Temple of God / Body of Christ
Once again this week, we find ourselves with a very short passage of scripture, but with quite a lot going on. Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem. And within this massive temple complex, in addition to the priests and the pilgrims and the religious functions being performed there, he finds a marketplace. He finds vendors and lenders and people there, not for worship, but for profit.
And we catch a glimpse of God's fury. We see our Prince of Peace, our Messiah, the one who deals in all things with love and with patience and with kindness, we see him get pissed.
It's a famous scene – one that resonates with a lot of people. That Jesus Christ, the one who condemns violence, the one who exhorts us to turn the other cheek – gets mad, and not just mad, he gets physical.
If the temple is a body then the merchants and moneychangers in it are a parasitic disease. They don't belong there. The temple is a place for prophets with a “ph.” Not profits with an “f.”
He takes a whip and chases them out. And he yells at them all, “This is my Father's house – do not make it a marketplace!”
Jesus, in his anger, is protecting the purity of his Father's temple.
And we could leave it at that, except that he continues, telling the people to tear the temple down, and he will rebuild it in three days.
And they scoff and say, “we've been building this temple for 46 years, and you'll rebuild it in three days?”
But Jesus was talking about the temple of his body, and not the bricks of the building.
The temple of God and the body of Christ are one and the same.
They are pure. Devoted entirely to God. And not defiled by greed or callousness.
The language that Christ uses, that the temple is his own body... it resonates.
The apostle Paul will pick this up years later in his own writing. Listen to what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
Paul is picking up Christ's language of the temple of the body and applying it not just to Christ, but to ourselves as well.
Our bodies are more than just mere vessels for our souls. They're more than just our flesh and our blood and our bone. We are made in God's own image; pale reflections of his deity, but reflections nonetheless. Our bodies are temples to God, and we should treat them as such.
And honestly, as I say these things, and I believe them to be true.. it makes me feel like a hypocrite.
Because I've been given this gift of a body, and you don't have to be a nutritionist to see I haven't treated it like a temple of God. I have a well-known fondness for a distilled spirit as much as I do for the Holy Spirit. This pulpit robe is wonderful because it hides the extra pounds hanging over my belt buckle. I am very much a creature of comfort, and it shows.
Which brings me to the third pillar of Lent.
The past few weeks we've talked about the three pillars of Lent, first prayer, then giving...
And now we're to fasting.
To exercising some form of self-discipline to treat our bodies more like temples befitting the image of God.
Now, to be sure... I don't think God has any interest in seeing us hop on a 40-day quick weight loss scheme. Or change our lives entirely within a short month and a half.
But it is a challenge to us. To see if we can do something about the way in which we treat ourselves that makes us better able to honor God.
Now, growing up, fasting during Lent was considered a bit too Catholicky for my family, so we didn't do anything special for it. We never gave anything up. We ate meat all day every day. And to be honest, I still do. It's actually a little bit of a point of identity for me, since Nicole and I live in a mostly Catholic town, not unlike Hazlet. While all our neighbors are headed to the Red Lobster on Friday nights, we're grabbing one of the open tables at the Longhorn Steakhouse. No wait. It's a good time to be a Protestant.
So it's never been part of my tradition to fast. My routine doesn't change all that much during Lent.
But fasting isn't something that we do just for these 40 days. If that's part of your tradition, by all means, go for it. It can be a powerful reminder of sacrifice and of loss, and that's part of what this season is supposed to do.
But if it's not part of your tradition, don't feel like you have to go out and give up your coffee and your cheeseburgers all of a sudden.
Rather, consider the fast as a reminder to respect your bodies. During this time especially, but throughout the whole year.
It's something I'm just starting to figure out how to do. I'm not great at it yet. And if this is something you're really interested in, perhaps you might want to find a different role model for this.
But it's about not just being healthy, but keeping your body as pure as it can be; cleansing it as Jesus cleansed the temple at Jerusalem.
A few drinks here or there won't hurt you; Jesus himself was no stranger to a cup of wine now and then. But to drink to excess, until you're falling down and lose your wits... this is no way to respect the temple of the Holy Spirit.
A burger and fries make for a great mid-day meal. They're quick, cheap, and tasty. It's a meal that I myself am far too fond of. With the result that my temple could probably use fewer combo meals and maybe have the occasional salad now and again. I eat junk because it tastes good... but in no way is that respectful of the temple body.
