Epiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 15, 2015

 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!  — 1 Corinthians 6:12-15

 I have had osteoarthritis in most of my major joints since I was 24. I had the bad kind of strep that went untreated—just thought it was a bad cold—until I went to work one morning and could not pick up my pen to write. There were red streaks running up the back of my hands and my arms. I got in to see my doctor immediately, had blood tests, was put on a steroid, and later told I had rheumatoid arthritis for which I was treated. (I have since been told I probably never had it in the first place so I don’t really know what I had). Six months later I had no sign of rheumatoid arthritis but had osteoarthritis at one level or another in all my major joints. My left knee was impacted the worst. Fast forward to 2008, my left knee was replaced with a stainless steel implant.

I was at normal weight when I was 24, but by the time my knee was replaced I was morbidly obese and grossly out of shape.  It struck me recently that my health history is a great example of how sin enters our lives and gradually wears away our souls, very much like arthritis attacks joints and bone. I now weigh about the same thing I weighed when I was 24 and am probably in a lot better shape thanks to God and a very good personal trainer. The catalyst for this happening was the excision of that rotten knee, but the transition happened with a lot of support from people who know the human body and from investment of myself in the process to become as whole physically as I could become.

In our scripture today Paul, I think, is using physical examples to help us understand spiritual realities. Don’t get me wrong, I think Paul wants us to live lives where we respect ourselves and others in our relationships, but he is also saying that that starts and continues with being one with God through Jesus Christ. Such a relationship takes the catalyst of turning around from whatever is keeping us separate from God, but also requires our total commitment toward making that relationship work. It takes even more dedication to practice spiritual disciplines of prayer and worship and service and more, than it took for me to exercise and eat right toward gaining better health.

Prayer: God of our bodies, minds and souls, enable us to achieve wholeness in whatever aspects of our lives we are lacking and in our resulting wholeness help us to live fully in your loving service. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.