Family,
As promised, though a day later, here is the Scripture focus for Sunday: Leviticus 11:1-8. It is in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, considered the foundational texts for the Torah/Law for the Jewish people. Moses has brought the people to the desert, and God is working on them, creating in them, a people that will honor God with their whole existence. They have made some mistakes--a golden calf comes to mind.
So here they are, in the middle of a desert, trying to figure out who they are, and God decides to give them guidelines. Now. It should be noted, in my understanding of Jewish Law and Jewish faith, the Law isn't some dogmatic structure that handicaps the lives of the Jewish faith, but rather, the Law is a standard to measure one's life by. Typically speaking, Americans do not like being told what they can and cannot do, and so we ignore the many dietary challenges in the Old Testament, claiming Jesus came to fulfill the Law, so the Law is no longer necessary.
Ironically, though, it seems that many people who spouse this understanding are more than willing to embrace war, because God did it in the Old Testament or they/we cling onto the Ten Commandments as though God ordained them only, but left out the other Levitical laws. I wonder, can we have it both ways? Can we really claim to follow the "Ten Commandments," which aren't reproduced in the New Testament, without adhering to the dietary and other laws as well? And how do we determine which laws to follow and which laws to ignore as being outdated? Which leads me to another question, if we can do that with the Old Testament, claiming some of the laws as antiquated and irrelevant, we do not make sick people yell unclean on the streets, than why don't we sift through the New Testament as well and determine which texts are "relevant," while leaving the others in the abyss of obscurity?
I dont know. I wrestle with the paradigm of the honesty and integrity of Scripture with the world we live in. How does the Word guide my life? And when do i determine which texts really do not speak to me, and i simply relegate the verses to a tome of beautiful writing? I struggle with these questions, especially as i stare at a text forming the dietary restrictions for a people, which still stand today.
And yet we, as Christians, eat a lot of pork, so there goes that law. I know of many Christians that eat catfish, goodbye to that no no. Rabbit, eaten a lot. Shrimp comes in so many styles, and it is devoured. I know. I had some the other day, and it was delicious. We don't follow the dietary laws, so why have them in our canon at all?
Or why would God care what we eat? Does God have some affinity for pigs? Rabbits? Catfish? I don't think so. Jesus casts out demons into a herd of pigs, illustrating Jesus' view of swine. I sense it is not because God favors these animals that they remain "unclean." So could there be other reasons?
As we journey into our week of Lent moving us into physical wholeness, i want us to ask tough questions about ourselves. Are we healthy? How does what we eat affect our thinking, our faith, our over all well being? What about exercise? Activity? The reality is our bodies are temples for God, and we should treat them as such, and yet, in America, 32% of adults are obese, which is a dangerous level of being overweight, and the overall percentage of American adults, who are overweight, is just over 50%. Half of all American adults, according to this study, are overweight.
What happens when we are overweight? We lose energy. Our thinking is clouded. More people suffer from depression. We have other healthy issues: diabetes, heart disease, back problems, intestinal issues, and even cancer. Are we treating our bodies as the temple God created them to be? Are we honoring God, loving God, with our bodies, if we do not care for them?
If we are what we eat, than most Americans are processed, fried food meataholics that need to take a step back and eat some fiber. We are always in a rush, so we, and i am as guilty as anyone, grab the quickest food source imaginable, not realizing that with each Big Mac or Taco Supreme, we add more layers of junk to our bodies.
What if you eat everything you are supposed to, but you sit at home, watching American Idol religiously? Again you are defiling the temple. God calls us to care for it, and exercise, in any form, getting your heart rate up, is a good way to good your blood flowing, which has numerous positive benefits. A. more blood to brain equal more O2 to your brain, which leads to greater brain function. B. Making your heart work, is like any other muscle, you will strengthen your heart and prepare it to last a long time, but you must continue to train your heart. Make it work. C. Cardiovascular work outs, that push your limits, can increase lung capacity, making life much more enjoyable. And finally D, when we eat right, exercise, and keep everything in balance that that affects our moods as well. Studies show exercise is a good way to counter some of the darkness that comes with depression. Get your body moving, get O2 to your brain, and get that blood flowing, and you will be feeling better before you know it.
And if our minds, our bodies, and our emotions are all working well, won't our spirit be soaring as well? Couldn't it be possible that if we are truly healthy, in a holistic sense: mind, body, and spirit, could it be possible that we might just experience God in ways we never could have imagined. However, i sense, the adverse is true, if we are not whole than we are missing out on God's beauty, in some way. We may not even know it, but i feel like something is missing if we are fully healthy.
Life is a beautiful gift from God, and our bodies are the temples of God. We must treat our bodies as truly a sacred space, because they are. But all too often we neglect this temple, while we focus our eyes on other, temporary temples that aren't the hosts for the Kingdom of God. So. On this tricky, difficult topic, what are your thoughts? Ring in with ideas and questions, so that, together, we can honor God as one healthy body of Christ. Amen.
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