What can I learn from my fingers…

… when I want to learn more about the fruit of walking in and with peace?

The question may seem irrelevant but it is important!
When Paul continues his teaching about walking ‘worthy of the calling we have received’, the first fruit of walking in and with peace is that we become “one” body:

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
Eph 4:4 

The logic is clear. If we are called to the one and same hope, we also belong to the one and same body, filled with the one and same Spirit.

So what can I learn from my fingers?

I learn that even though my little fingers do not look alike, and are not always functioning equally well, they are part of the one and same body. There is no use for Mr Rightfinger to be proud because he looks better or functions better than Mr. Leftfinger. Fortunately, I know that Mr Rightfinger does not think that way, because I am the head of my body and my spirit rules in it.

I could have used my knees as example as well, but they are not as photogene as my fingers, and today it is hard to distinguish one from the other. 40 years ago my right knee was badly damaged in a car crash. It affected the whole body, however, Mr. Leftknee did not blame Mr. Rightknee.

On the contrary he took on himself much of the burden and assisted Mr. Rightknee in restoring much of his function. Two years ago the tables turned when Mr. Leftknee was injured in a terrorist attack. If it wasn’t because of Mr. Rightknee I don’t think I would have been walking today. He carried the burden, and still helps Mr. Leftknee to stretch when he is in a bad mood and threatens to hurt the body.

You can learn a lot about the fruit of walking in and with peace by listening to your own body. You have only one, so take care of it. As a believer you belong to one body, so take care of it. We need one another both in weakness and strength. To know this and act in accordance with this insight, is part of walking worthy of our calling.

‘Manna’ for today:

Called to one hope in one body filled with one Spirit.

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NB There will be a pause in the blogging in six languages for three months. The next posting in this series will take place on 6 Oct 18. Have a blessed summer and take good care of the body.

Who am I?

For Christmas I received a very good book. The author is from Sweden, and he writes profound books on Christian matters. For many years he has preached in conferences for people of all ages. He writes that he has prayed for people for many years. However, when he over the past ten years have asked people why they come forward to pray, an increasing number answer: 

Because I do not know who I am!

One of the results of the third move = the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, was that the believers received a new identity. All of a sudden they became aware of the fact that they were not only saved in Christ, but from now on the Spirit of Christ had also taken his dwelling in them. The believers had become the body of Christ. The bread of heaven was not any more limited to one bread. On the Day of Pentecost this bread was broken first into 120 and after a few hours into another 3000.

Paul captures this in a beautiful way:

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.1 Cor 12:12-14

When we are aware of this part of our identity, the breaking of the bread of heaven in our world will continue as we spread His identity as living sacraments throughout the world in 2018. As we continue to move in this way, God’s impulse, God’s momentum will be kept. There is more to our identity that will keep us moving – you can read about it the next blog.

‘Manna’ for today:

I move as Christ’s broken bread

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Care for your stomach too!

"Care for the whole person" would be an appropriate headline for the fifth chapter in the first letter Paul wrote to Timothy. I have chosen one verse. It is an example of Paul’s care for Timothy. He did not only care for Timothy’s role as an example or for his spiritual health, but also for his physical health:

Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.
1 Timothy 5:23

It is not only in his concern for Timothy Paul expresses his holistic view of a human being. I find it in many of his letters, and here is another example:

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 5:23

More than 45 years of Bible reading has made it increasingly difficult for me to understand how Gnostic thinking could gain entry into Christian doctrine. Gnosticism represents a dualistic view of man: The soul represents something superior, while the body represents something inferior. Throughout the church history, these thoughts have surfaced from time to time. Occasional I meet people who utter statements revealing that such thoughts are alive even in our time. It is sad, because we are created in God’s image as “whole people”. He who made us, loves us as whole people, because he is body, soul and Spirit and remains “One”, and he says:

As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 13: 34b

Then caring for the whole person is a natural response.

‘Manna’ for today:

It is about caring for the whole person

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It is about the court of my 'Sanctuary'

NORSK
What I am doing these days could be compared to a "guided tour of a sanctuary". It started with my most holy place, and after also having been to the holy place, I continue to the court. My court is my physical body and represents my world-conciousness.

The narrative of “The Cleansing of the Temple”(1)  makes it clear that Jesus wants to see holiness even in the court where the cleansing took place. 

His action is a clear message that God wants holiness in the whole of his house. In this context this will include the whole of me, and the whole body of all believers. Such a thought is only possible with a holistic understanding of man and will even sound “offensive” in dualistic thinking.

There where only few restrictions with regard to access to the Court. In principle anybody had access in one form or the other to the whole or parts of the Court – including women, gentiles and lepers. Without stretching the illustration too far, the same can be said about my “Court”. The fact that I am visible makes the body the point of contact with the world.

Having come to “the point of contact” with the world we are also drawing close to the difficult theme of “Practical holiness” which will be dealt with in the course of the institute. But for now, let us for some moments ponder upon the concept of a “holy body”.

What is your immediate thought?

The fact that God could manifest himself in “flesh” was an incomprehensible thought for the main-stream thinkers at the time of Jesus (2). The body was held in such disregard, counted inferior to the mind, and just a “shell” we operate by. It is the dualistic and not the triune view of man that challenges the holistic view.

I know many Christians who will have no problem about holiness in soul and spirit, but struggle with the thought that a body can be holy – is it possible to live with such dualism?

If I challenge the thought that holiness is possible for the body – am I not also challenging the dogma of the divinity of Jesus Christ? 

'Manna' for today:

The body is part of the wholeness of holiness

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(1) I believe this is a very significant story and a prophetic act - that has many layers of interpretation. Its importance is supported by the fact that it is recorded in all four gospels: Matt 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48 & John 2:13-16.
(2) “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God” 1 John 4:2