices in her early years to
“deliver her” from fleshly sinful desires, and to set her mind on spiritual
things.
We don’t do that stuff anymore, or even believe in it as a
spiritual thing. We do, however, still
have residual shame around our bodies that God made and called
good. Another residual from those days
when Greek philosophy mixed in Christianity was the disdain for women. The celibate men forswore being around women,
because we made them think “bad” thoughts - - they weren't asking, “How can we
deal with our bodily life,” mind you, but decided we women MADE them think
these things - it must be because we women were evil! We
reminded them of their bodily existence, which they were wanting to escape to
be more “spiritual.” They never thought
that learning to live in the temple of our body was perhaps a path of greater
spiritual wisdom which God gave us from creation. Maybe women were an inferior creation in the
first place, they thought; maybe we didn't even have souls. Maybe we were the devil’s gateway. Certainly we were not fit to serve at
Christ’s table.
Much of that thought has also been tossed out, thank God. Yet the residual of that kind of thinking is still floating around
even in modern attitudes in our country – and is certainly more blatant
in other countries. We've moved towards
a better acceptance of human creation as gendered persons, which is rightly a
spiritual growth.
Unfortunately, we haven’t moved to a deeper spiritual
understanding of our bodies now as temples of the Holy, or a respect for our creation as bodies; an honoring of our bodies as temples of
God. And even if we DO say the words, I don’t know that our living has encompassed all that it means.
Creation & Incarnation lift up bodily life
Think about it – if our bodies are now temples, containers of
the presence of God’s Spirit on earth, this really lifts up the value and
respect for being human. Jesus came in flesh and blood, like us; God
came close to us in a body. Theologically
we call that “Incarnation,” and we celebrate it every Christmas. Doesn't that elevate our view of living in
and being a body? Doesn't that make our
creation something to be treasured and valued?
Shouldn't we therefore take care of our body, and use it wisely?
When we think about it, God made us as embodied creatures, so
being embodied is intrinsic to who we are, not something to be escaped or
overcome. Sometimes it’s hard to think
about ourselves AS a body – it’s easy to fall into that way of thinking there’s
an “I” and then there’s “my body” as a separate thing. Yet our creation is that we are bodies that
have breath blown through us – enlivened bodies. Bodies brought to life with God’s
breath. Of the earth, made of the same
stuff. Somehow, “I” AM a body, yet able
to reflect on myself and my physical being.
So if we denigrate our bodily life, we denigrate the gift of God;
and if we despise our bodies and long to escape them, we despise the creation
God called “good.” Being a human is a
gift. Being alive is a gift. Being a body offers us a unique experience,
a spiritual experience. In some way, we
are the voice of creation looking at itself; not separate from the material
creation, but material creation that has developed consciousness. That’s a mind-blowing thought.
Rethink what it means to be a body.
So the invitation of the Scripture is to rethink of ourselves as made this way on purpose, not something unspiritual, but part of our creation that God intended. And now as the very temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place of God. Scripture, then, challenges us to live worthy of being a temple. Our Adventist sisters and brothers can teach us about this, holding up healthful eating, healing sleep and adequate exercise for the optimal life of our bodies. Now they’re into organic farming and sustainable living in the ecological & world-wide sense, too.
We Presbyterians DO have a history of caring for whole persons – when we would come into a country to tell of Christ, we built 1 – a church, 2 – a hospital, and 3 – a school. We have ministries of clean water, and are becoming more ecologically aware. And yes, we uphold respectful and honorable sexual ethics. So we do have some understanding of the goodness of bodies. Yet we still have a distance to go.
So the invitation of the Scripture is to rethink of ourselves as made this way on purpose, not something unspiritual, but part of our creation that God intended. And now as the very temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling place of God. Scripture, then, challenges us to live worthy of being a temple. Our Adventist sisters and brothers can teach us about this, holding up healthful eating, healing sleep and adequate exercise for the optimal life of our bodies. Now they’re into organic farming and sustainable living in the ecological & world-wide sense, too.
We Presbyterians DO have a history of caring for whole persons – when we would come into a country to tell of Christ, we built 1 – a church, 2 – a hospital, and 3 – a school. We have ministries of clean water, and are becoming more ecologically aware. And yes, we uphold respectful and honorable sexual ethics. So we do have some understanding of the goodness of bodies. Yet we still have a distance to go.
Closing
Well, I hope this sermon provoked some thought, as well as some gratitude to God, for creating us this way, and for Jesus coming to live among us as a human body. I hope we will think on our bodies differently this week as we make choices about our food, our sleep, our exercise, the way we serve one another as fellow temples. May living as the temple of God give special insight to the whole practice of spirituality as Christians. AMEN.
Well, I hope this sermon provoked some thought, as well as some gratitude to God, for creating us this way, and for Jesus coming to live among us as a human body. I hope we will think on our bodies differently this week as we make choices about our food, our sleep, our exercise, the way we serve one another as fellow temples. May living as the temple of God give special insight to the whole practice of spirituality as Christians. AMEN.
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