Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?
~ 1 Corinthians 6:19
I’m sure all of you have heard this Scripture from 1 Corinthians. St. Paul was writing to a new church that was struggling to understand what it meant to be Christian in a culture not used to Christianity. They had questions. They had misunderstandings. They needed perspective.
Among their questions was how to treat their bodies. I have most often encountered 1 Cor 6:19 used to teach teenagers about sexuality. Honoring our bodies sexually is definitely a concern of God’s, but don’t you think God is also concerned about the health of our whole body? Most people will agree that there are three basic parts of a human: mind, body and spirit. It seems as though we spend a lot of time and energy on the mind and body, but the spirit is often neglected until there is a time of crisis.
Like the church in Corinth, the church in Manassas finds itself increasingly in a culture not used to Christianity. We have questions about who God is and how we are to answer the tough questions we face each day. Over time, believers lose their connection with God. The business in our lives crowds God out such that we don’t take the time to be in communication with Him. Then, as time passes, we either forget how to talk with God or we feel guilty about the time that has passed.
God has given us time. God has given us a mind, body and spirit. All of these are gifts to us! We use the gift of time to help nurture and strengthen our whole selves. Worship is one way that our spirits are strengthened. For many reasons, it has become common for people not to worship regularly – Sunday is our only day to sleep in, worship is boring, people feel that they can encounter God anywhere – fishing, on a hike, drinking coffee in their living room. While it is true that God is with us and meets us anywhere and everywhere, we are called to observe a Sabbath. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote in his book The Sabbath that humans are not meant to move and work at a fevered pace. He wrote “Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time” (author’s emphasis). Good “Sabbath keeping” involves setting the time aside, making that time “holy”. When we set aside the time and worship, we are communicating to God, to our family and friends, that God, these people, and this time are important … that they are worthy (etymology of the word worship is worth-ship). Worship has to be more than just spending time coming to church, sitting in a pew, and observing. If worship itself is not feeding you or helping you grow in your relationship with God, I would love to talk with you. The more I hear the better. People through the whole Christian church are thinking and talking about the future of worship – the role of tradition, musical styles, and liturgical styles. Let’s be part of that conversation.
This idea of health has been on our minds at the Wilson household lately. We want to spend some of our time getting healthier. We are taking part in the Financial Peace University, we are pledging to be physically healthier, I am pledging to work very hard for the church but be sure to have time with my family as well so that those relationships remain good and holy. Some of you know how much I rely on technology. A colleague in my doctoral program challenged me to take one day a week as a technology fast. We will participate in the Walk to Jerusalem program that our parish nurse, Ruth Passarge, is spearheading (see more here).
I invite you to join me in growing in your health – mind, body and spirit – through this Lenten season.
In Christ,
Pastor Jeff
Epicurious Lutheran 