We started off today with two scriptures
about food. One is about fasting, and
the other about feasting.
The story of Jesus fasting in the
wilderness appears in the lectionary every year on the first Sunday of
Lent.
Meanwhile, the verses from Isaiah are about
God’s extravagant invitation to all the world, to come and feast. “Eat what is good,” it says, “and delight
yourselves in rich food.”
Not just any food. Rich
food. The good stuff.
Hearing these two passages read together
reminds me of the wisdom of Ecclesiastes:
“For everything there is a season.”
There is a season for fasting; and there is a season for feasting.
Now when we think of what scripture has
to say, and when we think of living a spiritual life, we don’t often think of
food. Food is a bodily thing, a very
earthy thing. Spirituality is – well – spiritual. It’s heavenly.
What does body have to do with spirit?
Another verse, from Paul’s first letter
to the Corinthians, says: “Your body is
a temple, a dwelling-place, of the holy Spirit.”
That’s kind of strange if you think
about it. Go out and ask someone where
the Spirit is. Maybe they’ll say “in
heaven.” They might say “in
church.” But who says that the Spirit is
in my body, that my body is the dwelling place of God’s Spirit?
But actually, the body is not to be
ignored. When it comes to wholeness, the
body certainly can’t be ignored. The
body is important. Taking care of the
body is important. Whether we fast or
feast is important.
For the Spirit’s sake, and for our sake;
because, remember, we and the Spirit are one.
The problem, I think, is that we try to
separate the body from the soul. But
scripture repeatedly says that this can’t be done.
Deuteronomy, chapter six, verse
five: Perhaps the most significant,
most-repeated statement in the Old Testament.
Jews call it the “Shema,” and it goes
like this:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
Notice how this statement incorporates
the heart, the soul,… and one’s might,
which suggests the body. Heart, soul,
and body. Faith expressed through
emotional, spiritual, and physical worship.
Now, fast-forward to the time when a
lawyer was questioning Jesus. “Teacher,”
he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Remember that “eternal life” is probably
better translated as “life of the ages.”
It actually means a life of wholeness.
So this lawyer asks Jesus what he must do
to have a life of wholeness.
Jesus said to him, “What have you been
taught?”
The lawyer answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all
your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind;
and your neighbor as yourself.”
This is how he responds in Luke’s
gospel; the same story is in Matthew and Mark, and the response is
similar. After all, he’s quoting the
Shema.
But Luke’s gospel adds a fourth form of
worship. We have loving God with the
heart, with the soul, with one’s might (here the word is “strength,” but that’s
the same thing), and then there is a fourth way: with all one’s mind.
So now we have heart, soul, body, and
mind. Emotional, Spiritual, Physical,
and Intellectual.
I just got a book – a very short book
that was only $2.99 on my kindle – called Discovering
True Fitness: a 40-Day Journey to a Healthy Mind, Body and Spirit. It’s
written by a former fitness instructor who said that the problem with most
fitness plans is that they focus only
on the body.
By contrast, so many people – trying to
grow spiritually – focus on everything but
the body.
The author of this book – his name is
Kirk Ream – says that true fitness requires a more holistic approach.
He even came up with an acronym: PIES.
I don’t know if PIES is the best acronym
to use in a book about fitness, but it stands for: physical, intellectual,
emotional, and spiritual health.
If you want true fitness, you need to
work on all four.
If you want wholeness, you need to work
on all four.
Physical, intellectual, emotional, and
spiritual health.
Body, mind, heart, and soul.
So: physical health is an important
component of wholeness. That doesn’t
mean we need to have perfect bodies, that we need to look like the fitness
gurus and celebrities we see on the pages of the magazines. They don’t look like that, either. Those pictures aren’t real.
And it doesn’t mean that we should work
hard to achieve bodies that we can love.
Your body is already worth loving.
Right now. We don’t exercise so
we can have bodies that we love. It’s
because we love our bodies that we exercise.
It’s because we honor our bodies, that we care for them.
See the difference?
You’ve gotta love your body first. Media teach us the opposite, that your body
isn’t worth loving until it looks like the bodies they show you. That’s a lie.
Love your body first. It is
wonderful. And then – because you love
your body – take care of it.
I have a friend who many years ago was a
young preacher with lots of potential.
But then came the diagnosis of a very
rare form of throat cancer.
And because of that cancer and the
treatment, he lost his voice.
Doctors said his voice would never come
back.
Did I mention he was a preacher?
He felt betrayed by his own body. I don’t know, but possibly, he felt betrayed
by God as well.
But he decided to continue loving and honoring
his body by focusing on his health, by taking care of his body and all the many
parts of his body that did work.
He exercised. He took joy in a body that was fearfully and
wonderfully made.
And miraculously, after some years, his
voice did come back. And through his
ministry, thousands of lives were touched.
Thank God he didn’t give up on his body,
but continued to honor it, and continued to love God with all his heart, soul,
mind, and body.
