Aug 15, 2021
“And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Jesus speaks these words as part of the bread of life discourse in John 6 that we have been following in our gospel readings for weeks. At this point, he is speaking about more than the ordinary daily physical bread that gives life for a day, he is speaking about himself as the bread of life and his own flesh as the means that gives eternal life. “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Many of us come from cultures rooted in the Greek philosophical traditions do not have as high regard for the flesh or world. Aristotle and Plato - ancient Greek philosophical thinkers whose work is considered by many to be the bedrock of Western civilized thought— both of them were clear that our rational thinking thoughts were superiors to our body’s senses. Plato would go so far as argue that the whole purpose of the soul was the escape the body. Ya’ll, many of us have bought that lie— the lie that in the end bodies do not matter.
This worldview has even seeped into interpretations of New Testament epistle writings. From Hebrews 8:5 —the tabernacle the sanctuary is merely “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven.” From 2 Corinthians 5:1 — even “if the earthy tent we live in is destroyed, we have building from God, an eternal house in the heaven.” And while this is all good and true, often we then descend down that very slippery slope into falsely believing that this earthly tent doesn’t matter. It’s all just earthly stuff and we’re waiting to be snatched away from earth to heaven and leave this all behind. (I’ll fly away… Don’t get me wrong, the hymn is catchy and I kinda like it) and that kinda of theology is very dangerous and unfortunately very common in some churches. It is dangerous and unwise because it leads many to believe the lie that matter doesn’t matter.
Experientially, we know that it is really easy to discount and misuse and abuse something we do not think matters in the long run. This is the philosophical ground of those who simply do not care about how their actions impact rental cars or the earth. Seas are rising? meh. Hurricanes are stronger, meh. The West is burning, meh. The new method of extracting oil in West Texas is one unregulated disaster away from poisoning our aquifer and most of the water for our state, meh. When we buy the lie that creation is something to escape from then rarely does it matter what we do to it.
This worldview that matter doesn’t matter— that the earth and her humus— her human bodies do not matter — honest it has even seeped into the New Testament epistle writings and their interpretations. Paul and his communities have especially inculturated this into their writings. Somehow they bought into the Greek worldview of their time that bodies = bad. Over and over again flesh is equated with sin. Romans 8:6-8 - “to set the mind on flesh is death, but the set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace…the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Or Galatians 5:16 “you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” and then precedes to equate flesh with all manner of sin. Colossians 3: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth… put to death therefore what is earthly in you.” Even Jesus later in John 6 says “it is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.” And it goes on… It is right there in our scriptures and it is absolutely voice that we must take seriously. The difficulty for listener’s today is not if we are to take it seriously but that all too often we conflate the biblical metaphor till flesh and world become synonymous with sin and evil. That kinda of theology is also very dangerous and unfortunately very common in some churches. It is dangerous and unwise because it leads many to believe the lie that this earthy, fleshy matter is evil.
Experientially, we know that it really easy to discount and demonize and abuse someone whose body we think is sin. This is the philosophical ground of those who historically used to tell women they must cover their heads or could not were trousers or they did not have the bodily equipment necessary to vote or handle finances or have consent or preach. This is the philosophical ground of those who equated melanated bodies with metaphorical darkness and legalized ways to diminish their personhood through enslavement and discrimination. This is the philosophical ground of some schools dress codes. Dress codes that refuse mandate masks that could save lives during a peak of a pandemic when there are no ICU beds left in Houston for children and yet at the same time double down about the style of a young man’s hair or the lack of sleeves on a young woman’s shirt. When we buy the lie that a human body is inherently sinful or lesser than our capacity to rationalize sin is exponential.
Let me be abundantly clear. Matter matters to God. Bodies— my body, your body— matters. This earth matters. Creation is not some earthy tent to escape from that does not matter, Genesis tells us we are to till and keep her for God has called this earth good. As to our human bodies — God has called very good as we are made in the image and likeness of God. As our Psalmist reminds us today “God’s work is full of majesty and splendor.” Sometimes, as the meme suggests, we need the Holy Spirit to march on over to sorry selves us to remind us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.
Beloved, matter matters so much to God that God became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. In-carnate. in-carne —in-fleshsed. Christ is not simply spirit, but is embodied. Christ’s enfleshed presence among us in Jesus sanctifies— makes holy — our bodiliness. God ’s gift of grace “for the life of the world is [God’s] flesh.” The cross matters. And bodies matter so much to God that Jesus was resurrected and we are promised resurrection. So to the legion of Platos and Aristotles of this world, as far as I have read and know and imagine there is no reason to think that suddenly God would change God’s nature and not care about the body or resurrection.
Bodies are not inherently sinful or evil. God has a body. God has flesh. Again from our Gospel for today: ”the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Bread is not some sort of intellectual thought or idea. Bread is experienced through our bodies’s senses. We taste and see that the Lord is good. Through our embodiment we experience the nourishment and grace of God. Our bodies are remarkable and bear witness to the miraculous nature of God. My hope and my prayer is that we will see this earth and our bodies are a gift and a grace of God. And then that we will wisely, and the prayer goes, “follow daily in the blessed steps of God’s most holy life.”
Imagine with me then a life lived out of incarnational theology— a life that recognizes the matter matters and bodies are a gift and grace of God. What changes? How does that impact how we care for creation? Or impact we care for our own bodies and the bodies of our neighbors? Do we find ourselves moving from shaming other’s bodies to celebrating other’s bodies? How might grace call us to repent of the words codified in our hearts and policies? Does knowing and experiencing God incarnate in Jesus Christ transform our life and how we spend our time or energies or finances? Beloved, taste and see in the whole of your body the goodness of the Lord.