January 17, 2015

Serve Your Savior With Your Body!

2nd Sunday after Epiphany, 1/18/15
1 Corinthians 6:12-20


Serve Your Savior With Your Body!
I. It belongs to him.
II. It houses the Holy Spirit.
III. It will be raised by him.


We’ve all seen bumper stickers that make us cringe. I don’t see it as often as I used to, but one that causes me more than a little angst declares, “Keep your laws off my body.” While I can’t be absolutely sure what the displayer of that bumper stick has in mind, it’s a safe bet it’s in support of abortion rights or at least the right to choose. It’s a reflection of the attitude that my body is my own and no one can tell me what to do with it. And such a person would certainly disagree with what the Lord Jesus tells us this morning through the pen of St. Paul.

Even though Paul wrote these words more than 1900 years ago, they read as if they came right out of our own day and age. We live in a world that makes the demand that we have the right to do was we please with our bodies. We live in a world that refuses to be told what we can and can’t do with our bodies. As long as it only affects us or the other consenting adult or adults with us, it’s OK.

Paul couldn’t disagree more. He speaks to Christians who should know better but who also struggle daily with a sinful flesh and a godless world which war against the holy will of God. That sinful flesh and godless world want nothing to do with serving Jesus. Paul combats that sinful attitude with the opposite encouragement—serve your Savior with your body.

Realizing that this encouragement will face a mountain of resistance, Paul lists three reasons for doing so in our text. Let’s join together in discovering what those reasons are. As we do so, may the Holy Spirit fill us with faith in Jesus and the motivation to serve him with our bodies.

Part I.

An old favorite among children’s gospel songs declares, “I am Jesus’ little lamb.” Surely you’ve heard it; perhaps you’ve sung it many times yourself. It states the truth that you belong to Jesus. But just what do you mean? When you say, “I,” just what are you talking about?

In simple terms, this children’s gospel song is declaring the truths about Jesus’ work of redemption. “To redeem” means to buy back. Jesus bought us back from Satan’s kingdom to his kingdom with his holy, precious blood and his innocent sufferings and death. But when we say he “bought us back,” just what do we mean by “us?”

Well, we certainly would state that he bought our souls back. When we die, we are certain that our souls will enter bliss in heaven because they belong to Jesus by faith in him. He bought our souls for time and for eternity.

But that’s only part of his redemptive work. He didn’t just purchase your souls; he purchased your bodies as well. And that’s precisely the truth that Paul explains in this morning’s text. If Jesus bought your bodies as well as your souls, then that has tremendous, daily implications for the way we use those bodies.

Paul states, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? He who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.” Jesus didn’t purchase you body and soul just so that he could add you to his collection of people that belong to him. He did it because he desires a close, personal relationship with you. Paul here speaks about the union that occurs between the individual Christian and Jesus, and between the individual Christian and all other Christians. There’s a unity there, and not just a symbolic unity, but a real, spiritual unity. In a real way that we can’t fully understand, our bodies are united to Jesus.

And if that’s true—and it certainly is—then what dignity Jesus gives to your body and mine! He cares enough about these bodies to give his life for them. He cares enough about these bodies to be united with them in a spiritual way. That’s how much he values us—body and soul. Yes, we do belong to Jesus. And there’s Paul’s first reason to serve Jesus with your body. That body belongs to him.

So when is the last time you read a bumper sticker declaring “My body belongs to Jesus”? Probably never. We live in a crooked and depraved world and it’s not limited to what’s stuck to the bumpers of vehicles; it’s all around us! Listen carefully to the advertising you see and here in the next 24 hours. This is the message coming at you from all sides: It’s your body; do what will make you feel good. Even drain cleaner is sold with a sexual gratification message. How twisted! And it’s constant. But it’s not just crooked out there; it’s also in here. My sinful nature loves that crooked world. It screams in my ear, “Serve yourself!” And all too often I have. I have failed to honor my Lord who unites himself to me with what I’ve done and thought and felt. But God’s truth still stands. Our Savior bought our bodies with his blood. That Savior paid the price for our sins. He freed us to serve him with our bodies—bodies that belong to him.

