This is My Body

Well, good morning to you all again. Delighted to be back with you and delighted to be starting

a new series. We are starting a new series this week that's going to kind of, we're starting

the Advent series a little early. So this is going to be a series that takes us into the

season of Advent all the way up to Christmas. And the series is going to cover a variety of things.

We're going to cover issues such as virtual church, race, sexuality, gender, marriage. We're

going to talk a little bit about abortion, birth control, Botox, a little bit about beauty treatments,

plastic surgery, a bit on pornography, eating disorders are going to go in there, vaccine

mandates, mental illness, dementia, yoga, tattoos, cloning is going to make it in there, cremation,

chronic pain, aging, diet, exercise, got to have those, transhumanist technology, and a bit on death.

So we're going to cover a few topics over the next few weeks.

Debra's agreed to allow me to double the length of my sermons, which I'm really excited about. It's

been a battle we have fought ever since you joined the team. For the sake of time, actually, we're going

to hit on all these topics by focusing on the one thing that all of these topics share in common, the

kind of underlying issue that directly impacts how we think about all of these issues, which is the

issue of embodiment. Embodiment. What does it mean that we have physical bodies? What do our bodies

have to say about what it means to be human? What do our bodies have to tell us about who we are,

why we're here, where we're going? What do our bodies have to say about what it means to be human

beings? Are they secondary or are they central to our identities? These are the questions that we're

going to be exploring. What we're going to see, hopefully, is that what you believe about your body,

what you believe about your body, actually is going to determine how you think about all of the issues

that I listed a moment ago and many, many others. So this is going to be our focus for the next six weeks.

The title of this series is, This is My Body. And those are very powerful words. That's a very powerful

statement. This is my body. And so this morning I thought a series like this really needs a full sermon to

introduce it so that we're really clear on what we're talking about. And I started thinking about this phrase,

This is my body. And I started thinking how evocative that is and how it can really change meaning depending on

who is saying it, what their emphasis is, how they say it. And so by way of introduction to the series,

we're going to look at four ways that this phrase can be uttered and how from one to the next,

the meaning changes depending on the speaker and on the emphasis. And we're going to use these passages

that we just read from John 1 and 1 Corinthians 11 as our guide as we begin to explore this topic

and sort of frame up what we're going to be doing over the course of the next six weeks.

So we're going to look at four ways this phrase can be used. This is my body. The first two are ways

that human beings use it amongst ourselves and to God. And then the second two are going to be ways

that God speaks this into the world and to us. So let's pray and then let's dive in. Lord, we thank you

for your word. And we thank you that it's more than just theory that you're the God who is in the midst

of your people. That Lord, you're here in fulfillment of a great and ancient promise that you would be a God

who dwells in the midst of your people. That unlike the idols who are deaf and dumb and mute, you speak.

We pray that you would speak to us this morning. That you would speak your word which never departs

and returns void but accomplishes all that you intend it to accomplish. We pray that you would do

that in us this morning. For your glory. We pray this in your son's holy name. Amen.

So first of all, this phrase can be a highly personal phrase.

This is my body. In other words, this is my body, not that body or that body or that body.

But this alone is my body. Let me ask you a personal question. Next time that you are in the bathroom,

if you were to stand in front of the mirror and simply, you know, full-length mirror and simply look

at yourself and if you were to say, this is my body, how would you feel about that? Would you say,

this is my body? Or would you say, this is my body? How would you say it? What feelings would that evoke

in you? You know, this particular body is your body and you didn't get to choose this body for

yourself. God chose it for you. And like it or not, you're sort of stuck with it. This is your body.

But it's a very unique body. In fact, it's extraordinarily unique to you. From your fingerprints,

to your ear ridges, to the folds of your lips, to your irises, there has never been, nor will there

ever be, another body exactly like your body. You say, what about identical twins? Even identical

twins have different fingerprints. Your body is utterly unique to you. There's never been a body

like your body. Now, despite all of this, you would think that we would hear this and we would think,

my body is amazing. It's unique. It's never been anything like it. It's a one-of-a-kind,

handmade creation. Despite all of this, I think it's fair to say people have a complicated relationship

with their bodies, right? So, on the one hand, our bodies are ways that we experience being in the

world. Your whole experience of being in the world is made possible through your embodiment.

So, all of our five senses enable us to experience all kinds of sensations

in the world. And it's hard to imagine orienting ourselves in this world apart from those sensory

experiences. And they can be gateways to extraordinary joy and pleasure. Some of the greatest things in

life come through these senses. We can't imagine life without them. But I think our bodies can also

be sources of tremendous anxiety, depression, self-hatred, right? Some of us long to be skinnier,

as we look in that mirror. We long to be taller. We long to be prettier. We long to be stronger.

