Get Microsoft Word Viewer 2003
 Concord Trinity Podcast Feed (Podcast Instructions)

LENTEN SCRUBBING - The Body

LENTEN SCRUBBING

The Body

February 10, 2008

Text: 1 Corinthians 9:19-27

1 Cor 9:19-27

19 For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25 Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

NRSV

St. Benedict once said, “The life of a monk ought to be a continuous Lent.” Benedict, though, recognized that not many have the strength to live Lent all year long so he suggested using Lent to “wash away the negligence of other times.”

During this Lenten season, we’re going to focus on that. We’re going to “scrub” different parts of our lives. By scrubbing away our “negligence” of these parts, not only will we feel better, but we’ll better walk with Christ the Lenten path that will lead to the cross and beyond.

The Irish have been stereotyped as always enjoying a drink or two.

An Irishman walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness. He then drinks a sip out of each one in turn. The bartender sees this, and tells him that a pint of Guinness goes flat minutes after it’s poured. It’s better to order his beer one at a time.

The Irishman replies that he has two brothers, one in America and the other in Australia. When they left home, they promised they would drink in this way, to honor each other, and to remember the days when they were together.

The bartender thought that was a nice custom.

The Irishman becomes a regular in the bar, and always ordering three pints and drinking them in turn. One day, he comes in and orders two pints. All the other regulars notice this and fall silent—one of the brothers must have died.

The bartender comes up to him and tells him he’s very sorry for his loss, and offers condolences for the brother who passed on.

The Irishman looks confused for a moment, then a light dawns. “Oh, no,” he says. “Everyone’s fine. I’m just giving up drinking for Lent.”

That’s sort of the way Lent is traditionally viewed, isn’t it?

A time when you deny yourself something, remembering how Christ denied himself. But…we don’t really like doing that. We give up something we really don’t want to give up because we’re told we should give it up, so we do it grudgingly. We prepare to give it up by a “party hardy Mardi gras” the Tuesday before Lent begins, because we know the next seven weeks are going to be a bummer. To make things tolerable during Lent, some tradition says that you can take Sundays off from whatever you’ve given up. Gave up chocolate for Lent? Count the days to Sunday.

This is a mis-use, and an abuse, of the Lenten discipline. If you’re really serious about getting rid of something unhealthy in your life, then Lent should be the occasion of getting rid of it…FOREVER! If you’re not serious about getting rid of something unhealthy in your life, then Lent can be bad for you—you give up something you really want to keep, and when Lent’s over, you’ll make up for lost time. If this is your attitude, why observe Lent like this at all?

What does this say about the way we view the body? It says that the body is naturally to be indulged, not denied. Hey, look at this Snickers. You know, too much sugar increases the blood fat levels, lowers your resistance to disease by making the white blood cells sluggish, adheres bacteria to your teeth promoting tooth decay, gives you quick energy then a feeling of being drained or even nauseous, and ultimately could lead to diabetes.

Paul would NEVER have gone along with this lazy view of Lent, and the accompanying self-indulgent view of the body.

Look at that first paragraph. He begins it with,

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more [people to Christ].

He goes on to say how he adapts the way he relates to Jews, to Gentiles, etc., all in order to invite them into a life-changing encounter with Christ.

Think about that. There is one essential ingredient necessary to be so adaptable: DISCIPLINE. You can’t go past your natural instincts without discipline—without being willing to give up some lesser things in order to attain a higher goal. In order to be a Jew to the Jew, a Gentile to the Gentile, Paul would have to give up his ego, change his lifestyle. Not easy. But he’d do it—to “win more to Christ.”

And did you notice what he says in the next paragraph? He links this spiritual discipline to the body:

Athletes exercise self-control in all things…[so] I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

Literally, the Greek word “punish” means, “handle roughly, discipline it by hardships”—like denying yourself the easy, sweet things that can kill you. You are to “enslave” the body, controlling it, and not letting it control you.

See what Paul’s doing? He’s tying the body and the spirit together. In one paragraph he talks about the discipline of the spirit, and in the next he shows how that’s reflected in the body.

Don’t ever think your soul is separate from your body. The two are intricately tied together. If you are lazy in dealing with one, you will be prone to be lazy dealing with the other. If you do unhealthy things for one, you will probably do unhealthy things for the other.

So, I am going to suggest that one of THE most important spiritual things you can do as you begin your Lenten journey is a physical thing: RESPECT your body. Don’t indulge it, but do something healthy for it. Discipline it, just as an athlete does. When you’re a Christian and you tend to your body this way, you are reflecting that same type of strong inner spirit that enabled Paul to say, “I can be all things to all people.”

