MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL, BODY AND SOUL

In this life on this earth we human beings are composed of body and soul. We can’t have one without the other, can’t be human without both. A body with no soul is a dead body, a dead person. A soul with no body is nobody, not in this life anyway. The soul is what gives life to our body. The material and the spiritual go together in this life on this earth.

Both are necessary for this life. But is one more important than the other? Of course not. Granted, we do not understand the soul in any way because we cannot grasp it in the same way we can grasp the body. But understanding this body of ours is still a difficult proposition. The science and medical communities still have much to learn about how the body really works.

Another question that can be asked is this: when living this life, does one come first? Is the body more important than the soul, the material than the spiritual? Living is the operative word here. In order to live this life, we first have to take care of the body. That is not to say that we neglect the soul. It is simply to say that before our spiritual needs can be attended to, we have to take care of our material needs.

That, I think, was Jesus’ point when, in Matthew’s Gospel (Chapter 25) he reminds us that we will be judged by how we take care of the material needs of those who are in such need. Before we can feed the souls of others with the words of the Gospels, we have to feed their bodies. If our bodies are calling out for food or clothing or shelter, for medical help, for any bodily need, we are unlikely and probably unable to hear any soothing or comforting words of care. That does not mean that we neglect the spiritual needs of others, even of ourselves, until all material needs are taken care of. We need to feed body and soul at the same time, but feeding the body comes first.

Years ago in another community near where I was serving, the local ministerium served a daily meal to those in need. The hall was usually filled. Then those in charge thought that they could also use this meal as an opportunity to preach the Gospel. So what they did was spend the first fifteen minutes doing bible study with a short sermon and then served the meal. The attendance dropped dramatically.

Those who dropped out, even if they needed that meal, were sending a message to the preachers: feed my body first. Then, I will be well enough to hear what you have to say about my soul. They made their point and the meal was served first and then those who ate were invited to stay afterwards to talk about their spiritual needs. The clergy got the message the hard and embarrassing way.

Too often, of course, we not only neglect the material needs of others, we most certainly neglect their spiritual needs. My neighbors have few material needs. My suspicion is that they have many spiritual needs. Yours? What are we doing to address them?

BURY THE DEAD

To bury the dead is one of those Christian responsibilities that we must fulfil and yet it is one we hardly ever think about on a daily basis. It almost pales in comparison to Jesus’ admonition that we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, do our best to alleviate poverty the world over. People in real physical need, needs that must be met in order for them to simply stay alive, doing what we can to address those needs overwhelms us.

When we think about this and then think about the further need to bury the dead, we almost want to repeat what Jesus said to the man who wanted to follow him but first needed to bury a relative: “Let the dead bury the dead.” In other words, taking care of the living is more important than taking care of the dead. They are dead and they do not need any more help in this life. Yet they still need to be buried. We know that.

There is a point here that we sometimes miss when we think about our responsibilities to bury the dead. When we help alleviate the needs of those who are alive, we are well aware of those needs. We may not know personally the people we are helping, but we know they are in need and that we cannot be satisfied until all those in need are no longer in that state. Granted, such a time will not come in our lifetime. Even so, we must do what we can. In doing so we focus both on those in need and on the need itself.

We do the same when we bury the dead. Yes, the merciful act of burying the dead is to insure dead bodies are not simply lying around to rot. Rather the admonition asks us to reflect on the deceased person’s life and on life itself, the dead person’s life and our own life. We do that in a way when we deal with the death of a loved one.

As believers we know that death, physical death, is only a transition stage from this life to the life to come. We have no way of knowing what that new life will be like, but we do know what the life that ended was like, to a degree, of course. We never fully know what another’s life was life. But as we reflect on that person’s life, we are given the opportunity to reflect on our own life: past, present and especially the life that is still ours.

My suspicion is that we do not do this often enough. In fact, we probably only do it when the person who has died is very close to us. I know this to be true in my own life. It has only been because of the recent death of two close friends that I have been reflecting upon my own life, that both were a little younger than I am, and that there is still much that I want to see and do but do not know how much time I have left.

Thus, it is important for me, and truly for everyone young and old, to take time to reflect on how we are living this life God has given us, if we are living it as best we can, taking care of ourselves and those in need as best we can. If not, we need to try better. Death awaits all of us as does the life to come. That life is out of our hands. This life is not.

