Epiphany
January 15, 2021
Scripture Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
‘All things are lawful for me’, but not all things are beneficial. ‘All things are lawful for me’, but I will not be dominated by anything. ‘Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food’, and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, ‘The two shall be one flesh.’ But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
Paul picks everyday things to illustrate his point in the above scripture, what we eat, and how we deal with our sexual desire. How we eat primarily impacts us personally. Our sexual desires can affect others. I have noticed that we humans tend to identify activities in society that we would never do or have any inclination to do as signature sins. Church potlucks tend to feed the stomach as much or more than they feed the soul. Religious groups invest a lot of energy in telling young women to be chaste and get a man at any cost. Their worth depends on it.
Christ-followers are people of the table, meaning we are called into community to love one another and welcome others to feast at our table as we share God’s love. The blessing of familial love is the source of our continued participation in God’s Creation, something to be cherished and respected.
Prayer: God, who is love, guides us in setting the priorities of our lives and guards us against projecting our priorities in the judgment of others. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.