Boundaries on the body

Sermon preached at St. Mark’s Honey Brook, PA

by The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey, June 11, 2006

Trinity Sunday, Romans 8:12-17

Romans 8:12-17 (NRSV): So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-- if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans “If you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Snippets of scripture such as this often leave many with the impression that Christianity frowns on physical pleasure. However, though pleasures of all sorts can become idols to us, we do indeed recognize the joy that God gives us in so many aspects of our lives, including our physical lives.

I will never forget a sermon preached years ago at a friend’s wedding; the sermon illustrated the joy of a physical relationship between husband and wife. The priest preached about the Jewish concept of mitzvah. Mitzvah is a commandment from God or a righteous act that honors God. Jewish tradition holds that acts of kindness are mitzvah, as are acts of generosity. The priest also said that when a husband and wife make love on the Sabbath, that too is mitzvah, because on this day that celebrates the completion of creation, they share the joy and unity that God created them for. I find that a very beautiful idea! I certainly found a sort of ironic grace to hear this notion preached by a Roman Catholic priest—a man who seemed to also find joy in this story, even though he had chosen not to be married as part of his vocation in life.

In Genesis, in the Old Testament book “Song of Songs,” in Jesus’ words, and even in St. Paul’s letters, we find the physical intimacy of husband and wife honored. So Christianity is not anti-body, any more than we are anti-food because of warnings about gluttony. And yet, our desires for food can overpower us, and though we enjoy eating, without boundaries, our eating can be problematic. So it is with physical intimacy. Without boundaries, our physical relationships can get off track of the blessing that God wants for us. Certainly, we see this even within a marriage. Marriage is not a guarantee of sinlessness in our sexuality, but marriage in its fullness is the context for sharing and enjoying this mitzvah and this blessing from God.

But there, of course, lies the hot controversy of the day. We know we need boundaries on our behavior, but where do we put them and why? I wrote in my letter in this month’s newsletter about the issue of homosexuality and the debate in the church about our ethical teaching. I don’t want to repeat that letter here, and if you haven’t read it, I encourage you to do so. I do want to use some of the letter’s themes, however. Silence in the church on this issue has not been a winning strategy in the past, and today seems like the right opportunity to address this issue in a sermon.

A marriage of husband and wife has always been taught in scripture and in the church as the only context for the most intimate of physical relationships. But in recent decades this notion has been challenged. On the one hand, conservatives stress the boundaries on behavior, and the authority of scripture in expressing the will of God for us. On the other hand, liberals claim that such boundaries reject whole persons who find their identity based in their sexual desires, especially gay men and lesbians. For instance, Gene Robinson said in a recent New Yorker article that this is not what he does, this is who he is. As Christians we are called to reach out in love to all people. So how we resolve this debate?

I cannot pretend to be able to deal adequately with this subject in a brief sermon, nor to have the final word in the conversation. Let me say briefly that I am not persuaded by the liberal argument in this matter. When Christians seek the mind of God on an issue, we seek God in prayer and discernment, but crucial elements in that discernment are the voice of Holy Scripture and the voice of the church in the past and around the world today. While many teachings in scripture are complex and sometimes very unclear, this teaching on sexual boundaries is very clear in scripture. While Christianity has changed its application of Biblical principles on some issues, the church’s teaching in this area has been very consistent. I find no foundation within the liberal framework for setting new ethical boundaries, nor are many boundaries suggested. Because of this, I believe that the church should maintain its teaching and understanding of how God wants us to respond to our sexuality. Here, we find the opportunity for the fullness of this blessing –this mitzvah that God gives us.

However, I think that there is more to the discussion. Paul asks us to “put to death the deeds of the body” by the Spirit, but these deeds are not just sexual in nature. Paul is perhaps more concerned with our neglect of God in so many aspects of our lives, our hatred of one another, our malice, our lack of forgiveness, our lack of mercy toward each other, our forgetfulness that we, too are sinners forgiven only by God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Paul is reflecting on his own frustration at his own sin—how he knows what is right, yet he so often chooses the wrong response (see the earlier verses in Romans 7 & 8). If we allow this passage to challenge only other people and not ourselves, then we have missed the point entirely.

Those who advocate a change in the church’s teaching are right to remind us of God’s love for all people. For too long, the church has allowed some of our brothers and sisters to be demonized for their desires. For too long, the church has dealt rejection and condemnation, not just on behaviors, but indeed on whole persons for whom Christ died. For too long, the church has oversimplified a very complex issue, and been known more for its indifference than its compassion. Yes, we should honor the authority of scripture, but scripture also speaks of mercy and forgiveness and the warm embrace of God’s love to each other, despite our sins. Paul writes “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear…”

This debate in the Episcopal Church is very polarized right now, and grace-filled conversation is very challenging indeed. But this is the challenge that St. Paul brings to us today. We are challenged to both maintain the teaching we have received, and to love those who question or even reject that teaching. To use the words of our baptismal covenant, we are challenged to both ‘continue in the apostles’ teaching’ and to ‘respect the dignity of every human being.’ God calls us to both hold the healthy and life-giving boundaries that God gives us, and to reach out in love to those who disagree with us about where those boundaries should be. This, too, is mitzvah, a command of God and a blessing.

This is not the way of polarized factions, but this is the way of Jesus Christ, who both called us to greater righteousness in the sermon on the mount and died on the cross for us while we were yet sinners.

This is not easy. This conversation in the church deals with very deeply held convictions, both in our fidelity to God and in our most intimate and personal feelings. But in these conversations with our brothers and sisters in Christ, and even in the intense debate of church conventions, we have the opportunity to deepen our relationships with God and with each other in Jesus Christ. If we are open to this opportunity, we can grow in understanding, we can grow in love and grace and mercy. We can recognize our own need for the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus Christ, and we can share in the joy of his resurrection.