Part II.

I recently saw and heard a TV news segment that explained what’s happening with beautiful, old churches in western Europe. For years the number of Christians worshipping in them has declined and it’s gotten to the point, especially in small villages, where they are no longer used for worship. One was remodeled and now houses a bar. Imagine—these places that were once houses of God are now used for the world’s business. It’s a shame!

Paul also speaks about the houses of God in today’s text, but not the kind made of wood or bricks or stone. He says, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you?” Imagine that! The Holy Spirit is living within us! And once again, Paul is not speaking allegorically or symbolically. He’s speaking reality—spiritual reality. The Holy Spirit lives within each and every Christian. He does so from the moment he brings that person into faith in Jesus as their Savior. The Holy Spirit lives in you. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

And what power that Holy Spirit gives us! It’s the Holy Spirit who gives us faith in Jesus and strengthens that faith. With faith in Jesus we have the power to resist temptation and to live according to the will of Jesus. When we do that—when we live as Jesus wants us to live—then we are serving Jesus with our bodies. And it’s all possible because the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Serve Jesus with your body. It houses the Holy Spirit.

If it pains us to see beautiful, old churches with stained glass windows now being used to house common business endeavors, then shouldn’t it pain us even more to see bodies which house the Holy Spirit being used for sinful activity? That’s precisely Paul’s point here. But so often, we aren’t fazed by it. In fact, it’s what we want to do. Certainly engaging in the immorality that Paul speaks of here is a gross misuse of the bodies in which the Holy Spirit lives, but that goes for sin of any and every type. Paul’s words ought to cause us to stop for a moment and ask ourselves, “Is this really what I want to do with the body that houses the Holy Spirit?” Even though our sinful flesh screams, “Yes!”, our love for our Savior shouts, “No!” Let love for Jesus move you to serve Jesus with your body. It houses the Holy Spirit.

Part III.

In fact, Jesus cares so much about our bodies that he wants us to use them to serve him forever. And that’s why he has promised to raise those bodies from the dead on the Last Day and glorify those bodies. There’s another reason to serve Jesus with your body.

In the opening words of our text Paul states that “everything is permissible for him.” Just what does he mean?

Well, first let’s state clearly what he doesn’t mean. Paul is not saying that he is free to use his body for sinful activities. Those are clearly out of bounds.

So, what is he saying? He’s talking about things that God neither forbids nor commands. For instance, eating meat is neither forbidden nor commanded by God. You are free to do either. Paul states that he will do those things in a ways that will be “beneficial to others.” He will use them in a way that helps others understand the truths about the only true God.

Unfortunately, the Corinthians—the people to whom Paul originally wrote these words—placed immorality in that category. Their reasoning went like this: “God made us sexual creatures. Sexual desires are natural. Therefore we may gratify that need as we see fit with whom we want.” Paul blasts such immoral thinking. It violates one of God’s purposes for marriage.

It ought to be obvious that God’s people shouldn’t act like wild dogs that spend their day gratifying their desires. Paul raises our sights. He says, “By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.” Not only do our bodies mean so much to Jesus that he bought them with his blood and made them the temple of the Holy Spirit, he will also raise those very bodies from the dead on the Last Day and glorify them so that they can live with him forever in heaven. A body destined for resurrection?!? Now that’s a body we want to use in a way that serves our Savior.

Serve your Savior with your body. It will be raised by him.

In programs throughout our country, school children are taught to respect their bodies. It’s an effective way to steer them away from the use of drugs and sexual activity. And it’s the best the world has to offer—just a respect for yourself.
Paul offers so much more. He offers Jesus—the greatest Lover the world has ever known. He offers Jesus—the One who sacrificed his body so that your body could belong to him forever. He offers Jesus—who promises to raise your body and glorify it for an eternal life in glory with him. He offers Jesus who offers us daily forgiveness for our sins. There’s the motivation to do what Paul encourages! You have forgiveness through Jesus Christ! Serve him with your body! Amen.