Tag Archives: Weight Loss

Met Where I Was

Body of ChristLiving in the Spirit
October 26, 2014

Scripture Reading: Matthew 22:34-46

  Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: ‘What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?’ They said to him, ‘The son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’ ”? If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?’ No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
— Matthew 22:41-46

As Matthew reported this discourse, Jesus and the Pharisees had discussed four issues raised by the Pharisees testing Jesus on scripture and religion. The debate draws to a close when Jesus asked the Pharisees a question to which they had no answer. I rather think Jesus enjoyed sparring with the religious leaders of the day. He was as capable of getting into his head as he was his heart. He also knew his Hebrew scripture. He loved all kinds of people and met them where they were on their journey of life. This One who was destined to ultimately be the judge of all peoples seemed to encounter people from the viewpoint of a blank slate. To some he simply said, “Follow me.” To others he said, “Go and sin no more.” To these Pharisees, he said, “Here let me give you something for you to wrap your head around.”

I saw the small gym as I entered the restaurant next door, noted the name, and checked it out on the Internet when I got home. I was morbidly obese, grossly out of shape, and recovering from knee replacement surgery. I had had the normal physical therapy following surgery, but just could not make any headway on rectifying my state of health so I called the gym and went for an initial evaluation where Don Oliver, a trainer, met me exactly where I was. He put me on an eating and exercise plan saying if you do these things you will lose the weight and get into shape, and by golly it worked. I still follow the eating and exercise plan, have learned to love even more than I did fresh vegetables and low glycemic fruit, and just hiked the wonderful archeological ruins of Turkey with no ill effects.

Like my trainer showed me the way to better health, Jesus by his example and his teaching was showing us how to be the Body of Christ in the world today. It starts with loving everyone who crosses our path just as they are, and never stops until the people we meet and we all attain perfection. We are not any of us there yet but by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit we will be (2 Corinthians 13:14a).

Prayer: Grant us your grace O Lord, and mold us together into the one Body of Christ doing your work throughout the world. 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.

Death

Living in the Spirit
June 20, 2014

 Scripture Reading: Romans 6:1-11 

For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  – Romans 6:7-11 

My definition of “sin” in modern nomenclature is being out of synch with God. More traditional descriptors are missing the mark or being separated from God. According to our scripture today, death frees us from sin. At that point, it is too late to worry about it. Whatever will result will result.  By becoming a part of Christ death, however, we also become a part of his resurrection. We enter into that state of being when we accept him as our Lord and Savior. But notice the next admonition but the life he lives, he lives to God. Death through Christ is not a door closing but a whole new life opening.

I don’t think I grasp what that meant until my bad knee got really bad. Being fairly immobile, I gained a lot of weight. My first goal, after getting that knee replaced, was to set about losing the excess weight. Nothing I tried worked. I was so out of shape that every exercise I tried resulted in negative outcomes. For some, eating less might result in weight loss by itself but, for me, it had to be combined with exercise. I was hopeless. My doctor referred me for physical therapy and that helped, but it was time limited and did not take me to the next level. I walked out of my last PT visit about as depressed as I have ever been. Got in my car and prayer without thinking, “God, what do I do now?” The immediate answer I got back surprised me. It was, “Realize you have a terminal illness—obesity, and live like it.” And that is exactly what I have worked at doing ever since. I have loss the excess weight, am in better shape than I have been in years, and my life is dedicated to wholeness—oneness—justice among all peoples.

Being out of synch with God is a terminal illness that leads only to misery and suffering and ennui. Dying with Christ lifts us out of that muck and lets us live again.

Prayer: Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. 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.