In my Tuesday morning Bible Study, I always begin by asking the question of where those gathered have seen the presence of God during their week. Almost inevitably, an answer will come related to the way someone has seen God in Creation: a sunrise or sunset; an animal going about its day not knowing that it is being observed; or a powerful storm reminding someone of God’s power displayed.
Almost never, though, does anyone comment on God’s Creation by referring to their bodies. We are trained, I think, to think of our bodies as “flesh,” as Paul puts it, and therefore not to be trusted or thought of as beautiful. But Genesis 1 tells us that each of us is part of the creation story, that we are created in God’s image, and that God sees our creation as good.
Psalm 139 tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that God knit us together in our mother’s womb. And in the New Testament, the apostle Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 6: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?” And then in Romans 12, he urges us to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice.”
All too often, we allow these passages to be hijacked into conversations about sexual conduct only. And there certainly are conversations to be had related to that idea, but we often forget that these verses remind us that God made each of us to be beautiful. Not the potential to be beautiful, so long as we conform to the expectations of society, but beautiful as we are, even with genes that make our metabolism slow, or make us susceptible to diseases or cancers or high blood pressure.
We are taught to be demure, or even ashamed of our body, and if we don’t like our body image, we are even ashamed of our appearance. But if what the Bible says is true, then we must come to grips with the idea that God made us as He wanted us to be made, and that we have permission to love ourselves, and our bodies, just like we are. So the next time someone asks you where you have seen the presence of God, feel comfortable saying, “the last time I looked in the mirror!”
Blessings to you, and may worship be a great experience of God’s presence.
Blessings, Sonny