I watch with concern as states across our country are working to loosen drug laws. Not because I'm a fan of Draconian punishments; I have no desire to toss people in jail and throw away the key because they like to smoke up now and again. But at the same time, I cannot see the benefit of making it easier for people to destroy their own temples for fun. I've seen too many friends go down that road with too many permanent effects to think this is a good idea. When we make it so that anyone can walk into a dispensary and come out with a dimebag of stuff that only serves to alter and degrade the mind that God has given them... where is the benefit? How does that respect the temples that God has given us?
I could go on, but I hope by now you get my point.
Jesus lived a very human life, much like ours.
We know he drank sometimes. He probably indulged occasionally in whatever the ancient Judean equivalent of junk food was. We actually don't know too much about his personal habits, so we can't say too much with certainty in this regard.
But we know he could resist temptation. We know he could exercise moderation. We know that he could laugh and cry and celebrate and go through the whole range of human experience without forfeiting his purity.
He never took the simple indulgences that we take for granted; the little luxuries that we take or leave every single day; he never abused them to excess. He never defiled his own temple.
Which is exactly what we should be striving for when we fast.
Fasting isn't about going without desserts for 40 days.
It's about making your body ready to receive Christ's blessing.
So we emphasize it during Lent.
But it takes the devotion of our whole lives.
The point is simply this. That we are God's children. We are made in God's image. We are given these bodies for our whole lives, to worship God and glorify his name. So take care of them. For they are God's temples.
Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy God, we give you thanks that you created us out of the mud and dust into bodies worthy of bearing your image. Grant us the strength, the resilience, and the know-how, to take care of ourselves, and keep us fit for your service. Give us over to moderation in our indulgences, recognition of when we need to rest and recover, and resistance to those things which would do us harm. Lord, we live in a culture whose mantra seems to be, “if it feels good, do it.” Lord, we know that the surest way to feel good is to live a life that reflects your highest ambitions for us. Let us do good, let us show your love, and let us respect ourselves, in mind, in spirit, and in body. Lord we ask this blessing as we ask all things; through the name of Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and your Temple. Amen.
Once again this week, we find ourselves with a very short passage of scripture, but with quite a lot going on. Jesus is at the temple in Jerusalem. And within this massive temple complex, in addition to the priests and the pilgrims and the religious functions being performed there, he finds a marketplace. He finds vendors and lenders and people there, not for worship, but for profit.
And we catch a glimpse of God's fury. We see our Prince of Peace, our Messiah, the one who deals in all things with love and with patience and with kindness, we see him get pissed.
It's a famous scene – one that resonates with a lot of people. That Jesus Christ, the one who condemns violence, the one who exhorts us to turn the other cheek – gets mad, and not just mad, he gets physical.
If the temple is a body then the merchants and moneychangers in it are a parasitic disease. They don't belong there. The temple is a place for prophets with a “ph.” Not profits with an “f.”
He takes a whip and chases them out. And he yells at them all, “This is my Father's house – do not make it a marketplace!”
Jesus, in his anger, is protecting the purity of his Father's temple.
And we could leave it at that, except that he continues, telling the people to tear the temple down, and he will rebuild it in three days.
And they scoff and say, “we've been building this temple for 46 years, and you'll rebuild it in three days?”
But Jesus was talking about the temple of his body, and not the bricks of the building.
The temple of God and the body of Christ are one and the same.
They are pure. Devoted entirely to God. And not defiled by greed or callousness.
The language that Christ uses, that the temple is his own body... it resonates.
The apostle Paul will pick this up years later in his own writing. Listen to what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
Paul is picking up Christ's language of the temple of the body and applying it not just to Christ, but to ourselves as well.
Our bodies are more than just mere vessels for our souls. They're more than just our flesh and our blood and our bone. We are made in God's own image; pale reflections of his deity, but reflections nonetheless. Our bodies are temples to God, and we should treat them as such.
And honestly, as I say these things, and I believe them to be true.. it makes me feel like a hypocrite.
Because I've been given this gift of a body, and you don't have to be a nutritionist to see I haven't treated it like a temple of God. I have a well-known fondness for a distilled spirit as much as I do for the Holy Spirit. This pulpit robe is wonderful because it hides the extra pounds hanging over my belt buckle. I am very much a creature of comfort, and it shows.