Some of us can't help but constantly compare our bodies to other people's bodies. I don't want a

body like this. I want a body like that. All right? Some of us have chronic pain or we have health issues,

autoimmune issues, and we sort of live life feeling like our own body has turned against us,

that our greatest enemy in life is our own body. Some of us are enslaved to bodily appetites.

We feel controlled by them. We can't beat them. Some of us, because of trauma, feel completely

disconnected from our bodies. We live in a state of dissociation, alienated from our own physicality.

Some of us are plagued by the nagging sense that we are somehow trapped in the wrong body altogether.

And the only solution is a different body.

So the words, this is my body, are very, very, very personal, complicated feelings. Lots of insecurity

arises around that phrase.

But at the same time that this is a personal phrase, these same words have also increasingly

become highly political. Highly political. This is my body. This is my body. One of the most

fundamental definitions of freedom in our society is the phrase my body, my choice. Now, some people use

that in defense of their desire to terminate a pregnancy. Some people use that in defense of

their desire to not take the vaccine. Either way, these, for many people, capture very essential ideas

around human freedom in our society. A free society is one in which I can say, my body, my choice.

It's an unassailable truth, according to most people in our culture.

And what we've seen over the last few centuries is how bodies can become sources of division and

injustice and oppression themselves. You know, we have this example in history, this horrible example

of post-enlightenment pseudoscientists needing to find a way to justify slavery and doing that by creating

the modern conception of race and claiming that lighter-skinned Europeans are inherently superior

to darker-skinned Africans. That was an argument based in physiology and perceived physiological

differences that enabled these scientists to create a kind of taxonomy where it was seen as beneficial

to inferior races to be governed and dominated by so-called superior races. I don't have to tell you

that that has done incalculable damage in our society and continues to the present day to do the same.

And in more recent history, bodies have come to occupy a central place in our entire political order.

These days in our society, it's very hard to imagine politics separated from the human body

and physiological differences. Karl Marx and Michel Foucault have argued and persuaded many in our society

that the body is a central point for analyzing the shape of power in a given society.

So you take characteristics like biological sex or sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression

or skin color or hair type or age or disability or weight or clothing size.

And many people would say that these determine where you fall in the power hierarchies of society.

Right? So these days, many people would say that your body either grants you privilege and access and power

or it relegates you to marginalization, oppression, even exploitation.

Your body does this.

So our bodies have, at the same time, a highly personal aspect to them.

It is this body and it's unique to you.

But they've also become highly political.

They're very personal and they're very political.

We can't imagine politics in society without talking about our bodies.

They're very central.

And I think it's fair to say if we look at all of this,

something is wrong in our relationship with our bodies.

Something somewhere went really wrong

and that our relationship with our bodies is, shall we say, disordered.

Right?

If you're an alien anthropologist looking in on our society from another planet,

studying us, trying to figure out if you want to reach out and make contact,

and you look at all of this,

you would probably think,

wow, there's something going on there.

There's something not right in their relationship with their bodies.

And, you know, the Bible would very much affirm that.

It would say it goes all the way back to the first book of the Bible,

the book of Genesis.

We see after human beings disobeyed God,

after they said to God,

from now on we're going to decide right and wrong for ourselves,

we're going to live in this world,

but we're going to essentially seek to become our own gods,

which was the nature of the fall.

What's the very first thing that happened after they made that decision

and their relationship with God was broken?

The very first thing that happened,

they began to experience shame about their bodies.

The very first symptom of a broken world

was that our relationship with our own embodiment got broken.

And what we see is this fundamental shift.

Instead of seeing our bodies as gifts to be celebrated,

our bodies became problems to be solved.

So for the first time,

human beings went about trying to solve the problem

of a body about which they felt shame.

And when you've cut yourself off from God,

you just have to rely on your own ability,

your own strength, right?

Your own capacity.

And so they turned to technology.

And for the first time in history,

human beings began using technology

to cover their bodies.

They sewed fig leaves together.

And ever since that day,

human beings have been developing

more and more advanced technologies

to cover, alter, enhance,

or altogether transform the bodies we have

into the bodies we want.

To solve the problem of the body.

And virtually every society we know of

throughout history

has used cosmetics and body modification technologies

to do just that.

You know, 7,000 years ago,

people were putting makeup on

to subtly alter their appearance.

Numerous religions grew up,

including all of the Gnostic traditions

and the Eastern traditions,

that denigrated the physical body,

that offered various ways

to either transcend or escape

the fleshly prison of our bodies

once and for all.