How you respect your body is up to you—each of us has different possibilities and limitations. But regardless, you have to do something, and there’s always something you can do.

There are the traditional “New Year’s resolution” variety of things:

“Eat better.”

“Exercise regularly.”

“Eliminate bad habits.”

But you can also be creative in doing something healthy. A person who studied the rules of the monastic life suggested these:

“Have a heart-to-heart with God.” We rush, then pray on the go. What about setting your body down in a chair for a few minutes before you run out the door, taking a few deep, slow breaths, and open your soul to God? Might do wonders for the blood pressure.

“Work less.” According to one newscast, Americans, on average, added one week of work per year to their schedules in the 1990’s. How can you respect your body if you’re constantly battering it with deadlines and e-mails?

“Sleep more.” Do you really need to watch Letterman?

Forget about giving up some indulgence for Lent, then picking it up after Easter. Lent starts by doing something healthy for the body that lasts much longer than seven weeks.

Remember—our spirits and our bodies are tightly tied together.

Doing things like these may not be easy.

At the YMCA, it’s hard to find a parking spot in January; by March, you can park by the front door. The discipline of doing something healthy for the body has to be cultivated until it’s rock-solid—until you feel bad if you don’t do the thing you committed to.

Let me suggest a couple of things to remember that will help cultivate this discipline Paul’s talking about.

REMEMBER THAT YOUR BODY IS AWE-SOME!

We have lost the AWE for our bodies.

We don’t even know how this body we live in works.

In a Life Sciences Symposium, science and health teachers submitted excerpts from things students wrote on science tests and papers. One young person wrote: “The body consists of three parts — the branium, the borax, and the abominable cavity. The branium contains the brain, the borax contains the heart and lungs, and the abominable cavity contains the bowels, of which there are five — a, e, i, o, and u.”

—From a collection of test papers and essays submitted to science and health teachers and compiled at the NEA Life Sciences Symposium in Kansas City, Kansas.

Not only do we not know how our bodies work, but we take them for granted—just like a car.

You get a new car, and you obsess over it for the first few weeks. You wash and wax it weekly. You get the touchup paint. You park at the far end of the mall, where there’s no car within a mile of you, and you call a cab.

But then, the newness wears off. You don’t clean it quite so often. And even after a seven inch snow, you let the salt and dirt remain.

If you’re going to do something healthy for the body, and maintain it well past Lent, you need to remember what an absolutely beautiful piece of machinery it is. Your body is tenaciously tough, and surprisingly sensitive. It contains a brain that looks out after you, and instantly reacts to things to keep you safe. It contains skin that heals itself, and eyes that wash themselves. And you can go right on down the list of the marvelous things your body does.

Treat your body as if you just drove it off the showroom floor.

Second thing to remember to maintain a healthy discipline:

REMEMBER THAT YOUR BODY IS A GIFT.

Where did we ever come up with the idea that we own our bodies?

How did we buy them? Did we get a catalogue from “Bodies R Us” and select the one on page 178?

God created our bodies from stardust, breathed the breath of life into them, and said, “Go—live, love, enjoy!”

What right do we have to say, “Is this the best you can do? I deserve the turbo model…come on!”

When someone gives you a gift, produced at great cost, you don’t open it and say, “Is this the best you can do?”

Rather, you say, “THANK YOU! I will treasure and honor this gift as long as I live. THANK YOU!”

Maybe that’s what is behind Paul’s famous words in 1 Corinthians 3:16

“You are God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in you.” Remember that—remember it’s God’s body given to you—and you’ll cultivate that discipline Paul’s talking about. It’s a wonderful way to say thanks.

Now, of all sermons preached, this is the easiest one to say, “Yeah—this is what you’re telling us to do—but what are YOU going to do?”

Well, I’ll tell you what I’m going to commit to for Lent—and beyond.

From a previous sermon, you might remember what I think of…a brussel sprout. A brussel sprout was God’s prototype for the cabbage, and God forgot to eliminate it from human consumption.

After my sermon, several of you said, “We just knew you were going to eat that brussel sprout.”

Right. I do some things for the sake of a sermon, but come on.

Yet, I did some research this past week. Brussel sprouts are high in fiber, vitamin C, and may prevent cancer.

They’re GOOD, HEALTHY for the body.

So, for Lent and beyond…

…remembering the amazing thing God’s entrusted to me called a “body”…

“Lord, this brussel sprout’s for you!”

It’ll take a little getting used to…but it’s worth it!