Sunday
08/22/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “The Spirit Vs. The Flesh”
(“Feeding the Body and the Soul” - Series: Part 4 of 5)
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 84
New Testament Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-20
Gospel Lesson: John 6:56-69
So, I remember when I was a little kid
seeing a beauty pageant on TV. It was not the “Miss America Competition,” but
it seemed similar. Various women from various parts of the country came out on
the stage in various attire, and they also had a chance to speak. While what
the women said when they spoke seemed to carry some weight, it seemed that the physical
appearance of the women was the most important thing to winning the
competition. I could have been wrong, but that is what it seemed like to me at
about 7 or 8 years old.
I tell you this, because as we all
know there is a difference between what we look like bodily, and what is in our
hearts, our souls, and our minds. Some of us have heard the term, “beauty is
only skin deep,” and in continuing in my August sermon series called once
again, “Feeding The Body and The Soul,” I want to talk about “The Spirit Vs.
The Flesh.”
Before jumping into this however, I
wanted to briefly recap the last three weeks of this sermon series. In the
first week of this sermon series, I compared our earthly realities to our
heavenly realities, as I said as Christians that we are called to “Feed People
and Feed People.” This means that we can feed souls the good news of Jesus
Christ, as well as tend to the bodily needs of people. We can be concerned with
earthly needs, while we are concerned with a person’s salvation and spiritual
needs.
In the second week of this sermon
series, I talked about “Earthly Hunger and Thirst Vs. Heavenly Hunger and
Thirst,” and in doing so I challenged us all to think about how much we are
focused on the things of this earth, versus the things of heaven. Are we
focused only on realities of our earthly life, or are we focused on God, and
our heavenly realities?
Last week I talked about how Jesus
said we that must eat his flesh and drink his blood. In discussing this, I
compared the earthly reality of Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper, with
divine part of Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper. I talked about how various
churches and denominations understand the bread and the juice, the wafer and
wine, and etc., when we partake of the sacrament of Holy Communion. In the
United Methodist Church, we believe that when we partake of Holy Communion or
the Lord’s Supper that Christ is spiritually present in us and in the bread and
the juice. We are encountering the “Real Presence” of Christ in the partaking
of Holy Communion or the Lord’s Supper. This is how the earthly and heavenly
realities of the “Bread and Wine Vs. Body and Blood” come together in Holy
Communion.
So, while I have talked about offering
people Christ, and at the same time taking care of their human or earthly needs,
whether we are more focused on God or earthly things, and the nature of Holy
Communion being both earthly and divine, what do we see when look at others? What
do we see when we look at ourselves? Certainly, we can see and recognize whether
we are more focused on earthly things versus divine things, but when see others
and ourselves, what do we see?
When I was about 7-8 years old and I
watched that beauty pageant come on the TV, it seemed to me that the focus was
not on, to quote my sermon title, “The Spirit” of the women, but rather “The
Flesh”. I could be wrong about that once again, but this was my impression as
young elementary student. I also think that if we are honest sometimes, we
notice “The Flesh,” before we notice “The Spirit.” Have you ever seen the movie
“Beauty and the Beast?” It turns out that the character the “Beast” had inner
love and inner beauty before he was restored to his earthly appearance. In
fact, most of my friends in high school and college never said, “You see him or
her over there, they are really kind or really smart.” Do not get me wrong they
did say things like that, but more often I heard comments that we would call “locker
room chat.” The comments that were made were generally about “The Flesh” of the
person, and not “The Spirit” of the person.
Yet I have heard the term “Beauty is
only skin deep,” and “Don’t judge a book by a cover.” So, what matters to us
more, “The Spirit” or “The Flesh”? When I first met Melissa, I thought, as I
still do think that she was beautiful. As I got to know her though, I quickly
saw her inner beauty. I will admit that like many I was first attracted to her
physical beauty, but her inner love, grace, and beauty made even more beautiful
to me all around. I saw her spirit, and it made her outer appearance even more
beautiful.
When God looks at us, do you think
that God is more concerned with our flesh or our spirit? We have entire
clothing, cosmetic, plastic surgery, and other industries completely designed
to enhance our flesh. Industries where billions of dollars are spent just so
that we can feel better about out physical bodies. Yet, when God looks at us
what is more important the “The Spirit,” or “The Flesh”?
The scripture tells us not to chase pleasures
of the flesh, but to pursue spiritual growth. I think that so often though, so
many see the flesh, but not the soul. As Christians, as people, do we see
people’s souls, or just their outer appearance. Do we take time to really see a
person’s heart and their soul, or do we never get past their physical
appearance?
In our scripture reading from Psalm 84 for this morning once again, it
says in 84:2:
2 My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of
the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy to
the living God (Ps. 84:2, NRSV).
Do our souls long for the Lord, and do our hearts and our
flesh sing for joy to the living God? You see we have our bodies, our flesh,
and our souls and our spirit. What is more important to us though “The Spirit”
or “The Flesh”? The truth is there is both, but do we see people’s spirits? Do
we see their souls? Or do we judge a book by its cover?
In our reading from the Apostle Paul’s epistle or letter to
the Ephesians again for this morning, the Apostle Paul once again talks about
putting on the whole armor of God. This armor of course is spiritual armor, not
physical armor, as the Apostle Paul says once again in Ephesians 6:11-12:
11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:11-12, NRSV).
So again, we have the comparison of things of this earth,
or the flesh, and the things of heaven, the spirit, or the soul. The full armor
of God is not physical earthly battle armor, but spiritual armor to fight against
the spiritual forces of evil and wickedness. We have “The Flesh” and “The Spirit.”
Which one are you more focused on?
In looking at out gospel of John reading for this morning
once again, Jesus begins again as he did last Sunday by telling us that those
who eat his flesh and drink his blood abide in him. Jesus says this again a
little differently after saying this, and then he says again that he is the
bread that came down from heaven. Once again, he says that the earthly bread
that his ancestors ate did not prevent earthly death, but that the spiritual
bread that is Jesus will feed us eternally.
Jesus was then challenged by some of those listening that
his teaching is hard to believe or accept. Jesus continues on to say that
everyone will see him ascend into heaven, from which he came. Next, Jesus says
in John 6:63:
63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life (Jn. 6:63, NRSV).
Again,
we have this comparison between the earthly and the fleshy things and with
heavenly and the spiritual things. Whenever we compare “The Spirit Vs. The
Flesh” the scripture almost always sides with “The Spirit” over “The Flesh.” After
saying this, some departed from Jesus and no longer followed him. Peter and the
other disciples stayed loyal to Jesus and kept following him, however. In fact,
the gospel lesson for this morning ends with this once again in 6:68-69:
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (Jn. 6:68-69, NRSV).
As I said then, we will all have this struggle on this
earth between “The Spirit Vs. The Flesh.” Are we more focused on people’s outer
appearances, or are more focused on what is inside of the person? When we really
get to know someone, when we really look past the outer appearance, we get to
see the beauty and love that a person has in their spirit. So again, what is it
for you, “The Spirit,” or “The Flesh”? Amen.
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