So how do we find physical
wholeness? How do we use our bodies to
become more fully human?
Well, there are as many answers to that
as there are people. Some like to
run. Some like to swim. Some like to do aerobics or Zumba.
Such things are beyond the abilities of
some people. Some people just go for a
walk. Some work in their garden. Gardening is great exercise.
The Bible talks about heart, soul, mind,
and body, because they are all connected.
I find that I cannot sit for too long.
I often spend all morning sitting at my desk, working on sermons or
other church business. By the afternoon,
my brain is done. If I’m at my desk from
7 to noon, or 8 to 1, five hours of sitting… I can keep sitting there through
the afternoon, but nothing productive is going to happen.
But if I can hop on my bike or go for a
walk, my mind is refreshed by the experience.
It’s a complete change for body and
mind, to engage in physical exercise. If
I do that, then I’m good for a couple more hours, either working from home, or
at a coffee shop, or visiting homebound members, cooking Wednesday Night
Dinner,… whatever.
And on Sundays… you know that I enjoy
what I do, and I enjoy the opportunity for fellowship and conversation with all
of you. But I gotta be honest: for an introvert, as enjoyable as that may
be, it can also be exhausting. Mentally
exhausting. So sometimes, on Sunday
afternoons, I take a nap. But what’s
even better for me on a Sunday afternoon is to go for a run or a bike
ride. It’s good for my physical health,
but it’s even better for my mental health.
When you take care of your body – when
you get exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep at night – your body releases
hormones that fight off anxiety and depression.
This is scientifically proven.
Which means that taking care of your body is also caring for your
emotions, your mood, your mental state; and it is caring for those around you,
those who are exposed to your moods every day.
If you stay up late watching TV or
surfing the internet – the two worst things you could do at bedtime – and then
you wake up tired and irritable the next morning, that can have a big effect on
the relationships you have with other people.
If you do this over and over, and it aggravates your anxiety and
depression, well, let’s just say that the rest of us are going to be keeping
our distance from you!
As Kirk Ream says, the main reason to
take care of yourself is “to be a better mother, husband, wife, employee,
father, friend.”
And, I would add, a better
Christian. One who is able to love with
all one’s heart, soul, mind,… and body.
By the way, Kirk Ream started his
interest in fitness for a very unique reason.
His daughter was born with a golf ball sized lump on the back of her
thigh. Doctors didn’t know if it was
dangerous or not, or if it would go away.
Kirk went on what he called a “Daniel Fast:”
for ten days, he ate only fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. He also made sure he got at least seven hours
of sleep each night, and he spent his free time in Bible study and prayer.
I assume that means he kept the TV off.
Kirk’s “Daniel Fast” was not done for
reasons of health and fitness. It was
done in response to this significant moment in his life: the birth of his
daughter, and the uncertainty surrounding her health. That, I should point out, is the reason for
all religious fasting. People often give
up something for Lent – chocolate, for example – and they do so not for health
reasons, but for spiritual reasons. A
Lenten fast is a response to a sacred moment or encounter. It is not a diet program.
But, since body and soul are connected, a religious fast
can have physical benefits. Kirk Ream
assumed that his ten days of eating nothing but “rabbit food” would leave him
exhausted. He did it for the expected
spiritual benefit, not for any physical benefit.
However, he said, “during those ten
days, my life changed forever. Not only
did my strength and energy levels go through the roof, but my anxiety went
down. I found myself thinking more
clearly and making better decisions at home and at work. My relationship with my wife and children improved
because I had the energy that I needed to give them. My relationship with the Lord dramatically
improved as I found new excitement about studying the Bible and prayer.”
A while back I spent about two years not
eating meat. I did so for ecological
reasons, and because I knew it would be healthy. To my surprise, however, I discovered great
spiritual benefit.
Because of this decision to not eat
meat, I paid attention to everything I ate.
Before I would just mindlessly consume food, but now, I paid
attention. And because I paid attention
to everything I ate, I was made aware of what a blessing food is to the body…
good food… food that is natural and provides good nourishment.
And this made me incredibly grateful for
everything on my plate. It made me
realize just how blessed I am.
So let me encourage you to make one
change in this season of Lent. A change
that benefits your physical health is good, as long as you are prepared to
receive spiritual benefits from it. Some
great changes might be to give up processed foods, sodas, or anything you see
advertised on TV.
In fact, just turn the TV off. If you have a favorite show, fine, schedule
that in, but don’t have the TV on just to have it on. Just as it’s important to pay attention to
the food we ingest into our bodies, it’s important to pay attention to what we
ingest into our minds, and that includes TV shows, magazines, and gossip. Be sure you are only ingesting what is
nourishing and beneficial to your heart, soul, mind and body. Anything else is poison. Anything else keeps you from finding
wholeness.
It is the most important command, that
we love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, body, and mind. Honoring our bodies and caring for them is an
essential part of keeping this command.
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