And as I say this,

I hope it sounds familiar

because the truth is,

is our society is no different.

We've taken these same things

and we've just pushed them

further and further and further, right?

Americans these days

spend something like

$16.5 billion

on plastic surgery every year.

$16.5 billion.

The fig leaf industry is booming.

It is booming.

It is booming.

And the leaves have become

a lot more expensive.

Many people just want to feel

a little younger

or a little more attractive.

We begin to see

the effects of aging on us

and we want to stave that off

as long as we possibly can.

A little nip, tuck, Botox injection

here and there

just to kind of tweak ourselves

so that we stay a little prettier

or a little more handsome

for a little longer.

Other people want

more significant alterations.

There's such a thing

as ethnic plastic surgery.

You may not know about this.

Maybe you do.

People of black or Hispanic

and especially Asian descent

using plastic surgery

to try to meet

Caucasian beauty standards.

In some parts of the world,

that's big business.

Sex and gender reassignment surgeries

are on the rise.

All the market projections

are showing that

that's a good industry

if you're wanting to make money

and you're in the medical field

to get into

because all the curves

are going up.

More and more people want it.

More and more people feel

that the sex of their body

does not match

their gender identity

and they want to align

their body

with the way they feel

on the inside.

And that takes a lot of surgery.

It's not just one,

but it's a whole process

and procedure

over years

to fully alter your body

in that way.

Likewise,

transhumanist technology

is on the rise.

These are all the various technologies

that enable us to enhance

or altogether transcend

the limits

of our physical body.

Now,

at one end,

we just have something like

Facebook's announcement

of the metaverse.

Right?

The great hope,

the great vision

of human flourishing

that Mark Zuckerberg

is preaching to the world

is that the metaverse

will allow us

to sort of be anything we want,

go anywhere,

experience anything we want,

that everything in the physical world

can be taken

into the digital world.

Interestingly,

he's referring to it

as an embodied internet,

but if you look at

what they're actually doing,

it's the exact opposite of that.

It's a disembodied experience.

On the one end,

we have that,

and then we have

all of these technologies

that allow us

to enhance

our physical bodies,

cybernetic enhancements.

This sounds like the stuff

out of a sci-fi movie,

but on the other end

of that spectrum,

you have more and more people

and people with a lot of money

and resources

working on ways

to either upload ourselves

into another body

or to upload ourselves

into some kind of a computer

that will enable us

to escape our bodies

once and for all,

finally leaving embodiment behind.

And many people hear this

and they think about

the disordered relationship

we have with our bodies

and all of the anxiety

and the depression

and the insecurity

and the chronic pain

and illness,

and they hear this

and they think,

well, that is good news

for the world.

Let's use technology

to escape the limitations

of our bodies

and solve the problem

once for all.

What we're going to see

in this series

beginning today

is that the gospel

offers something

infinitely better,

infinitely better news

for our bodies

because the gospel

doesn't promise

alteration of our bodies.

It doesn't promise

escape from our bodies

altogether.

As Paul says

in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8:23

verses 23,

the redemption of our bodies

is the goal of the gospel.

The redemption of our bodies,

a rightly ordered relationship

with our bodies

so that we no longer see them

as problems to be solved.

We began to see them again

as gifts to be received

and celebrated

and loved

because we're going

to have them

for a very, very,

very long time.

Spoiler alert,

we're going to have them

for a very long time.

So let me just give you

a sense of how the gospel

begins to do this.

Just a little tidbit here

for this morning.

How does God go about

doing this?

Through the words,

this is my body

used in two different ways.

The first is the incarnational.

This is my body.

Right in John chapter 1 verse 14,

John 1:14

And the word became flesh

and dwelt among us,

and we have seen his glory,

glory as of the only Son of the Father,

full of grace and truth.

Through the incarnation,

God says to the world,

this is my body.

This is my body.

And the word,

as John uses it,

the word word

is the Greek word logos,

which is very rich

and multi-textured

in its meaning.

The word logos

is the intersection

of Greek and Hebrew thought.

Right?

The Greeks thought of the logos

as the ordering,

shaping principle

of the universe,

the sort of,

the principle

that holds all things together.

The Hebrews heard logos

and they went back to Genesis.

The word is how God

created the universe.

He created through his word.

And so if you take these ideas

and hold them together,

when John says logos,

here's what he means.

The being

through whom

all things were created

and by whom

all things hold together.

That's the logos.

And John says clearly

that the logos

became flesh.

And he deliberately

bypasses other words

that would have less emphasis

on the physicality

and he deliberately goes

to the word

that would be

the most physical

of all of the words

he could have used.