Which brings me to the third pillar of Lent.
The past few weeks we've talked about the three pillars of Lent, first prayer, then giving...
And now we're to fasting.
To exercising some form of self-discipline to treat our bodies more like temples befitting the image of God.
Now, to be sure... I don't think God has any interest in seeing us hop on a 40-day quick weight loss scheme. Or change our lives entirely within a short month and a half.
But it is a challenge to us. To see if we can do something about the way in which we treat ourselves that makes us better able to honor God.
Now, growing up, fasting during Lent was considered a bit too Catholicky for my family, so we didn't do anything special for it. We never gave anything up. We ate meat all day every day. And to be honest, I still do. It's actually a little bit of a point of identity for me, since Nicole and I live in a mostly Catholic town, not unlike Hazlet. While all our neighbors are headed to the Red Lobster on Friday nights, we're grabbing one of the open tables at the Longhorn Steakhouse. No wait. It's a good time to be a Protestant.
So it's never been part of my tradition to fast. My routine doesn't change all that much during Lent.
But fasting isn't something that we do just for these 40 days. If that's part of your tradition, by all means, go for it. It can be a powerful reminder of sacrifice and of loss, and that's part of what this season is supposed to do.
But if it's not part of your tradition, don't feel like you have to go out and give up your coffee and your cheeseburgers all of a sudden.
Rather, consider the fast as a reminder to respect your bodies. During this time especially, but throughout the whole year.
It's something I'm just starting to figure out how to do. I'm not great at it yet. And if this is something you're really interested in, perhaps you might want to find a different role model for this.
But it's about not just being healthy, but keeping your body as pure as it can be; cleansing it as Jesus cleansed the temple at Jerusalem.
A few drinks here or there won't hurt you; Jesus himself was no stranger to a cup of wine now and then. But to drink to excess, until you're falling down and lose your wits... this is no way to respect the temple of the Holy Spirit.
A burger and fries make for a great mid-day meal. They're quick, cheap, and tasty. It's a meal that I myself am far too fond of. With the result that my temple could probably use fewer combo meals and maybe have the occasional salad now and again. I eat junk because it tastes good... but in no way is that respectful of the temple body.
I watch with concern as states across our country are working to loosen drug laws. Not because I'm a fan of Draconian punishments; I have no desire to toss people in jail and throw away the key because they like to smoke up now and again. But at the same time, I cannot see the benefit of making it easier for people to destroy their own temples for fun. I've seen too many friends go down that road with too many permanent effects to think this is a good idea. When we make it so that anyone can walk into a dispensary and come out with a dimebag of stuff that only serves to alter and degrade the mind that God has given them... where is the benefit? How does that respect the temples that God has given us?
I could go on, but I hope by now you get my point.
Jesus lived a very human life, much like ours.
We know he drank sometimes. He probably indulged occasionally in whatever the ancient Judean equivalent of junk food was. We actually don't know too much about his personal habits, so we can't say too much with certainty in this regard.
But we know he could resist temptation. We know he could exercise moderation. We know that he could laugh and cry and celebrate and go through the whole range of human experience without forfeiting his purity.
He never took the simple indulgences that we take for granted; the little luxuries that we take or leave every single day; he never abused them to excess. He never defiled his own temple.
Which is exactly what we should be striving for when we fast.
Fasting isn't about going without desserts for 40 days.
It's about making your body ready to receive Christ's blessing.
So we emphasize it during Lent.
But it takes the devotion of our whole lives.
The point is simply this. That we are God's children. We are made in God's image. We are given these bodies for our whole lives, to worship God and glorify his name. So take care of them. For they are God's temples.
Amen.
Let us pray.
Holy God, we give you thanks that you created us out of the mud and dust into bodies worthy of bearing your image. Grant us the strength, the resilience, and the know-how, to take care of ourselves, and keep us fit for your service. Give us over to moderation in our indulgences, recognition of when we need to rest and recover, and resistance to those things which would do us harm. Lord, we live in a culture whose mantra seems to be, “if it feels good, do it.” Lord, we know that the surest way to feel good is to live a life that reflects your highest ambitions for us. Let us do good, let us show your love, and let us respect ourselves, in mind, in spirit, and in body. Lord we ask this blessing as we ask all things; through the name of Jesus Christ, who is our Lord and your Temple. Amen.