Introduction

I love that we've got the record of Paul's correspondence with the church at Corinth. Corinth was the Amsterdam, Berlin or San Francisco of the Roman Empire. People went there to indulge in whatever ways that took their fancy! Was this a place to have fun!?! And today we are going to explore a little of what a church in a society where anything goes may look like.

The city of Corinth is on the narrow stretch of land connecting the Greek mainland to the east with (the virtual island of) the Peloponnese to the west. Corinth was strategically placed attracting people and trade from across the Roman Empire. It was destroyed 200 years earlier and rebuilt a 100 years later. By the time Paul wrote, it was a boom-town: 250,000 free women and men and some 400,000 slaves, making it one of the largest & liveliest cities in Greece. It was wealthy from trade with - Italy, Spain, Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Egypt and beyond. As a major trade centre it was also religiously diverse - there's evidence of at least twelve temples representing very different faiths and traditions. Corinth was known as a place with few boundaries; a place where 'anything goes'- indeed, the verb 'to Corinthianise' came into use to mean 'to practise sexual immorality,' or 'to do any and every thing that brought pleasure no matter the cost.'

It is to the church at Corinth that Paul addresses in his letter that we heard read today. The fledgling church was FULL of issues - immaturity, instability, divisions, jealousy & envy, lawsuits, marital difficulties, sexual immorality & the misuse of spiritual gifts. (to name but a few!!).

Paul uses the picture of 'Temple' to engage with the Corinthians. 'Temple' may bring to mind many different pictures, each with their associated beliefs, practices and traditions.

Paul begins where the people are, by exploring a local saying from Corinth:

"All things are lawful for me," - and Paul adds - 'but not all things are beneficial.'

Paul repeats the saying:

"All things are lawful for me," - and adds this time -' but I will not be dominated by anything.'

Rather than emphasise that 'Temple' is where the law originates - in such a diverse place different temples will have different laws - so will mean different things to different people. Paul uses another local saying to say that the 'Temple' can be seen in terms of relationships: (not just laws)

"Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,"

Paul introduces the idea that we are made to consume!!! It's part of who we are.

but then also adds: ( and here's the boundary)
- 'and God will destroy both one and the other.'

Yes we're created able to consume: to relate to the world AND there are boundaries: God is above and beyond both us and the world & we would be wise to remember it. God and humanity and the world are not separate from each other but are inter-related. The 'Temple' is where we the people bring offerings of the world and ourselves to meet God. The 'Temple' has a clear role or purpose to bridge the world & God. In the ancient world Temples were where people brought offerings to the gods. We do something similar in church today when we say confession together and offer all our lives to God.

Paul says that our body is not meant for just anything -

' but for Christ, and Christ for the body.'

and asks the question -

'Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?'

The inference is clear: where you go, Christ goes; whomever you engage with, Christ engages with; whom you are intimate with, Christ is intimate with. Paul goes one step further and asks:

"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?"

"… your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you …"

In Corinth, that was a BIG statement. It was transformational. Here today @ MCCM it is a BIG statement; it is transformational. It challenges the whole notion of 'spirit' & 'spiritual' being good; while 'the physical' & 'our bodies' being bad. The 'Temple' is where the sacred & profane; what's holy & what's not - are brought together. This challenges the notion that many of us have lived through: 'that we must love the sinner but hate the sin'

Often in our lives this is experienced as 'it's OK to LGBT (different or queer ….) so long as we don't act on it … or be or embody it … (celibacy is the order of the day for LGB people and T - well is there any need to act out in public - it's just not decent). Wouldn't it have been so much easier if Paul had reinforced a clear set of laws to live by, what we may & may not do??? And yet he says:

'… your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit … and you are not your own.'

Our body, the Temple, is relational. Sure, we ARE free to do whatever we want ….AND not everything is going to be beneficial for us. Some patterns of behaviour may be harmful to ourselves or those around us. Is a temple still a temple if no-one worships there?? We are not an island; we need to be in relation to others - in community. This means that there is more than just my needs to consider. We are the embodiment of community - which means that we are also members of Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. We are to be in community: with God and with one another. We are not our own. We are called to be accountable, one to another and we are called to be accountable for what we do with our bodies, (how we are), before God.

This is shared responsibility. This is God living with us. We are called to glorify God in our bodies. Here and now: glorify God in our bodies … not because our bodies are perfect, but because our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (and we are bought with a price). It's not our doing but God's through Jesus & the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us. This is relational. This is God meeting us as we are in every moment of our lives. This is God loving each and every one of us … here and now … as we are. Straight, lesbian, gay or bisexual? Female, male, trans, or intersex, )? Black African, Arab, Asian, South Asian, White ….

So does any of this ring any bells for us today?

We have great freedom to make our own choices … to shape our lives in different ways. For many of us our journey to MCC includes the recognition that in some way we experience oppression or exclusion from the mainstream - and we yearn to create a sanctuary - a state or place where we can be safe to be ourselves, free from wider disapproval. I'm safe to be me and you are safe to be you. One happy, safe space? Perhaps? Or perhaps not: we bring who we are to this place - with all of our baggage, history, patterns of behaviour & ways of surviving and working things out. …..

and we hear Paul remind us:

"All things are lawful for me," -- 'but not all things are beneficial.'

Paul repeats the saying:

"All things are lawful for me," - and adds this time -' but I will not be dominated by anything.'

In creating a safe space it becomes a healing & transforming space only when

1. we embrace our responsibilities for one another …
2. we are accountable to one another …
3. and we listen to one another's needs and balance our needs with other people's

In changing how we relate to one another in safe spaces, new ways of responding to the pressures of the world open up to us. We may be able to see that what we thought was 'my freedom of choice,' may not actually be a helpful pattern of behaviour for us, or those around us. New ways forward become possible when we love God, know in ourselves that we are loved by God, and God loves others through our bodies and our actions.

Your body … YOUR BODY … is the temple of the Holy Spirit … therefore glorify God in your body.

May we each reach out and journey alongside others as fellow members of Christ.

May we each strengthen our relationship with God.

May we each be transformed in our encounters with others & with God

AMEN.

(John Lawson)

This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.