Only if we engage with biblical people – body and soul – will they resonate with us and reveal the relevance of the bible. this does not mean long descriptive passages; small touches are enough to signal the physical reality of biblical people and their situations
I look at my body and it is definitely not the one I had at eighteen, but it is my body and as much me as my teenage body was – even if rather a lot has gone south. God created me a hybrid creature – body and soul – but how does preaching address us, and the people in biblical narratives, as embodied people who experience God in a physical world? How often do we engage with what is happening to Jesus as an embodied person? What happens to our bodies and the material situation we inhabit affects us emotionally and spiritually. This concern for engaging with people – body and soul – led me to develop an approach that makes embodiment integral to sermons, where biblical people are not just channels for spiritual insights but real people facing genuine issues.
The story of Joseph (he of the coat of many colours) demonstrates the difference embodiment makes. This narrative is often preached as a wonderful story of God’s providence – which it is – but that is like looking at the story through the wrong end of a telescope. Instead, we could start with what is happening to Joseph as a whole person as he stands in the slave market in Egypt. I suspect he may be desperately looking round the crowd, hoping certain unsavoury people will not buy him. He is only a teenager, far from family and home; his future looks bleak. He’s scared, his heart is racing; he is desperately praying. If I were a betting woman (which I’m not), I would be prepared to put money on the following words not going through Joseph’s head, ‘This is all part of God’s plan.’ Many years pass before Joseph is able to look back and see God at work in his life (Genesis 50:20).