Sarx.

The emphasis

of that word

is on the physicality,

on the fleshy substance

itself.

The organizing principle

of the universe

through whom

all things were created

has become

squishy

flesh and bone.

That's what he's

emphasizing here.

Now this would have

absolutely

scandalized

the Greeks

because the Greeks

thought a lot

like we think.

They separated

the spiritual

and the physical

and they just

assumed

that the spiritual

was superior

to the physical

and so a lot

of their thought

revolved around

especially later

how to get out

of the constraints

of physicality

and transcend

the pure

spiritual plane.

So the idea

that something

that was spiritual

would choose

to become

physical

fleshy

sarx

that would have

been totally

scandalous

to them.

But John

is not just

saying that the word

took on the

appearance of flesh

because a lot

of them heard

this and they

thought

well maybe

what he means

is

that for a while

the Logos

looked like

a person.

Or maybe

for a while

Logos

took on

a body

kind of like

putting on

an overcoat

to kind of

do the thing

but at the end

of the day

when the mission

was done

took the body

off again.

A lot of Christians

to this day

think that.

But John

is saying no.

The word

didn't just

take on

the appearance

of flesh

or inhabit

a body

temporarily

Logos

became

sarx.

The word

became

ginomai

and the tense

that is used

here

conveys a

permanent change

in the nature

of something.

Something

that becomes

something new

that it

wasn't before.

And so

here's what

this means.

The God

of the universe

permanently

altered himself.

Permanently

altered himself.

The eternal

son

the Logos

became

flesh.

And to this

very moment

as we sit

here this

morning

is flesh.

There is a

body

a physical

body

sitting

at the

right

hand

of the

father

as we

speak

these

words

together.

Now this

has

extraordinary

implications.

I just

want to give

you a couple

before we

move on.

We're going

to say a lot

more about

this in the

weeks to

come.

But the

incarnation

means that

Jesus alone

can offer

us two

things that

we desperately

need when it

comes to our

relationship

with our

bodies.

Compassion

compassion

and direction.

Hebrews chapter

two

the author

of Hebrews

says he

meaning Jesus

became like

us in

every way.

The context

of that is

this.

What is he

saying?

Are you

struggling right

now?

God has

been there.

Are you

depressed?

Are you

fearful?

Are you

hungry?

Are you

in chronic

pain?

Are you

exhausted?

Are you

lonely?

He has

been there.

Do you

feel rejected?

Do you

feel marginalized?

Do you

feel mistreated?

Do you

feel overlooked?

He has

been there.

Are you

homeless?

Are you

friendless?

Are you

jobless?

Are you

poor?

He has

been there.

Jesus has

been there

more than

we know.

So when we

pray to God

and we are

struggling

within the

limitations

of our

finitude,

our

creatureliness,

our

fleshliness,

we are

longing to

escape all

of these

limitations,

when we are

crying out to

God, we are

crying out to

a God who

knows what it

is because he

voluntarily took

on those

limitations

himself and

experienced it

himself.

So he knows

how we feel.

So his

compassion is

real.

But then also

through the

incarnation, we're

given not just

someone who can

empathize with

us, but we're

given a

direction for

ourselves and

our own

bodies.

Because what

you see in

Jesus is

someone who

became flesh

and experienced

life in the

flesh, and yet

at the same

time he never

sinned.

He never gave

in to the

temptations that

come with life

in the flesh.

So Jesus not

only became a

human being, but

he shows us what

human beings were

meant to be, and

what we can one

day become through

his grace.

this is where we

get the phrase

that we'll talk

more about,

Christological

anthropology.

Essentially the

idea that we

can only ever

fully know what

it means to be a

human being by

looking at

Jesus.

That Jesus

shows us what

a true, fully

formed human

being looks

like.

And we can't

fully understand

what it means to

be a human being

until we have

seen true

humanity revealed

in him.

And what this

tells us is that

the aim of the

Christian gospel

is not just to

save us.

The aim of the

Christian gospel

and the Christian

life is to

become fully

human.

This is a

re-humanization

project.

Until, as it

says in 1 John

1 John 3:2

3 verse 2,

beloved, he

says, we are

God's children

now, and what

we will be has

not yet appeared.

You know, we're

becoming something.

We're not quite

sure what that's

going to be.

But we know, he

says, that when

he appears, meaning

Jesus, we shall

be like him.

That's how we're

going to know.

We'll recognize

him because it'll

be in some ways

like looking into

a mirror.

Now, that's an

amazing claim.