GIVE ALMS TO THE POOR

Jesus reminded us that, unfortunately, there would always be the poor among us. Perhaps he understood that heaven on earth, when all tears will be wiped away, when all would live in peace and security, where there would be no one sick or imprisoned or naked or thirsty or in need of any kind – perhaps Jesus understood that such a time and such a place would not ever be in this life. Perhaps.

But that did not mean that his followers should simply shrug their shoulders with a que sera, sera, what will be will be attitude. He expected and demanded and still expects and demands that we do something about all those physical, corporeal needs that we see in people all around us even as we try to ignore them as best we can. Or at least we wish we could ignore them, so many are they that it is overwhelming to know just where to begin.

Indeed, those needs are overwhelming, which, I think is Jesus’ point. They had become overwhelming even in Jesus’ day. So what did Jesus do? He did the best that he could to relieve the needs of those who came in contact with him. Did he alleviate poverty, ensure that the world over had potable water to drink, enable everyone to have enough to eat every day? Of course not. He could not. No one can.

But he did his part and that is all we are asked to do: do our part; do what we can; do something. Granted, nothing we will do individually or even collectively as church or congregation will bring about the elimination of poverty, hunger, disease and all that follows from the results of these tragedies, for that is what they are. It is truly tragic that millions of people the world over go to bed hungry every night. It is obscene that eight people have more wealth than half the world. But even all that wealth, much of it promised to charity, will not solve the problem.

Nevertheless, the question that remains on a very personal level is: “What am I doing to help those who need help?” Am I doing as much as I can or as little as I can or not doing anything? We know that every little bit helps, but am I doing even a little bit? Am I even aware that I have a responsibility as a Christian to do something or am I giving myself an out because the problem is so overwhelming?

Lots of questions that deserve serious reflection, serious reflection. The truth is that we all probably do something, yet the question remains: do we, do I, do enough? And how much is enough? No one can answer those questions for us. Jesus would not answer those questions for us. He could only answer those questions for himself and that is all he asks us to do.

We need to ask them on a regular basis simply because it is too easy to become inured to the needs out there. Perhaps now is as good a time as any to ask those questions and then decide what comes next.

VISIT THE PRISONER

I’ve never been in jail. I never want to be in jail. I have claustrophobia and dread being confined in a jail or handcuffs – simply being confined. That is why I have always tried to walk the straight and narrow. When I was in college and theology back in the 1960s the country was in an uproar. My peers out in the world walked picket lines, burnt draft cards, took part in sit-ins and were carted off to jail. Even if I was out there among them, I would not have taken part in the demonstrations. It was not that I disagreed with them. It was that I was terrified of being put into jail.

Back then when the protesters were incarcerated, the majority of the country had no sympathy. They would have preferred that they just rot there. Others like me who sympathized with them were selfishly thankful that they had the guts to do what they did and, in their own way, speak for us. People have been imprisoned over the centuries for countless reasons. Many have been justifiably put there because they committed a crime and others have been the victims of those in power who used incarceration and its threat to silence those who opposed them. 

Whether one is in prison for justifiable reasons or because of forces beyond their control is not the issue at hand at present. When Jesus told us that one of the responsibilities we have as a follower is to visit those in prison, we may cringe. Our initial gut reaction is to judge that they deserve what they are getting and where they are. They must have committed[O1]  a crime that caused there imprisonment. Maybe so. Probably so. But Jesus never gave us at out. He never made a distinction between those who were in prison because of their crimes and those who were there because they were political prisoners. He simply said, “Visit them”.

The question arises: “Why?” especially why visit those who deserve their punishment. Why? Because those in prison are still human beings, children of God just like you and me. They still need to know that someone cares about them even by someone who does not know who they are or what they have done. Yes, maybe they are there because they committed a crime, have been caught and now are paying the penalty. In Christian-speak they sinned and are now paying for it.

The truth remains, however, is that we all sin. And while our sins may not constitute criminal activity, there is only a difference in degree between their sins and ours. It’s a good thing society doesn’t imprison us for our sins or we would all be in jail. My suspicion is that is the reason why Jesus demands that we visit those whose sins may be greater than ours. Moreover, that does not give us a pass to ignore them.

Full disclosure: I have only visited a prisoner once and I rarely even think about those in jail. My sin and my failure. Maybe I write this as only a personal reminder that I need to do more if only to pray every day for them. God loves them as much as God loves me.

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