Submission
Sermon
FROM ANTICIPATION TO TRANSFIGURATION
Sermons For Advent, Christmas, & Epiphany
Pete Maravich and Lily Laskin had something in common aside from the fact that they both died one day apart. They both gave themselves to that which they considered important.
People who keep up with harps and harpists say that Lily Laskin, the French harpist, took the harp out of the living room and made it a featured solo instrument on concert stages all over the world. She died on January 4, 1988, at the age of ninety-four. Upon her death, she was credited with popularizing the harp and reviving many musical scores written for it by such composers as Handel and Camille Saint-Seans. She started playing the harp as a child and continued giving public performance well into her eighties. At the age of sixteen, she became the first woman harpist at the Paris Opera. Best known for her interpretation of Mozart she gave a landmark performance of his concerto for flute and harp, at the Salzburg Music Festival in 1937. She recorded it many times during the years, along with works by Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy.
Pete Maravich, the outstanding basketball player of modern times, died on January 5, 1988. While at LSU, he averaged forty-four points per game. No one defensive system in the Southeastern Conference could stop him. Some coaches devised complicated double-team defenses to shut him down. Others let him shoot at will and put pressure on the other four players. As a professional player, Maravich consistently knocked the bottom out of the basket. His dazzling rerformances sold tickets for big bucks. Host teams could be assured of a sell-out game when "Pistol Pete" came to town. Ironically, Maravich died at the age of forty just after playing a pick-up game at a local church gym.
Both Lily Laskin and Pete Maravich gave themselves to that which they considered important. She was totally submitted to the harp, and he was in subjection of basketball. Lily once said, "I have built my life around the harp." On many occasions Pete observed, "Basketball is my whole life."
In one way or another all of us submit ourselves to that which is important to us. One night a few years ago, Vanderbilt played basketball at Memorial Gym. Although there was four inches of snow on the ground, it came as no surprise to anyone that the gym was not empty. Sport fans hired cabs, rode buses, drove automobiles, and tramped through bitter cold temperatures to watch the game. Basketball was so important to so many fans that nothing could stymie their efforts to see the game.
For some, work is the most important thing; all that we are revolves around it. Without work many have no identity. What a person does becomes what a person "is". For others, relationships are the most important thing. To have the benevolence, love, and friendship of others can become an all consuming passion of life. Many of our brothers and sisters believe that pleasure is the most important thing. Life is centered in having a good time. Those who rank pleasure at the top of the list believe that happiness is the result of pleasure. Others are compelled by the forces of life to feel that the preservation of life is the most important thing. "Today," said Paul Tillich, "the simple concern for food and clothing and shelter is so overwhelming in the greater part of mankind that it has almost suppressed most of the other human concerns, and it has absorbed the minds of all classes of people." (The New Being, p. 155)
Am I not correct in saying that what we give ourselves to is the most important thing to us? Can anyone deny that? The question is not, "Will we submit ourselves to what we consider to be the most important thing?" The primary question is, "What is the most important thing to which we can submit ourselves?"
In writing about the baptism of Jesus, Matthew speaks on the latter question. When Jesus came to John the Baptizer to be baptized, John tried to prevent him saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus then told John why he had come to be baptized. He did not say that he had come for baptism for the remission of sin. Nor did he say that he had come because John was more or less worthy. Jesus said that he had come to "fulfill all righteousness."
Jesus was saying that he had come to be baptized in order to fulfill the commands of God. For Matthew, a person who "fulfills all righteousness" is one who is totally submitted to God's authority. Thus, baptism for Jesus was an act of fidelity to God. Baptism was Jesus' statement that submission to God's authority would be the most important thing in his life. God, according to Matthew, was pleased with the obedience of Jesus. So pleased was God that the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove while a voice from Heaven said, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased."
This Sunday we observe the Baptism of the Lord. It is not a big feast day of the church, like All Saints Day or Christmas. It is certainly not a "little Easter." It is a Sunday when we reflect upon the baptism of Jesus. It is a time when we remember how Jesus submitted himself to God's authority, and how he lived out that authority in every aspect of his life and teachings. It is also a time for us to remember how living under God's authority took him to a cross and to the Resurrection.
