Saint Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown
Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz
January 16 + 19, 2003 Epiphany 2
1 Corinthians 6:18-20

Flee from sexual immorality All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is at temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Dear People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

I read the other day about a man named Louis. Louis had a girl friend named Vanessa. They did the things most people do on dates. They went to the movies—sharing popcorn and Milk Duds and M & M’s. They went out to eat at nice restaurants—sometimes letting their food get cold as they visited—pushing their feet against each other under the table. They held hands and they kissed. They looked deeply into each other’s eyes. They bought each other gifts—thoughtful and expensive and personal gifts. But then something went horribly painfully wrong. Vanessa didn’t want to be Louis’ girl friend any more! She told him to leave her alone—to stop calling—to get out of her life. Louis’ heart broke. In grief and sadness that words cannot express Roger went to Vanessa’s apartment on the 23rd floor of her building and began to throw furniture off the balcony down to the street. Then Louis set the building on fire. And then the most tragic part of all—Louis climbed over the balcony railing and jumped. Oh, by the time Louis jumped news helicopters were there to film everything. Newspapers published pictures. The newspapers published a picture of Louis falling. The wondrous thing about that picture—though—is the fact it shows a police officer who tried to save Louis. A police officer saw Louis falling and reached out—and caught Louis’ sleeve—caught hold of him for an instant—but couldn’t keep him from falling! We were falling—every single one of us—with the smoke and flames of ruined lives above us—and the forever fires of hell beneath us. And there was the Lord Jesus—not just risking his life—but sacrificing his life—to save us forever! Jesus takes hold of us with his nail marked hands. He will not drop us. He will not fail us. He holds us close and safe. He forgives us. He makes us children of God—by adoption—by grace alone! Today God’s Word talks about living like children of God. It talks about sanctification—about the sweet fruits of faith. Today God’s Word encourages and empowers us to remember:

We Belong To Jesus!
1. Run away from sin
2. Honor God with your body

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on today is part of the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the believers in the Greek city of Corinth. Corinth was famous for many things. She was famous for trade—for buying and selling and making money—lots and lots of money. She was famous for being a place where people from all over the world met—bring with them different food, different clothes, different languages, different ideas! She was famous for her art and architecture—for the best that money could buy of everything. She was famous for self-indulgence. But what she was really famous for—was prostitution—temple prostitution—prostitution dedicated to the goddess of love! Corinth meant prostitution the way Las Vegas means gambling and Chicago means organized crime and Hollywood means movies and New York means Wall Street and the stock market! Corinth meant hugs and kisses for sale. And everybody knew it! It was to people living in the midst of everyday temptations to gross and painful hurtful sins that Paul wrote words of warning and encouragement!

God’s Word says, “Flee from sexual immorality!” When we are very little we don’t pay much attention to who is a boy and who is a girl. Oh, we put little pink stocking hats on little baby girls and we put little blue overalls on little baby boys. We buy yellow and green little outfits for baby showers when we don’t know if the baby is going to be a boy or girl. Little baby girls wear pretty little headbands and little boys wear little work boots when they are too small to even stand up on their own. Little toddlers don’t worry about boys and girls—when they crawl and put anything they can in their mouth—when they drool and when they learn to put mitts full of food in their mouths. Even when they first start school they don’t worry if they sit by a boy or girl. Everybody is just another little person. Then there are those years when little girls think all boys are gross and icky and disgusting. And little boys think that girls are weird and icky and disgusting. And then comes the day when young men become very concerned if a girl is sitting near them—or looking at them—or talking about them. And they think that one girl in particular has eyes that twinkle—and a smile that could melt the snow—and hair that smells like strawberries and hands that if they touched yours—even accidentally touched yours—it would be like being touched by an angel! And that’s nice, too! It’s kind of painful for your heart—if you like somebody so much—and they still think you’re icky. But it’s kind of a wonderful time, too. And then somewhere—because of sin—it can go horribly wrong! People think that dates are times to take somebody to the movies or out to eat—and then you get to hug then and kiss them and more—because you paid for the movies and that’s wrong. Sometimes people think that if you want to and they want to and you are careful—you can have hugs and kisses with people you aren’t married to. And that if you say to yourself and to them, “I really, really, really love you!”, then that’s ok. And it isn’t! Sometimes people think it’s ok to move in together—to live like husband and wife—when you aren’t. And that’s a sin, too! It doesn’t matter that everybody else is doing it. It’s a sin! Not because parents or pastors are old fashioned. It’s a sin because God’s says it’s a sin! God’s Word says, Flee from sexual immorality!

