“But I Discipline My body…”
St. Paul writes to the Corinthian congregation: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Cor. 9:27. A footnote in the ESV comes clean on the Greek: “I pummel my body and make it a slave.” Here is a perhaps all too neglected Word of God that we Evangelical Lutherans need to learn to hear and ponder anew. There is most certainly a place for bodily discipline: restraining the body’s appetites and its laziness.
Here’s how Koeberle expressed it in his book Justification and Sanctification (erroneously translated with the horrid title in English: The Quest for Holiness), “At all events even asceticism can be described by the paradoxical statement: Its exercise can give salvation to no one but its neglect can corrupt anyone.” That is an important insight.
Lutherans (and really, one would hope, all Christians!) should certainly know that the observance of bodily discipline is not salvific. The work of our salvation is complete and whole in Christ Himself and not in us. But only a gross misreading of the New Testament can overlook the fact that our Savior summons His forgiven brothers and sisters to JOIN Him in lives of self-denial. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” The refusal to deny the self is what Koeberle warns about. It’s neglect can corrupt absolutely any one of us.
Advent comes. It’s an opportunity once more to “pummel the body and make it a slave.” That is, to deny to the flesh its every whim. The Church (in the West) would historically observe several fasting days in this season. How counter cultural can you get? When our society is engaged in an unending pig-out from Thanksgiving through Christmas, to set aside days for fasting? Awesome! Traditionally these would be the Fridays of Advent, and then additionally, the Wednesday and Saturday of Ember week (following St. Lucia’s day, December 13), thus this year December 18th and 21st. Lutherans do not give credence to the distinction of meats (see the Augsburg Confession). Chemnitz in Examen mocks those who daintily refuse to eat flesh meats while feasting on seafood delicacies. Instead, fasting means “going hungry.” Why not pummel your body and make it a slave on those days by denying yourself breakfast, maybe even lunch? Then you have those Fridays and that extra Wednesday and Saturday, during which you are freed up to spend extra time in prayer and Bible reading, and you can take the money you’d ordinarily spend on your tummy and give that away to those who are actually poor and hungry.
One more suggestion? Our bodies love to just sit. Couch potato is just a perfect word to describe us as we watch our TV or fixate on our tiny hand-held screens. But Jesus was always walking about, up and down Galilee and Judea. Why not add THIS to your daily routine in Advent: time outside, at least 15 minutes every day. Focus on getting outside your own head. LOOK around you. Pray for what you see. Ask Christ’s presence and blessing upon your neighborhood. Every day: 15 minutes walking outside. No screens during the walk. No introspection. Lift up your heads and look at this wondrous world that God has made for you. Remember your neighbors. Pray for each household you walk by. Breathe again deeply the air of this world. Pray for the joyous appearing of the Christ. Observe the world He has made.
Fasting and bodily movement. It may not seem like “pummeling your body” to some; to others, it may seem almost unthinkably much. But make a beginning. Give this self-denial, this making the body a slave, a trial. I believe you will find it almost shockingly freeing! To realize that in Christ the body is NOT your lord or master, but His servant, and that you can actually say “no” to its whims by the power of His Holy Spirit! Joy abounding.
Advent comes. Let’s observe the time with the discipline of our bodies, nourishing our souls with His Word and promises and enjoying communion with Him in prayer, praying ever: “Come, Lord Jesus!”