But, this Sunday is more than a time for us to reflect and remember. It is more than a time for us to recall how Jesus, through his baptism, submitted himself to God's authority and, therefore, identified himself with sinful humanity. This day was written into the church calendar so that we would not forget that we have followed the example of our Lord. Through baptism, we have submitted ourselves to God's authority. Like Jesus, we have been baptized. Like our Lord, we have given ourselves to God's reign in our lives. We are thereby marked as Christ's disciples and initiated into Christ's Holy Church. Through baptism, we have been ordained to our ministry in the world.
If I were building a new church, I would put the baptismal font or pool in a prominent place near the front door of the nave. I would want every worshiper to be confronted by it every Sunday morning. I would want worshipers to walk around it before getting to a pew. I would want those who come and go from the church to do so with the persistent and constant reminder that they have been baptized.
The baptismal font in our sanctuary stands just to the east of the pulpit. It stands before us and in our midst as we worship God. As with all baptismal fonts that are properly built, this one has eight sides representing the eight days of Creation. Thus, in baptism, we are made a part of the new creation. This font, standing where it does, will not let us forget that we have been initiated into this congregation, as well as into the universal church. It reminds us that we have been grafted as a member of the Body of Christ - marked and identified as a Christian disciple. It will not let us erase from our memory that we have been born anew in the water and in the Spirit.
Let us not forget that baptism is as much a rite of passage for the church as it is for the person being baptized. When a new person joins the Body of Christ, neither the member nor the church will ever be the same again. During baptism, the church commits itself to the nurturing of its new member - through worship, church school classes and other nurturing groups, pastoral care, and the ongoing love and concern of other members - regardless of whether the one baptized is an infant or a mature adult.
Likewise, every time a person is baptized in our congregation, it should remind us of the importance of renewing the vows which we made, or which were made for us, at our baptism. Let every baptism which takes place in our congregation speak to us about the importance of submitting ourselves anew to God's authority in our lives.
Submission is a notion which does not sit well with contemporary people. The assertion of one's rights establishes the mood of our day. Freedom from authority is the banner that is hoisted by the masses. To be "laid back" is a virtue. We do not want anyone or anything to have power over our lives. Yet, baptism is about submission. It is about being joined to Christ.
Submission through baptism does not enslave us. Rather, it sets us free. The more we submit to Christ, the freer we are to live joyful lives of love and service. When giving ourselves to Christ becomes the most important consideration, we are made free to respond to the hurts and hopes of God's people, whoever they are and whenever they cross our path.
Pete Maravich was free to play the game because he was totally submitted to what the game required of him. Lily Laskin was free to play the harp because she was committed to what it took to be a great harpist. Christians who are free to love and serve are first and foremost submitted to God's authority in all of life.
Earlier in this worship service, I gave the Sacrament of Baptism to John Edward Fitzpatrick. When I asked, "What name is this child given?", his mother and father said, "John Edward." He was named for his grandfathers, both of whom are now deceased. After taking John Edward into my arms, I baptized him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I hope the day will come when he will take the faith for himself and be confirmed as a member of Christ's Universal Church. It is our hope and prayer that his life will be submitted to God's authority - that he will live out the meaning of his baptism.
John Edward now lives his life as a person who has been baptized. That mark is on him. He may not choose to live by the meaning of baptism, but he can never erase what has happened today. He will pass through the innocence of childhood as a baptized person. He will handle the peer pressure of adolescence as a baptized youngster. As a mature adult, he will make moral and ethical decisions as one who has been baptized. He will face old age as one who has been joined to the Body of Christ. He will make love, fill out his income tax, and decide what to give away and what to keep as one of Christ's people. He will make up his mind about issues like war, sexuality, affluence, and relations as one on whom the water has been sprinkled.
He has been baptized. And, so have we.
John 1:29-34
Second Sunday after Epiphany
The Bodily
Glorification of God
Glorify God with your body. Glorify God with your body. Glorify God with your body.
What did Saint Paul mean when he said, "Glorify God with your body"? I suppose Saint Paul had a lot of time to think about things like that because, after all, Saint Paul spent a lot of time in jail. When you spend a lot of time in jail, you have some time to think about some things like glorifying God with your body.
This is hard for us to hear because we know how to glorify the body, but we do not know how to glorify God with the body.