Flee from sexual immorality! A thousand years before baby Jesus was born King Solomon—made exceedingly wise by the blessing of his Heavenly Father and also I would suggest from painful experience—Solomon wrote chapter after chapter in Proverbs about the deadly danger of adultery. Solomon wrote, “For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead to the grave… The trap is cleverly set. She says, “I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt…” Already back then Egyptian cotton was the softest. Here is the Martha Stewart bedroom—all perfectly decorated! I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let’s drink deep of love till morning; let’s enjoy ourselves with love! My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon…” Do not be misled! Do not be seduced! God’s Word says, “Many are her victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death! And again God’s Word says, “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious! But little do they know that the dead are there; that her guests are in the depths of the grave.” There is danger—not just from diseases—not just from jealous and murderous spouses. There is danger to our faith and our immortal soul! The danger is real and the consequences can be forever!

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. When the Holy Spirit fills your heart it changes everything. When the Holy Spirit fills your heart through the Gospel that you hear in Church and read in your Bible—and taste when you come to Lord’s Supper—it changes everything. It means we don’t live to indulge ourselves. It means we live for Jesus who loved us first and loves us best. It means we will love one another and forgive one another for Jesus’ sake. When the Holy Spirit fills your heart—it means men will treat women with respect for Jesus’ sake! It means boys and young men will always see their father loving and encouraging and nurturing and building up their mother. It means that little girls and young ladies will see their father helping their mom and treating her with the respect and gentleness and strong thoughtfulness that Jesus expects. It means our children will never ever see their father strike their mother—no matter how provoked they might feel—it is always, always, always a sin for a husband to strike their wife in anger or frustration. It means our children will never ever see their father say things that are mean and angry and hurtful—capable of causing more pain and doing even more harm than a physical blow. We are not our own. Jesus bought us at a price. We will remember our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Each moment of each day is a precious gift of God—to be used to live our faith and share our faith!

Therefore honor God with your body! It is God’s plan for people—that one man and one woman become married—both in the eyes of their Heavenly Father and in the eyes of the state of Wisconsin—before they have “hugs and kisses”. Sometimes—in wisdom and love that do not fail—our Heavenly Father has the miracle of conception take place—and a baby begins to grow in their mother’s tummy. If you filled this church full—I mean really full—all the pews plus a bunch of chairs—two times you would have about 1,000 people. For every 1,000 babies in their mother’s tummy—about 21—that’s about three pews full of babies—little people—are aborted in our country—day in and day out for the past 30 years! We need to repent of that sin of abortion—and pray that God would have mercy on a nation that has become so cold and heartless that this can go on. We need to pray that the Holy Spirit would work such changes in the hearts of men and women—mothers and fathers—that even if it were to remain legal there would be no one who would perform abortions—and no one who would want one!

Therefore honor God with your body! We were at the Mall again the other day—after a hospital visit in Madison. We were sitting at the edge of the food court talking when a father went by holding the hand of his little son. The father was a pretty good-sized guy—solidly built—big neck—big shoulders—big arms—strong legs. The father was holding on to the whole hand of his little son. The little boy was about 4 years old—about three foot nothing tall. This little boy was walking beside his dad—kind of walking—kind of skipping. And the best part was—about every four or five steps—this little guy would just jump up. He’d jump. He’d literally hop! Just a little hop! Bonk! And then he’d walk a little more—and then bonk! He’d hop again! When was the last time you hopped? Just sort of skipped along—then hopped? Do you know that sort of happiness deep inside? The happiness—the joy—the contentment—the peace and calm in your heart that means you just hop? I’m afraid often times we are childish—child—ish! We are self-centered and self-indulgent. When we don’t get our way—we throw a fit! That’s wrong. That’s not right. We need to be child like—innocent and joyful and cheerful! We were driving through Oconomowoc. I saw a sign in the window of a store that sells outdoor equipment. The hand written sign said, “There is not such thing as bad weather—only inappropriate clothing!” My father often told me it’s a cold cruel world out there! My father knew from going to war when he was only a teenager—that it can be cold and cruel and dangerous out there. We are at war—war with the devil, this sin darkened world—with our sin-infected flesh. The only appropriate clothing we can wear—is the robe of righteousness Jesus bought and paid for with his innocent life and innocent blood. Jesus died and rose again to safe us. That’s reason enough—to hop in our hearts and to honor God with our bodies! Amen!