1 Corinthians 6:12-20                                                

August 13, 2006
Rev. Linda Fernandes-Bailey

The Gift Is Good

I don’t know if you’ve been around a baby lately but in my family we’ve had quite a few in the past few years. One thing that I noticed is that when most people visit a baby they look at every little thing about them. They take in the whole body and it’s not very hard to see this beautiful wonderful baby as created in God’s image. OF course they come from God…Just Look at this beautiful little miracle So people visit and then start to say things like: Look at those little feet…they’re so cute. OOOH look at her hands….She has such long fingers maybe she’ll play piano. Look at that belly….his smile. Look how much hair she has. What color are his eyes? And then they want to eat them up….they think nothing of kissing babies feet and hands and cheeks… You know how crazy people get when around babies…they can’t help themselves. They’ll stand around nearly all day just looking at every little feature. They honor and bless the baby’s whole body with love and kisses (in appropriate ways of course!) I don’t know if my family is weird but that’s what they do.

Then as the baby grows older they become pretty amazed themselves with their own bodies. They discover their hands and will stare at them for long periods of time. They discover their feet and they think they’re good enough to eat! They love to look at themselves in the mirror and smile with pure delight in who they see! Babies love their bodies and marvel in all that they are…beautiful created in God’s image.

It’s hard to say exactly when or how it happens but somewhere along the way as we grow older we stop loving our bodies. We forget we are created in God’s image body and all. I don’t know if it is born in our awkward adolescence or sometimes it happens from childhood trauma or negative messages we have heard throughout our childhood that stick with us. Part of what happens is we start to believe the cultures idea of beautiful body. You know the perfect flawless ones we see on TV, in movies and in magazines. Thin, tall, long legs, rock hard abs…faces with no pores or age spots or winkles. We get confused and start thinking that this is God’s image. SO we look in the mirror in horror and begin to criticize everything about ourselves. We begin to criticize God’s image!

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? Therefore glorify God in your body.

As Christians we often separate our body and how we care for them from how we practice our faith as if our spiritual journeys have nothing to do with our bodies. But what if we believe what Paul has said,  that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit? What if we believe that God dwells within us and therefore whatever we do to our bodies we do to God? Paul suggests that we glorify God in our bodies. How can we do that? And if we are walking around hating our body how does that affect our relationship with God?   

It’s important to remember that Christianity is an embodied faith. What I mean by that is we believe in the incarnation that is, that God came to us in the body of Christ. While Christ was here on earth he walked around and lived in the world much in the same way each of us do…in a body. He too had to care for his body. We understand the Christian community to be the body of Christ here to continue that walk…to be the hands and feet of Christ. When we gather as a community of faith one of the ways we remember Jesus and are charged to be the body of Christ in the world is through the celebration of the communion meal. At this meal we remember Christ’s body broken for us and blood shed for us. In baptism our bodies are cleansed in water as we are received into God’s love. So how is it we forget how important the body is to our faith? How is it we separate our spiritual journey from living in our bodies?

Whatever messages we have heard along the way about our bodies we need to reframe our thinking. We need to believe that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit where God dwells. We need to believe that our body is a gift from God and the gift is good and begin to treat it that way. We need to believe there is a connection between our spiritual health and our physical health. We need to learn to honor and bless our bodies.

One woman tells the story of when she was a teenager and was plagued by breakouts of acne. One day she felt unable to leave her house she was so upset over her face. Her Father took her into the bathroom and began to splash water on his face telling her: “On the first splash, say In the name of the Father; on the second, in the name of the son and on the third ‘in the name of the Holy Spirit.’ Then look up into the mirror and remember that you are a child of God, full of grace and beauty.”[1] What a gift this father gave his daughter teaching her to honor and bless her body imperfections and all. Most of us were not so lucky to be taught such a beautiful practice. Many of us grew up with parents who didn’t know how to honor and bless their own bodies and therefore could not possibly teach us.

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? Therefore glorify God in your body.

I believe that taking care of our bodies is a way of honoring the gift. It is a way of acknowledging that God dwells within us. So the obvious or maybe not so obvious is the food we eat. Is it healthy and wholesome? Does it nourish our bodies? Or are we living on junk food like fast food and sugar? Have you been taught how to eat well or do you need some guidance in that area? What about alcohol, nicotine and drugs are these areas we need to address?

The thing we seem to hate to hear is we need to exercise…go for a walk, do yoga, work in your garden…whatever it is for you do something .Our bodies were created to move! Everyone can do something…I remember when my Mom was at Gaylord hospital they did all sorts of exercise right from wheelchairs.

What about rest? Do you allow yourself time to rest? Do you sleep when you’re tired? It seems like a silly question but many people pump themselves with continuous caffeine and just keep going until they drop.

Be kind to your body! Forgive yourself when you have not been kind and start over. That is what the Christian faith is all about…everyday we have a new opportunity to live in Christ.

Another way we bless our bodies is by listening to them. Our bodies hold so much wisdom. Sometimes all the things we are trying to push away and deny will show up in our bodies! Is your insomnia trying to tell you something? What about that chronic pain in your neck? Listen to your body. I remember reading Lance Armstrong’s story of his fight against testicular cancer. He said he ignored his symptoms because that was what he was taught to do as an athlete push pass the pain… it nearly cost him his life! Do you go for regular physical exams and preventative screening?

Blessing and honoring your body means accepting it in whatever shape it’s in. Perhaps your body doesn’t move as fast as it used to. Or maybe you have chronic pain. Maybe you have a disability. Whatever your limitations might be you still need to look in the mirror and remember you are a child of God full of beauty and grace!

Appreciate your body and don’t take it for granted. Often we do take it for granted until we get ill and then we realize how great it was that our body was carrying us around. I learned this by watching my sister struggle with lupus for 25 years. It taught me to appreciate my body…so when I would walk and feel whiny about exercise I would begin to pray a prayer of gratitude…grateful that my body was able to walk and that my muscles were strong enough to continue to carry me through all I had to do.       Give thanks to your body!

            Take a minute right now to practice. Look at your hands. When was the last time you really looked at your hands? Think of all the things your hands can do for you. Perhaps they type on the computer, or play a musical instrument, or work in the garden, maybe you use your hands to make a living. I hope you use them often to gently touch those you love. They can be raised to the heavens in praise of God! Look closely at every little thing about your particular hands…give thanks for them and glorify God.

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? Therefore glorify God in your body. When you look at yourself in the mirror this week, please refrain yourself from criticism. Instead remember that you are a child of God full of beauty …full of grace! Amen.