I say to you that we know how to glorify the body. Last night, I went shopping with Janene, my wife, and I bought one of these new little boxes that can be used to store things in closets. You can stack them, roll them, push them, and turn them upside down. When I put that little webbed box in my closet, I happened to look at all my clothing - trousers, shirts, suits, sport coats, and topcoats. Most of my clothing is there, not because I need it, but because I need it to glorify my body. It is there to make me look good before others and to help me feel good about myself.
A lot of the physical fitness craze today is not as much about physical fitness as it is about glorifying the body. Joggers pound the street. There is a plethora of work-out books. Why, you can even buy records and videos that tell you how to turn flab into firmness and fat into muscle. To be sure, it is important to stay in shape, but much of this craze is just to glorify the body.
Four symbols illustrate our obsession with glorifying the body. The first symbol is heard in the phrase "Dress to win!" Learn how to dress so you can be a winner. The worst thing you could ever do is to show up dressed in the wrong clothing. When the ties get narrow, don't wear a wide one. When the shirts get shorter, don't wear a long one. You have to know how to dress to win, that is how to glorify the body.
The second symbol is the tanning spa. People are paying what I consider to be a very high price to tan their bodies so their bodies can be glorified. Now, all of us know that tanning spas are not good for you. Some are even saying they can permanently damage one's skin. Yet, because we are so obsessed with glorifying the body, we will pay high prices to get brown, even though this is not good for us.
The third symbol is Playboy and Playgirl magazines where the human body is exalted as an object of sexual gratification.
The fourth symbol is steroids. People take steroids to distort the muscles of the body in order to be a better athlete. When one pumps iron after taking steroids, the muscles in the body take on added dimension and strength.
So I say to you, we know a lot about how to glorify the body, but we don't know very much about how to glorify God with the body.
One of the reasons we don't know how to glorify God with the body is that we have been taught to glorify God with our spirits, but not with our bodies. We have been taught that the body is not as important as the spirit. We have been taught that spiritual glorification is more important than physical glorification.
The New Testament was written at a time heavily influenced by the Greeks. Many of the thoughts in the New Testament are there because the New Testament writers picked up those of the Greek world around them. One of the fundamental teachings of the Greek culture was that the body is simply a crate for the soul. Those who wrote the New Testament picked up on this and said, therefore, the spirit is really more important than the body. So we have been taught down through the centuries to glorify God with our spirits and to discount our bodies.
But Apostle Paul tried to correct that notion when he said, "Glorify God with the body. Glorify God with the body!"
How is it then that we glorify God with the body? Saint Paul said we glorify God with the body by shunning immorality.
In Corinth, there was a big temple that had as many as five hundred prostitutes. The men of Corinth and the sailors who came across the isthmus often warmed themselves with booze and slid under the covers with a prostitute. This was not unlawful, but according to Saint Paul, this was immoral. So, Saint Paul said that we glorify God with the body by shunning immorality. To "shun" immorality means don't flirt with temptation. When our Lord taught us to pray, he taught us to pray so that we would not be led into temptation.
Furthermore, Saint Paul said that the body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. The body, in other words, is a member of Christ's body. According to Paul's strong imagery, when a person goes to the temple and joins himself to a prostitute, that person and that prostitute become one. And so it is, said Saint Paul, that our bodies are joined to Christ. Therefore, we glorify God with our bodies when we remember that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The physical body is a sacred thing. The human body is not a slab of meat. The human body is not property to be used for display or to be exploited. But, the human body, mine and yours, is sacred in that it is a member of Christ.
Finally, we glorify God with the body when we physically do things that glorify God. Or, in other words, we glorify God with the body when we allow our bodies to be used in service to humankind. This is probably the greatest glorification of God with the body.
I remember the night I worshiped God at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The occasion was the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. Although we had arrived there very early, we found only a few seats way up in the balcony. The church was packed with people from all over the United States - black and white, rich and poor, people who had been in the streets in the sixties, and people who felt guilty because they had done nothing in the sixties. Dr. William Sloane Coffin, the recent pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, was the preacher. The choir from Clark College sang. A predominantly white choir from a nearby Baptist Church provided an anthem. The Ebenezer choir sang two anthems which stirred the soul.
