One of the themes I’ve been exploring with you all the past several weeks is embodied spirituality. What does it mean, what does it look like for us as Jesus followers to really honor the fact that our faith is incarnational, about the in-the-flesh-ness of the divine, to honor the reality our embodied natures as “embodied souls & ensouled bodies”? It may come as a surprise for some to hear this, but a Christian view is not about the separation between soul and body, heaven and earth, in a dualistic way, it’s not about one realm conquering the other, but rather about their union, their transformative reunion, which Christians find embodied in the person of Jesus and through Christ in the most cosmic sense.

This has very important implications for how we are to try to treat one another. How do the choices we make change when we really honor ourselves and honor other people as embodied souls & ensouled bodies?

The early communities of Jesus followers were remarkable and strange in the view of the Greco-Roman Mediterranean world of their time. They were very reluctant to resort of violence; they took great care in avoiding sexual relations that were exploitative and dominating; they went to great lengths to make sure people had enough to eat and had adequate clothing and shelter; they performed acts of compassion for people who were imprisoned; they put a lot of energy into the care and healing and inclusion of those who were sick and infirm. All this meant that these Jesus freaks had undergone a counter-cultural change in how they treated other people.

They treated people as being more – infinitely more – than mere objects. Their understanding of what it means to be a human being had transformed in a way that raises up the dignity and worth of everyone – meaning everybody – as we are. We are more than physical objects, we are also eternal souls. At the same time, we are not only eternal souls. We are both: embodied souls & ensouled bodies. This means that everyone’s embodied well-being is important and deserves care, as well as their, our spiritual well-being.

This ethic is an ethic that condemns physical and spiritual violation and encourages physical and spiritual care and healing.

When it comes to an ethic of embodied faith, I’ll take the opportunity here to make an important related point. There are passages in the New Testament letters that some Christians have used to condemn homosexuality. But if you actually study the Greek words and what they would have meant in the Greco-Roman world, you will see that these words are not talking about situations where you have two people who love each other and care for each other and are committed to each other – just the opposite. They are about situations of exploitation, domination, and violation. That’s what Christians should be talking about when they, when we, talk about sexual ethics, not about being hung up on the fact that our Creator has seen fit to endow humanity with a range of orientations in how and with whom different people are attracted to each other.

The important thing is that, however we are oriented, we do our best to honor the dignity and self-worth of ourselves and of others as embodied souls & ensouled bodies. This means condemning violation and encouraging care and healing.

Our denomination has a great faith and sexuality curriculum called Our Whole Lives, which has different age-appropriate curricula; most often churches use the ones for teenagers with their youth group. The good folks who have developed this have distilled some really important core values:  

  • Every person is entitled to dignity and self-worth.
  • We respect other people because they are equal to us, as beloved children of the living God.
  • We need to avoid double standards. People of all ages, people of different races, backgrounds, class, income levels, physical and mental abilities, sexual orientations, gender orientations, all people must have equal value and rights.
  • Sexuality should never involve coercion or exploitation.
  • Sexuality in our society is damaged by violence, exploitation, alienation, dishonesty, abuse of power, and the treatment of persons as objects.
  • We are called to enrich our lives by expressing romantic connection in ways that enhance human wholeness and fulfillment and express love, commitment, delight and pleasure.

Now, the problem is that we live in a fallen world. That can be really tough. Yes, everyone is deserving of care and well-being when it comes to the integrity of our bodies and souls, but most folks don’t make it out of this life unscathed, without suffering harm or inflicting harm, either physically, spiritually, emotionally. A lot of folks bear wounds, and have places of brokenness or shame. Many folks bear guilt as well. That’s why so many have found healing power and grace through the figure of Christ as divine incarnation.

Now, the early Jesus followers suffered a lot of persecution. They did not shy away from their own physical suffering; they were willing if necessary to undergo painful things for the sake of what they believed. They also went out of their way to welcome in those who bore in their bodies the marks of harm and shame. They could take these risks because they knew deeply that the same holy power that resurrected the crucified Christ also embraces and bears their trauma and transforms it in live-giving ways. This healing power is what sustains the Christian ethic against physical and spiritual violation and for physical and spiritual care and nurture.

The bitter irony is all the ways that the Christian religion has been twisted into an excuse to do the opposite, to commit physical and spiritual harms and to sever the body from the soul. Here too we need healing and renewed life.

For the sake of that healing I want to offer a couple of prayers by the religious writer Cole Arthur Riley. This is from her book, “Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, & Meditations for Staying Human.” She wrote this book specifically for Black folks, and also welcomes its use for anyone who wants to recover from the living legacies of white supremacy and its expression in Christianity.

In one section Riley has prayers about the body, that really honor an embodied spirituality. There’s a prayer she calls “For the Mirror;” a prayer “For Those Who Left Their Bodies to Survive;” a prayer “For the Disabled and Chronically Ill;” a prayer “For Queer Bodies;” one “For Women Reclaiming Their Bodies;” one “For Aging Bodies.” If any of those seem like they would be helpful to you, I’m happy to share them with you.

For now, I will share with you the short liturgy she wrote for the body, with a prayer to be said with the breath, a prayer of Confession and of Forgiveness, a Benediction, and some questions for contemplation.

Breathe        

            Inhale: I can listen to my body.             Exhale: I will stay whole.

            Inhale: My body is good.                         Exhale: I will not abandon it.

            Inhale: This flesh is divine.        Exhale: In the physical is the spiritual

Confession

Embodied God,

We confess we have rent mind from matter, been deceived into viewing our bodies as tools for productivity as opposed to sacred beings worthy of love and honor. In our spiritualities, we have exalted the invisible over the physical. In our daily routines, we have not cared for our bodies well. And that neglect has rippled out toward the bodies of others in our midst. Forgive us, God, and restore in us a sacred attunement to our whole selves – minds, blood, breath, the hands that grip these pages. With divine help, may we never abandon ourselves again. Amen.

Forgiveness

Let your soul receive this rest: The same God who knit together the physical realm has mercy on your body today. Trust that you can be relieved of any guilt for a body that doesn’t perform or appear or exist in the ways that others demand. Be assured that your body is good as it is, forgiven that you would remain whole and embodied, with shame forever far from you. Amen

Contemplation

  1. How do you feel about your body today? What parts of it are you proud of? Which parts needs extra protection?
  2. When you’re stressed, what aspect of bodily care are you prone to forget first? What is one habit you can implement to resist this?
  3. When is the last time you felt in awe of your body?
  4. Take five minutes in stillness to listen to your body. What do you feel and where?
  5. What words of compassion can you speak over your body today?”

Benediction

With the power of God who comes in flesh for all flesh, go in courage to remain in your body, that you stay whole in this world content to see you torn apart.* May it be so.”

From “Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, & Meditations for Staying Human” by Cole Arthur Riley, pgs. 65-64          

Thanks be to God.

Delivered Sunday, August 16, 2026, by Rev. Nathaniel Mahlberg at the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge.

*This last clause is not meant to speak to the experiences of those who, like myself, do not live in marginalized bodies, for whom our social world is overall protective rather than destructive.