This morning the ESV readings (based on the book of common prayer) is broken. So one looks at the alternative, which is the Forward Lectionary, which has the Missal’s daily readings. So any variations in timing relate to how scholars divide the text.
So today the reading is long. One could ask how these two things are related: and one thing strikes me: both fornication and piety should be private things. To pray in the streets is not to be pious. And to celebrate one’s perversions in public is a sign of failure of the state.
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
Matthew 6:1-6, 6:16-18
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
We are not supposed to be actors. We are supposed to be real. We are not supposed to fall into the cult of celebrity, and listen to what Ms Jolie, or Mr Pitt (or worse, Miley Cyrus and Bruce Jenner) say and do, we are not them. We want some privacy, some dignity, and some space.
Besides, not many of us look good enough to parade in our swimsuits.
So privacy is important, when it comes to piety. When it comes to prayer. It is also a good survival mechanism: first they came for the street preachers, then the Catholics….
But let us go back to the first passage. Glorifying God with our body is a duty. There is a negative part to this: shun immorality. Young man, don’t screw around, despite what the PUA artists say. Young women, listen not to Roosh when he is trying to seduce you. Despite your desire for that Persian Rat.
But more so, should we not be fit? All of us? Should we not be strong, and capable, masculine and feminine? Should we not in our lives be a witness against the effete of this age?
So today, pray. But hit the gym. Bodily fitness is of value, a lesser value to spiritual fitness, but of value, for it forces discipline. Be a man of God, or a woman of God. You witness with your body. And it will be resurrected.
So Pray today. Do something physical today. And don’t publicize either.