As I sat there and worshiped God with that great mixture of people, this thought crossed my mind: These people, meeting in this one Baptist Church, were the cradle of the Civil Rights movement back then. These people had put it on the line. They had bodily displayed what they believed. They hadn't just sat around in the church and talked about peace, justice, and brotherhood. Instead, they had been physical with it. They had taken their bodies out into the street where no one could misunderstand what they stood for.
Maybe that is what Saint Paul meant when he said, "Glorify God with your body." Maybe he meant, "Quit sitting around talking about it and be there. Go there and put it on the line."
In a few weeks, people of this church are going on a mission to St. Vincent. They are going to bodily witness their faith in Jesus Christ and their faith in his power to heal and to set people free. It is one thing to sit in church and think about witnessing or to sit in a committee and reflect on it, but it is another thing to do it bodily.
Sometimes, we hear about a death in the family. Or, we hear about someone who is hurting a great deal. If we cross the path of that person, we may say to them, "Just wanted you to know that I've been thinking about you." Now, we know that is not enough. There is a difference between going to that person, wrapping that person in your arms, and being there with her or him and between simply passing them by in the hallway and saying, "I have been thinking about you."
It is bodily involvement in Christianity that really matters. The wonderful thing is that anybody can glorify God with the body. Chubby people, skinny people, distorted people, handicapped people, people like me who have to have a pair of trousers almost remade every time I buy them - any kind of body can glorify God. The culture in which we live says that only beautiful bodies are worth anything: our faith says that everybody's body can glorify God.
Today's Gospel reading tells us how John the Baptizer clarified the identity of Jesus. During the Baptism of Jesus, John the Baptizer saw the Spirit descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove. As the dove descended, God spoke to John and said, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God."
Jesus then left the river Jordan to begin his public ministry. From the murky Jordan to the place called "The Skull," Jesus glorified God not only with his words, but with his flesh-and-blood body. Had it not been for Jesus' bodily glorification of God, God's words about a descending Spirit would have been hollow. It was Jesus' bodily glorification of God which gave validity to the Spirit's work.
So if the Spirit is truly with us, we will glorify God not only with our words, but with our physical bodies as well. "Glorify God with your body," said St. Paul. That's what Jesus did and so should we. How else will the world believe that the Spirit has descended on us?
People who keep up with harps and harpists say that Lily Laskin, the French harpist, took the harp out of the living room and made it a featured solo instrument on concert stages all over the world. She died on January 4, 1988, at the age of ninety-four. Upon her death, she was credited with popularizing the harp and reviving many musical scores written for it by such composers as Handel and Camille Saint-Seans. She started playing the harp as a child and continued giving public performance well into her eighties. At the age of sixteen, she became the first woman harpist at the Paris Opera. Best known for her interpretation of Mozart she gave a landmark performance of his concerto for flute and harp, at the Salzburg Music Festival in 1937. She recorded it many times during the years, along with works by Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy.
Pete Maravich, the outstanding basketball player of modern times, died on January 5, 1988. While at LSU, he averaged forty-four points per game. No one defensive system in the Southeastern Conference could stop him. Some coaches devised complicated double-team defenses to shut him down. Others let him shoot at will and put pressure on the other four players. As a professional player, Maravich consistently knocked the bottom out of the basket. His dazzling rerformances sold tickets for big bucks. Host teams could be assured of a sell-out game when "Pistol Pete" came to town. Ironically, Maravich died at the age of forty just after playing a pick-up game at a local church gym.
Both Lily Laskin and Pete Maravich gave themselves to that which they considered important. She was totally submitted to the harp, and he was in subjection of basketball. Lily once said, "I have built my life around the harp." On many occasions Pete observed, "Basketball is my whole life."
In one way or another all of us submit ourselves to that which is important to us. One night a few years ago, Vanderbilt played basketball at Memorial Gym. Although there was four inches of snow on the ground, it came as no surprise to anyone that the gym was not empty. Sport fans hired cabs, rode buses, drove automobiles, and tramped through bitter cold temperatures to watch the game. Basketball was so important to so many fans that nothing could stymie their efforts to see the game.
