Frizzy hair, fat thighs, blotchy skin, wonky teeth – we all have something we hate about our bodies. We buy products to smooth our hair and paint our skin. We look for clothes that distract from our trouble areas, will tighten parts we think things are too big and accentuate what we think is too small. We hide, we cover, we pray no one notices, especially someone we wish to impress. Its exhausting and while there are some parts of our bodies we can control, there are many details we cannot, at least not without surgery or chemicals. We cannot change the texture of our hair, the color of our skin, the shape our cankles, chin or eyes. We cannot change the length of our legs, the circumference of our ribs or the bump in our nose, yet we can shame ourselves into hating ourselves over them. We can blame them for our failures and use them as excuses. We think no one will hire someone who has a horrible birthmark, no one will think a someone with a crooked spine could be beautiful. Sadly, we know that in some cases this is true, the way we look can influence how people treat us.
It’s quite incredible the amount of energy and sadness we can get from our bodies, in fact I doubt many of us have escaped particularly our teenaged years unscathed. I remember one day in college when the eating disorder I had had since junior high had reached a different height. It had gone into remission thanks to therapy and treatment however my desire to be a minister in a school that didn’t support the ordination of women smacked me out of health and my body was again my fiercest enemy. One morning was getting dressed while mindlessly cataloging every hideous part of my body when I felt this nudge from God saying, “Hey, I made that.” It was a weird reminder that I was janitor of my body but I wasn’t the architect and I had been seriously criticizing something God had shaped by hand. It began a very long journey of trying to find atoms of good in something I am always tempted to see as could be better. My ridiculously flat feet that look obese in sandals, allowed me to dance professionally, they allow me to run and wear heels that, especially early in my career marked me as proud to be a woman while surrounded by men. Twenty plus years later my feet are as far as I’ve gotten, but I’m trying to work my way up. The painful grace that I have to drag from myself towards myself I’m hoping extends to my son and to the youth in our church. There is a reason they all look different and looking different doesn’t equal ugly and it doesn’t equal useless. God reminds us:
If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. (1 Corinthians 12:15-26)
Unfortunately we do live in a world where the way we look can influence how people treat us however, church should be different and the voice we hear from God, speaking to us should be different. We are full of worth, we all look different because we each have a distinct purpose. As difficult as it can be our bodies are things we should learn to embrace and celebrate the ways they allow us to preach God’s love.
~ This Sunday ~
This week we will be looking at 1 Corinthians 12 and discussing the following questions:
Which part of the body is the most important?
Which is the least?
What happens when one part is removed?
Why do you think God made us all different?
Have you ever been the “different” person? How did that feel?
~ Upcoming Events ~
Thursday, January 24
SENS Fundraiser at Mendocino Farms
238 S Lake Ave, Pasadena, CA 91101
5 -8 pm
Flyers are required and can be found
here.
They will also be available in the narthex.
They will also be sent as an attachment with next week’s Faith Builders.
~
January 27
Team 4 Acolyting
Family Worship
10 am | Chapel
Sunday School
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
Annual Meeting
Following worship in the Sanctuary
~
February 3
Team 1 Acolyting
Family Worship
10 am | Chapel
Sunday School
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
Youth Group
5 pm – 7 pm
~
February 10
Team 2 Acolyting
Family Worship
10 am |Chapel
Sunday School
10:30 am | Sunday School Classrooms
~
February 17
Team 3 Acolyting
Sunday School
10 am | Sunday School Classrooms
Heather and Antonio will be out of town, if you are free and willing to help teach, please speak to them and they will provide the materials you need.
Please feel free to contact Heather if you have questions.
