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Summer Sermon Series: “Balance”
Sunday Message: “Balance – Good Housekeeping”
Sunday Message
First United Methodist Church Meriden CT – 25 July 2021
1 Corinthians 6:12-13; 10:31 “Balance – Good Housekeeping” by Ric Hanse
The Lord’s House
What do you think of when I say, “The house of the Lord”? A church? Well, the house of the Lord we live most of life in is not a church building. It is our bodies. When we invite Jesus to live His life through us, we become God’s house. Our bodies are more than plain old bodies – they are the Lord’s temples. How are we doing at taking care of our temples? How is our housekeeping?
Body And Soul
There is a great jazz song entitled “Body and Soul”. The chorus of the song exclaims, “I’m all for you, body and soul.” This song reminds us that we cannot separate the physical from the spiritual. What we believe with our hearts determines what we do with our bodies. What we do with our bodies influences what we believe. Balance is allowing our relationship with Jesus to inform what we do with our bodies. And in turn, what we do with our bodies shapes our relationship with Jesus. Let’s learn about good housekeeping that keeps our temples and our faiths in good shape.
Good Housekeeping Rest
Loving Jesus means resting in the Lord. Are we making sure our bodies get enough sleep? Being too busy to get enough sleep is nothing to be proud of. Strangely we wear sleep deprivation as a badge of honor. Resting in the Lord means just that – resting. Without enough rest everything in us goes out of balance.
When we are too busy to take sleep seriously, we are putting not God, but ourselves at the center. When we’re at the center there is never balance and the housekeeping is never good. Rest.
Intake
What we put into our bodies matters. Balance means cutting down on and eliminating smoking, not overdoing alcohol, and eating a balanced diet. Later on in his letter to the Corinthians Paul says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (I Cor. 10:31). As much as I love donuts and cake, I rarely eat donuts and cake. Oatmeal, peanut butter, fruit, veggies, whole wheat bread. I learned my healthy eating habits from my Grandmother, who has been enjoying the blessings of honoring God by what she eats most of her life. Healthy eating habits bring balance.
Sex
Balanced care for these temples means that our sex should give glory to God. The Apostle Paul says whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Unfortunately, the church fails to talk about sex. This keeps people from inviting God into our sex lives. God created sex to be a deeply spiritual means of intimacy with God and another person. This means sex is not something we get for ourselves but give to God and another. Godly sex never tears down people, never destroys relationships, never crosses boundaries. Godly sex always builds intimacy, always lifts people up, always honors God.
Exercise
Balanced care for this temple means taking time to exercise. Whether young or old, limited in our mobility or able to get pretty much anywhere, we love God by exercising our bodies. All of us can do some sort of exercise. My exercise is my time with God. During my runs I pray fervently. During my weightlifting I pray and meditate. God uses exercise to burn off stress, keep our metabolism healthy and to keep our hearts and other muscles strong. Our bodies are not designed to do nothing. We’re made to move. So, exercise!
How’s Your House?
Living the Christian faith has everything to do with our bodies. When we are out of balance physically, we are unbalanced spiritually. Body and spirit are connected. Living a balanced life is all about Good Housekeeping. And good housekeeping is doing everything we do with our bodies to God’s glory.
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