LENTEN READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

DAY 27

Reading:1st Corinthians 1:1-9:27

Paul wrote his letter to the church in Corinth to counter some strange ideas that had arisen in the church since Paul's last visit.

Corinth was a very important Greek city. Merchant, fishing, and/or passenger ships voyaging from the east to west or west to east in the Mediterranean Sea would necessarily lay anchor in Corinth . So at any given time the city was filled with foreign sailors. All of the more seedy industries associated with port-cities flourished in Corinth ; prostitution, black marketeering, strange religious practices. But the trade also brought wealth and power to the city. While it was seedy it was also somewhat gilded and luxurious.

Finally, Corinth was also a sports town. One of the more famous bi-annual games was held in Corinth and athletes from all over the ancient world trained year-round in Corinth in preparation for them.

All of these factors combined made Corinth something like an ancient combination of New Orleans , Las Vegas , and Tijuana .

As you can imagine, maintaining Christian integrity in an atmosphere like this was difficult.

The Corinthian church was wealthy but it had also become somewhat decadent and proud.

They had begun to adopt a form of teaching that would accommodate a Corinthian lifestyle.

Some teachers had come to Corinth with a new twist on the Christian gospel. The most important thing, they said, was the soul or the spirit. Flesh, they taught, is a prison from which the spirit must escape. Since the body or the flesh is unimportant, it does not matter what you do with it. So long as you are united to Christ in your spirit/soul you can do whatever you like with your body. “All things,” they said, “are permissible.” (1 st Corinthians 6:12).

Paul was very clear that this radical distinction between soul and body is a serious misunderstanding of Christianity.

Christ did not just come to give us eternal life in some disembodied spiritual state. He came to save our bodies as well as our souls. The flesh is not a prison-house for the body it is created by God as a temple for the Holy Spirit. Your body is a good thing.

Thus, what you do with your body matters to God. He made your body and your soul/spirit and united them. At death this unity is broken. But in Christ, God acted to restore the union. Jesus died and rose again in his body. In the same way you and I will rise again in our bodies when Jesus returns and calls us out of our graves.

When you die your spirit will go to be with the Lord in Heaven. But when Christ returns, he will call your name, your body will be reconstituted and reunited with your soul. You will then live forever with Jesus in the New Heaven and New Earth that he will establish on the last day.

All this is to say that God cares infinitely about every inch of you, inside and out. And for that reason we should take care of and be good stewards of our bodies using them in a way that pleases the Lord.

Often as Christians we tend to think in non-material terms and assume that God doesn't much care what we eat or drink or what we do with our bodies so long as we have given him our souls.

This morning's reading from first Corinthians teaches us something very different. God's love for us is holistic. He does not stop with your heart. He loves all of you. He wants all of you.

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