Paradoxes of Embodied Faith

In this week’s readings, we’ll explore seven ways that our embodiment manifests both the vulnerability of being human and the “extraordinary power” from Christ within—the treasure in the jar of clay. These paradoxes include the mysteries of being both fearfully and wonderfully made, how sickness and wounding makes us vulnerable to life-giving healing, how physical hunger opens us to the abundance of the kingdom of God, how our abandonment to sleep can reveal our hidden strengths, how true knowing includes not knowing, how aging can render us open to the “life of Jesus” within us, and how our mortality is charged with God’s infinity. All these point to this paradox of faith: That which makes us feel vulnerable opens us up to the living God. As Paul says elsewhere, “In our weakness lies our strength.”

Read Mark 2:23–3:6. Who among the people in this passage fires an emotional response for you? The hungry? The hurt? The holier-than-thou? What is the feeling you carry toward each of these figures?
Read Psalm 139:1-6 and 13-18. How does it feel to be so thoroughly known by and transparent to God?
Read 1 Samuel 3:1-20. Have you ever had a dream or a vision that helped you sense God was unquestionably with you?
Read 2 Corinthians 4:5-12. Has there been a time in your life when suffering helped reveal God’s glory?