Recently I read a description of God meeting us ‘in our bodies’, asking where else God could meet us. I can’t find the exact quote now, but it stuck with me as an idea.
I’m sure you might think of other places where God meets us, but we have to go there ‘in our bodies’ and this thought reminded me that God made us as complete people – body, soul, mind and strength. Our bodies are as much part of us as our mind or our soul, or however we might want to describe ourselves.
In the first three chapters of 1 Thessalonians, Paul has been writing about the faith of the people in the church of Thessalonica, and rejoicing over what he’s heard about them since he’s not been there.
Paul begins chapter 4, at least in some older translations, by writing, “Finally…”. We might notice that there’s still nearly half of the letter to come and smile about preachers who say ‘Finally’ way before they actually stop and sit down.
But the NIV changed this in later editions (along with other translations) to read “As for other matters…”. Paul is changing tack here, from writing about faith to writing about more ‘bodily’ matters – sex and money (and death, which we’ll come to next time).
Paul is still thinking about the three relationships, Up, In and Out. He encourages us to live to please God (v.1), to love one another (v.9), and to behave properly toward outsiders and win their respect (v.12).
In terms of sex and relationships (v.3-8), Paul’s basic message is that we are to live to please God, not simply seeking our own pleasure. In controlling our bodies, we honour one another and do not take advantage of other people. We have our eyes on the holiness that God has called us to.
As for money and business (v.9-11), Paul again encourages everyone to take responsibility for themselves, in the first instance, doing their own work well and not interfering in other people’s business. We know that Paul is not encouraging complete individualism because in other places he writes about how we are to be in relationship and build each other up, to care for those who need it, and to put each other’s interests ahead of our own.
So this is faith in action in the basic things of life, in actions our bodies take and the things we do. Paul says that these are ways that we live to ‘please God’. This is not earning our salvation by what we do, but it’s similar to how a child brings pleasure to their carers as they grow and develop and choose to live well.
Paul is often quoted as encouraging the transformation of our minds (Romans 12.1-2); here in Thessalonians he is also emphasising a transformation of our bodily life, which the Holy Spirit is just as interested in bringing about (v.8).
You can follow up on this sort of thinking – the relationships between faith and our bodies and minds – with the ‘Embodied Faith’ podcast (don’t be put off by the talk of neuroscience – it doesn’t often get very technical!).