For some, work is the most important thing; all that we are revolves around it. Without work many have no identity. What a person does becomes what a person "is". For others, relationships are the most important thing. To have the benevolence, love, and friendship of others can become an all consuming passion of life. Many of our brothers and sisters believe that pleasure is the most important thing. Life is centered in having a good time. Those who rank pleasure at the top of the list believe that happiness is the result of pleasure. Others are compelled by the forces of life to feel that the preservation of life is the most important thing. "Today," said Paul Tillich, "the simple concern for food and clothing and shelter is so overwhelming in the greater part of mankind that it has almost suppressed most of the other human concerns, and it has absorbed the minds of all classes of people." (The New Being, p. 155)
Am I not correct in saying that what we give ourselves to is the most important thing to us? Can anyone deny that? The question is not, "Will we submit ourselves to what we consider to be the most important thing?" The primary question is, "What is the most important thing to which we can submit ourselves?"
In writing about the baptism of Jesus, Matthew speaks on the latter question. When Jesus came to John the Baptizer to be baptized, John tried to prevent him saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus then told John why he had come to be baptized. He did not say that he had come for baptism for the remission of sin. Nor did he say that he had come because John was more or less worthy. Jesus said that he had come to "fulfill all righteousness."
Jesus was saying that he had come to be baptized in order to fulfill the commands of God. For Matthew, a person who "fulfills all righteousness" is one who is totally submitted to God's authority. Thus, baptism for Jesus was an act of fidelity to God. Baptism was Jesus' statement that submission to God's authority would be the most important thing in his life. God, according to Matthew, was pleased with the obedience of Jesus. So pleased was God that the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God descended like a dove while a voice from Heaven said, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased."
This Sunday we observe the Baptism of the Lord. It is not a big feast day of the church, like All Saints Day or Christmas. It is certainly not a "little Easter." It is a Sunday when we reflect upon the baptism of Jesus. It is a time when we remember how Jesus submitted himself to God's authority, and how he lived out that authority in every aspect of his life and teachings. It is also a time for us to remember how living under God's authority took him to a cross and to the Resurrection.
But, this Sunday is more than a time for us to reflect and remember. It is more than a time for us to recall how Jesus, through his baptism, submitted himself to God's authority and, therefore, identified himself with sinful humanity. This day was written into the church calendar so that we would not forget that we have followed the example of our Lord. Through baptism, we have submitted ourselves to God's authority. Like Jesus, we have been baptized. Like our Lord, we have given ourselves to God's reign in our lives. We are thereby marked as Christ's disciples and initiated into Christ's Holy Church. Through baptism, we have been ordained to our ministry in the world.
If I were building a new church, I would put the baptismal font or pool in a prominent place near the front door of the nave. I would want every worshiper to be confronted by it every Sunday morning. I would want worshipers to walk around it before getting to a pew. I would want those who come and go from the church to do so with the persistent and constant reminder that they have been baptized.
The baptismal font in our sanctuary stands just to the east of the pulpit. It stands before us and in our midst as we worship God. As with all baptismal fonts that are properly built, this one has eight sides representing the eight days of Creation. Thus, in baptism, we are made a part of the new creation. This font, standing where it does, will not let us forget that we have been initiated into this congregation, as well as into the universal church. It reminds us that we have been grafted as a member of the Body of Christ - marked and identified as a Christian disciple. It will not let us erase from our memory that we have been born anew in the water and in the Spirit.
Let us not forget that baptism is as much a rite of passage for the church as it is for the person being baptized. When a new person joins the Body of Christ, neither the member nor the church will ever be the same again. During baptism, the church commits itself to the nurturing of its new member - through worship, church school classes and other nurturing groups, pastoral care, and the ongoing love and concern of other members - regardless of whether the one baptized is an infant or a mature adult.
Likewise, every time a person is baptized in our congregation, it should remind us of the importance of renewing the vows which we made, or which were made for us, at our baptism. Let every baptism which takes place in our congregation speak to us about the importance of submitting ourselves anew to God's authority in our lives.
Submission is a notion which does not sit well with contemporary people. The assertion of one's rights establishes the mood of our day. Freedom from authority is the banner that is hoisted by the masses. To be "laid back" is a virtue. We do not want anyone or anything to have power over our lives. Yet, baptism is about submission. It is about being joined to Christ.
Submission through baptism does not enslave us. Rather, it sets us free. The more we submit to Christ, the freer we are to live joyful lives of love and service. When giving ourselves to Christ becomes the most important consideration, we are made free to respond to the hurts and hopes of God's people, whoever they are and whenever they cross our path.
