“SACRED SENSUALITY: THE BODY OF THE SPIRIT” Thanks is given to Ian Lawton of Christ Community Church for ideas and inspiration in this message A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face and the egg is frowning and looking defeated. The egg mutters, to no-one in particular, “Well, I guess we answered that question!” Well I don’t know, but I want to begin by asking the question, “What comes first?” I mean, before we can talk about sex, we have to know if there’s something first! What framework or context can I put sex, sensuality, and spirituality into so that we see its enormous significance? This triad describes nothing less than our engagement with God; within, between and beyond. After centuries of religion taking God out of sex, I want to put your relationships back into a sacred threesome with God. I want to remind you that you are in a divine love triangle; you, your lover or friend and the Holy. As Jack Cornfield said, “Enlightenment is intimacy with all things.” Spiritual growth is learning intimacy with more and new things all the time. I’m not speaking just about sex. I’m speaking about a sensual intimacy with all of life! If you are like me, you have a circle of people you are intimate with, and you may have one person that you share a unique intimacy with. When you are young you imagine that sex is the goal of intimacy. As you grow older, you realize that sex is only the beginning. So what is intimacy? A wonderful description of spiritual intimacy comes from 14th century Sufi poet, Hafiz- Because the beautiful one I love lives inside of you, Intimacy begins with authenticity and that happens when you let your defenses down and let yourself be open and highly trusting with another. Authenticity begins with being willing to embrace all your beautiful, crazy, exquisite humanity. Intimacy happens when you can be willing to strip your pretense away and stand in the fire of vulnerability together with another. It may not happen all at once—it’s often tenderly built over the years with one person as successive layers of masks are dropped—it’s a gentle, forgiving dance of sensuality. Then, from that life-giving, spirit infused genesis, intimacy’s ultimate expression is discovered – the merging of spirits and bodies in an expression of divine presence that ravishes both body and soul. We are then sent out to be lovers of all creation! The church has been paranoid and repressive about sex and sensuality because for centuries Christianity has treated the body as a prison from which the soul must be freed. Ever since Augustine’s guilt inducing youth convinced him to equate sex with sin, the body and all human desires have been seen as an impediment to knowing God. Sexuality has been related to all things inferior or lower; women, the earth; human flesh, the senses. Of course, the problem is that the less you talk about something that is so real for all humans, the more it reveals itself as a shadow. So the expression of sexuality from the church has too often been clergy sexual abuse and pedophilia. But shadow sexuality in the church is not just expressed in extreme dysfunction. It also manifests as general discomfort in even talking about sexuality. It doesn’t have to be this way. The Jesus that I see in scriptures was about was passionate about embodied theology. Look at today’s story. Here Jesus is at dinner and he’s reclining at table. People are standing around watching and listening. In the midst of conversation he feels something warm on his feet and he looks down to see a woman carefully caressing his tired feet with oil. He relaxes into the touch as it wipes away the miles of hard dusty roads. He then breathes in the aromatic scent as she carefully wipes the excess oil from between his toes and ankles with her soft flowing hair and loving tears. See, this is a story about radical, embodied humanity. When Jesus did miraculous things like healing lepers, the story emphasizes the human element. The stories could have had Jesus healing from a safe distance, but instead chose to have him heal by touching a leper. He had bodily encounters with women, encounters that appeared to be profoundly sensual, dare I say sexual. The whole notion of Jesus’ incarnation emphasizes bodily presence. Embodied theology suggests that Jesus was God’s embodied presence in the world. Embodied theology suggests that you are God’s embodied presence in the world. You are God’s way of being sensual in the world. That means all of your body; all of your sensuality is divine presence. Embodied sexuality begins as self expression. Are you prepared to think of your body as God’s way of being sensual? Are you prepared to let God into all parts of your life? An analogy is that of waves in the ocean. The waves are never separate from the ocean. They have their own unique shape and force, but they never leave the ocean. It’s not so much that waves move. It’s more that waves are the way that the ocean moves and flows. Now here is the bridge. Think of the world as God’s body; all of it, every bit of it, is God’s body. Each of the parts carries the potential of the whole. Each carries the potential of wholeness. Intimacy is one part of life. Intimacy carries the potential for wholeness. Let this thought sink deeply into your psyche. Your body is part of God, even the parts you wish were firmer or more toned – all part of god. The muffin tops and spare tires God. The bingo wings and awning over the toy store – all part of God. You are the way that God moves in the world. You are divine rhythm. When you experience intimacy, you sway with holy sensuality. Your love making is the way that God experiences orgasmic pleasure. You are the way that God massages the world with kindness. The point is that that you are a gift of God—all of you. Your body is gift and to know that gift you have to be willing to feel it—all of it. The ground of spirituality is in an embodied sensuality that embraces and affirms and celebrates. Spiritual ecstasy is a passionate, sensual, dare I say sexual experience. You are holy beings—embrace and celebrate! Peace and blessings!
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