Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 475

For sin is not to have any power over you,
since you are not under the law but under grace.


A fellow took me out to lunch one time to persuade me to volunteer as the "spiritual assistant" to his Secular Franciscan Order fraternity. Every "SFO" should have a competent spiritual leader to work with the elected officers of the group. He described his vision of the group he wanted to gather. We had never met before this luncheon and I knew little about him. 
I was not impressed by his proposal. I could accept his strict interpretation of the Rule, with its observance of all the prayers a member should do each day, and the good works they should perform. I might overlook his hostility to other groups and the way they practice the Franciscan spirit. His seemed like a rather "conservative" approach to Church, characteristically suspicious of, hostile toward, disagreement.
But his continual smoking from the moment we met, throughout our conversation in the restaurant, and on the drive back, along with the cigarette butts and ashes strewn throughout his car, described a spirituality that ignores fundamentals of a Christian spirituality. He had presented a part of his body -- namely, his lungs -- to sin as a weapon for wickedness.
That was a long time ago and my memory of the incident as I have described it may sound terribly judgmental. I can only say in my defense that I was relieved to get away from that fellow; we were not destined to work together. 
Saint Paul describes an obedience to the Lord which involves the total person. Unfortunately, for the past century or more we have sexualized much of his teaching about personal discipline. (Notice the suggested collect for today's Mass!) Many Church leaders, mostly men, smoked continually and drank liberally and railed against sexual sins. Perhaps the impulse is easier to manage with sufficient quantities of nicotine and alcohol. 

But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness.

The Spirit of Jesus leads us step by step toward complete physical and spiritual submission. True, it's not realistic to think a new disciple should immediately bring every impulse under complete control. Many recovering alcoholics, for instance, continue to smoke until they have firmly committed themselves to abstinence from alcohol. That may take a while. 
But we learn to submit all these physical desires to God's spirit. Our society provides innumerable guides to that end as we discipline our eating, drinking, exercise, rest, work, pastimes et cetera to the pattern of teaching. 
It is not enough to say, "Well, I don't smoke!" or "I don't hoard!" and suppose God should be satisfied with that low-hanging fruit. You probably weren't inclined to smoking or hoarding in the first place! 
Very likely the Lord lays his finger on the next sacrifice we should make. With that peculiar illumination it's not hard to recognize. It's something one "cannot live without" although most of the planet does. 
So where is God leading us? 

...now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death.