Pete Maravich was free to play the game because he was totally submitted to what the game required of him. Lily Laskin was free to play the harp because she was committed to what it took to be a great harpist. Christians who are free to love and serve are first and foremost submitted to God's authority in all of life.
Earlier in this worship service, I gave the Sacrament of Baptism to John Edward Fitzpatrick. When I asked, "What name is this child given?", his mother and father said, "John Edward." He was named for his grandfathers, both of whom are now deceased. After taking John Edward into my arms, I baptized him in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I hope the day will come when he will take the faith for himself and be confirmed as a member of Christ's Universal Church. It is our hope and prayer that his life will be submitted to God's authority - that he will live out the meaning of his baptism.
John Edward now lives his life as a person who has been baptized. That mark is on him. He may not choose to live by the meaning of baptism, but he can never erase what has happened today. He will pass through the innocence of childhood as a baptized person. He will handle the peer pressure of adolescence as a baptized youngster. As a mature adult, he will make moral and ethical decisions as one who has been baptized. He will face old age as one who has been joined to the Body of Christ. He will make love, fill out his income tax, and decide what to give away and what to keep as one of Christ's people. He will make up his mind about issues like war, sexuality, affluence, and relations as one on whom the water has been sprinkled.
He has been baptized. And, so have we.
John 1:29-34
Second Sunday after Epiphany
The Bodily
Glorification of God
Glorify God with your body. Glorify God with your body. Glorify God with your body.
What did Saint Paul mean when he said, "Glorify God with your body"? I suppose Saint Paul had a lot of time to think about things like that because, after all, Saint Paul spent a lot of time in jail. When you spend a lot of time in jail, you have some time to think about some things like glorifying God with your body.
This is hard for us to hear because we know how to glorify the body, but we do not know how to glorify God with the body.
I say to you that we know how to glorify the body. Last night, I went shopping with Janene, my wife, and I bought one of these new little boxes that can be used to store things in closets. You can stack them, roll them, push them, and turn them upside down. When I put that little webbed box in my closet, I happened to look at all my clothing - trousers, shirts, suits, sport coats, and topcoats. Most of my clothing is there, not because I need it, but because I need it to glorify my body. It is there to make me look good before others and to help me feel good about myself.
A lot of the physical fitness craze today is not as much about physical fitness as it is about glorifying the body. Joggers pound the street. There is a plethora of work-out books. Why, you can even buy records and videos that tell you how to turn flab into firmness and fat into muscle. To be sure, it is important to stay in shape, but much of this craze is just to glorify the body.
Four symbols illustrate our obsession with glorifying the body. The first symbol is heard in the phrase "Dress to win!" Learn how to dress so you can be a winner. The worst thing you could ever do is to show up dressed in the wrong clothing. When the ties get narrow, don't wear a wide one. When the shirts get shorter, don't wear a long one. You have to know how to dress to win, that is how to glorify the body.
The second symbol is the tanning spa. People are paying what I consider to be a very high price to tan their bodies so their bodies can be glorified. Now, all of us know that tanning spas are not good for you. Some are even saying they can permanently damage one's skin. Yet, because we are so obsessed with glorifying the body, we will pay high prices to get brown, even though this is not good for us.
The third symbol is Playboy and Playgirl magazines where the human body is exalted as an object of sexual gratification.
The fourth symbol is steroids. People take steroids to distort the muscles of the body in order to be a better athlete. When one pumps iron after taking steroids, the muscles in the body take on added dimension and strength.
So I say to you, we know a lot about how to glorify the body, but we don't know very much about how to glorify God with the body.
One of the reasons we don't know how to glorify God with the body is that we have been taught to glorify God with our spirits, but not with our bodies. We have been taught that the body is not as important as the spirit. We have been taught that spiritual glorification is more important than physical glorification.
The New Testament was written at a time heavily influenced by the Greeks. Many of the thoughts in the New Testament are there because the New Testament writers picked up those of the Greek world around them. One of the fundamental teachings of the Greek culture was that the body is simply a crate for the soul. Those who wrote the New Testament picked up on this and said, therefore, the spirit is really more important than the body. So we have been taught down through the centuries to glorify God with our spirits and to discount our bodies.