And this is made

possible because

Jesus didn't just

become a body,

become flesh,

but he offers

his body.

He offers his

flesh for the

sake of humanity,

which brings us

to the fourth and

final way that we

hear this phrase

spoken by God

to us, the

sacramental way.

Jesus sitting at

the table with

his most beloved

disciples, holding

out a piece of

bread and saying,

this is my body.

This is my body.

1 Corinthians 11

1 Corinthians 11:23

verse 23, for I

received from the

Lord what I also

delivered to you,

that the Lord Jesus

on the night when

he was betrayed

took bread, and

when he had given

thanks, he broke

it, and he said,

this is my body.

Jesus gave us this

meal of bread and

wine to be for us,

as we say, his body

and his blood.

And after instituting

this meal, he goes

on to show us the

full meaning of these

words when he goes

to the cross.

cross.

And on the cross, we

see his flesh being

torn.

We see his blood

being spilled in

order to make, as

the Hebrew would

indicate, to cut a

new covenant between

God and all the

peoples of the earth

that anyone and

everyone who comes in

faith and repentance

to Jesus can be

saved and restored.

And what we need to

understand in this

context is that this

is more than just a

time to remember

Jesus' sacrifice on

the cross.

As Paul says in the

previous chapter,

chapter 10, verse

16, he says,

the cup of blessing

that we bless, is it

not a participation in

the blood of Christ?

The bread that we

break, is it not a

participation in the

body of Christ?

What does that mean?

By eating and drinking

this meal, which by the

way, we can only do if

we have physical bodies.

You can't eat and drink

a meal if you don't have

a physical body.

By eating and drinking

this meal, the Holy

Spirit joins our

physical bodies with

Christ's physical body.

In that moment when you

are eating and receiving

this meal, in faith,

the Holy Spirit is

joining your physical

body to Christ's

physical body.

And in that moment, you

are participating in

his body and blood.

You are one with

him.

The word koinonia, you

have fellowship with

him.

In the most intimate

sense, you are one

physically with Christ

through the power of the

Holy Spirit.

We don't believe that

the bread changes into

flesh.

We don't believe that

the wine changes into

blood.

That arose in the days

of Thomas Aquinas and

the rise of the

scholastic movement,

which departed

platonic categories for

making sense of the

Eucharist, the great

tradition which had

lasted a thousand years.

And they began to use

Aristotle to try to

define more and more

and more precisely what

is actually happening

in this meal, in the

bread and in the wine.

We read this and we

say the call is to

receive this meal,

understanding that as

we receive it, in the

power of the Spirit, we

participate in the body

and blood of Jesus, just

as it says.

And we can only do this

if we have physical

bodies.

And in this meal, we

begin to see a glimpse of

God's future plan for us

and for the world and for

our bodies.

That the great hope of the

Christian gospel is not

that we might one day

shuffle off this mortal

coil and fly up to sit

on a cloud and play a

harp in heaven.

That the great hope of

the Christian gospel is

that the heavens and the

earth will come together

as one.

That the spiritual and

the physical will come

together as one.

Matter and spirit will

become one as God

always intended for it

to be.

What that means is that

the bodies that we have

now will be fully

restored and renewed.

And as Paul says in

1 Corinthians 15, the

best guarantee of this

is Jesus' body.

The fact that he was

physically raised shows

us that we will be one

day physically raised as

well.

We pray this every week

in the Lord's prayer.

This is the fulfillment of

our request, our desire,

that one day God's kingdom

would come and his will

would be done on earth as

it is in heaven.

So over the next few weeks

we're going to be exploring

many of the themes that

we've teed up here this

morning.

We're going to be touching

on them in more detail.

For now, I hope that it is

clear to you that when it

comes to your body and the

complicated relationship that

you have with your body,

there is no greater source of

hope in the world than the

Christian gospel.

It wouldn't be a sermon if

we didn't quote C.S.

Lewis.

Here's what he says on the

topic.

Just kidding.

Christianity is almost the

only one of the great

religions which thoroughly

approves of the body, which

believes that matter is

good, that God himself once

took on a human body, that

some kind of body is going

to be given to us even in

heaven and is going to be an

essential part of our

happiness, our beauty, and

our energy.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for this.

And even now, as we prepare

to come to this table, we

simply ask that you would

take whatever of this is

from you, either to convict

us or comfort us that you

would do your work through

your word and the power of

your spirit.

And that as we come to this

table and as we receive

your body, that we might

experience a sense of

encouragement and hope as we

reflect on our own bodies

and the great and wonderful

plan that you have for them

and for us, for your glory

and your son's holy name.

Amen.

Amen.