But Apostle Paul tried to correct that notion when he said, "Glorify God with the body. Glorify God with the body!"
How is it then that we glorify God with the body? Saint Paul said we glorify God with the body by shunning immorality.
In Corinth, there was a big temple that had as many as five hundred prostitutes. The men of Corinth and the sailors who came across the isthmus often warmed themselves with booze and slid under the covers with a prostitute. This was not unlawful, but according to Saint Paul, this was immoral. So, Saint Paul said that we glorify God with the body by shunning immorality. To "shun" immorality means don't flirt with temptation. When our Lord taught us to pray, he taught us to pray so that we would not be led into temptation.
Furthermore, Saint Paul said that the body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. The body, in other words, is a member of Christ's body. According to Paul's strong imagery, when a person goes to the temple and joins himself to a prostitute, that person and that prostitute become one. And so it is, said Saint Paul, that our bodies are joined to Christ. Therefore, we glorify God with our bodies when we remember that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The physical body is a sacred thing. The human body is not a slab of meat. The human body is not property to be used for display or to be exploited. But, the human body, mine and yours, is sacred in that it is a member of Christ.
Finally, we glorify God with the body when we physically do things that glorify God. Or, in other words, we glorify God with the body when we allow our bodies to be used in service to humankind. This is probably the greatest glorification of God with the body.
I remember the night I worshiped God at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The occasion was the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. Although we had arrived there very early, we found only a few seats way up in the balcony. The church was packed with people from all over the United States - black and white, rich and poor, people who had been in the streets in the sixties, and people who felt guilty because they had done nothing in the sixties. Dr. William Sloane Coffin, the recent pastor of Riverside Church in New York City, was the preacher. The choir from Clark College sang. A predominantly white choir from a nearby Baptist Church provided an anthem. The Ebenezer choir sang two anthems which stirred the soul.
As I sat there and worshiped God with that great mixture of people, this thought crossed my mind: These people, meeting in this one Baptist Church, were the cradle of the Civil Rights movement back then. These people had put it on the line. They had bodily displayed what they believed. They hadn't just sat around in the church and talked about peace, justice, and brotherhood. Instead, they had been physical with it. They had taken their bodies out into the street where no one could misunderstand what they stood for.
Maybe that is what Saint Paul meant when he said, "Glorify God with your body." Maybe he meant, "Quit sitting around talking about it and be there. Go there and put it on the line."
In a few weeks, people of this church are going on a mission to St. Vincent. They are going to bodily witness their faith in Jesus Christ and their faith in his power to heal and to set people free. It is one thing to sit in church and think about witnessing or to sit in a committee and reflect on it, but it is another thing to do it bodily.
Sometimes, we hear about a death in the family. Or, we hear about someone who is hurting a great deal. If we cross the path of that person, we may say to them, "Just wanted you to know that I've been thinking about you." Now, we know that is not enough. There is a difference between going to that person, wrapping that person in your arms, and being there with her or him and between simply passing them by in the hallway and saying, "I have been thinking about you."
It is bodily involvement in Christianity that really matters. The wonderful thing is that anybody can glorify God with the body. Chubby people, skinny people, distorted people, handicapped people, people like me who have to have a pair of trousers almost remade every time I buy them - any kind of body can glorify God. The culture in which we live says that only beautiful bodies are worth anything: our faith says that everybody's body can glorify God.
Today's Gospel reading tells us how John the Baptizer clarified the identity of Jesus. During the Baptism of Jesus, John the Baptizer saw the Spirit descend upon Jesus in the form of a dove. As the dove descended, God spoke to John and said, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and borne witness that this is the Son of God."
Jesus then left the river Jordan to begin his public ministry. From the murky Jordan to the place called "The Skull," Jesus glorified God not only with his words, but with his flesh-and-blood body. Had it not been for Jesus' bodily glorification of God, God's words about a descending Spirit would have been hollow. It was Jesus' bodily glorification of God which gave validity to the Spirit's work.
So if the Spirit is truly with us, we will glorify God not only with our words, but with our physical bodies as well. "Glorify God with your body," said St. Paul. That's what Jesus did and so should we. How else will the world believe that the Spirit has descended on us?
